Well, Alice and I had it really easy at Amman airport. The Guiding Star rep got us thru the dedicated Royal Jordanian business class check-in / immigration room pretty quickly and told us to go upstairs, not to the regular immigration line. He was still watching us when we looked back at him a little confused because we didn't see a way to get past the regular immigration line. He motioned to an official person who opened a roped off area and motioned for us to go thru. At the gate, we went thru the Priority Access without any one else in that line. She sent us through without having our bags searched. Just lucky, I guess.

We liked getting to pick what we wanted from the food cart in business class and they did replenish as they were going. We were in row 2 though. They were not very good about refilling drinks. Our flight was only 6 hours, I think, since we were only going to London. Then we had a short layover and were in business class on American to Boston. That was nice.

The "getting to" and "coming home" parts always seem to involve more issues. Thank goodness we have Ngaire and Ken who make the in-betweens wonderful!

Five or six years ago we flew from Cairo to Amman and our guide got our visas and in minutes we were on our way to the hotel.

BUT, a week later when flying home via Cairo we went through security before we got into Amman airport, then again inside the airport and then again at the gate!

They know how to create jobs!

Niki and I arrived home about 4:30 PM Sunday afternoon. We flew to Paris, spent the night at the airport Hilton, and then flew to DFW on Sunday.

Awesome trip! Great sights, guides, and travelling companions!

Thanks to Ngaire and Ken for putting up with us.

FYI - We used our Global Entry at US immigration for the first time. Worked great. Zipped right through immigration without a line. I didn't realize that it also expedited Customs. The Customs line at DFW was very long but the Global Entry participants get to use the Crew line which had no one in it. Sweet. I highly recommend getting the Global Entry. When I get off one of those long flights, I just want to get home. Global Entry certainly helped us do that.

Yay, Scott! We used the Global Entry too last night, and again, it didn't make much of a difference because once again there wasn't anyone in line! haha! Both times we've used it, we've been in the front of the plane and no other planes arriving at the same time. Oh well, it's still cool and we're sure that one day we will be very happy to have it!

Nice to see Wendy and Don posting too! Glad to know your flights on Turkish Air were good. We might use them next year for Istanbul to Rome on the Mariner. I agree, it was a great group and that's part of why the trip was so wonderful!

Glad you all arrived safely. We, too, used Turkidh air from Sth Africa, though, and had a terrific experience as well. We took both business and First. We thought their business class was one of our best experiences until we dis first class. We didn't want to leave the plane.

Glad to see Scott and Wendy posting!

Brad checked out the DVDs he bought from the boat's videographer. They are in PAL (European format) but he managed to convert them to small video files that I will,upload to youtube and post the link.

In the meantime, here's a fun photo he took of the video guy and our "packing" security guy on the felucca.

Wow nice to see a post from Niki and Scott and Wendy and Don. It was a very good group with lots of laughs along the way.

Great to hear from everyone! I miss Henry saying "anyone need to go to the Happy Place?" I love that picture Leslie (One dollah please?)! I was to intimidated to take one of him myself.

We bought the DVD too Leslie and havent tried to play it. I know the guy asked if we were from the US and so I assumed (!) that it would be in the right format.
I so agree that this was a good group and I hope to travel with you all again one day! Thanks, Ngaire for such a great trip.
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Helen

If I remember correctly, Mac users can change the settings on their computer DVD players to the various DVD zones. Be aware that you can change those settings only a limited number of times before they lock in place.
Not sure if that will let it play PAL, though. It may affect only the copy protection programing.

Good luck, Doug

Helen, you should be able to watch them on your computer, just not on your TV. Too bad he didn't offer us the two for 1 deal! The "onshore" one is really lame. He also gave us a CD with some pirated Arabic music, and the two DVDs - one about Ancient Egypt and one about the relocoation of Philae and Abu Simbel. Let me know if your "package" included anything else.

Here are the links on YouTube:

onboard: footage of the belly dancer (including Alice dancing with her), the whirling dervish, the receiving line to meet the captain and staff, some dark, un-viewable footage of people in the lounge, the gabaya party and the Nubian night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVN9QTUAfX8


onshore: not very interesting... consists of footage of people getting off and on the boat, a lot of carriage rides, but no footage of the temples and other sights, and nothing on our felucca trip, even though he came along?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JcliktahYU

And now for the people pix! We downloaded Brad's photos from his camera today and as usual he has some great people shots.

