Holiday Inn Cairo City Stars

... After three days of running around to embassies and consulates, I finally saw a pyramid today, the whole Giza complex complete with Sphinx. Real cats rule the streets of Cairo, as they do in all Muslim countries, hardly a dog to be seen. I suspect there’s a connection. That’s also a point of difference with ‘normal’ Christian countries, the most obvious being the dearth of nightclubs in Muslim countries. But the one most ...

... group all the way from Cairo to Amman, but this time we have had our tour group split into two, we have had to change hotels, and have also had 3 different guides within 2 weeks. Some guides are doing this segment for the first time. Some are not tour leaders and there has been no continuity, leadership, or organization. It is like the right hand does not know what the left is doing. Room assignments have been bizarre and absurd ...

... a welcome refreshment. We then are all invited to dinner at the head boat man's home, which is delicious in a very local setting. Some of us marvel and take pictures of the six baby crocodiles in their sink (which were caught in the Nile), Caroline and I did not marvel at the crocs per say we were busy pondering our swim we had two hours ago as the baby crocs smiled up at us. <br><br>Off to the Land of the Kings then Israel next!<br><br>

... Sunday. So Thursday is like Friday here, then there are no classes on Friday and Saturday. Anyways, I got up at 6:15 a.m. so I could shower and get to the bus stop on time for the 7 a.m. bus we were told to take to the campus (an hour-long bus ride from the dorm). I arrived at the bus stop at 6:45 a.m. to find one bus that was already full of students. There were about 50-60 more waiting outside and more on the way. Then, some ...

... I saw a few other cameras sitting there at least. The entrance was a 4x4 foot hole. It went down a steep tunnel - we were basically crawling down into a hot, humid, small, scary, dark hole. I almost turned around. We climbed down for awhile then were able to stand up in a really small landing at the bottom. Then there was another 4x4 opening going up a hot, humid, small, scary, dark hole. So up we went, it was about the same distance as the first tunnel. Finally we ...

... grunn er akkurat det - et blått hull som plutselig dukker opp og går over 100 meter rett ned. Av landlige andre høydepunkter må nevnes ATV-kjøring i ørkenen og på stranda.<br><br>Til slutt klarte vi å rive oss løs fra Dahab, men selv ikke den hvilen kunne forberede og stålsette oss på bussturen til Luxor og Sør-Egypt. Ikke nok med at turen varte 18 timer (Rundt Sinai, Gjennom Suez og så sørover), på radioen dundret de løs med monoton høytlesning fra Koranen hele ...

... issolates Shias within the Muslim world. <br><br>More interesting though was his discussion and framing of theological differences. He stated accurately that the Shia are, if it is even possible, in some ways "more strict" followers of the Koran, always taking Muhammad's word for it, rather than the explanations and teachings of those who knew him. Essentially, Sunnis use the Sunna to supplement the Koran, which was largely written about Muhammad's life and ...

... a guy tell us about something for 5 mins and then wanted some cash for it, we quickly learned to ignore these characters. After seeing some churches, synagogue and an expensive packet of chips we were off to the Citadel which was built by Saladin. It was an amazing Citadel on a high hill in the city where you can see all the different sections of the city and all the way out to our first glimpse of the Pyramids. After wandering around the Citadel seeing the ...

Well, I wondered what it was. I went to the doctor this morning and he says I'm having one big jolly respiratory allergy reaction thing. That explains why it feels like there is a pipe-cleaner in my lungs and I have the energy of a lawn ornament.<br><br>The funny thing is, I'm not really allergic to anything. Beyond my mythological reaction to ...