Day Two in Cairo

January 6 (Tuesday)
Our wake up call came at 6:30am so we could get up and get some breakfast and be in the meeting room for morning devotions at 7:30am. We made it on the bus at 8:00am. Right next to our hotel was an empty field where they were beginning some construction. And on the other side of the field was this enormous white building. We were all speculating as to what it could be and the guide finally told us it was built just six years ago and is the private home for one of the largest car dealership owners in Egypt.

By the way - the currency in Egypt is the Egyptian Pound (LE). The exchange rate worked in our favor as you took the price in LE and divided by 4 to figure out the cost in dollars. We never had to change currency in Egypt as folks were always anxious for our greenbacks.

Our first official stop of the morning was to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed inside the museum at all, so we have no pictures of the wonders we got to behold. Just the outside of the building and the really cool tickets we got to keep as souvenirs.

We spent a couple of hours here and barely scratched the surface of everything to see. We spent most of our time going through the extensive exhibits dedicated to the contents of King Tut's tomb. Wow! He certainly did try to prepare well for the afterlife, with chariots, beds, thrones, jewels, clothing and more. His funeral mask and sarcophagus were beautiful and amazingly detailed.

We also followed Dr. Tuttle and paid extra to get into the Royal Mummies exhibit, which was very cool to see the pharoahs and queens all laid out.

Dr. Tuttle's main reason for wanting to take us all in? So we could observe the pharoah who was Moses' adopted grandfather and the pharoah who would have been Moses' adopted uncle that he tangled with in getting the Israelites freed. Pretty cool to observe those bodies and realize what a link to history that was. There was also a queen in there that was pretty interesting. She had been found with a smaller mummified body that people assumed at first was a baby. After doing x-rays, they discovered she was actually buried with her pet monkey!

Next we headed off to visit the largest Protestant church in Egypt, which happens to be in Cairo. Christians only make up 10-20% of the 80 million population in Egypt with the rest of the country claiming Islam. Building restrictions in Egypt are very tight for Christian churches and this church just received permission after 30 years of asking to build another building for their ministries and are currently in the midst of construction. We met with one of their associate pastors who told us about their main ministries, one of which is an education program for Muslims who come to them and are interested in learning about Christianity. Unfornately many who convert face a great deal of pressure from their communities as well as their families, as most are disowned and persecuted. We loved the church's stained glass windows, but were surprised a little to see such an Americanized version of Jesus depicted.

After the church we stopped off for lunch and then headed out to Giza (just outside Cairo) to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. This was something we were both looking forward too with a great deal of interest - after all, the Great Pyramid is the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World!
First we went up to this lookout spot and had a group photo taken. Some of our folks took the opportunity to ride a camel for a bit. It was incredibly cool to be able to see the pyramids and know that we were finally there.

The three big pyramids are actually built for three generations of pharaohs: father, son and grandson. But what you don't realize in photographs is that there are actually six other very small pyramids out there - three each behind two of the big pyramids which were used in the funeral and mummification process. After a while we got the chance to be able to wander down around the first and second pyramids. The biggest thing we noticed is that you always think of the sides of the pyramids as being really smooth, but in reality erosion has made the sides very rough until they almost look like steps up.

In our effort to get closer, we followed some other people over the ruins of one of the small pyramids. We were doing really well until someone started screaming in Arabic and when we turned around we found one of the tourism police gesturing wildly at us and the other twenty people up with us - none of us had seen the sign that said "Do Not Enter!" So we backed off and kept our distance during the rest of our viewing time.

Next we went down to visit the Sphinx. You couldn't get very close because there's a big archaeological dig happening right next to it where they found a new tomb two years ago. They are also trying to do some restoration work on the Sphinx itself, in particular the feet. This was Daryl's favorite part of the day and very exciting to see!

We were also able to get some good shots of the Sphinx with the pyramids in the background.

The only disheartening thing about seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx is that the city of Cairo has spread out right next to the Giza complex. Literally you can stand on the side of the street and look out over Giza and all you can see is the desert and these incredible wonders. And then you turn around to find a Pizza Hut and a KFC on the other side of the road! Don't think that's quite what the ancient pharaohs envisioned for the afterlife!

