The Bailey Expedition - Griffin's Nepal and Egypt

Griffin's Reflection on Nepal and Egypt

The first day we were in Nepal we went to see a monkey temple. I got to see the Buddah eyes, I got to see monkeys, I got to see a mother dog and little baby dogs feeding on the mother's milk. The temple was very intriguing because it was a long way up, but an inspriing view of the whole city of Kathmandu. The temple had sort of a golden face and there were holes that the pigeons could just fly into. The way you go around it clockwise while spinning the prayer wheels. Each time you spin one you think of a prayer. And if you don't spin the prayer wheels, it's bad luck : ). I went in to a temple where monks were playing these instruments. I went inside to see and it was very very Buddhist. The sound was perfect and seeing all those monks play the instruments was very spiritualist. We also met a very very nice monk there who is the only person we know in Nepal now. He gave us his address and we gave him our address.

The next day we sent to his monastery and we got to see B.B. (Big Buddah). He showed us around and I got the play with little boy monks who were playing football (soccer) with a lime for a football. He told us that when he started he was 12, showed us around and took us to where the big Buddha was and that is where they did meditation. and when they played the instruments it was like a big Gamelon except for only one team. We meditated with them . Meditation is 4...HOURS! That would be long if you needed to go to the bathroom. After the monastery we went to Boudha. This is a big stupa. It is very invigorating because there are two Buddha eyes looking straight at you. Also there we saw cats who were living in the restaurant we went to. The food was very good. When we were there everyone was walking around the outside.The next day we took a bus to the Himalayas where we are now, Pokara. The bus ride was very long, otherwise known as the bus ride from...Hell. When we stopped I got a bag of chips which had a 3D cricketer inside. I built the cricketer and the cricketer is running back trying to catch the ball and he caught it.

Today we are in the Himalayas. Two days ago we really didn't do anything except see Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's son. The day started when we we got up, threw our clothes on and headed out to see the parade. When we arrived at the parade there was no one there except for news people, and then when SEH arrived, everyone pushed each other to get a picture. I got a few good pictures of Sir edmund H and then when the parade left we went back to our hotel, ate there and then SEH came to our hotel and I got a stunning picture of him and his wife, including one up close of SIr Edmund. I am not sure if he is used to this or not. Well, anyway it was the best day in the whole time we were in Nepal so far.

Today is starting June. We went on a very nice hike, which turned out to be the hike from hell. Here is how it went like. Jaggedy rock, step, oh slipped caught, cramps, leg hurts, going over a bridge, yeah, getting tired on the bridge, feeling like dying of the heat. Last but not least, good view from the shower. But in the hike there were some unspeakable views; I mean we could see like a little mountain peeking out from the clouds. So actually 60 percent of the hike was great. I learned this song called “50 nifty united states” while hiking. Our hike was supposed to be 7 hours but it turned out to be 8 hours long exactlly what we planned it to be. So while we hiked I learned the song that will help you with social studies. Last night I played this extremely inspiring game called carom with these men who know it very well. And from the beginning of our trekking adventure there were these very very nice and intelligent Koreans that we kept hiking with. They helped us recharge my dad’s batteries at the Hotel Snowland.

Yesterday we finished our trek. Our legs were so tired we felt that we were going to die of cramps. Fortunately, we had enough energy to make it. The last day went a little something like this, unspeakable views out the shower window, nice breakfast, later than we thought, very long yet got to see a tractor going into a powerful stream and coming across it. I got across the powerful rivers by crossing a swing bridge. I even saw donkeys crossing the bridge, buffalo, water buffalo and I even got to see donkeys pee, that was a sight to see. I also saw women smashing rocks, people with loads the size of a donkey and much heavier than a donkey. Imagine if that was your job, could you believe me, how would you feel if you had to work like that? I also saw beggers and learned a little bit of math. Today I still have those cramps, but luckily only in one spot, my knee. I would so love to do that trail again, and maybe I can when I have enough money. I love Nepal.

