Holy Land Trip by Deanna

Destination 1. Egypt

I’m going to begin my story at Kairo, Egypt, where I got to see one of the great wonders of the world . . .

As we stepped off the plane, I began to think about how long ago my grandmother and I thought about this trip, and how long we had waited to get here. I also remembered my family and friends telling me that if I didn’t take pictures they would strangle me and hang me by my toes in the town square. Of course, they are all Christian people so I doubt they would carry that out.

Kairo, Egypt. We were walking out of the small airport with our luggage in hand when we saw them, blending together beautifully with the darkness, the lights of the city Kairo. We found our guide and the bus, loaded our luggage, then set off for the hotel.

The traffic was horrible! Everywhere you looked people were jammed together and not even using the lines on the road. It took us 45 minutes to get to our hotel, which was only 20 miles away. At first glance, you might think these people don’t care. Actually, it seemed like they never have to worry about murders, thieves or traffic accidents like we do all the time. This might be because there is a grave consequence for each crime…like losing a hand for theft or a head for murder. Anyway, we finally got to our hotel and settled down for a good night’s sleep.

The Pyramids. The following morning we were heading out to see the pyramids of an official and his wives. When we got there many tourists were gathered around to see the tomb and the Sphinx. The moment I saw both of these great wonders, I felt all the excitement was about to burst out of me all at once. I was hardly listening to the guide until he said we might be able to go inside one of them for a look at the actual tomb. I couldn’t believe my ears!

When my grandma asked if I wanted to go inside, I couldn’t control myself. I flung my arms around her neck. With a big hug, I said yes over and over just to let out my excitement (somewhat). Half the fun was that I would be able to brag about it when I got home.

After we got our tickets, we headed for the line of people near the tunnel entrance. We were in the front of the line before you could say “pyramids”. The ticket master ripped our tickets in half and gave them back. I stuck my two halves into my pocket, took a deep breath, then entered the shaft toward the tomb.

Inside it looked like a coal mine. On the ground there were boards with notches in them for grip. The air was so stale you could hardly breathe, and the deeper you went the worse it got. The shaft was so small that we had to crouch, to move through it at all. We went up, then down, then up again. The walk took only 5 minutes but it seemed like forever.

Finally, we walked into a larger room at least 20 times bigger than the shaft. On one side of the room there was a large tomb with the top taken off and leaning on the wall. I went over to look in side, with grandma following behind me.

When I got over there, trying to lighten up the mood, I pretended to die and fall into the stone box. One of the people from our group told me not to touch the tomb.

When I asked why he said that one of their myths was that if you touched the tomb, then you would be the next to die. I took my gaze from the stone to look at his face. As I suspected he had a very large grin about 2 feet wide. In the dim light, I felt uneasy. He looked scary without his hat on. He probably took it off because he is sweating. We all are. I thought as I looked away.

After a few moments of silence, I urged everyone in our group toward the exit. It was getting really hard to breathe. When we were walking back, I kept hitting my head on the ceiling. I guess it was because I was anxious to get fresh air. When we got out, the first thing you could hear was everyone breathing deeply. The second was the people shouting, laughing, and screaming.

The Sphinx. We all made our way back to the bus to see the Sphinx just around the bend. We didn’t have time to stop. So, the guide told the driver to slow down so that we could take pictures.

It was beautiful, even if it was old. My grandma gave me the camera because it was on my side of the bus. The sun was going down, blinding my sight, so I was shooting blind. (Later the photos turned out to be pretty good.) After everyone found his or her seats again, we headed off to the hotel. The rest of the night would be ours to do as we please.

Mt. Sinai. The next night at dinner the guide told those of us who wanted to go to Mt. Sinai that we had to get up at midnight and be at the bus stop. He also said that we would need to put on every scrap of clothing that we could. It would be cold. That night Grandma and I decided to go to bed early so we could get some rest before we had to get up again.

I woke up to the phone ringing off the hook. Of course, it was the wake up call. Grandma answered it and then hung up. As I started to wake up completely, I realized that Grandma was already up and mostly dressed. Fighting drowsiness and sleep, I yanked myself out of the warm covers and started to pull on some clothes. Scarves, hats, gloves - everything went on.

After we were done dressing, we walked over to the bus stop. No one was there - not even the bus. Thinking we were early Grandma checked the time. We were, by about 10 minutes. So, we decided to sit on the curb and wait for the others.

Finally, the bus and the others came and we loaded up. When we all got to the entrance of trail going up the mountain, it was very crowded with people who had come to see the sunrise from the top. We made our way to the line and began our waiting to enter the trail. When we got to the front of the line, there was a security metal detector and 3 guards. We had to go through one by one.

After we regrouped, we headed for the trail up Mt. Sinai. We had walked ½ a mile when we passed the monastery of St. Catharine. We had walked another ½ mile when we reached the stables for the camels. We paid for the rides, and got on the camels. We were all separated the whole ride up but we all knew where to meet.

Riding the camels was quite an experience. They are not the same as horses. But, they made our trip to the top of the mountain much easier. We could only go so far with the camels and then we had to leave them and walk the rest of the way. We weren’t going to ride them down because we had been told that it was much harder riding down than up.

After maybe 10 minutes of waiting, we headed to the top as a group. In the black darkness of early morning, we climbed with nothing more than a flashlight to guide our way. A few steep steps, a couple turns and we were at the top. Everyone split up to find a spot in the crowd to watch the sunrise.

It seemed like forever before it even seemed to get brighter. I was looking beyond the horizon wondering if this would be like all the other sunrises I’ve seen. Soon my question was answered. I kept looking beyond the mountains where I expected to see the rising sun. The sun was coming and we could tell as the sky got redder.

Just at the moment I least expected it, the sun came into view. It was not where I thought it would be. It seemed to come up in between the mountains; not on the other side. Everyone was trying to get pics as the sun rose within seconds.

In the end, everyone was satisfied. Our group met up at one of the shops and the guide brought all of us some cocoa or some coffee. I need to tell you the cocoa probably tasted just like the stuff at home but at the time it was the most delicious cocoa in the whole world!

We decided we would meet at the monastery at the bottom of the large mountain. Grandma and I tried to set off at a jog but the line of people seemed not to move at all. As soon as the road got bigger and had more traction, Grandma and I were passing everyone. When we met up at the bottom and loaded the bus, all of us let out a sigh of relief. It had been a long and exhausting morning.

(To be continued.)