Astypalea and Ios

Astypalea turned out to be a serendipitous surprise.  We had planned to simply spend the night there as a necessary stop en route to Amorgos.  But sailing the Aegean means one is always subject to the whims of the sea.  Zephyr is the Greek god of wind, and he had other ideas for us.  After breakfast we began our journey to Amorgos.  But no sooner had we rounded the headlands into open sea but we were blown about like corks on the water.  The captains immediately turned back.  It was the right decision for safety reasons.  But it turned out to be the right decision in every way.

Astypalea is a gem!  You guessed, it – an impossibly beautiful town spilling down to the harbor from a hill-top kastro (fort).  Within the broken walls of the fort two picturesque blue-domed churches have been built.  And if that were not magical enough, a row of white-washed, red-capped windmills line the saddle that leads to the hill, lining up for an impossibly lovely photographic composition.

Wow!  What a horrible place to be stranded for an extra day.  That night the winds dropped and the seas calmed.  We had lost too much time to include Amorgos, but the calm seas allowed us to comfortably sail all day to arrive on Ios at the end of the afternoon.

Ios was never on our itinerary.  But our first day delays and a lost day to high seas meant we had to be flexible in our planning.  We had understood from the beginning, when dealing with the sea and weather, one has to be ready to compromise and adopt new plans.  We motored into Ios harbor as the sun was once again lighting up the sugar-cube buildings and domed churches.  Some of our tour members headed to the nearby beach to swim while others explored the town.  We had a free evening and people were quite ready to be off the boats for dinner.  I remember Ios from 35 years ago.  It was little more than a backpackers venue for partying.

Much has changed.  There is still a very young vibe, but it has been tempered by some gentrification.  The winding, narrow streets (designed to frustrate invading pirates in the day) reveal cute boutique shops and trendy restaurants in addition to the many bars and nightclubs I remembered.

My group found a lovely little restaurant with garden and courtyard tables under trellises and grape vines.  The food was exquisite and the staff treated us with kindness and warmth.  After dinner we were treated to samples of Mastik (sweet liquor) and the local Tsipouro (Greek grappa).  It was a lovely evening.  In the morning we cast off and motored to our final destination, the magical island of Santorini.

Nisyros

Nisyros is a unique island in the Aegean. It is almost perfectly round and is an active volcano. In fact, a majority of this small island is an immense caldera. We arrived after about 5 hours of sailing in the early evening. We had dinner on board and some tour members wandered into town to explore as well.

In the morning Imprint had organized a tour of the volcano. We boarded a bus and were driven up, up, up to the caldera rim and then down, down, down into the immense crater. Within the great bowl is smaller, still active volcanic crater. We snapped pictures from its rim and then followed the meandering path down into the cavity.Its walls are streaked with yellow and brown, a sulfurous smell pervades the air, the crater floor feels a bit spongy to walk on, and steamy fumaroles emerge from one corner. For those who have never seen an active volcano it was pretty impressive. We continued our sightseeing back up, up, up to a scenic overlook which boasted an impossibly cute sugar cube and blue-domed chapel. We snapped photos, ogled the view, and oohed and awed.

We completed our island tour with a stop at yet another impossibly charming village, clinging to the lip of the caldera for more stunning views and picturesque streets, buildings, and locals. On a tip from one of those locals, we all tried the local drink specialty – Soumades. It reminded me of an Italian soda with almond syrup flavoring. A bit sweet for my taste, but still a worthy cultural connection experience. Back to the harbor for lunch and then sailing on to Astypalea.

Gulets and Symi

Day three of Imprint's GIT was time to board our two gulets, or Turkish yachts.  The 140 foot Halis Temel and the 105 foot La Finale were our floating homes for the next 6 days.  Engine troubles on the HT combined with extra administrative “hoops” due to the refugee crisis meant long delays for us this day.

But we eventually were able to sail and made for our first stop, the island of Symi. The boats were wonderful. Everyone had lots of room to spread out as each boat had ample public spaces.  The cabins were rather ample for boat accommodations and everyone had a private bathroom with shower. One of the great pleasures of the tour was relaxing together either in the saloon or on the comfortable deck spaces of the respective boats.  The crew was attentive and cheerful at all times.

With all the delays we arrived in Symi’s harbor well after dark.  You could tell it was a beautiful place by the twinkling lights of the harbor town spilling down the steep hillsides.  We anchored outside the harbor and the crew assembled a late dinner for us.  The next morning we were greeted with a lovely spectacle.  The early morning sun illuminated the picturesque town in spectacular fashion.  Many pastel colored buildings, intermingled with the classic white and blue ones, literally glowed in the early light.  Symi has a particular architectural imprint – most of the buildings in the Hora sport façades that resemble nothing more than Greek temples.  All seem to have pediments and many have columns.  Its rather remarkable – and unique.  Church bells began to ring and we were reminded it was Sunday morning, and the Sunday preceding Orthodox Easter as well.  LOTS of bells!  We felt like they were welcoming us to Symi.  We spent the morning exploring and shopping, had some lunch, and departed for the next island, Nisyros.

Rhodes

We gathered together in our beach-side Rhodes hotel before going out for typical Greek fare at a local taverna.  For starters we had Greek Salad (of course), dolmades, tzatziki, meatballs, and fried zucchini balls.  Then it was a choice of chicken or pork souvlaki before finishing off with classic baklava for dessert.  Yum.  Greek food is so savory, filling, and downright satisfying.  And it doesn’t hurt that Greek wine and beer are also very good.

This tour of the islands was unlike any we’ve ever done at Imprint.  I guess we would call it the “un-tour”, meaning the heart of the tour, 6 days underway on chartered yachts, stopping at out of the way Greek islands (those underserved by the ferry system) made for exciting days of individual discovery and explorations but little in the way of typical organized tour activities.  We did not have sights to see, museums to visit, or walking tours to enjoy.

Instead, we had amazingly lovely islands to wander and explore, mostly on our own.  But our first full day on Rhodes was the exception.  We had a funny and charismatic guide, Kostas, who introduced us to his island.  First we drove south to the magnificent Acropolis of Lindos.

The fortified “high town” is not of a scale of the famous one in Athens, but Lindos makes up for this shortcoming with its spectacular location.  The ruins top a rock promontory that overlooks the blue Aegean and an impossibly cozy and picturesque cove – the Bay of St Paul.  After exploring the ruins with Kostas we had free time for lunch and then a return to Rhodes Town.

The Old Town of Rhodes is a World Heritage Sight.  It is decidedly medieval in character.  That is due to the fact that Rhodes was a key stepping stone to the Holy Land during the Crusades.  One of the major crusading orders, The Knights of St John, chose Rhodes as a major outpost.

The crusading orders were established to create and defend transportation routes for pilgrims wishing to visit the sacred sights of the Holy Land. The entire Old Town is enclosed in crenellated fortification walls, a moat, and its narrow streets are lined with the palatial headquarters of the various crusading orders.  The Palace of the Magistrates is the highlight and Kostas gave us a guided tour.  It is one of the best medieval experiences in Europe and it fired our travel and historical imaginations.  Those activities filled most of our first full day and a free evening allowed our travelers to seek out their own tavernas for more savory Greek fare.

Delphi and Meteora

For many on Imprint's Greek Island Tour (GIT), the tour began with an optional two day extension.  We gathered in the shadow of the Acropolis for dinner in a favored Athens restaurant.  An early start the following morning set us on the path for a busy day and a half of exquisite sights.

First stop – Delphi.  The “Navel of the World” is one of those unique places where one feels the specialness of the place.  Call it what you will – an aura, a presence, a vibe, an energy.  However you define it, it is present here.  Perhaps it is simply the fact that Delphi echoes in the Western imagination as a place of historical and cultural resonance.  To be perfectly honest, the sight itself is not that impressive.  But a small, exquisite museum and hand-picked ace guide Penny bring the scattered stones and reconstructed buildings to life.

After our “strategic insertion” visit of a few hours, we continued north through the rugged mountains of central Greece to a second World Heritage destination.  Meteora is nothing short of astounding. The name comes from the Greek word meaning to float in the air (meteor, meteorological).  Unique not only in Greece but also in the world, the towering spires of conglomerate stone provide a unique and mysterious landscape.

Stunning by themselves, six the stone towers are topped by monasteries, dating back to the 15th century.  The resulting combination of stunning nature and amazing architecture is quite simply breathtaking.

Seeking refuge from the profane world, Orthodox monks secreted away in the natural caves of the area all the way back to the 9th century.  Eventually more permanent structures were built on the tops of the inaccessible peaks.  By the 12th century there were rudimentary monasteries built.  By the 14th and 15th centuries, the Byzantine empire was crumbling and the Ottoman Turks were threatening the region.  More and more monks sought refuge at Meteora and more monasteries were built.  At one time they numbered more than 20.

