Middle East - Lili on the Loose

1 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 1 – Great Pyramids of Giza

By Lili|March 1st, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, Great Pyramids, Great Pyramids of Giza, group, Khafre, Khufu, Middle East, Pyramid, Pyramid of Khafre, Pyramid of Khufu, stones, ticket, tour group, van|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 1 – Great Pyramids of Giza Elizabeth and I woke up early, and took turns taking showers. We got most of our belongings ready and then headed down to breakfast. To my dismay the potatoes were out. I tried to get attention of the staff and failed, so stuck with bread, butter, and those donut-esque little balls that I had previously. After a while they finally did bring some potatoes and

27 02, 2016

Upcoming Travel Plans: Solo Las Vegas 2016

By Lili|February 27th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: 2011, 2015, 2016, Africa, aquarium, Bellagio, Canyon Ranch Spa, Egypt, Girl’s Weekend, Giza, Grand Canyon, Great Pyramids, Great Pyramids of Giza, horse, horse back riding, Las Vegas, Le Rêve, Magic, Mandalay Bay, Middle East, Mob Museum, museum, Neon Museum, Nevada, North America, Ocean's 11, Penn and Teller, Pyramid, Spa, The Bellagio, The Dream, The Luxor, The Mirage, The Venetian, The Venetian's Canyon Ranch Spa, The Wynn, USA, Vegas, volcano|0 Comments

Today should be the next post in the Egypt Travelogue series, featuring the Great Pyramids of Giza. But...I ran out of time to write it because I'm planning my next trip to Las Vegas. So instead of the Great Pyramids, here is the pyramid of Vegas at the Luxor! So with your pyramid fix for the day complete, lets talk about Las Vegas. I'll go going for work at a trade show at The Venetian but I've decided to stay a couple of days afterwards on my own. I've been to Vegas many times for various trade shows and I've

24 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 6 – Starting the Tour

By Lili|February 24th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Abydos, Africa, bomb, Dendera, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, falafel, Felfela, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Giza, Great Pyramids, group, Middle East, road, Shish Taouk, tour group, traffic|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 6 – Starting the Tour Upon entering my hotel room I noted that none of my friend Elizabeth's luggage was in the room. I figured she left her bags at the front desk and had gone out sight seeing. So took a shower and then I crawled into bed, and slept until 5:30 PM. When I woke up and Elizabeth still hadn't returned I got a bad feeling that the front desk

23 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 5 – Imhotep Museum & Kushari

By Lili|February 23rd, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, columns, desert, Diary, Dream of Egypt, dust, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Museum, Egyptian Sidekick, exhibit, Faience Wall Tiles, history, Imhotep, Imhotep Museum, koshari, kushari, Marble, Merrenre I, Middle East, Mohsen, Mummies, Mummy, museum, sand, Saqqara, Sidekick|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 5 - Imhotep Museum & Kushari We finally found someone who told us that the museum we were looking for was at the entrance to Saqqara....all of Saqqara (not just the ancient part) and that we'd need to head to the car entrance to find it. So we headed back to where our driver was parked and took a short drive to the Imhotep Museum entrance. Admission to the

18 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 4 – Saqqara

By Lili|February 18th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, 5th dynasty, Africa, Akhet-hotep, barb wire, bat, Bent Pyramid, Chicago, Chicago Field Museum, Civ, Civilization, colonnade, columns, Dahshur, Dashur, desert, Diary, Djoser, Dream of Egypt, dust, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, exhibit, Faience Wall Tiles, funerary complex, game, Great Court, Heb-Sed Court, Herimeru, Hidalgo, history, horse, House of the South, Illinois, Imhotep, Imhotep Museum, Indian Rupee, Isi, Iy, Khenu, Marble, mastaba, Meidum, Memphis, mice, Middle East, Mohsen, money, Movie, museum, North America, paint, Pharaoh, prince, Ptah-hote, Pyramid, Red Pyramid, sand, Saqqara, Sidekick, Sneferu, Step Pyramid, Temple T, Token Palace, Tomb, trivia, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, Unas, Unas Causeway, Unas Pyramid, Unas-Ankh, USA, video game|1 Comment

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 4 - Saqqara Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. As we pulled up to the complex at Saqqara it started to rain. I realized I didn't want to walk around with my big heavy bag any longer and so took out just some of the essentials into a sack. (This would be a big mistake.) Upon stepping out I found the rain to be mostly just sprinkles, and

