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Ramadan & Easter At Once!

Posted on 2023-04-24 by Curtis Hertwig

On this trip I visited Egypt & Jordan (with an extension to Saudi Arabia which I canceled) should have netted me 3 new countries and gotten me up to 74, but has me rethinking my strategy of traveling just to add countries that I have not been to. Or perhaps I should pay more attention to Ramadan, especially when it coincides with a major Christian holiday like Easter. Who can tell?

Frequent travelers will know that Ramadan works on a lunar calendar & so it changes when it happens on our calendar. Next year it is in March. Also, it lasts 30 days. And they don’t just fast all day & then eat at night. They celebrate all night. I asked one of the guides at a tomb at the Valley of the Kings & he said he got 3 hours of sleep the night before. This rather causes the “woke” traveler to feel bad for those poor folk who are trying to show you a good time while hungry & sleep deprived. (We call that REALLY hangry!!!)

Not only are your non-Christian members of the hospitality industry working at stress, but the airlines are very over loaded. Every single one of my 4 in country flights in Egypt were disrupted in some way. The first, to Luxor, was canceled without notice necessitating a sprint & ride through Cairo airport to a separate terminal to catch another flight with only 30 minutes to make it.

Think twice before booking with EgyptAir, but I can’t say enough good about Kensington Tours who hired my guides & made all the arrangements. When handed shit by the airlines, they got me on flights & where I needed to be – even if it was in Coach. Perhaps you could save yourself some trouble by just flying in the back of the plane, but I don’t think that would have been enough.

However, Egypt has some incredibly well preserved sites, so enjoy these pictures before I go on:

A Place to Get Free Water Abu Simbel Abu Simbel - Greater Temple Abu Simbel - Greater Temple Abu Simbel - Neferteri as Goddess Hathour Abu Simbel- African Slave Carving Abu Simbel- Greater Temple Abu Simbel- Greater Temple Abu Simbel- Greater Temple Abu Simbel- Lesser Temple Alabaster Amman-Ra Brothers Brown Air Buying Bread Cabin Life Camel Trot Cartouche of a Human City Skyline Colossi of Memnon Colossi of Memnon Coptic (Christian) Graffiti - Luxor Temple Crocodile God Sobek - god of fertility & creator of the world Crocodile Mummies Dog On Alert for Scraps Early Morning On the Nile Edfu - Crossing the Street Edfu - Crossing the Street Edfu Tourist Transportation Edfu Tourist Transportation Edfu Tourist Transportation Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Felucca Sailing Goddess Hathour - NOT Baby Yoda Harab Scarab Heading Downriver Henny the Tour Guide Hieroglyphics Inner Gate of the Muslim Old City Inside the Great Pyramid Key of Life Kom Ombo Night Time Temple Time Kom Ombo Temple Lowering Sun Minarets Mohammad Ali Mosque Mohammad Ali Mosque Mohammad Ali Mosque Mohammad Ali Mosque Mohammad Ali Mosque Mohammad Ali's Mausoleum Mosque - Luxor Temple Muhammad Ali Mosque Nefertari's Tomb Nefertari's Tomb Nefertari's Tomb Nefertari's Tomb Nefertari's Tomb Nile Landscape Nile Vendors Offering to the god - not passing the bong Our Dealer... ahem Vendor Outer Gate/Wall Philae Temple Philae Temple Philae Temple Philae Temple Philae Temple Philae Temple Philae Temple Pondering the Commute Pyramids from the Hotel Pyramids from the Hotel Pyramids of Giza Pyramids of Giza Pyramids of Giza Pyramids of Giza Ram Detail - Karnak Ram Street - Karnak Temple Rams... you get it. Ready for Ramadan Restoring More Riverboat at Night Riverboat On the Nile Rooftop Bar Action - Sunset in Full Swing Rooftop Bar Action - trying things on. Throwing money down. Rush Hour On the Nile Safety First - or At Least I Hope the Safety is On Scarab Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument - Aswan High Dam Sphinxes - Temple Street Sunset Continues Sunset Oer the Nile Sunset On the Locks Sunset over Cairo Sunset over Cairo Sunset's Final Bow Temple Bas Relief The Citadel The Great Pyramid The Great Pyramid The Great Sphinx The Great Sphinx The Great Sphinx The Great Sphinx The Great Sphinx The King - Karnak Complex Tutankamon's Tomb Unfinished/Broken Obelisk Valley of the Kings - Expansion Tomb Valley of the Kings - Tomb Corridor Valley of the Kings from Below Valley of the Queens Valley of the Queens Well Preserved Paints - Karnak Wings Women's Hospital Yet Another Sphinx without a Nose