Then it was back for dinner and another meeting. We closed our days together as a group each night listening to Dr. Tuttle talk/preach about the things we'd seen that day and their Biblical significance. He's been to Egypt and Israel so many times and it's fascinating to listen to him. Especially when you consider that the pyramids were built so long ago that Abraham would have surely seen them on his trip to Egypt, Moses would have grown up around them and Jesus would have seen them while he and his family lived in Egypt as well!

Day One In Cairo

January 5 (Monday)
Off the airplane in Cairo, we were met by an EO representative who walked us through getting our luggage and getting through customs. Finally a stamp in the passport! Then it was out to the bus where we met our driver and our tour guide for the week, Yassir. Egypt's tourism rules mandated that we also have an armed security guard on our bus and we were followed by a policecar at all times on the road; but we never experienced any hints of problems or felt unsafe.

We hit the ground running for a full day of touring. Our first stop was to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is also where former Egyptian president Anwar El Sedat is buried.

Sedat was killed just across the street at these parade grounds during a celebration back in 1981.

Next we went to lunch at a buffet restaurant out on the edge of the Nile River called the Sea Horse. Outside was a woman using a mud/brick oven to make the most wonderful pita bread!

After that we took off for the a spot called the Church District which had three beautiful Coptic Christian churches (Egyptian Orthodox). Their Christmas was coming up in a couple of days so several were decorated with streamers and even the occasional Santa picture.

The church in the photograph above is called the Hanging Church or the Suspended Church because it's built balanced upon two pillars leftover from an old Roman fortress. Some of the fortress remains are in the picture below.



The woodworking in the church was several centuries old and simply amazing.







Below is a mosaic depicting the Holy Family traveling throughout Egypt while in exile. Note the pyramids in the upper left hand corner.

Christians here are very proud of Egypt's status as a place of refuge for the Holy Family. One of the churches we visited supposedly had been built over the site of a place that housed the Holy Family for two months. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but here's the signs from outside.

Our next stop was the garbage dump. Technically the Manshiyat Nasir district, the government relocated a group of Christian rubbish collectors to the Muqattam Mountain in the late 60's. These people make their home in the actual garbage dump where they work and recycle trash, creating living spaces and shops among the piles of rubbish. Driving through the district was an eye-opening experience. But we did it to reach an amazing church, the Cave Church. Hewn out of the mountain itself, this church was started in 1974 to help reach out to the people of the garbage dump. We had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with one of the priests (with our guide to translate) and hear the story of the church firsthand. Carved out of the mountain, the church walls feature huge scenes of Jesus' life.

Then it was time to head to our hotel. But driving anywhere in Cairo is a challenge and takes a while. Out of the 80 million people living in Egypt, 18 million live in Cairo and its suburbs. There are very few traffic signs and only a handful of stoplights. Mostly they just honk and keep on driving. Plus you are sharing the roads with camels and donkeys pulling carts.

At one point we reached gridlock in a roundabout and no one was moving anywhere. Our driver, security guard and tour guide got out and started picking up little cars (think tiny Renaults) with the people still inside and putting them on the sidewalk to clear some space. Then two of them directed traffic until the driver we could get us clear.

Finally we unloaded at our hotel, the InterContinental Pyramids Park Resort Cairo, and went in for a wonderful buffet dinner before our evening meeting and a chance to crash!

The Beginning

January 3rd (Saturday) and January 4th (Sunday)
We dropped the kids off at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's and had dinner with them before leaving. There were lots of last minute hugs and kisses as we could hardly bear to leave the kids, even knowing they were in such good hands.

Grandma and Grandpa took us over to Orlando and dropped us off at one of the nearby hotels. We crashed early, as we had to catch the 4:30am shuttle to the airport. Boy was that shuttle crowded! Lots of people leaving on early flights. We managed to make it through checkin and security with plenty of time to spare and then went out to our gate. The big gold nametags we got from EO were a dead give-away on what other souls were joining us on the trip. Our fearless leader was Dr. Bob Tuttle, one of Daryl's favorite professors, and Bob and Judy Tillman (Bob works in Adminstration at Asbury). Some folks joined us in New York as there were 43 people on the trip from all over the US (current Asbury students from Orlando, Kentucky and Internet campuses; alumni; and "friends" of Asbury). We spent six hours hanging out in the Kennedy airport before boarding for Cairo which gave us more of a chance to meet folks from the trip. Unfortunately two couples missed the Cairo flight because of bad weather where they were coming from.

