Sorry Elaine, but we are at 6 weeks and counting now until we leave. It's getting closer :) I'm doing some more research to cheer myself up after a very nasty headache today and a dead washing machine that meant we had to go buy a new washing machine. Oh well...
The first thing I did to research this trip was to find threads on Cruisecritic.com and on TripAdvisors.com that pertained to similar trips. Luckily I found a VERY long thread on each site that covered the exact trip we ended up choosing. I learned interesting things like the custom of "baksheesh" (tipping for everything) and what to use for the "mummy tummy". There were many links on the threads to different blogs with thousands and thousands of pictures of the different temples, pyramids, street sights, etc. There was information on what to buy and where to buy it and what to avoid, what we absolutely HAD to see and what we could safely skip if we are too tired, what food to try, where to find a McDonalds (for the souveniers), what the hotels were like, and hints on what to do to prepare and what to pack. I took pages and pages of notes.
Second step was to get a guidebook. I chose the Lonely Planet guide. I still have to study it some more and compare to my notes so I can see which tombs I need to try to see in the Valley of the Kings and where I need to head to in the Egyptian Museum. You have to have a gameplan for those places or you might end up missing something that you would have loved seeing. There are also helpful hints like the fact that some tombs have tons of stairs and some require you to climb a ladder. That's not going to work for me, so I'll make sure to avoid that one.
Next step was to get visual. Since Cathy and Evelyn talked us into joining NetFlix I ordered DVD's to be delivered to the house. The first ones were really pretty good--they were re-enactments of 3 different stories. Then another set that put me to sleep; I guess I need some of the drama and not just narration. Another set I watched on the computer and it was okay. I have three more to watch online and maybe one or two more to order. Most of them cover the same materials: the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings, King Tut, and Rameses the Great. Good stuff, but I don't need to go over it and over it again.
Then there is just the general reading. I have websites that I need to visit, including an interactive one designed for kids on being an Egyptologist and one on all of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. I've dusted off the coffee table books and have started to tackle them.
I don't think I can be over-prepared. We are covering a couple of thousand years, twenty or so dynasties, so there is a LOT to cover. I just don't want to be ignorant. I hate those tourists that end up somewhere and ask really stupid questions that show they don't have a clue about the history or culture of the place they are visiting. Research allows you to ask the more intelligent questions and fill in the gaps in your knowledge and tie it all together.
If you want to see our itinerary, go to www.gate1travel.com and click on Africa, then Egypt, then choose the 15 day Egpyt, Red Sea and 7 day Nile Cruise, and that will show you where we are going.
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