Free-spirited couple shares tales of adventures in Egypt
Atrip to Egypt after the revolution sounded like a great idea to Frank Law, not so much to his wife, Judy.
Concerned about traveling to a country in turmoil, the Laws had their itinerary intact. But after trouble erupted in the country, they put their plans on hold.
“I had studied and been fascinated by Egypt and wasn’t about to let a little revolution change my plans that easily. The fears my wife had I respected, but when she would tell me to cancel our plans, I would just say, ‘not yet,’ ” Law said.
Suggesting they proceed to the first leg of their trip, a stop in Paris, he promised if the situation seemed too dangerous, they would rent a car and drive through the European countryside instead.
Losing his father at a young age, Law had to take over family responsibilities before his time. The one thing he longed to do was travel the globe, something he has accomplished as a married man.
“Our first trip out of the country was to Germany to meet some relatives. We loved it,” he said. “Since then we have traveled to 23 countries on four continents, from South and Central America to Canada, Alaska, Africa and Europe, along with 44 of the United States. We have thoroughly loved it.”
Having studied Egyptian history, the free-spirited couple designed their own tours with their own guides.
“That’s part of the fun of it,” Law said. “People kept asking us why we wanted to go to Egypt. Everyone thought we were crazy. We called Tour Egypt, and its itinerary was close to what we wanted. We flew Air France. We were set to go from March 24 through April 8.”
Realizing that anything could happen wherever they went, Judy agreed to go. Throwing caution to the wind, the couple packed their bags. Their trip began in Paris during their three-hour layover to Egypt. Although they expected their trip to be about the sights of Egypt, it was really about the people they met.
“Waiting for our flight, we met a very nice family, two doctors and their two small children,” he said.
After three hours, they got to know the family.
“When we boarded the plane, they gave us their numbers and said if we needed anything in Egypt, to call,” he said.
Arriving at the new, modern airport, an Egyptian man on the plane helped the couple with their bags. He had just returned from New Orleans on business and offered to help the Laws through customs.
“(He said) ‘I will walk with you to get your vi- sas,’” Law said. “He takes out $30, pays for our visas and refuses to let me pay him back. He talks to the guy about the visas; they took our passports, and waved us through with our luggage. We were off to meet our guide, Saeed.
“He took our bags and handed me my cell phone programmed with our tour guides’ and driver’s numbers, and said that he had programmed in the number of Mr. Hana, the nice man from the plane.”
They spent the night in the five-star Barcelo Hotel, in the city of Giza.
“They were wonderful, and we could see the three major pyramids in the distance,” Law said.
Met the next morning by their driver and their guide, Noura Ibraham, an expert in antiquities, the couple discovered that word had apparently spread that Law was a VIP and would be given his own security guard to accompany him on his trip.
“They said we probably wouldn’t need it, but he was there anyway,” Law said. “When we got to the camel ride, the security guard went ahead, showed them some credentials, and we went right in.”
They dined at a barbecue restaurant complete with a beautiful courtyard.
Deviating from the itinerary, the guides and driver were happy to accommodate.
“We visited the gold room at the Cairo Museum and the mosque where we had no wait. Amun Ra was the main Sun God of Egypt, and Mutt was his wife, so for the duration of the trip, Judy and I were known as Amun Ra and Mutt. Gone were Americans Judy and Frank,” he said.
Flying Egyptian Air to Aswan, they began their cruise on the M.S. La Travitoria, where they met their new tour guide Khalid, who stayed with them throughout the cruise. Sleeping on board and visiting sites during the day, the couple began the third leg of their journey.
Waking the first night at 1:30 a.m., they went on a three-hour caravan journey to Abu Simbel Temple.
“While there, Judy lost her watch. It wasn’t an expensive watch, but she loved it. Much to our surprise, much later in the journey, the watch was returned to us. Amazing.
“While on the caravan, we had to go very slowly since the car had a ‘speed governor’ (a speed control device) on the car to keep it from going too fast,” Law said.
The car was quickly replaced with a new 2011 Honda van with no “speed governor.”
This turned out to be a blessing since the driver had to make haste to get back to the ship on time. Calling ahead, the ship waited, and it was “bon voyage” to the Houston couple.
The couple cruised the Nile, stopping at Kom Ombo and other historical sites along the river, including the Kom Ombo Temple and the city of Edfu.
“We went to see the buildings and statues in the Ramesseum (funerary temple of Ramses II 1279–13 B.C.), erected on the west bank of the Nile River at Thebes in Upper Egypt,” Law said.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the trip, they said, was talking to the people about the revolution.
“There were handsome young men and darling women laughing and talking just like any other teenagers about wanting freedom and economic independence,” Law said. “It was wonderful. We took the ferry to get across, and our guide led us to the front of the line. We felt special. Everyone couldn’t have been nicer.”
The trip over, the couple arrived home without incident, but somehow changed.
“We have learned that people are all alike. We are all related ...whether we are in Rome or Mexico or Egypt where you feel like you are in the cradle of civilization,” he said.
Like true global citizens, they feel that there is so much left to see, to many people to meet, so many cultures to experience. And Frank has fulfilled his childhood dream of travel while influencing others with a sense of adventure and understanding to all he has met.