Dear Ones,
Interesting to me that I am starting my letter this way. It is how my grandma Scott always started her letters. We have been having an incredible time. We spent a few days in Egypt and saw the Sphinx. (Name that tune.) Actually, we did see the Sphinx. It is right by the pyramids of Giza. And, they are part of Cairo (pop. 20 to 24 million, depending on the tour guide you talk to). It is huge. I mean, you stand and look at it, and then you turn 180 degrees and you see Pizza Hut. It is beautiful, though. Went to a rug factory and saw children making rugs. They told us they were doing the children a favor, teaching them a trade, said they had to be 12, but some of those children had to be younger than 12. The first day we flew to Luxor and saw the Valley of the Kings. Lots of tombs with incredible hieroglyphics. The most exciting thing for me was to look at the facsimiles in the Pearl of Great Price and see the exact same 5 point stars in those examples as we had seen all over those tombs. Wow! Also went to a big mosque. Guide was Moslem-Mohamed. Petra was awesome. The pictures will tell it better than I can. We will put them on the blog. Our guide was a archeologist, chain smoker, married to a Mormon from and in Utah, also an archeologist. We are now in Jerusalem. Wow, Wow! I hope you can all see this one day. We swam, or rather, floated in the Dead Sea. It is beautiful, same color as Bear Lake in parts. Saw Masada. Really incredible. We'll watch the movie when we get home. It is almost time for dinner. I will get the internet after dinner and send this to all of you and put some photos on the blog. The only down side is tipping-it never ends. All border crossings were fine until Jordan-Israel. Showed our passports about 7 times, rode on the Allenby Bridge-look up the history on that one-saw Jerico, drove through Moab, Saw Jerico from afar. Dad will send you his letter. We also have to let Phil finish his letter to his missionary-Chase in S. Carolina. Having a great time, didn't like getting into Israel, but it is all good now. Love you all, more details later.
Interesting to me that I am starting my letter this way. It is how my grandma Scott always started her letters. We have been having an incredible time. We spent a few days in Egypt and saw the Sphinx. (Name that tune.) Actually, we did see the Sphinx. It is right by the pyramids of Giza. And, they are part of Cairo (pop. 20 to 24 million, depending on the tour guide you talk to). It is huge. I mean, you stand and look at it, and then you turn 180 degrees and you see Pizza Hut. It is beautiful, though. Went to a rug factory and saw children making rugs. They told us they were doing the children a favor, teaching them a trade, said they had to be 12, but some of those children had to be younger than 12. The first day we flew to Luxor and saw the Valley of the Kings. Lots of tombs with incredible hieroglyphics. The most exciting thing for me was to look at the facsimiles in the Pearl of Great Price and see the exact same 5 point stars in those examples as we had seen all over those tombs. Wow! Also went to a big mosque. Guide was Moslem-Mohamed. Petra was awesome. The pictures will tell it better than I can. We will put them on the blog. Our guide was a archeologist, chain smoker, married to a Mormon from and in Utah, also an archeologist. We are now in Jerusalem. Wow, Wow! I hope you can all see this one day. We swam, or rather, floated in the Dead Sea. It is beautiful, same color as Bear Lake in parts. Saw Masada. Really incredible. We'll watch the movie when we get home. It is almost time for dinner. I will get the internet after dinner and send this to all of you and put some photos on the blog. The only down side is tipping-it never ends. All border crossings were fine until Jordan-Israel. Showed our passports about 7 times, rode on the Allenby Bridge-look up the history on that one-saw Jerico, drove through Moab, Saw Jerico from afar. Dad will send you his letter. We also have to let Phil finish his letter to his missionary-Chase in S. Carolina. Having a great time, didn't like getting into Israel, but it is all good now. Love you all, more details later.
Xoxoxoxo mom
8 comments:
It's so incredible that you're there. I'm jealous! Can't wait to see all the pictures and hear the stories. Dad, I have to ask - did you really ride around on a camel, or was that just a photo op for all the tourists? And while I'm at it, how did you get up on that thing, anyway?!
Wow, I always thought that the sphinx was a lot bigger than that. From the first picture it looks like it is only about 8 feet tall. :)
Jason
I love the pictures. I can't wait to see all of them and to hear more about your trip! I've heard about how tough it is getting into Israel, especially if you have a muslim country stamp in your passport (Egypt). I'm sure it'll be much easier leaving. ;-) Hope you're taking good notes. I'd love to do your exact trip someday.
Isn't that last picture the place they go in the 3rd Indiana Jones? You know, to find the Holy Grail. I just watched that last night and it looks the same.
I bet you're having a great time. Come home safe.
Colin
Colin, I almost asked (but then I didn't) if that pic reminded anyone else of Indiana Jones. :o)
Hahaha, I said that to Jason when I first opened the picture. "That looks like Indiana Jones."
We just watched Raiders of the Lost Arc, so I was in the right mind frame.
You guys were right! I on the other hand never remember anything about movies. I found this on some Indiana Jones site.
"The temple right at the end of the movie exists, but not in Alexandretta. It is in Petra, in Jordan."
Yes, you are all right. That "building" is in Petra, Jordon, and is the one from indiana jones, and the canyon he rode horses out through at the end. It is called the Treasury, and is the first shrine in a series of similar structures spanning over 21 kilometers, an antient city of over 75,000 people called Nabotians, who lived there between 300 and 0 BC. They carved these incredibly intricate facades and large interior rooms with copper hand tools in the solid sandstone canyon walls. Most of these were tombs, for the purpose of enshrining their dead. An unbelievable amount of work for someone whose earthlife was over. They, as well as the Egyptians to the west, were increadibly obcessed with death and the afterlife. They would spend their entire adult lives carving, or having slaves carve their tombs. The stone removed from these sites was then used to build their houses on the canyon floor, all of which have crumbled by now. They also carved a huge amphitheatre out of the rock for cultural activities (more pics of that later.) The entry canyon (1 mile long - on foot) reminded me a lot of some of the deep, winding canyons at Lake Powell. They had even carved aquaducts in the walls to carry water into the city from a spring several miles outside the canyon. The spring is said to be the one created by Moses when he struck a rock with his staff, to hydrate the House of Israel as they passed through this area in their long wilderness journey. From here, they went NW to the Jordon river valley, now Israel. Pretty increadible stuff. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it.
Anyway, I'm going to try to enter some another post with more pictures if I can get this wireless hook-up to work, so stay tuned.
Dad
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