After our UNIWORLD riverboat docked in Luxor, we flew back to Cairo and then to Sharm El Sheikh International Airport on the Asian side of Egypt. To say we were fagged and weary was an understatement; we were overwhelmed by all that we had previously experienced and the daily five a.m. wake up calls on the riverboat added to it.

While driving deep into the desert of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, we sat three hours in a van, which was part of a convoy, apparently to assist other vans in case of mechanical failures or possible attacks from unknown assailants. There were many checkpoints along the way, guarded by soldiers and policemen. With us were two very nervous U.S. tourists who spoke endlessly of the nearby war that was geographically close but emotionally felt light years away. The other occupants in the van consisted of driver, our own policeman and our highly educated guide whose narrative of the harsh landscape of sand and boulders had the shaped mountains, the home of the nomadic Arabic Bedouin people, making the hours seem like minutes.

At one time there were a lot of Christians in Turkey. In fact, the apostle Paul had planted some of the earliest churches like Ephesus and Antioch in that country which is today 99% Muslim. So where did the Christians go? Simply stated, I guess they were bullied out. In fact, the Christians and followers of other religions in Turkey are in hiding for fear of their lives. How ironic that Saint Nick would be beheaded in his own country today.

There is a daddy camel and a little boy camel. One day, the little boy turns and asks his daddy, "Daddy why do we have such long eyelashes?" The dad replies, "Well son, its to keep out the sand from our eyes when there is a sandstorm."