We arrived at the end of the afternoon when the last rays of sunshine lit up the stacks in a golden glow.  We had chosen to stay in a smallish hotel in Kastraki because the view from the hotel is so splendid for the evening.  A majority of my group grabbed a bottle of wine or tasty Greek beer for an impromptu happy hour atop a great boulder behind our hotel.  It is hard to describe how magnificent and striking are these spires – so I will simply let the images do their 1000 words of talking.

The following morning we visited one of the pinnacle-topping monasteries, Varlaam. But I’m sure the highlight for everyone was the stunning views from amongst the forest of towering spires looking back across the valley.

It had been hard to imagine the previous evening that the view might actually be better, but the early eastern sun again made the stones pop with color and the great plain we had traveled spread out beyond.  We learned about the old mechanisms of accessing the monasteries (net baskets on ropes and winches), the current life of the monks still in residence, and the story of the frescoed church interiors from our local guide Dina.  The rest of the day was largely a travel day as we had to cover lots of miles to arrive at the Athens airport for our late afternoon flight to Rhodes and the start of the GIT.

The "Impossible" Island Tour

  This week we successfully completed Imprint’s initial Greek Islands Tour (GIT).  Long in the planning, the tour went off with minimal bumps in the road, or rather waves in the sea, lots of laughing, some interesting history, some amazing cultural connections, and a seemingly unending stream of impossibly picturesque Greek islands.  That is why I’ve chosen to call this missive “The Impossible Island Tour”.  Because daily, if not hourly, I found myself describing what I was seeing as impossibly picturesque, impossibly lovely, impossibly charming, impossibly cute, etc.  [Adjective alert!  There are simply not enough available: cute, picturesque, lovely, charming, photogenic, and amazing will be overused.]

All in all, it was an amazing two weeks.  In the coming few weeks I’ll be sharing installments describing the day by day activities and highlights of the tour.  But for now, I will simply give a quick overview and get some images posted.

I have long held that Meteora is one of the most breathtaking and unique travel destinations not only in Greece but in the whole wide world.  So I was not about to create a Greek tour that did not give the opportunity for people to see this impossibly spectacular destination.  So for those opting for the

tour extension, we gathered for dinner in Athens, then headed for Meteora in the morning.  As Delphi is essentially on the way, we made a quick stop there, entertained by our engaging and charming local guide Penny.  We arrived in Meteora at the end of the afternoon as the sun was just starting to warm up the western facing towers of stone.  The following morning we had our tour of one of the monasteries (as many as 24 in the past but only 6 still active today) before making a beeline to the airport to join the rest of the group on the island of Rhodes.

Rhodes is the biggest and most diverse of the Dodecanese group of islands.  Just off the Turkish coast, it boasts one of Europe’s most charming medieval old towns, well preserved crusader fortifications, a crusader palace, a lovely night energy, and miles of beaches.  South of the main town is the impossibly picturesque Acropolis of Lindos.

Smaller than Athen’s more famous hill, Lindos makes up for it with its spectacular seaside venue.  We had a local guide who brought the islands’ history and culture alive for us on a day long tour.

After two nights on Rhodes we were ready to head out to sea on our two gulets, or Turkish yachts.  Our lovely boats were very comfortable and staffed by hard working and pleasant staff.  Our first island “hop” was nearby Symi and our first impossibly cute harbor village.  Spilling down the step hillsides to the blue Aegean were pastel colored houses, all resembling nothing more than little Greek temples.  Amazing.

An afternoon’s motoring brought us to little known Nisyros.  Perhaps lacking the impossible charm of other stops, Nisyros was certainly fascinating.  It is perfectly round and dominated by an immense, still active volcano.  We toured the smaller active crater within the giant caldera and then visited the impossibly photogenic village of Nikia perched on its rim.

Another afternoon of sailing brought us to Astypalea.  I had meant to simply spent the night here en route to Amorgos.  But the winds picked and high seas turned us back the following morning and we ended up spending the day.  What an amazing bit of travel serendipity!  Astypalea is impossibly beautiful and charming.  Sugar cube houses spill down a steep kastro-topped hill to the harbor.  If that weren’t picturesque enough, they’ve built two blue-domed churches within the ruined fortifications.  But there’s more.  Along the ridge of the hill’s saddle, a row of gleaming white, red-roofed windmills completes the postcard vista.

