“Grandma‘s Riding a Camel!” Day 9

Tuesday January 22, 2019. 11 p.m back in Cairo

Dear Ellie, Anna and Tyler, (plus my friends and family)

Grandma rode a camel today! What an experience! The camel is sitting on the ground but they still had to help Grandma up because my legs are so short. When the camel gets up he raises his hind legs and this can throw you over his head if you are not careful and lean back.  The same process is necessary when he sits down as he goes head first!  My camel helper name was Muhammad. He took the picture above with my camera.

This was on Kitchener’s Island.  We took a boat from our island to pick up our camels for our next adventure!

This trip was in three parts and took over an hour.  We went up to the Noble’s tombs and then  out into the dessert to St Simeon Coptic Monastery which was a refuge for Christian Egyptians in Aswan on the desert. The monestary was built of sandstone to look like the desert and this particular building was a place for Christian Families to live. It was built in the 6th century AD. Next door is a modern Coptic Monastery that is a place for monks in the Coptic Church.  By the way Coptic is the word for Egyptian so these people are Egyptian Christians. The only way to get here is by camel!

The Nobles Tombs are on high cliffs on the island. They were the tombs of the royal governors of the southern part of Egypt , They date to the sixth dynasty making them over 4000 years old. The tomb paintings were so beautiful.

Below are the photos from the adventure: