Egypt 5

Above is a picture of the valley of the kings. Below this pyramid-shaped mountain rests 63 tombs adn chambers of Egyptian kings and pharaohs. These 63 kings were buried here over a 500 year period (16th to 11th century BC). Here rests the tomb of Tutankhamun, the 9 year old boy-king whose tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter.

Nick, Jessica, and I are "walking like Egyptians" in front of the Pyramid of Khafre, the second largest of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza. The pyramid is the tomb of the fourth-dynasty pharaoh Khafre. The pyramid was opened and robbed in 2181 BC. The top of the pyramid still has its smooth casing stone cover.

This is the passageway that leads under the pyramid to the burial chamber of the Pyramid of Khufu. They won't let you take pictures inside, but the burial chamber is just a boxed room with no treasures left inside.

Here I am pictured with the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids. It was built as a tomb for Pharoah Khufu in 2540 BC. It took 20 years to build and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. The Great Sphinx of Giza depicts a reclining lion with a human head. It is the largest monolith (single rock) statue in the world standing 240 ft long, 20 ft wide, and 66 ft high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture and was built in the third millennium BCE. The nose is missing because a Sufi Muslim fanatic by the name of Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr was outraged to find Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increaasing their harvest in 1378 CE. He destroyed the nose and was hanged for vandalism.

Of course one more "walking like Egyptian" pose.

Egypt 4

The obelisk is leaning and so am I. Ancient Egyptian boelisk were tall, narrow, four-sided tapering monuments which ended in a pyramid-like shape at the top. They were made of one stone (monolithic) and have become associated with timelessness and memorialization.

Another picture of me!

Egyptian sculptors like rams!

At night at the Luxor Temple.

The statues are never ending.

Egypt 3

Above is a picture of 16 pillars from Luxor Temple which is a large ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in Luxor. It was built in 1400 BCE. Known as the "southern sanctuary", the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom.

Above is a picture of me with my statue friend at Luxor Temple.

At night, I am trying to recreate an ancient Egyptian pose.

I am on the top deck of our cruise boat. In the background people are sailing the Nile on sailboats. The Nile is one long river, but it is also one dirty river!

Above is a picture of our boat going through the Esna lock. It isn't nearly impressive as some other locks (Panama Canal), but it is the first lock I have ever been through and it was necessary for us to go through in order for us to go north on the Nile to Luxor.

Egypt 2

This is a picture of what our river boat looked like that we stayed on for 3 nights while we cruised the Nile River. Our boat was called Radamis I and is owned and operated by the Movenpick Hotel Group. The Nile River is the longest river in the world stretching over 4,100 miles in length. The Nile has two major tributaries: White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile begins in central Africa (Rwanda) and flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda, and southern Sudan. The Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast.

Here you can see how large the Egyptian paintings were on their temples.

I think I recreate a better image than the original!

Even the guys held hands back then. Jon would love to be Egyptian.

Me with my pet bird.

Egypt 1

Pictured above, the Temple of Philae was our first stop in Egypt. It is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the Nile River and was built in 380 BCE. It was dismantled and relocated to a nearby island when the building of the Aswan Dam threatened to flood the site.

As in Texas, the sun sets in Egypt too!

Above is the Aswan Dam (High Dam) which was built in 1970 on the Nile River to control flooding. Before the dam was built, the Nile River flooded each year during the summer as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brough high water, plus natural nutrients and minerals that enriched the fertile soil along the river and made the Nile Valley ideal for farming. However, in high-water years, the whole crop might be ruined, and in low-water years widespread drought and famine occurred. Now, the dam regulates the water level providing safety from both extremes. The dam generates 2.1 gigawatts of electricity which produces about 15% of the total electricity of Egypt.

Pictured above is Jessica Tamer, me, and Nick Denniston. Nick and Jess are engaged to be married next August. Nick is from San Angelo and is working on a M.S. in electrical engineering and Jessica is from Virginia and works with Academic Services for Texas A&M Qatar.

