Pictures from Egypt

[Barb T]

Hi all,

I'm in Egypt for the next month doing field work west of Aswan in the Western Desert of Egypt. A couple of you asked me to post some pics, so I thought I'd put up a few now. I'm part of a group of American and Egyptian geologists and students who are working on a variety of geological mapping and geophysical survey projects. We arrived in Cairo on the 28th, spent a couple days at one of the Egyptian universities in the Delta, and then took the 1200 km train (14 hours) from Cairo to Aswan, which is in the very south of Egypt. We'll be working here for the next two and half weeks.

Here is our crew taking a day of sightseeing at the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx:


Buying food for the train trip:


Egypt is a peculiar mix of high tech (the mobile phone store on this street, plus the wireless USB modem that I bought to access the Internet - total cost $30, which included a month of access) and donkey carts on the four-lane highways.


We're staying in a dorm at South Valley University, and we have a typical Egyptian breakfast every morning - flat bread, fool (kind of like refried beans with garlic, lemon, and oil - very yummy!!!), cheese, and water.


Every morning, our group hops into a pick-up truck with a cap and bench seats in the back (kind of like an old-fashioned troop transport), and we head for the military checkpoint on the road out of Aswan. Some very serious soldiers with well-worn Kalashnikovs check our paperwork every day - no one can just drive out into the desert to work. Then we drive an hour or so, and our driver drops us off, and we head off across the desert to do our work.


That's me in the photo above - this is truly bleak desert. We've seen fennec fox dens, a few beetles, a lizard or two, and the trails of sidewinders in the sand. But no water, no vegetation. Just the wind and the rocks and the sand. And one road running through it all for thousands of square kilometers. Amazing place.

If you have Google Earth, you can see the structure we've spent the last couple of days mapping at:

23.857562°N, 32.490288°E

[McMurdo]

Wonderful shots Barb, have a great time playing with the rocks.

[Macman]

Wow, Barb, from Iceland to Egypt! I sure enjoy your pictures and envy you your work!

[herminator]

Mmmmmhh, Foul - verrry yummy!

[Paul]

wow. Just reminds me of being there!
There's a lot of beautiful and strange sights, although quite a lot of hassle from people selling things and people claiming to want to buy the young females in one's group!
Did you go inside the pyramind that's open to tourists?

[dwg]

Thank you for the photos Egypt is one of my favorite place to visit, My wife and I love to go to the S/East coast

Derek

[Keith A]

My wife and I have been there twice. I would go back in a heart beat if I could. The first time the Cairo Police closed down the pyramids for us to have a private tour. The second time we went for a wedding, and took a week long
cruise on the Nile, to Luxor.
If you get a chance check out the bar at the Windsor Hotel in Cairo, it used to be a British Officers Club back in the day. It is like stepping back in time.

http://www.windsorcairo.com/

[Standard]

Great pictures, looks like a grand adventure. Keep the pictures coming when you can. It is certainly a stark landscape, but with a beauty all its own. Looked up the coordinates on google, you certainly are out in the middle of nowhere, or if not, I'll bet you can see it from where you are.

[unaspenser]

Thank you for sharing the photos and stories about your work! It's gorgeous there, and so stark. The breakfast sounds and looks delicious!

[###KILTEDKIWI###]

great pics, hope it all goes well.