Aswan Philae Temple

We went by boat to see the Philae Temple which was relocated to an island in the middle of Lake Nassar. Due to the Dam, this temple would have been under water if it weren't relocated. It was a great temple. The first of many we would see on this trip. As I'm writing the blog after the trip I truly believe this was one of the best temples. Being in the middle of the lake gives it that much more mystery and charm. We really enjoyed it. Me, Mrinalini and Tom are just going crazy with the cameras. Tom mainly focused on the architecture and I encouraged the kids to do crazy poses. we all had a great time and we were starved by the time we return to our ship which set sail in the middle of the night for Kom Ombo.

Aswan Dam

The Unfinished Obelisque

So this one was unfinished. It had no carvings, no inscriptions and it's a mystery. However, it did give people clue about how they were made and how they were transported down the Nile to other temples. Apparently the Nile used to flood and the water would come up close to where these monuments were made. They were lifted onto some kind of boat and transported up or down the Nile. It was interest but please, show me some finished stuff! So off we went to see the Aswan High Dam.

Aswan

Aswan was nice. We were met at the train station and taken directly to the 5 star cruise the Crown Jubilee. Our rooms were next to each other and the kids were delighted. The cabins were like hotel rooms with two twin beds, full shower with tubs and each room came with full view of the Nile! We were starved as the food on the train was bad. We quickly ate lunch and the food was awesome! All the other tourists were French as we were on a French Cruise. The waiters were all great.

We were met by our guide at 2pm and went straight to the "unfinished Obelisque".

Train ride to Aswan

We took the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan and it was quite an experience. First of all, there are no train schedules. Trains could come early or late and to avoid missing the train, our guide took us to the train station by 6pm. After waiting at a cafe where all the foreigners hang out, he told us our train would arrive by 8.30pm. By 8.15pm he took us to the front of the platform and we saw so many trains go by. Some of the trains were really stinky. At one point, we all got our scarves out and the kids were playing cowboys and robbers. We had each bought perfume so I quickly put that to use. Our train finally came around 9.30pm. I must say the inside of the train was very nice. Our cabin was clean and the seats converted into two comfy bunk beds. We didn't even have to store our luggage as they fit in the cabin. We had a little sink, two coat hangers and we could lock the cabin from the inside.

We had a very nice cabin waiter. He served us dinner. Chandra came over to play cards and we were all tired so after dinner we all slept. The next morning we woke up
early thinking we would arrive by 8am as it showed in the schedule. However, the cabin
boy said there was a delay right outside of Cairo and we were only half way there and had
not even reached Luxor. Anyway, we got there around 1pm.

Cairo

Cairo

The kids enjoyed goofing around. It doesn't rain much in Cairo, however, when we were there, it started raining so we dashed out to avoid the crowd. The kids just had the best time pushing, farting and messing about like kids do...

Cairo

These are photo opps for a life time! We learned that Napoleon shot the nose of the Sphynx off. He used it for target shooting and also destroyed a bunch of other statues. That was a terrible thing. The Egyptians said the Sphynx didn't do a good job guarding the tombs in the pyramids as they've all been looted.

Cairo

Camel Safari

The six of us rented 6 camels and we went into the desert and saw the pyramid from the Sahara desert. It was really cool. This was exactly how I imagined it. From the front of the Pyramid, the city crowds the pyramids. We were so surprised to see the Pizza Hut and KFC just across from the Sphyx and one of the Pyramids. From the back on camel back it was a completely different world. Sam the camelman raise 4 camels and the camels are like dogs to him. They kiss him and listen to him very well. Emily's camel was called Lorens and they are just the cutest and the nicest animals.

Pyramid at Giza

This was the first Pyramid we saw. We were told by our guide Tariq to be very careful with the local vendors who would shake your hand and stuff something in your hand and later would demand payment. After living in China and India, we were not bothered at all by the hawkers. Here we are with Emily and her best friend Chandra. We were delighted to be there and were ready to start our adventure.

Cairo

We went with the Ingram family on a camel caravan. We were so busy taking photos of this amazing scenery it wasn't until I came home did I realize the full extent of the experience.

Dubai Mega buildings

Desert dancing

This dancer was awesome. He danced in spinning circles while juggling four of these colorful trays. His skirt has three layers and he made them spin in different levels. At one time all the lights went out and his skirts were lit while he continue to spin around. Later he asked volunteers to go up to try the spinning dance and no one can last more than two minutes. He did it for a good 10-15 minutes!

Dubai Desert Safari

We went on a desert safari. It was a caravan of Range Rovers going up and down the sand dunes. It was fun at first but eventually everyone got "sand sick". We saw these two cool Hummers coming up the hill as we took a break. The final destination was a camp site where we had BBQs, watched belly dancing and other dances. It was a fun night and now we know what a desert safari is!

Dubai 2008

I took Emily to Dubai and Egypt with the Ingrams over the Dawili holidays. In Dubai we had Starbucks coffee, Hagan Daas ice cream. Emily calls it Do-buy and we bought three camels to join the camel collection she already has. We saw some of the mega buildings and the high light was the Wild Wadi Water Park with the man-made wave, the water slides and lazy river. We also hadn't had hot dogs and hamburgers for a while so it was a great treat!

Diwali 2008

The lovely ladies in our beautiful Indian Sarees just in the back of Building 11. We were en route to the newly opened studio to terrorize the studio engineers!

Diwali 2008

This is a picture of my CMO team from L to R: Irine, Kamal, me and Savita. The four guys from the Business Intelligence team were in the US for a workshop. Our team is expected to grow this year, however, this is the core team who were together since day 1. I love this team and we can always count on each other. We've shared many mega events, charities, meals and celebrated each others' birthdays.

Diwali 2008

Diwali celebration on campus. We all dressed up in our Indian best and it was a great way to start the holidays!

Diwali 2008

Diwali is one of the biggest holidays in India. It's also called the festival of lights. This is when families and friends get together and celebration is for the entire week. There are firework displays, people play poker all night and kids get candy and new stuff. It's like the Chinese New year, Christmas and Thanksgiving all in one week! Here we are at work at Cisco and we all decided to dress up and have a pot-luck lunch. It was great fun!