The Egyptian Expedition

“When the adventure is this big when the danger…only 1 hero stacks up to the challenge” (Yeah…I was kinda repeating the monologue from that Lego Indiana Jones Trailer)...

Well, that was because over the Thanksgiving break, the reason why I (Ethan Stranger) took a long break from blogging besides the holiday, was because I was out enjoying myself in Egypt (Check out the Pics, Pictures Top and Bottom Center). Who would ever think I would spend Thanksgiving up in North Africa, where the heat over in Egypt was way hotter than compared to Texas. So allow me to tell y’all about this wild experience I had in Egypt, shall we? 

So as you can see, we stayed at this hotel that wasn’t far from the Giza Pyramids, so close that I and my parents could’ve just walked there, but we chose not to (besides we were new to Egypt), for, throughout my many travels around the world, North Africa was new to me, for I have already conquered most parts of Asia and South America. So when I say we went to Egypt, we didn’t just stay in 1 part of the whole country, for our 1st expedition took place in Cairo (that’s where the Pyramids and the Sphinx were), however, before going there, we 1st decide to take a cab to take us to the “National Museum of Egyptian Civilization” (Picture: Bottom Center), where it was extremely crowded up and filled with various ancient Egyptian artifacts (so no need to literally show off a bunch of Egyptian artifacts pics I took, after all, it is Egypt)...           

Though, the Fun part was these Tintin comics being displayed (Big Fan of Tintin)

(Click to listen to the Tintin Cartoon theme)

Also managed to get a good picture of this Oasis-Styled Looking place from outside the Museum  

With help from a guide (who somewhat resemble this Peruvian Therapist I had for a short time) finally took us out to the Pyramids (literally went inside where I was forced to walk down those crappy steps while being bent down and forced to deal with strangers both in front and behind us). Plus it was so crowded inside the Pyramids, I could barely get any good pics and just wanted to leave so badly, I don’t do well with crowds. 

Outside the pyramids, I witness many stray dogs hanging around that area, even some that were able to climb the pyramids (that was something), for dogs climbing up something like a pyramid or a mountain, their paws aren’t able to maneuver well like a Mountain Goat’s hoofs. 

Did feel sorry for these fellas, for being a stray in the Egyptian desert isn’t easy (especially due to the extreme heat, and hardly any food and water), plus I always felt kinda sad for the horses, there’s always a lot of Horse chariots throughout Egypt, the problem is that several horses have injured legs, but their owners don’t seem to care that much, I’ll never forget when leaving the pyramids, a chariot owner was abusing his weak small horse by whipping it to death.

So if you (in the future) think about traveling to Egypt, encourage chariot owners not to abuse their horses and maybe gave some water/scraps of food to these poor street dogs. 

(Click to witness Yosemite Sam’s experience with Camelback riding Experience)

(though I wonder if his Camel training also works on Spitz's who bark too much or people who talk too much) 

I also finally met the Sphinx (Picture: Top Center), really didn’t expect it to be so close to the Pyramids, I thought it is a bit more far out, plus I really didn’t it to be so…Small (The Movies always tend to make the Sphinx bigger), plus I don’t think visitors were allowed around the Shinpx, there were some people, but I think they must’ve had some sort of special access… 

Then as you can see (Pictures: Bottom Center) My parents and I had this late-night dinner aboard a boat that just took us only up, down, and around the Nile River, while enjoying the nightly cruise and food, there was some entertainment, various Egyptian dancers showing off their own style of dancing skills, including Belly Dancers (which is rare since Egypt is a Muslim country and y’all know about how Muslim women in middle eastern countries dress). As you can see (due to the loud music and shyness, I couldn’t get just a solo pic with any of the Belly Dancers)...   

(here’s the perfect/more calm soothing song for Belly Dancers to Dance to) 

Halfway through the Thanksgiving break, My parents and I left Cairo and headed to another part of Egypt (Aswan), where we would catch a cruise to sail up the Nile River (Pictures: Bottom center), don’t ask on why random farmers on the shore began starting a fire. 