The flight was over 11 hours from NYC to Cairo and since we're used to short domestic flights that was a long time to be cooped up in an airplane. But since we flew mostly at night, we were able to catch some zzzz's. And they did feed us a hot dinner and breakfast!

Update from EO on safety

Here's an update on the EO website about safety from Tuesday:

Update on the Gaza Situation from EO's President-James E. Ridgway, Jr
To update all of our passengers and tour hosts on the Gaza situation, on Saturday, Israel began an intense retaliation for mortar and crude rocket attacks launched from the militants in the Gaza Strip into the State of Israel. In fact, militants launching rockets and Israel retaliating via air strikes has been going on for at least 8 years now. Hostilities have been and are confined to the Gaza and a surrounding 20 mile radius. It is tragic that civilians on both sides of the conflict have been harmed and killed and the grievances on both sides are long and complex. We have been and continue to be supportive of any just resolutions to the ongoing conflicts in the region.

While the current hostilities have received extensive press coverage particularly with a new administration coming into office within 3 weeks, the situation in and in the small area around the Gaza Strip is not new. While careful attention must be paid at all times to any security situation affecting Israel, our tours have continued to operate normally even with ongoing hostilities in the Gaza during these many years. This situation differs from the Lebanon War of 2006 in that much more sophisticated rockets were fired from Lebanon into many parts of our touring route by a much more sophisticated military force. This current conflict is much more localized, following a familiar historical pattern, and does not represent challenges to any of our itineraries. Airline carriers continue to service Tel Aviv normally and there has been no change in aviation or hotel policies related to this conflict.

Thus, at the current time we are continuing to operate all of our tours as scheduled. All of the sightseeing has been unaffected including visits to Jericho, Bethlehem, and the Mt. of Olives.

For over 35 years we have had the privilege of hosting over 300,000 pilgrims in the Holy Land, and we have a spotless security record with our passengers. Security in the airport, at the hotels, and around Jerusalem as always remains very tight. Buses and guides are in communication with our local offices at all times. EO ground staff will be present in Jerusalem and Tiberias hotels from January through March. Safety of our passengers and our staff is our first priority. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully and take the appropriate course of action as events warrant.

12/30/08

Official Press Release from the Israel Ministry of Tourism

What’s happening where?

The Israel Defense Forces’ action to put an end to the firing from Gaza is taking place entirely within what is known as the Gaza Strip. This is an area under Palestinian control that is customarily not visited by visitors to Israel.

Yes, but what’s happening in Israel?

Rockets fired from Gaza have landed in several areas of southern Israel – places that are mostly far from tourist routes.

How does all this affect my travel plans?

It doesn’t. Conditions in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Netanya, the Galilee, the Negev, Eilat and the Dead Sea are completely normal. The tens of thousands of tourists who came to Israel for Chanukah and to celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem are still here and their travel plans continue unchanged.

Yes, but surely…?

There is no sense or anxiety or crisis – life goes on completely unchanged. Shops, restaurants, beaches, clubs, schools, hotels are open throughout Israel and are operating entirely normally.

Yes, but surely…?

As hard as it may seem to comprehend from thousands of miles away, the current action has no affect on daily life in Israel proper. More than 70 airlines are operating their normal schedules to and from Israel, and today, as every day, close to 20 flights are operating nonstop between the United States and Canada and Israel, and vice versa.

So what do I do?

Absolutely nothing.

Yes…but…

Tourists and tourism are very important to the State of Israel so it would be foolish and reckless of us to endanger you. If we felt there was the slightest risk, or that it was inappropriate for you to come now, we would ask you not to.

If you’re already in Israel you know there’s nothing to be concerned about. And if you’re on your way, “Bon Voyage.” We look forward to greeting you.