Today we are in Eqypt. Our hotel is called Le Meridien. The Meridien has a great view, a great breakfast, great juice, and pools to die for. Yesterday we went inside the pyramids of Giza (Geeza). I got to see the sphinx. The sphinx represents three things; beauty, philosophy, power. The sphinx has a woman's face for beauty/or purity, lion's body for power, and a man's head for philosophy (women, no offense). I also got to hear an English sound and light show telling me about ancient Egypt, the pyramids and the sphynx. I have some very nice pictures of the sphynx, pyramids and a coffin for the pharoah Khufu.

To get inside the pyramids, you have to have a ticket, water, and a lot of energy because you've gotta climb on a ladder inside of the pyramid to get to at least more than half way because I'll tell you, its a lot of climbing to get to the Sarcofagus of Khufu (Koo-foo). And if you have back pains I advise not to go there because when climbing keep your back low and that's going to hurt. The roof of the secret passageway if you stand up you'll hit your head, unless if you're 1 to 4 feet tall. The room that had Khufu's sarcofogus was 4 to 5 meters tall.; Being in the pyramid was like having fun for the first time. I mean when I'm older I am going to look back and say "man when I am older and have enough money I am going back to Egypt to the meredien and man I'm gonna love it." and soon I will have, like, two water bottles full of Egyptian sand, maybe even more.

The pyramid contains a secret chamber down that they have to pump oxygen into, King Khufu's sarcofigus, and a fan.

One of the first two tombs we went to was a place where explorers couldn't find an entrance so they jsut blew up the celing. I think it went a little something like this. " we can't find the door, well we can always blow up the ceiling, boom! Oh there's the door, we could have just walked around, but that would have been boring." The room was perfect, it had heiroglyphics that looked fresh and also statues that looked just carved. It was the tomb of the man who designed the pyramid of Khufu. I also went camel riding. If you go camel riding, you will probably think it is like riding a roller coaster for the first time: a bumpy one at that. I found it very exciting and nerve wracking because to me it was scarry. I thought I was going to fall off when I just got on, then I realized "no this camel is stable", But when my brother got on then I had my doubts. But that camel didn't fall over. I'm glad.

We went to the Citadel, or otherwise to me, the castle. It is a place where there are lots of Mosques, people and sites. It looked like a gianormous village and all of the mosques were huts (gigantic huts). Surrounding the citadel was the city of Cairo like a castle surrounded by a moat. I saw this wall that was 20 meters high, 500 years old (6000 months) that surrounded the Citadel to protect it. I saw beautiful mosques and some not so beautiful mosques. But the thing I will remember was that I saw a huge field gun like 10 by 20 feet length and size. Inside of the mosques there were rugs, fans, and in the middle of the time we were there, we came across a band of froozies. I had strawberry, mom had mango, Bro had mango, pa had mango.

Next we went to the Egyyptian, Museum. Very nice indeed, there was a king tut punching bag in the gift shop because there was king tut's death mask in the artifacts part. I also saw security guards with machine guns that made me shudder. I also got to see a real mummy. I also saw some cases of sarcophaguses and I hope I could see them again, but let's get on with the story. I also saw a dagger that had a solid gold blade, handle and casing. They were found on King Tut's breast. I wonder if I'll be able to see them again? We might, might not. We also saw the piece of the museum that was like the whole reason of the museum and I saw it. It was old and dirty and dusty but who cared, it was the heart of the museum, it was the thing that like, was the reason that they built the museum. It was like a flashlight in dirt, but to that flashlight - shined out. Now lets get on with egypt. One day my dad and Quinn went out walking and they got an arab headdress, I got one as well, we are the Abdul brothers. Abdul the first, Abdul the first and a half, and Abdula the Elder, and Abdul the eldest.

I saw a bazaar that was really bizarre. It was the Kahn e Kalili Bazaar. In the Kahn e Kalili bazarre, there were a few historic gates, a shop named the Buddha, and many people begging for money. I am dreaming of what it will be like in Europe, will it be better or worse, well only fate will decide. We went around the bazaar, and I kept saying we are lost and my dad kept saying we are not lost and evidently we were not. When we got out of the bazaar we were so tired we just flopped down on our beds and just laid there for like two hours. Here's the problem, at 11:?? we had to get up and board a taxi for we were heading for Europe, and we knew in Europe we would be poor out of our wallets.