17 02, 2016

30 at 30: Best Experiences So Far

By Lili|February 17th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: Abu Simbel, Africa, Anaheim, Antigua, Asia, Aswan, Bath, Belize, Belize Barrier Reef, Bent Pyramid, birthday, Bostan, California, camping, Canyon Ranch Spa, castle, Caye Caulker, Cenote, Central America, Champ de Elysee, Chino, chocolate, Christmas Market, CIE, Concert, concert photography, Costa Rica, Dahshur, Dashur, DC, Disneyland, Egypt, England, Epiphany Night, Europe, Ewok, fireworks, Florida, France, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, golf carts, Great Britan, Guatemala, Harry Potter, haunted, Ik Kil, Ik Kill cenote, Ireland, Island of Adventure, Italy, Japan, Karnak, Lake Placid, Las Vegas, Latin America, lightsaber, Luxor, Massachusetts, memories, Mexico, Middle East, Munich, museum, Nagano Prefecture, Nevada, New York, North America, Orlando, Paris, photography, Playa Del Carmen, Pyramids, racing, Red Pyramid, reef, Rome, San Francisco, sharks, sheep, Sister Cities, snorkeling, Spa, St. John, Star Wars, Suwa, swimming, temples, The Vatican, Tokyo, tombs, tour, Trafalgar, Trajan's Column, travel experiences, trolly, Tucson, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Universal Studios, USA, USVI, Vatican, Vatican City, Washington DC, white water rafting, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, yukata|1 Comment

Today is my birthday, and I've hit the "Big 3-0". I wanted to look back at 30 of my favorite travel memories in my life, in no particular order: Fulfilling my dream of going to Egypt, seeing so many amazing tombs and temples Sitting alone in the temples of Abu Simbel and Karnak Climbing into and on top of a pyramid Wandering the Christmas Markets of Munich Seeing the castles of Germany Taking a haunted trolly/walking tour of Boston graveyards. Seeing as many museums as I could in Washington, DC Swimming with sharks in Belize Racing golf-carts on Caye Caulker Making

16 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 3 – Memphis Open Air Museum

By Lili|February 16th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, caretaker, Colossus of Ramses II, column, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Egyptologist, Great Temple of Ptah, Hieroglyphics, Memphis, Middle East, mit rahina museum, Mohsen, Rameses II, Sidekick, sphinx|2 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 3 - Memphis Open Air Museum As we drove to Memphis I marveled again at the small villages and towns we were driving through. I swear I saw every type of livestock and animal that could be ridden or eaten (well except for Rabbits or Llamas). I saw Yaks, Water Buffalos, Camels, Horses, Donkeys, Cows, lambs, Ducks, Chickens, as well as plenty of dogs and cats. I chatted a bit with Mohsen

13 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 2 – Bent Pyramid

By Lili|February 13th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Bent Pyramid, Black Pyramid, Dahshur, Dashur, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Giza, Hetepheres I, Middle East, Mohsen, Pharaoh, Photo Essay, Pyramid, Queen Hetepheres I, Red Pyramid, Sidekick, Sneferu|2 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 2 - the Bent Pyramid It was only a few minutes drive from the Red Pyramid to the Bent Pyramid. Mohsen and I bumped into another Egyptian Sidekick and his charges (Hugo and Cristina) and we were joined by a bored guard on his cell phone. The 5 of us (and the guard) were the only people in sight. In the distance you can see the ruins of the Black

11 02, 2016

Night Train to Aswan

By Lili|February 11th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travel Tips|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Esna, Giza, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Middle East, night train, Qena, train, train travel, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

Farmland out the window. On my trip to Egypt, I spent one night on the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan. The train from Cairo to Aswan for tourists only runs at night, so you must take the night train. It took about 13 hours. Here are my thoughts on the experience. The Station I boarded at the Giza Station. I was a bit sad as I was hoping to see the famed Ramses Station and its beautiful architecture, but we were on the Giza side of Cairo and it didn't sense to fight traffic back into town. The station is

10 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 1 – Road to Dahshur

By Lili|February 10th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Bent Pyramid, Dahshur, Dashur, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Giza, Indiana Jones, Middle East, Mohsen, Pharaoh, Pyramid, Red Pyramid, Sidekick, Sneferu, Tomb|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 1 - Road to Dahshur I woke up early and took a shower to help wake up. Although the day before the hotel told me I could stay in the room...I figured there would be problems. Which is why I packed up before going off in search of breakfast. To my non-surprise the only option was the buffet (the same one from the night before). I didn't have high hopes. As