Today was our last full day in Egypt and we went on an excursion all the way over to the Suez Canal (Red Sea) to go to the beach. The water was so clear and with fish, coral, and jelly fish. We even saw dolphins near where we were swimming. We were going to snorkle but we couldn’t find a place to rent rather than buy so we decided to just swim. We went with the owner of the hostel we are staying and with another guy who works there… in their car. The car is a beauty and was great – ‘air conditioning,’ flat tire, and all =) It was so strange to see such a wonderful body of water there in the middle of the desert. Also, I’ve never felt so naked wearing a one-piece swimsuit before! Muslim beaches are definately alittle more modest than American ones. =)
Well, our trip is winding down. And our bodies are starting to let us know that!
We’ve been to so many amazing places and swam in many seas (Black, Mediterranian, Dead, Red,…) And most of all we’ve met some of the most interesting people who we now call friends!
AND yet, I am so glad to be coming HOME to the good ‘ol US of A!!!
Looking forward to talking with you all soon. Love ya!

Cairo:
So our hostel here in Cairo is awesome! We had someone from the hostel (Mahmoud) pick us up at the airport and then they are arranging tours for us to see the sound and light show of the pyramids this evening, a dinner cruise on the nile, an excursion to snorkle in the red sea, as well as to the pyramids! The owner of the hostel is super fun and will be taking us to these places in his car!

A few pics from Jordan.

The first pic is with our ‘body guard’ – Eddie.

And the last is with our Bedouin tour guide in Petra – Falah

Petra was so crazy! It’s this ancient Bedoiun city that was carved out of the rock in the mountains of Jordan! it’s called the rose city because the rock is pink in many places and also very colorful (it was breathtaking how big the city was) We spent all day wandering around the desert and through the mountains. We even rode horses to the entrance of the city. If you remember in the Indiana Jones Crusaders movie, part of it was filmed here so I’m excited to watch it again when I get home.
After a long day, we took a taxi up to Amman (where we are picking up our flight to Cairo).
We stayed for the first time in a pretty nice hotel, took long hot showers, and washed some of our dirty clothes in the tub!
We were glad that we decided last minute to come here. It’s been one of the highlights of the trip.
We’re in the airport now and will try to write again when we get to our hostel in Cairo.
This trip has certainly been of the most exhilirating and exhausting things I have ever done!!!!

We are going to see the Old City in Jersulam today which will include the Via Delorosa walk (supposedly where Jesus carried the cross) and the Wailing Wall (the last remaines of the temple). Then we are going to take the bus to Eliat (near the Red Sea) and stay there tonight. In the morning we will cross the border to Jordan and go see the rock city of Petra!!!!
From Jordan, we fly to Cairo.
Especially with the help of Khader, we have loved seeing the Holy Land. We are going to print a picture of the 3 of us and give it to him as agift before we leave. There’s no way we could repay his kindness but we wanted to do something.
Sorry I haven’t added more pics, the computer at this hostel won’t let us upload. I’ll try again soon.

So, yesterday we were sitting in front of the Church of the Nations just in front of the garden of gethsemane, when we met a tour guide named Khader. He asked us where we were from and we began to chat. When he found out that we were americans and that we had just arrived, he asked us if we would like to tag along on one of his tours. We met up with him at 7am this morning and off we went on his tour bus to pick up the group! We spent the whole day with Catholic Kenyans and our new friend – the manager of the tour (and bus driver for the day)! We saw the tomb where Lazarus was raised from the dead, the mount of temptations in Jericho, the dead sea scrolls museum, the walls of jericho, and best of all – we swam in the dead sea!!!! Well actually we floated. =) The mud is so full of minerals that its used as an exfoliation so we rubbed it all over our bodies and came out with the softest skin ever!! It was incredibly fun! Pretty much we got the VIP tour for free and we couldn’t have asked for a better time!

We took bus 75 up to the top of the Mount of Olives today. We saw the Paternoster Church (which is said to be where Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer). The church has the prayer written on tiles in more than 60 diff languages.
We also saw the prophet’s tomb and the garden of gethsemane! From the mount you can see the Old City and it’s beautiful. Tomorrow we are going to try and go on an excursion to the Dead Sea and to Jericho!
It’s so strange to see the place I’ve only ever read about.

Jerusalem!
We made it to the city early this morning! We were so tired so we found a hostel and went to sleep for a few hours. Now its about 3pm and we are on our way out to see the Holy Land!!!!