Anyways I hope 2008 is peaceful and prosperous for Kenya!
H A P P Y N E W Y E A R!
Edit: Just noticed My blog's still stuck on London time. lol
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9th November:
I'm on the plane now, on my way back to London. In a way I'm glad to be going back. Cairo was too noisy. The car drivers are really impatient and they would make use of their horns constantly. Their roads make Digo Road - One of Mombasa's busiest roads look like child's play! Crossing the roads was another big hassle and the Zebra Crossing is just a decorative ornament for the road. But well you learn to get used to it.. lol.
In the last 2 days I visited the Khan el Khalili Market twice. I enjoyed it more each time.
'Spend your money here' 'Just looking no buying here' 'India ya bakistan?' 'babyrus for 10 pound' were few of the phrases I heard.
I had a good time, learnt quite abit and well I'm now glad to be going back to London:)
Rihla means travel, made famous after Ibn Battuta's Narratives called Rihla. I liked the sound of Rihlas.. and so I chose to call my Visit: Cairo Rihlas
6th November:
Today was well let's say exhausting. lol. I find Shopping an ardent task, it's really not my thing. The market was called khan el khalili. Its a shopping maze with narrow alleys running around everywhere.
The shops had good touristy stuff. Items made of papyrus, egyptian footrests, sheesha pipes ...As we walked around many kept shouting 'India ya Bakistan?' And we either ignore or reply hind, occasionally Kenya but this means explaining how we came to be Kenyans. To them its really confusing that we're Kenyans.
Anyways in some narrow alley outside a shop some man asked us the above question, and well as usual the reply was 'hind'. But this man had Kenyan features. You could tell. And so my dad asked him where he was from. His reply well...put a smile to our faces, yes he was Kenyan. lol.We conversed with him in Swahili for a while. I like Swahili, it's a good language. So anyways this man's a student at some university there and he was studying linguistics. He mentioned that Moody Awori (The vice president of Kenya) was there a week back. His shop was a mix of Egyptian and Kenyan curious. I recognised some Kenyan key chains and masks.
Near the market is the Imam Hussein Mosque.
5th November:
Today was good. I enjoyed it more possibly
because there was less walking involved.So I went to the Egyptian Museum which is located near tahrir (liberation) square. There just too much history to absorb and currently I'm trying to write this in the midst of tooo many facts buzzing through my my mind.The museum did not permit cameras inside, but that did not stop others from taking videos and photos from their phones :)
So anyways I saw the statue of Queen Hatshesput (she married her half brother thutmose II) and bore a child Thutmose III, who is known as the napoleon of Egypt)
In 1925 the tomb of Hetepheres was discovered, and on display were her alabaster sarcophagus, baldachin, bed (made with gold and papyrus), headrest(looked really uncomfortable), jewellery box and carrying chair.
Saw ancient wall drawings of Amenhotep IV who later took the name Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti worshiping Aten.
There was great queuing in the room for Tutankhamen. His golden mask, sacrcophagous, jewellery and all were visible
And lastly saw the mummies! :D They had some 12 mummies, those that I can remember included seti, Queen Hatshesput, her wet nurse, and Ramsis II.
Later we visited the citadel of Saladdin. In the 14th Century they built a mosque within its premises, which is now known as the Muhammad Ali mosque. In 1811 Muhammed Ali called the leaders of the Mameluks for a feast to his citadel. When all the leaders had arrived, he ordered his men to shoot them. Very few out of the 470 men survived.
At night I went for the sound & light show. We sat at a point where all the 3 pyramids and the sphinx were visible. Images and lasers were then projected on the 2nd pyramid with stories being recalled.
4th November:
[Outside the tomb]
We first visited the tomb of Mereruka in sakkara. It's the largest tomb in Sakkara. Cameras were not allowed here. The walls were filled with drawings on all over describing the daily life, dances, punishments and other..
Next we saw the step pyramids of king zoser, It was one of the first pyramids that the Egyptians built.
In Memphis which was the capital of Ancient Egypt more than 5000 years ago we saw limesone statue of ramses II :
alabaster sphinx
and a statue of some pharoah
This pharoah was alive when its statue was made as its left leg is forward.
Our guide then took us to Siwa perfumes who dealt with flower extracts. I was suprised to learn that they exported their essences to major companies like estee lauder, calvin klein, channel, D&G etc. These companies would mix 20% of the essence with 80% alcohol.To recognise true essence add a drop of essence to water and it will sink to the bottom before mixing in.. Students of chemistry will probably know better.I got myself Golden wattel (said to help in concentration) and Ramsses (the Egyptian equvalent to l-eu de issey).
And lastly we went to see the 3 pyramids and the sphinx. They were all massive. Each pyramid had sooo many million stones and each stone weighed about 2 tonnes. The stones came from Aswan by the Nile, they were then raised by ramps. Our guide mentioned that the location of pyramids was chosen according to some stars.
Cairo Rihlas
3rd November:
So I left for Cairo today from Heathrow airport. The flight was good, and the food even better :) Some lady mentioned that on Egypt Air's website the baggage allowance was 20kg, but at check-in she was told 40kg. The reason..well Egyptians would otherwise have carried 60kg if 40 was the limit. lol..
I was barely 7 kg :D
..that i write
whisper the words
speak my mind
free my thoughts
challenge my brain
broadcast my opinons/
but the ink
my mind uses
is slowly
fading/
silently,
like the warm breeze
I am bounded
by time and space
nowhere to run
nowhere to hide
just capturing
silly thoughts
in a mediocre poem/
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A rare sight of some bird of prey with a snake
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The Park Entrance
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Tamu Mdomoni * Sweetness in the mouth
I was going through my picture archives, and came across this photo.It was taken in February 2004, at the House of Hope. It is a school in Mtwapa a few kilometers north of Mombasa which provides education for 300 children from poor families.In 2004 I went there with a group whose aim is to help the less fortunate. The group organised a fun day for them and provided them with a few necessities such as school books, pens etc. All the children were so lovely. They organised a play for us in swahili which was excellent. What was even more appealing was the sound effects they created using their voices, one particulary of note was of the creaking door.One of the teachers read us some poetry and finally they sang traditional songs and performed a few dances. lol.
Lunch was then served. A lady from the US told me that in her time that she spent there, she had not seen them drink milk. The children would normally get water and maharagwe (red beans) daily. It was really sad.
Anyways today is Madaraka day! The first National holiday of Kenya. In 1963 today was the first time the flag was raised and the anthem recited. This is the day when the heroes like Tom Mboya, Dedan Kimathi, Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuku and other Mau Mau freedom fighters struggled against the chains of colonialism. Today is the day to recall the lives that were lost and the sacrifices that were made, so that Kenya could be free.
Actual Lighthouse
The ferry-link between South-coast and Mombasa
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