EGYPT!!!!

Egypt was incredible. There are no words to describe some of the things that I saw while I was there. I stood in awe everywhere I went. Just like normal, every second was jam packed with amazing sites and great food. Some of the highlights in Egypt included: tour of Kibbutz, pyramids, temples and tombs, camel rides alongside the Nile, sailing along the Nile, Valley of the Kings, carriage rides, sleeper train, bargaining at hundreds of shops, and most definitely hiking Mount Sinai. See what I mean. We did so many other things as well and everything feels like a wonderful dream.

To begin, the pyramids were absolutely incredible. I just stood in front of them with my mouth wide open. It was something I had only ever dreamed about seeing and was so amazed to be there. We were also able, the night before we went to the pyramids, watched a light show and heard the stories of the pyramids. (these last two pictures are of the syhinx. My two friends Lizzy(left) and Molly(in the middle) are next to me!
The temples and tombs were also so amazing. To be standing in front of ancient temples that had been built thousands and thousands and thousands of years ago was so amazing. I kept thinking that the temples that I was looking Christ might have thought that they were old as well. Many of them had been built hundreds and even a thousand years before Christ. WOW!!!! The same thing with the pyramids. Everything was so OLD! Ha ha! The tombs were remarkable. The ones that we went to on our tour were incredibly detailed with old ancient writings and drawing. Many of them also had the color on them still after all these years. I loved looking at them and I stood really close to my teacher who was telling a small group of us students what the symbols meant.
(the first five pictures are at the Karnak Temple. The most incredible ancient temple there is in the world and the last five picture are at Queen Hatshepsut temple. I dont have any pictures of the tombs because the tombs that we went to at the Valley of the Kings did not allow you to take pictures there. Its such a shame because it was so amazing. Maybe look online for pictures.=)

The camel ride was so much fun. We left just about two hours before the sun went down and we sailed across the Nile River to our camels. The view was incredible. It was literally beyond any expectations I had for a camel ride. A big group of us then got on the camels and took a 30 minute camel Ride right on the Nile and started going into a little bit of a small country village with beautiful mountains in the background. I also had a lot of fun talking to my guide Abraham. And my camel (George Cloney took good care of me)!(these are little girls that were trying to sell us some flowers. They were adorable. It amazes me how poor some of the world is. Being here has opened up my eyes in so many different ways.)

The bargaining in Egypt was CRAZY!!! Whenever we decided to go shopping we were mobbed by all the merchants. I cannot even count how many times I was told I was beautiful and so many men asked me to marry them. I even got offered a million camels. I have got to tell you, even though they were just trying to sell me their stuff and get my attention, they sure know how to boost my self-esteem. I was very flattered, most of the time. The other times it got quite annoying and I kind of got irritated. By the end of Egypt however I got really good at bargaining. At least I think I did. A lot of my friends would ask me to go buy stuff for them. It felt great to bargain! I really loved it!

Mount Sinai was my very last stop in Egypt and is was one of my favorite! We all woke up at 2 in the morning, yes am and got on the bus. We then took a short drive over to the mountain and started climbing. This mountain was a tough one. It was straight up the mountain and it had quite the obstacles to dodge. Hundreds of camels! Everywhere we were hiking we heard “want to ride a camel, long way up.” It was crazy. There was one point where I literally got smashed in-between two camels. It was a little scary. I walked next to one of our leaders who I love to death. Her name is Sue Allen. I get excited every time I talk to her because she reminds me of my wonderful friend Janette Allen. I do miss her but am grateful that I have this Sister Allen to love in the mean time! Anyways, we made it up the mountain and then had the option to climb up on the very tippy tippy top of the mountain. It was 700 more stairs up and many of the girls legs were already shaking and did not want to walk further. However, I was determined and I made it all the way up to the top. We arrived on the top just as the sun was about to come up. It was so beautiful! We were higher than the sun at the time so we were able to see the sun coming out. It was so incredible. f We also sang some songs on the top and it was truly a beautiful and wonderful experience. After the sun came up and we finished singing we climbed back down the stairs and had a testimony meeting. People shared their thoughts and feelings and I have never been so uplifted by others and the spirit in my life. It was wonderful. I feel like I am constantly growing spiritually as well as mentally. We then had the decision to climb down the camel way or the stair way. Now previously in this trip I rolled my ankle on the very first day of going to Egypt. By the week’s end and I was climbing Sinai it was still a little soar but incredibly better. Anyways, no one wanted to go down the camel way because they wanted to go faster and wanted to see the new scenery so I decided to go with them as well and just suck up the pain. NOT A GOOD IDEA! My ankles were still weak and not as strong and I actually twisted my ankles a few more time on the way down. It turns out it is a pretty bad sprain. However that is not the important thing. My experience there will never be forgotten, and not just because of my ankles but because of the beauty and the things which I experienced on top of Mount Sinai.

Overall, Egypt was incredible! I actually just looked up the word incredible in the thesaurus because I feel I have been using it a lot and the word I like the best to describe Egypt is far-fetched! So, Egypt was absolutely far-fetched! Ha ha!