After months of sitting in the same location in Victory Base, I finally had the opportunity to get out of the office, and make a brief trip to the International Zone in the center of Baghdad.  The IZ was once the main hub of the US occupational government, but has been slowly turned back over to the Iraqi’s.  There are two FOB (Forward Operating Bases) still over there, and to get between them you have to drive in an unarmored truck on roads whose legal status can be described as “murky” at best.

Seeing the sights was a nice break..we ended up at most of the “tourist” places…Assassian’s gate, the Hands of Victory monument, the roof of the former Republican Guard palace.  Lots of fun, and on the way back home to Camp Victory, we got caught in the first thunderstorm of the season…very cool…at least till I found out about the mud!

In the three months I’ve been here, I’ve never seen the exterior lights of the palace turned on after dusk.  On the 4th however, the I Corps band played a concert for the base, and the lights were turned on. 

 This is an HDR image, composed of three images bracketed at 1.3 stops each way from the “correct” exposure.  The longest exposure was 1.5 seconds, and even on a tripod it was a bit blurry.  If  I could do it again, I’d have taken the image from the left side of the bridge where there isn’t nearly as much algae in the water and could have gotten a better reflection.

Since I’ve gotten to Iraq, I’ve been living on an area called the Victory Base Complex.  This is a group of several Army “camps” with various patriotic sounding names such as Victory and Liberty, along with several others named after either individual soldiers, or units that served with distinction.  Camp Slayer is one of those, and has got to be the prettiest area over here that I’ve seen to date.

The camp is made up of various buildings commandeered for housing, administration, and other mundane stuff, but the centerpiece is a huge man-made lake containing  the ruins of several of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces.   According to our military tour guide, this entire complex besides being the permanent home of Uday Hussein was also the equivalent of the US President’s Camp David retreat.   The tour guides seemed pretty well trained, but there was definitely a feeling that the history they were relating was a very one sided version, with lots of tales designed to really reassure the audience that Saddam was a really, super evil dude, and that the US did the right thing  by invading.  It got to be so over the top at times that I almost expected to hear the guide tell us that “This next room is where Saddam and his sons would kill and dismember kittens before dinner every night just for fun!”

We went on a tour of several buildings starting out with an exterior view of the Perfume Palace, which was supposedly where Saddam and his sons kept their various concubines before they were ready to use them.   It’s used for upper level officer staff offices now, so we weren’t allowed in, but it is apparently decorated way over the top with lots of marble, expensive tile, gold fittings, all paid for by the oil for food program.   Next we moved onto Uday’s house where I was impressed with the results that happen when the US military decides that its time to perform an eviction with extreme prejudice.  Seriously, we don’t mess around.  A couple of JDAMs (look it up) will really make a mess of the place, and destroy the resale value.

After that we drove around the lake and headed to the Victory over Iran and America palaces..these are two buildings that are very well constructed, and completely over the top decorated.  Its interesting to see how the really impressive finish construction hides the fact that the actual support construction was extremely shoddy; instead of proper plaster, the workers would stuff the walls with anything they had on hand such as empty paint cans, soda bottles, even a little actual plaster in places.   The buildings weren’t finished yet when we attacked, but they still held up very well to our bombings. It won’t surprise me to see them cleaned up and eventually finished once we’re out of here by the Iraqis.

The final stop on our tour was what our guide called the B’aath Party House.  This was another fantastically decorated palace where the higher level government officials came to work and play.  This was complete with a movie theater, ballroom, and swimming pool (in which our tour guide made sure to point out bloodstains from executions).  The palace was pretty much intact (except that all the bathroom fittings had been stolen), except for one room which was where the first Tomahawk missile of the war was fired into…apparently we missed Saddam by about 45 minutes here.

After arriving in Dahab, I decided to leave immediately to take a side trip to Jordan. On an impulse I decided to join Clare, whom I’d met on the way from Hurgada to Dahab. She was traveling with her family after visiting her brother who was attempting a kayak trip down the entire length of the Blue Nile. She only had a few days left of her vacation, and it seemed a perfect opportunity to see Petra with a fun companion.

