Views Along the Nile

 

The Queen of Sheba; Our Boat for the Trip Up the Nile River

 

A Policeman at the Pyramids overlooks the City of Cairo

 

Doorways in the City of the Dead, Cairo, Egypt

 

City of the Dead - Cairo, Egypt

This is a rare look inside one of the tombs occupied by the poor in the City of the Dead. Upper right corner shows the grave beside the raised brick section in the back open area. The little girl, upper right sleeps on this bed close to the grave. The enclosed area lower right was tiny but immaculate and brightly colored. 

The City of the Dead in the middle of Cairo Egypt

The poor took over this ancient cemetary decades ago. The government tried to make them move but finally gave in. Now the cemetary has water and power for those who live there. 

Me again!

 

My Camel, my camelherder, and I beside the Pyramids

 

Pyramids & Sphinx - Cairo, Egypt

 

Cuteness is Universal

 

Views of the Town; Foot of Machu Picchu Peru

 

Machu Picchu, Peru

 

No, I will not step back!! Machu Picchu, Peru

 

Machu Picchu Lawnmower (with attitude)

 

Peru's Machu Picchu

 

More Pictures to Follow and Apologies to Tibet

My Blog Picture Mover, Picasa (they move the pictures from your disc of photos to your Blog), has recently gone through an upgrade and is working on fine tuning the process. That is why you probably see a small box where a picture of the Taj Mahal should be below. Hopefully things will be straightened out by the end of this week. I will let everyone know through email once things are resolved........
Secondly, please forgive me for giving anyone the impression that I didn't love my trip to Tibet. I probably overdramatized my altitude sickness, but even a drama Queen can admit the stupidity of not taking her medicine. Tibet has always been one of the most beautiful and mysterious countries to me. I am still awestruck with the idea that I walked through places where the Dalai Lama lived and taught. And fair warning to everyone I met there, I will be back! With the short time that I was there and mobile, I had the time to see only parts of Lhasa, the Capital city. (and yes, there are many Lhasa Apso dogs there)... I am already saving my frequent flyer miles for the trip back and I still have all the medicine I didn't take on my first trip - so Loptsong and Postak - you have been warned!.......Happy Trails, Marion

Taj Mahal at sunrise, Agra, India

 

Photos of Agra, India

The primary reason most tourists go to Agra, India is to see the Taj Mahal. Nothing can prepare you for its' beauty, especially as the sun is rising in the morning. Another impressive but not as famous site is the Agra Fort, sitting on the river overlooking the Taj Mahal.

Taxi? Agra India. Your choice; camel or took tooks. 

Final act of the monkey/bear show at the road tax stop between Delhi and Agra, India. 

For the Skeptics

For all those who did not believe my story of being trapped in the car while a dancing bear, dancing monkeys, etc. performed outside the parked car, I've included pictures of the bear and monkey. By the time the snake charmer, jewelry merchant, and begger joined in, I was too terrified to continue taking pictures. See my previous entry on India.

Hauling stuff can take a variety of methods in India. 

Street scene in Agra India, but very typical of most of India. Somehow traffic seems to get through. 

Promised Photos

Now that I'm home, I can post photos from the trip. It's a little intimidating doing this because so many of you are great photographers (Sonny!), so please be merciful. I'm so sorry that I couldn't post pictures while I was travelling. Perhaps next time. Enjoy....Marion

A last look at the Tibetan mountains on the flight back to Hong Kong. 

Gasping and wheezing we toured the Norbulingka Temple, including the top apartments, reserved for the Dalai Lamas who visit there. The air is filled with the scent of burning candles made of yak butter and scents of incense. Walls are covered with shelves of the ancient books of the Bhuddist faith. Sadly, the Chinese government has placed limitations on the number of men who can become Bhuddist monks. Where there were once over 7000 monks, there are now only 1000 residing in this monestary. 

The Drepung Monestary and the surrounding market area with Buddhist pilgrims worshipping at the walls of the monestary. 

A Room in Tibet

With the tricky political situation in Tibet, the Chinese government has added an extra difficulty level for tourists; 1. You must have a Chinese visa, 2. You must be part of a tour, 3. You must have an official invitation from Tibet (this serves as your Tibetan visa), 4. You must enter Tibet from China. It would have been easier to visit Tibet from India, but I was forced to fly out of Xi'an and travel across China to get there. In my last minute scramble, I found a wonderful travel group (Wind Horse Holidays) that created a tour for one and sent all of my invitation paperwork to my hotel in China, just in time for the flight to Tibet. I was warned that my hotel reservation could be cancelled at any moment. The hotels in Lhasa will cancel one person's reservations for the opportunity to have a large tour group. This actually happened but I was moved to a fairly new hotel; the Dhud Ghu. It was located in a small alley which turned out to be a good thing. The best shopping in Lhasa is actually up and down the small alleys where the deals are the best. Also, each night I went to sleep with the sound of buddhist monks chanting outside my window, another reminder that I really was in Tibet.

The Dhud Ghu Hotel where I stayed in Lhasa Tibet, everything designed in a traditional Tibetan scheme. 

Loptsong,my knowledgable and gracious guide in Tibet with prayer flags flying overhead. The wind blowing the flags carries your prayers to heaven. 

I Love Hong Kong

In planning this trip, I selected Hong Kong simply because it was the best way to get to China and Tibet using frequent flyer miles. Unfortunately I scheduled very little time there - but it was love at first sight. I could live there. The city is actually a grouping of hilly islands and peninsulas surrounded by water. The hills are covered with new skyscrapers that average 50 floors(?) I would guess that Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated (person/ square foot) countries in the world. It is also a combination of the brand new and ancient traditional. Before my 27 hour flight home I wanted to pick up some novels written in English to read during the flights. I was directed through a huge open air market place selling flowers, fish, meats, and anything else you can imagine, but it felt like stepping back in time. The woman selling fish was actually using metal weights attached to a string to weigh the fish for customers. My final destination was the Times building where I was directed to the 9th floor. In between 1 and 9 was every high end store you can imagine; stores that you would find in the very pricey section of any city. Being in the Times building was like being in the US, except that everyone was oriental. In Hong Kong almost everyone speaks English and you are left alone as you browse through the open air shops on the streets. It is such a comfortable yet exciting place. Anything is possible in Hong Kong and it is easy to pick up on the excitement of the place. It is definitely another city where I will return. I regret that I had enough time only to touch the surface of the city, but also, my attention was on the end of my journey and the long trip home. I thought the trip would cure my wonderlust. Unfortunately it is worse now than ever. The trip was a tease to all the wonderful unexplored places out there.....Thanks for travelling with me on my excellent adventure. Hope you enjoyed the ride. Happy Trails to us all....Marion