Our lost day of sailing meant Amorgos had to be skipped, but calm seas meant we were able to make excellent time and sail all the way to Ios.  Ios was a backpacker party island when I visited 35 years ago.  It has been gentrified since, with boutique shops and restaurants dotting the meandering narrow lanes of the whitewashed harbor village.

On day six of our gulet adventure we motored for the jewel in the Greek island crown – Santorini.  Impossibly beautiful!  Impossibly picturesque!  Impossibly romantic!  Santorini is simply the most beautiful place I’ve ever been, bar none.  We did a scenic cruise of the sea-filled caldera, had an island tour that included the Minoan archeological site of Akrotiri, red and black sand beaches, the impossibly quaint village of Megalochora, and the impossibly stunning artist hamlet of Oia.  But the highlight of this magical place was the Orthodox Easter activities of the weekend.  On Good Friday we witnessed the famous Epitaph

procession of hill-top Pyrgos.  Locals line the procession route (rooftops, walls, curbs, everywhere) with canisters of oil-soaked cloth which are lit when the ikon emerges from the church at the top.  The entire hill turns into a shimmering, living scene of flickering fire light.  It is impossibly magnificent.  We visited the procession route and church for explanations from out guide Eugenia, then retreated to a wonderful view restaurant to watch the spectacle unfold.  It was impossibly memorable!

On Saturday we enjoyed a free day for island explorations or relaxation on our caldera-rim-clinging resort.  On Easter Sunday, our impossibly charming local guide Eugenia had arranged for us to enjoy the traditional Easter meal in a family taverna.  We literally feasted with lots of wine, tasty mezedes (small appetizers), and traditional spit-roasted lamb.  It was a fitting climax to our amazing two weeks in the islands.

This was a tour we will be repeating regularly in the future.  In fact, the next time around will be in September or October of next year.  Mark is on your calendars.  Come share the impossibly charming, beautiful, picturesque, jaw-dropping Greek Islands with Imprint.

For more wonderful images, Maia was posting on Instagram throughout the tour.  If you would like to see them and/or follow Maia’s future photographic journeys with Imprint - Create an account on Instagram; search Maia’s username (maia_coen); select “follow” at top of page.

Nile Cruise

I note I’ve been overusing the adjective “iconic” in my blogs on Egypt.  But it is hard to avoid when you’re trying to describe the famous structures, monuments, and tombs you’ve grown up seeing on television or reading about in text books.  So I’ll describe our Nile Cruise as a quintessentially classic Egyptian tourist activity.  We boarded ours at noon on day 4 and settled in for 4 days and nights.

Each morning we were greeted with hot coffee and a huge buffet breakfast, including a omelet station.  Lunch and dinner were equally copious.  There were always many salad choices, a couple of soups, and various pasta, rice, and vegetable dishes to choose from.  And always chicken, beef, and fish dishes to choose from.  For those with a sweet tooth, a generous selection of desserts was always on offer.  And just in case one struggled to last from lunch to dinner, on sailing days the boat hosted coffee/tea and cake on the sun deck.

Each stop provided a new excursion.  The Temple of Horus at Edfu, Kom Ombo temple at dusk, the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, and Philae Temple reconstructed on a tiny island behind the lower Aswan dam.  I think what we enjoyed the most was the leisurely pace of the cruise.  Easy morning excursions followed by lazy afternoon cruises were the norm.  In Aswan we added an afternoon felucca (traditional sailing vessel) excursion and a visit to a Nubian tea house.  It was a very relaxed way to tour upper Egypt from Luxor to Aswan.

Karnak

Egypt is a land of iconic sights.  The pyramids and sphinx are probably best known due to their ancient wonder pedigrees.  But for my money, Karnak Temple in Luxor should be right up there with the big guns.  Knowing we had many temples to visit in our future, perhaps it was an injustice for us to take our intrepid group to see Karnak first.  Truly, this is the mother of all Egyptian temple complexes.  It is the largest in Egypt and the second largest in the world after Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The complex, covering more than a square mile, boasts an amazing collection of temples, sanctuaries, obelisks, columned halls, statues, and pylon gates.  An avenue lined with ram-headed sphinxes stretches from Luxor Temple (a festival temple) in the center of town to the southern entrance pylon.

Karnak was the primary center of worship for the New Kingdom and was used daily by royals and commoners alike.  After the omnipresent security check we entered the site with our Egyptologist guide Hoda.  A secondary avenue of sphinxes leads from the Nile to the primary entrance gate.