We started our journey by taking a high speed ferry from the Sinai to the port city of Aquaba. There was some confusion about the time of the ferry which led to our being dropped off at the Egyptian port a good five hours before the ship’s scheduled departure time. It was frustrating at first, especially since we were both hung over from the night before, but it didn’t take us long to realize that this was going to provide a great opportunity for people watching. Watching the locals interact with each other was fascinating; there was a complete mixture of every part of Arabic culture. We saw everything from women in full burqas watching their children, to Bedouin men arguing with each other over any number of topics. Eventually another American discovered us, and starting babbling at us about how he was on a mission to the middle-east to spread the word that George Bush was about to be indicted by the world criminal court on charges of crimes about humanity. We listened politely for a while, and it didn’t take us long to realize the guy was completely crazy. He showed me a ratty bundle of papers that he claimed was a brief that he had submitted to US Supreme court, and in it he rambled on about everything from the state of his divorce, to why drugs should be legalized, to his reasons for converting to Islam. After a while we got tired of listening to him babble, and ditched him for another room in the waiting area.

Eventually we got to Aquaba around 9pm, and luckily the guy that was supposed to drive us to Petra was still there. He took us to our hotel where we crashed hard for the evening, knowing that we had to be up early the next morning. When our guide showed up the next morning we were surprised to find out that our hotel was only about a 5 minute walk to Petra’s entrance. Once you pay your entrance fee, you walk down an extremely narrow canyon for about a mile and a half. During the walk you’ll see examples of Nabatean art on the sides of the walls, as well as the ruins of an irrigation system that was carved into the wall of the canyon. Eventually you come to the end, and it’s almost mandatory that you take the classic photo of the Treasury building framed by the end of the canyon.

Our guide told us that he’d take us around to a few of the sites on the lower levels, and then he was going to take off after a couple of hours. We were a little surprised by his definition of a “half day” tour, but he was so un-informative that it wasn’t really a loss. Honestly, we were just happy to have the entire complex nearly to ourselves. During the high tourist season its apparently not unusual to have three or four thousand people per day visiting, but on the day that we were there there were only about two hundred people in the entire complex! Clare and I wandered all over the place just exploring the sites, clambering thru old buildings, and checking out the museum. After a while we hiked up to some of the higher areas where there were some amazing views of the entire site, plus the surrounding desert.

That evening we decided to go check out a bar we’d heard about that was actually built in a Nabathean temple. It was attached to one of the local luxury hotels for upscale tourists, and the prices matched! I think with the exchange rate, we paid the equivalent of about five US dollars per beer. The room was amazing though, decorated very sparsely with just enough illumination to show off the walls, and allow for conversation. It was a fantastic experience to drink a beer and smoke a sheesha pipe in a thousand year old room. It was also nice that there were only a couple of other patrons in the bar, so we ended up chatting to the local bartender for a while about life in general.

The next day we were headed back to Egypt, but we were going to go thru the desert for a while. We drove down to Wadi Rum, and were surprised to see snow on some of the passes that we drove thru. When we got to Wadi Rum and headed off road, it was amazing to see how colorful the rock formations were. We explored some of the sites for a bit, and then our driver built a little fire so we could have some tea. The warmth was very much appreciated as it was quite chilly in the desert! After a couple of hours of driving around we finally headed back to Aquaba and then back on the ferry to Dahab. Clare left the next day, and I resumed my chilled out lifestyle of hanging out and diving for another week.

The temple of Abu Simbel is about 100 miles south of Aswan, and in order to get there at the best time, you have to leave at around 3:00 am. I got picked up in a minibus crammed full with about 15 other bleary eyed tourists who were all snoring more or less soundly within about 20 minutes. Around 6:00 am, we finally got to the site of Abu Simel and all piled out to take a look. The temple was spectacular of course, even if it did take a few cups of Egyptian coffee before I was awake enough to appreciate it. This temple was originally located about 300 feet lower down the river bank, which would put it underwater right now. When the Aswan dam was built, the rising waters of Lake Nasser inundated hundreds of ancient sites. Only a few could be saved, and an international effort was made to completely disassemble Abu Simel and reconstruct it brick by brick 300 feet higher than when it was. Everything was rebuilt down to the smallest detail, and today there is no evidence that the temple is anything other than in its original spot.

On the way back we broke up the drive at a couple of other sites. We visited the temple of Phileae which was also moved from an underwater grave to a more protected island where it exists today. Finally we stopped in at an ancient quarry where we got to see that even the Egyptians occasionally made mistakes. There is an obelisk that’s been completed on three sides, but is still attached to the rock on the bottom that was nearing completion when a flaw was found in the rock, so it was abandoned in place.

