Willard Bandola | Article and Photos

Willard and his wife on a camel ride through the desert of Wadi Rum

We are standing on our hotel balcony watching the rising sun light up the towering pyramid of Khufu to the west . It is an impressive start to our trip through Egypt , Jordan , and Dubai . My wife and I had long looked forward to this trip , and after many months of planning and anticipation we were about to begin . That first day we walked around the pyramid , climbed on the giant blocks , and ventured inside to follow a narrow passage to an interior room . We watched the local vendors plying their trade on a warm , sunny February morning with the Sphinx sitting majestically in the background .

Egypt has almost a third of the ancient monuments in the world , and we were going to see most of them . We stopped in Luxor and were dwarfed by the columns that held pictures and hieroglyphics that had been crafted by artisans from a civilization that dominated the region thousands of years ago . We travelled to the Valley of the Kings , marvelled at the tomb of Tutankhamen , and went on to explore four other tombs that were even more astounding . The tomb of Pharaoh Seti I had a long sloping passageway adorned with colourful paintings , carved pictures , and hieroglyphics . For a time in the inner room , we were by

32 | arta . net DO IT NOW ourselves with only a guide to conspiratorially show us extra rooms for a token price .

In the upcoming days we would visit the monument to Queen Hatshepsut , the Temple of Karnak , Hathor ’ s Temple , and the relocated Temple of Ramses II ; tour old Cairo ; visit a Nubian village ; and spend hours in the world-renowned Egyptian Museum . We got used to awakening to the call to prayer at 5 a . m . each morning , and one cool and quiet morning we floated via hot air balloon above the Nile River , over farmland and ancient monuments . The description of each of these places would require a story of their own .

Heiroglyphics in the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I