So, Jordan was much better than Egypt. They enjoy a higher standard of living & a lot lower inflation rate. They are also very moderate on the religion thing & have acted for years as a buffer between Israel & their less moderate neighbors. Also, Petra is great. It has not been as well preserved as many of Egypt’s treasures (and faces constant erosion), but it is beautiful & less crowded.

Madaba Madaba - Aloe Madaba - Icon Madaba - Tile Floor Madaba - Tile Floor Madaba - Tile Floor - Fish Fleeing the Dead Sea Madaba - Tile Floor Map Mt Nebo - Promised Land Petra Petra Petra Petra - Can I Get a Woop Woop!!! Petra - Goats Tending to Photographer Petra - Making a Bottled Sand Camel Petra - Panorama Petra - Queen's Brother's Tomb Petra - Queen's Brother's Tomb Petra - Queen's Brother's Tomb Petra - Roman Theater Petra - The Treasury (not really) Petra 'Shrooms Petra Al Siq Petra Al Siq Petra Al Siq Petra Al Siq Petra Al Siq - Boo! Petra Al Siq - Fish Petra Al Siq - Sculptures Petra Al Siq - the End Petra Al Siq - Water Trough Petra Colors Petra Colors Petra Extras Petra King's Tomb Petra Landscape Petra Lesser Major Tomb Petra Panorama Petra Pottery Petra Sunset Petra Tombs Petra Urn Tomb Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum Wadi Rum - 7 Pillars of Wisdom Wadi Rum - Camp Wadi Rum - Camp Center Wadi Rum - Cats Wadi Rum - Dinner! Wadi Rum - Inscriptions Wadi Rum - Making Soap Wadi Rum - Post Tea Wadi Rum - Stones Wadi Rum Sunset

Still, I decided that I didn’t want to head right into the bastion of Islam, Saudi Arabia, right as Ramadan was ending – which was what was on my agenda. It just didn’t seem like a good idea.

So I went online to find direct flights to Europe from Amman & found Royal Jordanian flies directly to Frankfurt & Delta flies directly to Atlanta from Frankfurt! Win-win. As it turns out Frankfurt is a trade center for Germany. Of course, not much survived WWII in the city center, but what did has been well preserved. Modern buildings have been jammed right up against the few historic ones. And interesting juxtaposition.

Egyptian Goose Eiserner Steg - Pedestrian Bridge Eiserner Steg Lock Eiserner Steg Lock Frankfurt Cathedral Frankfurt Cathedral Frankfurt Cathedral (not a Cathedral) Frankfurt City Hall Frankfurt Jewish Museum Frankfurt Skyline Old Church/Modern Skyline Old Jewish Cemetery Old Jewish Cemetery Wall

I continue to look for opportunities to visit the Saudi peninsula. The country is trying to open itself up to tourism & Oman is a safe place according to our State Dept. Just not during Ramadan. Insh’allah.

Related Images:

A Dome & a Chandalier Broadcasting Allegiances Georgia-36 Georgia-37 Georgia-38 Georgia-39 Georgia-41

2 thoughts on “Ramadan & Easter At Once!”

  1. Shannon says:
    2023-05-11 at 09:23

    Amazing photos of Petra!

    1. Curtis Hertwig says:
      2023-05-11 at 09:36

      Thanks! That was the highlight of the trip.

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