This towering pylon stretches 100 feet high and 300 feet across.  The scale alone projects the power, authority, and majesty of the pharaohs of old.  Inside the complex opens up to a series of courtyards and sanctuaries. Two of the original four obelisks rise from a central courtyard.  These monolithic granite towers stand witness to the ancients’ engineering and building prowess. Even with modern equipment it would be hard to imagine cutting, shaping, transporting, and erecting these huge monuments to kingly grandeur.  Hoda informed us that the obelisks have no mortar or other securing devices and merely rest on flat bases.  A couple of immense statues of pharaohs and the huge relief sculptures of various elements of Egyptian mythology carved into the 8 pylons also add to the mystical projection of pharonic power.

But honestly, everything I’ve described to this point is mere preamble to the spectacular Great Hypostyle Hall.  Audible gasps and proclamations of “wow” were heard as our group entered the hall.  This is the Egypt of our travel imaginations!  The 134 gigantic columns cover an area of 6000 square feet.  Each of the papyrus-styled behemoths is a staggering 33+ feet in circumference.  Maia described the feeling beautifully as like wandering into a grove of giant sequoias.  But these mighty redwoods are man-made and carved with the stories of gods, goddesses, pharaohs, priests, and conquests.  There is but one way to describe the feeling one has when standing among this forest of pillars:  insignificant.  One easily understands the message of such daunting architecture.  You are in the presence of the gods, and their unchallengeable representative, the king.  Even in our modern age of engineering wonders these jaw-dropping ancient stones are nothing less than phenomenal.  I shot dozens of photos, trying to find the angle that allows an image to portray the sense of being here.  But alas, photographs serve merely and only to remind one of the actual experience.  But that’s why we travel after all.

Dashure & Islamic Cairo

Another full day of engaging Egyptian sights greeted our hardy crew on day 3 of Imprint’s Egypt/Jordan tour.  We loaded up our bus, introduced ourselves to our Egyptian security guard, and headed south for Dashure.  The Egyptian government, eager to protect their struggling tourism sector, has given us an armed guard and 2 following policemen in a car each day.  We drove about an hour south and east of central Cairo to visit the Bent and Red Pyramids. I honestly believe we had a superior experience today.  For starters, there were virtually no other tourists at Dashure and absolutely no venders or touts.  We had the site to ourselves.  The Bent Pyramid is famous for having two angles to each of its four sides.  Begun years before the great pyramids of Giza, Egyptian engineers had yet to work out the exact optimum angle – which turned out to be 43 degrees.  They started building at 54 degrees.  But once the sides got to about 80 feet high cracks began to appear.  They did more engineering and worked out the correct 43 degree angle and the top 1/3 of the structure is built to that angle.  About a mile away is the Red Pyramid, so called due to the redish sandstone from which it is built.

We were also able to climb a small, crumbling pyramid next to the bent one.  Fun photos followed.  More fun was had when most of the group opted to go inside the red one.  Hoda warned us the passage down was long and short, but fully ¾ of the group braved the ordeal.  And it was an ordeal.  I’ve heard many complaints of sore leg muscles since.  I was proud that Imprint attracts such intrepid travelers.  There was really nothing to see inside.  The value of entering is what I like to call the proximity factor of travel – the value was just to say you had gone into a pyramid.  And for that, it was awesome!  Everyone was on a high after the Dashure visit.

Another great lunch that featured small braziers of grilled meats brought to the table preceded our plunge into the urban jungle of Islamic Cairo.  We started with a mosque visit where Hoda helped all the women in the group cover their heads with a hijab.  Then she explained the basics of Islam and how a mosque is generally used.  That lesson made quite an impression on Maia and she has written about it in her blogs.  Next Hoda guided us through a merchant house to understand the secular side of old Cairo.  Then it was on to the highlight of the afternoon, the famous Khan el Khalili bazaar, the Middle East’s largest public market.  There are still blocks and blocks devoted to silks and fabrics, gold, or spices, but we honed in on the section that has given over to tourism.  Probably 4-5 blocks of parallel streets connected by narrow alleys – all groaning with shiny tourist trinkets.  Good fun!  The group settled into sidewalk tables for mint tea or fresh fruit juice at storied Feshawi’s Café.  While we relaxed in the old world ambiance the old world came to us.  Hawkers and street peddlers stopped to sell watches, jewelry, papyrus, stuffed camels, bread, bobble-head dogs, perfume bottles and more I can’t recall.  For those seated on the edge, it was a clear irritant as the stream was uninterrupted and frequently repetitive.  But for those away from the narrow passage, it was more like a show.  Khalili is one of those in-your-face experiences that either fills you with amusement or dread.