The next day I boarded a luxury boat for a three day trip down the Nile to the town of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. The boat was beautiful, but unfortunately I was the only English speaker on board. Everyone else was part of a group of Spanish tourists, and I think I got my last minute berth by the boat company dumping its unsold cabins at the last moment. Despite the language barrier, it was still a good time. We stopped at several temples along the way, and finally arrived in Luxor with a good bit of time to kill in the afternoon.

The next morning I had a tour to go seethe Temples of Karnak and Luxor, and then in the afternoon we saw the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings was one of my ffavorite ancient sites, just because its something that I’ve read about for years. Every Discovery or PBS special in Egypt always talks about the latest discoveries here, everything from King Tut to the KV5 tomb which has the largest funeraryccomplex ever discovered in the valley. This was one of the only places that photography was prohibited, and even baksheesh didn’t do much to change this. I don’t blame the authorities for this policy at all…the underground colors were still nearly as bright and accurate as the day they were painted, and flashes would slowly but surely destroy them.

The only frustrating thing about the tombs was the extortionate price that the government charges to see them. For about 25 dollars US, you get to see three tombs out of the 15 or so that are open. Once inside you’re hustled thru in about 10 minutes, so you’re effectively paying about a dollar a minute. The Egyptian government realizes that the tombs of long dead people is really one of the few things that people come there for, and they’re determined to wring every bit of hard currency out of the tourists that they can. Personally, I was pretty annoyed by the constant demands for money from both the government, and everyone associated with the tourist industry. It wasn’t bad enough to ruin the experience, but it was enough to ensure that a repeat visit to Egypt is pretty low on my list of priorities in my lifetime. I’ve heard that once I get over to the Sinai peninsula, things get much better. I sure hope so!

After exploring the ancient sites near Cairo, it was time to head farther south into the country to visit a few of the antiquities on the Nile valley. I looked into bus schedules, but quickly decided to book a berth on the overnight tourist train from Cairo to Aswan. Arriving at the railway station was an experience in itself. The taxi driver who was taking me there got completely lost, and couldn’t find the entrance to the station. He was able to get close several times, even to the point where we could see the building. Finally after having do some creative reversing (and experiencing some creative swearing from the local vendors!), he gave up trying to reach the drop off point and just pointed me in the correct direction. I gathered up my stuff, and walked the remaining 100 or so meters toward the front entrance.

Once immersed in the chaos of the train station, I quickly appreciated the fact that I was on a tourist class train. During the half hour or so that I was waiting for my train, I must have seen the express train departing into the 9th circle of hell arrive and depart several times! The locals crammed into cars that had no windows, and if they were lucky they might get an old wooden bench to fight over. Of course their ticket cost about 1 percent of what I paid, so it was a pretty in my face concrete example of why most Egyptians see tourists as nothing more than walking wallets.

The train that I got on was nothing like what the locals had. I had my own private compartment (which I got for the equivalent of a two dollar bribe to the porter), soft clean sheets, clean toilets, and even a bar car that played bad techno music all night long. I ended up chatting to a couple of tourists for a few hours, and then headed to bed where I was lulled to sleep by the sound of the wheels clacking against the badly aligned rails.

The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunrise, and my first view of the Nile river in a rural setting. For another hour or so as the train approached Aswan we passed thru small villages, and got a small glimpse into how rural life was for those Egyptians who lived outside of the cities. We finally pulled into the train station, and were met by an army of touts all trying to entice us to their hotels and tour companies. I’d already selected a hotel based on the Lonely Planet’s recommendation, so I headed over to check in. The hotel was clean, and the owner was friendly, if a little pushy about his tour company. I agreed to go on a felucca ride with a few other people that afternoon, and a trip to Abu Simel the following day, but declined his offer to sail to Luxor on his friend’s boat. I actually had planned to take a felucca downriver to at least Edfu, but the temperatures in January made it a less than attractive idea.

While I was killing time waiting for my felucca ride, I decided to wander down to the Nubian museum. After seeing how chaotic the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo was, I wasn’t really expecting a lot as far as quality. It was quite a nice surprise to see how well presented and organized the displays were! Instead of a random collection of artifacts with little or no information about the objects being shown, this had a complete history of the Nubian culture laid out chronologically in both Arabic and English. I ended up spending nearly two hours wandering around absorbing as much as I could.

After a couple of hours, it was time to head to the docks to meet the other people on the trip, and get onboard. We started our trip by heading to the opposite side of the river where we visited some 2000 year old tombs of early Egyptian noblemen. These were dug into the side of the hill and had a kind of sketchy admission system. There wasn’t any "official" entry station, but instead there were several locals who would show you around and then ask for baksheesh when you left. We didn’t get much information about what we were seeing, but we were informed several times that it was a "beautiful tomb!"