Nick, Jess, and I are posing in front of an unfinished oblisk in Egypt. It is the largest known ancient obelisk in the world, however, work on the project stopped when cracks appeared in the ancient granite. If erected it would have stood 12 stories high and weighted 1,200 tons.

80s Party

Nick and Jessica, some friends of mine here in Doha hosted an 80s party this past weekend. I went to a local shop and got the cheapest, brightest clothes I could. I borrowed Jag's glasses!

Update 5

While in Turkey, I also got to go to Istanbul, which is a city of about 13 million people. This city is unique in that is divided up onto two continents: Europe and Asia. The west side of the city is in Europe and the east side fo the city is located in Asia. The east and west sides of the city are separated by the Bospherus River. Istanbual (Constantinople) marked the city where the ancient Roman Empire was split between West and East. It is also the city that marked where Christianity and Islam collided. In the picture above, I was invited by the waiter (left) and the cook (right) to break Fast with them at their family restaurant during the 30 day Ramadan fasting period for Muslims.

Below is a picture of the food and family I got to eat with to break the daylight fasting period for this Turkish family. They own a restaurant and shut it down at 8:15 so they could eat together. They invited me to join.

Here is a picture of the Blue Mosque, one of the most used and most well known mosque in all of Turkey. I joined a tour group and went inside.

Along the way, our tour group took us to this leather factory. This leather factory was trying to sell their most stylish new line of leather clothing for the fall, and so they put on a fashion show for us.

Here is a picture of one of the ancient Roman ruins I came across while traveling in Turkey. I spent 6 days in Turkey, and spent most of my nights at cheap hostels, traveled overnight by buses, and spent money joining tour groups.

Update 4

We are hiking in a valley near where we launched for the hot air balloon ride.

The pilot of the hot air balloon and myself have a little post flight celebration!

He are taking all the air out of the balloon after the flight.

When we launched our flight at 6am, there were about 30 other balloons trying to do the same thing. It made for some cool pictures.

More balloons taking off!

Update 3

Here is a picture of me up in the air in a balloon. I am in the basket with 14 other people and there are a few balloons in the distance.

Here is a cool shot of a balloon rising up right beside my own balloon.

Here is a picture of the balloon from the inside-out. It is as colorful on the inside as the out!

I am in the basket getting ready to launch!

Here is the liquid propane that is burned in order to get us up in the air. We went through most of 1 tank in the hour that we were in the air.

Update 2

This past week I took a trip to Turkey. I got to fly in a hot air balloon in a city in southern Turkey called Cappadocia. Here is a picture of the pilot lighting liquid propane to heat the air inside the balloon to make it rise. We left at 5:15am in order to get in the air to see the sun rise. A 1-hour ride will cost about $225.

Here is another shot of the hot air balloon being heated up. It starts laying on its side then turns "upright" as the air inside the balloon heats up and pulls the basket into an upright position.

Here is a picture of me being attacked by a giant ant in Dubai.

Here is the crew that went with me to drink $100 tea at the Burj Al Arab Hotel: Justin, me, Amy, Natalie, Lindsay, Brent, and James. We took this picture, then had afternoon tea from 1pm-3pm for $100! They started us off with champaign, followed by cold cut sandwiches, ice cream, hot sandwhiches, tea or coffee, then dessert.

Here is another picture inside the hotel. This shows jets of water being shot around inside a fountain.

Update 1

Some friends and I took a trip to Dubai a few weeks ago. Here is a picture of the inside of the Burj Al Arab. It is a "7-star" hotel on its own island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Here is an outside picture of the hotel. You have to pay $50 just to cross the bridge onto the island to see the inside of the hotel.

Here is a view of the outside of a water park in Dubai. It is a high-tech water park that requires electronic waterproof bracelets to ride slides and buy food and drinks.

Here is a picture of the actual hotel that I stayed in with 5 other people. We got a great rate of $200 per night per room!

I am on an elevator in my hotel going up 38 floors. The elevator was really fast!