On the Nile

Egypt is the most exotic place I have ever been, and I've been to some interesting places. Cairo is a filthy city. The smog is so bad. It makes Mexico City look like a clean air city. As we landed we could see brown dust just hanging in the air. From the air, everything is monochromatic brown. They only get 2 inches of rain a year. It needs to rain just to clean off the buildings. Luxor is about 300 miles away and they get any rain at all. None. Isn't that wild. They are both right on the Nile river, so they irrigate and are able to grow crops like cotton and rice. They have the biggest vegetables you have ever seen.
I can't wait to upload the picture of the Diane and I on the camel! It's great!!! That was the most fun $6.00 can buy. I haven't laughed that hard in forever! They have camels, burrow drawn carts, and horse drawn wagons all over the place. They are just a part of the normal flow of traffic. The only place I've seen worse drivers is China.
The ruins are amazing. They are more interesting than I imagined. It makes the Tower of Babel seem so much more realistic. The pillars in these temples are enormous. What impressive engineering.
Tonight we are staying in Luxor. We flew in this morning (after our 3:00am wake-up call). Tomorrow's wake up call is 5:30am. We get to sleep in. Tomorrow we spend the day in Cairo again and go to the Cairo Museum and the Perfume Shop and the Papyrus Shop.
Pray for the Christians here. The city of Cairo has 30% Christian population according to our guide (who is a Christian), but the government is controlled by 100% Muslims. With our new administration it has emboldened them and they are beginning to persecute the Christians more. You can never outwardly criticize the the Muslim religion. The Muslims are converting many of the young people in the country to the Muslim faith. The church here needs our prayers as they become more and more persecuted.
Uploading pictures is a problem because I have messed up my computer. But, internet availability is scarce as hen's teeth and very expensive so it is fine. You'll just have to wait until I get home to see the pictures.