Egypt to Jordan

hello!

I am sorry to say, this is not going to be the email I had hoped. My back has decided to..to..I don't know, but it is very painful and it hurts most when sitting so this will be short. It feels rather like the spasm I had a couple of years ago in Minnesota, but it isn't as bad, thank the powers that be!!! I don't know what I'd do if I was incapacitated like that here, especially since I haven't made it to Malka yet.

I made it to Amman safely today about 6 PM. Since it had been dark for an hour at that point, I decided to find myself a hotel and just stay here tonight. It is very hard to get buses at night in Jordan in my experience and I didn't want to end up in Irbid late and having to figure out what next. I will go in the morning. Amman is just as I remembered it except that they are building a new bridge connecting the fancy section of town (US embassy area) with the more businesse-y section and so the roads are torn up in places. I am looking forward to going to Malka, but hoping I will make it as I feel best standing or lying, and of course, I have a backpack to carry.....

When last I wrote we were in Luxor. Since then we visited a number of gorgeous temples and went to Edfu and Aswan and Abu Simbel in Upper (southern) Egypt. The trip was very relaxing on the cruise boat, with a lot of time to sit and look at the banks slide by, people fishing and farming and even swimming, and animals. We had a excellent, very knowledgeable guide who was invaluable since there is absolutely no interpretative signage available! I learned a lot about history, temples and how to read the signs on the wall and know who is who in the drawings. The temples are really as fabulous as everyone says they are and I encourage everyone to go. We saw, let's see...Karnak, which is really a complex, the Luxor Temple nearby it, the Valley of the Kings (three tombs: Thutmoses III, and two Ramses tombs), then went to Edfu to the temple of Horus, then to Kom Ombo, then the Abu Simbel which are temples by Ramses II for Horus and Hathor, and in Aswan to Philae as well as the site of the oblisks and the dam. It is a lot to take in and a lot of history. Most of the temples were built over a number of kings, who added/changed at will. Some of them had fallen down by Greek times and were then rebuilt by the Greeks who kept the original structure, mostly, but changed the images to include themselves. Mostly they were trying to gain legitimacy for themselves by connecting their reigns to the old gods of Egypt. Truly fascinating.

Abu Simbel is only 40 KM from Sudan and it seems they have a very smooth system of flying people in and out the same day, with about 2 hours to see the temples. That only works if you aren't planning to stay and really look at everything because there just isn't time. The temples are located right on Lake Nasser, the one created by the Aswan High Dam, and were moved there from the original location which would now be submerged. This has to have been a herculean task because those statues are ENORMOUS and massive. Many of these things weighed thousands of tons. The temples are gorgeous, of course, and the site is also lovely looking over the lake.

Philae was probably the prettiest site wise--situated on an island in the Nile. It was also moved from its original island to one not far away because of the original Aswan dam. Regardless, the UN went to some trouble to make sure it is very similar to the old spot and to reconstruct it exactly. All in all, the UN moved 12 temples to save them when the dam was created.

We then spent 3 very rushed days in Cairo, two of them shopping and one visiting family and friends. We went to lunch with my great uncle and his kids. They grew up in Germany and are very westernized. I particularly like Leila. The rest of the family is quite religious so it was interesting to watch the interaction. It was also interesting to watch my father interact with them, and other family members we went to see. In two cases, we were there 15 -30 minutes--a lot of effort for very little in my mind. His decision. All in all, Egypt was wonderful.

So there's the update. I stayed longer than I intended, but ah well. I am going to go to the hotel and sleep so I can get up early and go off to Malka. I hope my back is going to be all right.