After checking out the tombs, we headed over to Elephantine island in the middle of the river. We were invited to see the local village where the Nubian people lived. Once again, I was less than impressed with how set up it was. One day I’m going to learn not to expect anything else other than bored villagers playacting for the tourists! We wandered around, and the most authentic thing that we saw was the local muslim women hiding from the tourists as we walked by. They seemed genuinely disturbed by our presense, and I was glad to finally leave them in peace. Of course no village visit for tourists would be complete without an invitation to the chief’s house where we could purchase locally made souvineers of dubious quality and authenticity.

We were supposed to go over to one more island, but it was getting close to sunset so our group decided to just cruise around for another hour or so before heading back. This was my favorite part of the whole cruise. just gliding around, powered by nothing but the wind was incredible. We got to see an amazing sunset and then headed back to the dock and the rest of the evening.

Once I arrived in Cairo, one of the first things that I wanted to do was head out to Giza to see the pyramids. Originally I figured I’d just go take the local bus out here, but after checking out my guidebook I decided that I’d get more out of it by hooking up with a tour company. I was a little leery about doing this, but in retrospect it turned out to be a great decision with only a couple of downsides.

We started out at the necropolis of Saqqara where we saw what is generally considered to be the first example of a "modern" Egyptian pyramid. Up till the 3rd dynasty, kings had been buried in underground tombs covered by simple earthen mounds. It was King Zoser and his head architect Imhotep who finally evolved the design into something grander. The pyramid here is called the "step-pyramid" because the building technology had not yet progressed to the point of smooth sides. We spent about an hour at the site wandering around just absorbing the atmosphere and getting my first experience with the temple touts that seem to surround every monument in all of Egypt. These guys are a constant annoyance that you have to get used to quickly, or else they’ll drive you insane. They are the guys who want to be your friend, and then just want to show you their humble art, carpet, or perfume shop. If they don’t have a shop, they’re looking for baksheesh for doing just about anything, including pointing out the extremely obvious like "Look, beautiful pyramid!". I even had one guy ask for extra baksheesh for his camel after I took a picture of it!

Anyway, once we finished at Saqqara we were taken to a carpet factory. Here we watched 14 and 15 year old kids make carpets, and then we were supposed to feel sorry for them and purchase fairly inferior quality carpets at extraordinarily inflated prices. Surprisingly for me, a couple of people on our tour actually ended up purchasing some carpets. I guess thats why its worth dragging us tourists around!

Next we headed to the ancient capital city of Memphis. There isn’t much left here to indicate that it was the head of the ancient Egyptian culture, but there is a fairly impressive outdoor museum complex. The highlights include lots of impressively large and intact statues of Ramses II (that guy was a real narcissist!), and a famous alabaster sphinx. I spent most of the time wandering around looking for good photo opportunities. The lighting wasn’t great, but I got a few shots that will be desktop background worthy, even if they won’t ever get framed for my wall.

Finally, after a stop at a papyrus shop (more tourist trap garbage!), we got to head out to the plateau of Giza for the main attraction that brings just about everyone here…the pyramids! The first thing you notice about the site is how close it is to the city. Its quite a shock to be driving along a city street, and suddenly see the great pyramid sticking up in the background between two apartment complexes. I think the most egregious example of how much sprawl has affected the pyramids is the fact that instead of the Sphinx staring stoically out into the desert sands as its done for thousands of years, it now stares straight into the brightly lit sign of a KFC. I wonder which will last longer……

The first thing one notices when approaching the pyramids is just how BIG they really are. I mean, these things just dwarf everything around them. Tourists aren’t allowed to climb to the top of them anymore, but I did climb up a couple of steps, and it’s not an easy thing to do. Each one is about two and a half feet high, just awkward enough to make it tough to climb up or down. It takes about 30 minutes to wander around each pyramid, especially if you’re gazing up in amazement as I tend to do. It turns out that the best view is really from a little bit farther out. Up close everything is just too in your face to properly appreciate it. After wandering around the pyramids themselves, I headed over to the sphinx to check it out. After the grandiose size of the pyramids, it was almost disappointing. It’s big, but somehow I’d expected it to be much bigger. Still, it’s one of those things that everyone needs to go check out at least once in their lives.