2011 travels

Brévent at night

Mont Blanc at sunset

Sunset over Mont Blanc

Alps at sunset

Sunset over Brévent

Moon rising over the Alps

Moon rising over the Alps

Moon rising over the Alps

More photos from Chamonix…

Chamonix, France, It isn’t every day that a friend offers to sell you a Mercedes for next to nothing. In our case, it was a great looking beige 1992 Mercedes diesel–just the car to take us on a road trip through France and Spain. Our problems began well before we embarked on the trip. In France you need a control technique sticker (the equivalent of the car inspection in the US, or MOT in the UK), a Carte Grise (registration), and insurance.…

Back in France, and trying to sort through my time in Egypt. It has been a little over a month since Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt amidst massive protests.

I set of to Egypt on a little more than a whim, a possibly naïve desire to see post revolution Egypt, and just maybe be able to tell peoples’ stories and make some sort of difference.

As a tourist I have been warmly welcomed here, but as a tourist and a non-Arabic speaker, most of the people I have interacted with have been in the tourist industry, which has made it difficult for me to get a full picture of views on post-Mubarak Egypt.…

Today Egyptians are holding a historic vote on a number of constitutional reforms, with opinions divided on if the reform package, which includes things like limiting presidential terms, should be passed, or if Egypt should draft an entirely new constitution. When I’ve spoken with people about the January 25 revolution, everyone has expressed support and sense of hope for a future without Mubarak. I haven’t heard that same unity when speaking to people about today’s vote.…

Sharm el-Sheikh

I spent most of yesterday diving, but unfortunately those photos will have to wait, since I was shooting on a film camera (trust me, you aren’t missing much; most of my energy was focused on remembering how to dive, not on focusing the camera).…

“Want some Valium for the bus ride?” Although I politely declined, probably I should have realized then just how bad the fifteen hour trip from Luxor to Sharm el-Sheikh would be. But I didn’t.

When I was in India last year I made the mistake of trying to ride “ordinary” buses in an attempt to see India as a local would. This time, remembering the horrors of the Indian bus experience, I had booked a first class bus ticket, and so full of confidence in the “deluxe” ticket I had secured, I turned down the Valium and headed for the bus.…

I spent most of yesterday visiting the west side of Luxor, which includes the famous Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings is where many of the pharaohs, such as Tutankhamun, from the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt were buried.

Valley of the Kings (I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside the tombs)

The west side of Luxor also includes the Valley of the Queens, several temples, and the village where the workers who built the tombs lived.…

Took the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor, the ancient capital city of Thebes. Luxor is divided into West and East by the Nile. The east side, where I am staying, is home to the new city as well as several of the ancient temples, while the west side is where the Valley of the Kings is located. Today I visited the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple and tomorrow I am going to the Valley of the Kings.…

Citadel of Qaitbay

Citadel of Qaitbay

…

Modern Library of Alexandria

I spent today visiting the pyramids at Giza and Saqqara. The Giza pyramids are the most famous ones, and what most people think of when referring to Egyptian pyramids, but they are far from the only pyramids in Egypt.

The Giza necropolis (burial grounds) consists of the three large pyramids for the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure), six smaller queens’ pyramids, and the Sphinx.

Panorama of the Giza Pyramids (from left to right Queens’ Pyramids, Menkaure’s Pyramid, Khafre’s Pyramid, Khufu’s Pyramid, and Queen Hetephere’s Tombs)

The Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx

The Sphinx

Kufu’s Pyramid (The Great Pyramid)

Khafre’s Pyramid

Menkaure’s Pyramid and the Queens’ Pyramids

Saqqara was the necropolis for Memphis, a capital of ancient Egypt, and is about 10 miles (17km) from the Giza pyramids.…