We spent about 3 days sailing up the Nile, while also making a few stops to do some exploring other cities and sites of Egypt before finally arriving at our city destination (Luxor), where we would spend our final days in Egypt at. During our time in Luxor, Egypt, we explore a whole lot more temples, and where there are temples, there are these Egyptian hieroglyphs (Pictures: Bottom Center), literally, every time I went to any temple, it was always the same Egyptian hieroglyphs…

(I’m gonna let Luna the Moon and Company crack some of these Egyptian hieroglyphs)

In the final days right before leaving back to Hyderabad (Read my “Hooray for Hyderabad” Post for more info), I eventually got “Temple-Bored”, meaning (as I mentioned before) those  Egyptian hieroglyphs were repeating themselves (eygtains were too madly in love with there gods and hieroglyphs), I’m no archaeologist, so if anybody wants to try and translate these hieroglyph messages, feel free to give it try (I don’t think there’s a wrong answer), unless the Egyptains were trying to say that (I don’t know, at one point our tour guide mentioned it, but hardly anybody believes that), aliens came down from the sky and (literally) helped the egyptains make the pyramids, I mean look at these 2 hieroglyphs (Pictures: Bottom Left and Right Corners), in my opinion, these are the rarest Egyptian hieroglyphs I’ve ever seen, the 1 on the left looks like a “Sand Dollar with a big X in the center”, while the one on bottom right literally kind of looks liek (can’t believe I’m saying this) but…an alien?! Plus I was dealing with the unbearable heat, annoying pesky flies, and crowds/beggars, which is why I’m glad this powerful Egyptian word (in my opinion) “shokran or Shukran (means no thank you in Egyptian)”, if you yourself go visit Egypt and come across beggars, all you got to say is “shokran or Shukran (however you pronounce it)”, but you gotta say it with some force, because if you say it too calmly, they’ll continue to annoy you or annoy you with pricing deals.

(En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse)

During our final days in Egypt, I (Ethan Stranger) literally made myself look like a “Cowboy traveling throughout Egypt (Pictures: Bottom Below)”, after all, I was raised in TX, but born in Juneau, where I felt like at times I was gonna melt, for the heat in TX is nothing compare to the heat in Egypt (or throughout all of North Africa and the Middle East). The dude in the Pink Shirt was our tour guide, a very nice one too (a bit better than the tour guide we had in Cairo).  

 

Upon arriving back to Hyderabad, I nearly collapsed from exhaustion, for we had to stay nearly overnight in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before that, we had to take a flight from Luxor to Cairo and then from Cairo to Jeddah and then finally back to Hyderabad, where the next day I was back to working out with my trainer, struggling in recovering from Jet-Lagging and then I had a bad case of sniffles (lots of people on the plane were sick and made weird praying noises, so weird). So despite my return having some setbacks, this so-called “Egyptian Expedition” I went on, was considered 1 of those “once in a lifetime experiences”, that gave this idea that I was living my own adventure, in the style of “Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Mummy, the Adventures of Tintin and Captain America: The Bloodstone Hunt Storyline” (Pictures: Bottom Center), but if there’s 1 thing these tales have in common, is that the hero (expect Tintin, I don't think he ever had a Girlfriend before) always gets the girl and there was no girl for me (which is sad, what kind of a hero who literally risked everything in the desert doesn’t win the girl), this is why I wish I had Indy’s Whip (besides maybe using it to fend off against annoying crowds/beggars), “I could that whip for anything…and everything imaginable (when Indy used the Whip to Lasso Willie Scott in the Temple of Doom” (again, I’m repeating from the Lego Indiana Jones Trailer).    

(Also check out more Egyptian fun from Mr. Peabody and Sherman and Ed Edd n Eddy)

(At least Mr. Peabody and Sherman got to me, Cleopatra)

(Someone convince Grey Griffin-DeLisle’s Cleopatra variant that I, Ethan Stranger, can help reclaim her kingdom and happily marry her)

(an Ed Edd n Eddy Scheme involving ancient Egypt, could make anybody rich) 

So remember (to those who plan on touring Egypt), be careful about who you trust, say “shokran or Shukran” to make beggars (they’re like Star Trek’s  Ferengi), be prepared for whenever you enter pyramids or temples  (Especially if you get stuck in crowds), if you go on a cruise up the Nile River, you’ll feel a bit sea sick (even before the boat takes off, so be prepared for that), if you get “Temple-Bored” after a while, that’s fine, don’t get stuck in flea markets nor buy any of there stuff, put on lots of Sunscreen and don’t be afraid to get a camel-ride and if you go on a chariot ride, be cautious, for chariot owners will try to raise their prices higher than promised.   

(Ethan Stranger signs off on this adventure…with a Famous theme playing me out)