‘Chillin’, Egypt, Cairo, Pyramids of Giza
It was almost a year ago now that I was in Egypt. A year ago Egypt was a stable country and I had no hesitancy stepping foot on its sands. Only time will tell Egypt’s future. It’s a country that has a lot of potential and its people are bursting with energy and the need to drive forward. I hope whoever takes the reins of Egypt leads it and its people down the right path to justice, democracy and prosperity for all. One thing that has not changed is the... Read The Rest →
Egypt, Cairo, Khan el Khalili Bazaar
Google has a new application out called Google Goggles. It’s essentially a new way of searching for items on the web. I don’t believe it will revolutionize the internet as we know it, but it does have some nifty gadgets that might come in handy. What it does is allow you to take a photo on your camera phone and Google will analyze it and come up with results. For instance, if you want to know the history of the Eiffel Tower, you simply take a photo of it and Google... Read The Rest →
‘Turbulent Waters’, Egypt, Alexandria, Man Fishing
I was surprised to find my viewership up by a lot yesterday. I had just posted a few photos and happened to look at my site counter. I soon found the Post Crescent, my hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin’s newspaper wrote a very nice article on my international travels in Sunday’s Lifestyle section of the paper. Cheryl Anderson, a staff writer at the Post Crescent, contacted me a few weeks back and inquired about my travels. We had been talking over email every few days. I am really impressed with her ability... Read The Rest →
‘Congested’, Egypt, Cairo
Egypt’s capital, Cairo has a lot of people. I am told that during the day, within the city limits of Cairo, the urban center grows to more than 20 million people. New York by comparison has about 8 million people and the entire metro area has around 13 million. Cairo is built on layers, with some of these layers thousands of years old. Very few skyscrapers exist in the city. Instead, everywhere you look lies a sea of five to ten-story apartment buildings with the occasional mosque spires breaking up... Read The Rest →
‘Gazing up to the Heavens’, Egypt, Alexandria, Abu al-Abbas al Mursi Mosque
Yesterday’s post included the interior of a mosque. Although I like the photo, it’s missing the most impressive part of a mosque, the dome. It’s not easy to capture the interior of space such as a mosque . You really need an extremely wide angle lens and even that struggles to fit the mosque’s interior onto one photograph. I used a 10mm lens. Without trying to cause too much commotion, I had to lay with my back and head to the ground looking up at the dome in order to fit the... Read The Rest →
‘The Pyramids’, Egypt, Giza, Pyramids
I met someone not too long ago who asked me how much money I was spending on my trip. I was struggling to find some common ground with this person in the first place and his question only precipitated my retreat to my hotel room. Before I withdrew, I gave him an approximation of how much I thought I had spent. I could tell by the expression on his face that he thought it was a bit much. The fact of the matter is that yes, traveling is not cheap. Traveling the... Read The Rest →
‘My New Friend’, Egypt, Giza, Pyramids
I’m sure this camel had just finished rolling his eyes at me. He’s seen this before and with the temperature as high as it was on this particular day I’m sure he had his mind on the cool shade. It was about 115 degrees when this photo was taken. I laugh every time I look at it. My guide had strapped this cloth to my head and I really looked like a silly tourist. The pyramids are quite a sight to see. I took a guided tour with a local... Read The Rest →
‘A Cool Courtyard’, Egypt, Cairo, Citadel
After traveling through some extremely hot countries I found the mere sight of a courtyard would make me feel cooler. Courtyards keep out the sun while still open enough to catch some of the breeze from above. During the middle of the day in the desert countries many take refuge in these shelters. This particular courtyard is inside the Cairo Citadel. Perched high above the city of Cairo, the Mosque of Mohamed Ali is the most prominent structure within the Citadel. This gorgeous complex is enormous. Unlike some of the... Read The Rest →
‘A Desert Haze’, Egypt, Cairo, Sunset
Egypt is known for its many sites and images. Antiquities, the desert and even the intense heat and sun are all matters that come to mind when someone mentions Egypt. However, I found one of the most impressive images that Egypt has to offer are the bright and intense sunset colors the country experiences every evening. What makes the sunsets here any different than the rest of the world? A sunset’s colors are caused by the scattering of sunlight by dust particles in the atmosphere. The intensity relies on the... Read The Rest →
‘Land of Pharaohs’, Egypt, Cairo, Khan El-Khalili Bazaar
Wow, Cairo is an amazing city. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I heard so many different takes on this city. Again, not taking my own advice– ‘Never listen to other people’s opinion on a place’– I’ve found this place to be one of my favorite cities yet. While staying in Egypt, I met up with my good friend, Reha whom I know from college. After finishing her master’s in architecture she moved to Egypt. Her family lineage is Egyptian and she knows the city quite well. It always helps to... Read The Rest →