First up - Cairo:

Kathy and Al at the Sound and Light show



Ken is enjoying the pyramids!



Al and I at the Sphinx overlook



BBQ chicken in Cairo



"Panda" stop at the essential oil store



Henry - being Henry!

At various temples along the Nile:

Mike, Val, Hany, Wendy, Don



Alex, Barb, Alice, Helen, Kim



Jerry & Ngaire



Hany points out the details



Alice lines up her shot



Hany at Kom Ombo



Kim and Alice check out their photos



the video guy and our "Price-Waterhouse" escorts on the felucca

a few more from Egypt

Val and Mike



Barb



Alex



Alice and her new friend



Mike and Val at Edfu



Ngaire and me



Cindy

OHH I loved these Leslie!!!!! Thanks for posting!!

and now from JOrdan:

Kim contemplates life in Jerash



Ken shops for a Jordanian wedding dress???



Ron and Sally



Alice, Paul, Me. Kim, Nikki, Ken



Alice



Scott, me, Ngaire (in her pharaoh pose...) and Nikki



Ken and Brad



Sally, Val and Ron riding camels at Petra

And some more from Jordan

Kim and Alice



Zohair in Wadi Rum, in front of the Seven Pillars



one last camel ride

Leslie and Brad those are GREAT shots and somehow really capture the fun that we all enjoyed together. Great shots of Henry and Hany too, I just love those two guys it was so sad to say goodbye at the airport. Really made me relive the memories.

Thanks Leslie and Brad! The people pictures are always my favorite...love looking at all those happy faces!

What nice photos! I really want to do this trip someday.

Thank you Leslie and Brad, I'm loving your pictures and grateful for you sharing with us!

Leslie, I've loved seeing your photos. So glad you all had such a memorable trip. Thanks so much for taking us along!

Great pics, Leslie/Brad! Thanks so much for posting.
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Helen

your pix, as always leslie and brad, fantastic!

Thanks Leslie& Brad for taking us along

http://ngaire.smugmug.com/AFRICA/Africa-Tours/Nile-2/22240518_w9rzqz#!i=1776519322&k=LNfptz8

Far more pictures than we will leave up but this way those on Nile 2 can download any that they want so he did put up a bunch for people to view who were not on the trip. We wont caption them until we cut them down after people have had a chance to download

Especially love the shots from the balloon ride! I was telling somebody the other day about how the green just abruptly ends and the desert starts - those aerial shots really show that well.

Ken's pictures are really wonderful. The balloon ride on what was our last day was such a great finish to this trip for us. BTW, I love your new photo, Leslie.
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Helen

I'm amazed at how much both the Sphinx and step pyramid have deteriorated since I first saw them in the mid 60s.

Fantastic photos and memories. Thanks Ken!

Thanks for all the photos everyone. It sure looks like it was a wonderful trip. Loved the people pics.

dupe sorry

Links to our photos - a mix of my iPhone shots and Brad's Canon G10 shots with a bunch of subgalleries

Egypt


Jordan

Alice is in a class and I'm heading to Bellagio to play poker. Couldn't resist getting these photos. What memories it brings back! The obelisk is so much more authentic than I would have imagined.

Wow, Kim!! I gotta admit that I would likely now have a better grasp of just what the heck that is in front of the Luxor! How long are you staying? Jerry and I will be in Las Vegas next weekend. Will you and Alice still be there?
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Helen

exceptional pic of Kim. they're all lovely

Kim, how nice you can see all those sights and not be on a 9+ hour excursion! And how neat to see New York just beyond Luxor!

So true, Olivia! LOL

Helen - we are going to Bryce Canyon NP for the weekend. We are in St George, UT now for dinner. Alice has class again next week, so I just came out for long weekend. I fly home Monday night. She flys home Friday night.

A visit to the Luxor! Perfect! They even have an avenue of Sphinxes - I will say they don't quite have the color of stone right though. Didn't get their material at the quarry in Aswan.

Enjoy your time in Bryce - we were just talking about going back there one of these days.