After tea Maia and I plunged in for some shopping.  She has friends she’d like to find some souvenirs for.  We had to smile at the various “hook’ lines.  I don’t know what you’re looking for but I’ve got it.  Let me take your money.  Welcome, looking is free.  Just a million dollars.  And so on . . . .  We were successful in procuring some fun gifty trinkets, including a pyramid snow globe to add to Maia’s collection.  The first price for everything was $100.  We ended up paying $15 – and I’m sure I could have gotten it for less.   But Egypt is struggling and the tourist sector is one of the hardest hit.  I enjoy the bargaining but I’m willing to leave a few bucks on the table these days.

Our dinner was at Cairo’s premier view restaurant, atop Azher park.  We dined on the terrace with a view over the minarets and domes of Islamic Cairo.  The illuminated Citadel and its towering mosque dominated the vista.  The buzz was still about the interior of the Red Pyramid and the intensity of Khan el Khalili.  Another good day.

Sunset Camels & Tea

A tired but sated travel group was more than ready to return to the comforts of our 4-star hotel retreat after our first day of iconic Egyptian sightseeing.  But for 8 of us, there was one more adventure to be had.  The last few Imprint tours have produced a vanguard group of photographers; those for whom down time and sleep are easily sacrificed to get that perfect shot.  As we all share our best shots with everyone interested we’ve taken to calling ourselves the “compound eye”.  If one gets a great shot we all benefit.  It’s really fun.  Even before the tour began the idea of photographing the pyramids in sunrise or sunset light had gained quite a bit of traction among the CE group.  Once again our ace Hoda was there to grease the skids for us.  She had made arrangements for us to ride out into the desert on camelback in order to have a good dusk view of the pyramids, without the unfortunate backdrop of Cairo.  So we 8 mounted up our towering steeds.  I’m not sure if you know how high up you are on a camel – probably twice as high as on horseback.  And mounting is nothing as easy as it sounds.  The camels must collapse onto the ground sphinx-style.  The “collapse” is tricky as camels are huge animals on extremely tall but spindly legs.  The camel must lurch forward onto its front knees, then rock back onto its very flexible back legs.  Once in the 2-foot high saddle, the great beasts repeat the pendulum process in reverse.  If you’re not holding on and leaning in the right direction you can easily roll right off.  More than one yelp was heard as we rocked and reeled to walking position.  Once you are up and adjusted to the extreme height, off you go lumbering out toward the desert. The neighborhood south of the fenced pyramid enclosure can only be described as “horse central.”  We passed stable after stable.  I don’t believe we saw a single car on this perimeter road.  But we did see hundreds of people on horseback.  Turns out a very popular Friday night activity for young, well to do Cairenes is riding out into the desert at the end of the day.  We joined the stream of mounted escapees flowing out of the city.

It probably took us something on the order of an hour to get out to a good photographic vantage point in the Sahara.  I should mention, an hour on a camel “saddle” is about 40 minutes too long.  It is NOT comfortable.  But the experience was incomparable.  We arrived at the strategic hill top with about 20 minutes of sun remaining.  Unfortunately, a heavy haze this day prevented us the electric golden images we had hoped for.  But we all had a wonderful time nonetheless.

As It turns out, once beyond the confines of the city, the desert blossoms with makeshift “bars”.  The top of most hills boasts a ring of cinder blocks, some mechanism for blasting loud Egyptian disco music, and the means to make coffee and tea.  It was quite a scene.  Instead of returning to civilization after the sunset we opted to go for desert tea.  After all, when were any of us ever going to have this opportunity again?  The wind had picked up, our legs and bottoms were sore, and our hair was stiff with desert dust, but we beamed with pleasure when we were served hot, sweet tea in mismatched glasses.  We toasted our camel drivers and the camels themselves:  007, Charlie Brown, Michael Jackson, Howdy Dody, Denis the Menace, and Daisy. (I forget the last 2.)  After our refreshment we mounted up again and swayed and rocked back to the edge of Cairo.  The return ride was much shorter as taxis picked us up at the end of the sands and returned us to our oasis hotel.