EGYPT
Egypt, land of dreams...
We flew to Luxor to begin our cruise on the Nile and visit other fascinating sites in Egypt.
On the Nile...
Our trip would only be a few hundred miles along the Nile and would take us from Luxor to Aswan. We wondered why we would only see a short part of the great river. Later we learned that cruises used to go from Cairo all the way to Aswan and back but since the terrorist attack on tourists in 1999 all cruises ceased for a while. Now the government only allows cruises on the part we would be seeing. Nevertheless it was spectacular and throughout our days on the water we often said to ourselves and others, "I can't really believe we are on the Nile." Others repeated the same refrain. It was truly magical. Along the way we saw stunning sunsets and many fascinating scenes on the river banks.
Luxor
The area that is generally called Luxor includes the Luxor Temple in the town of Luxor, the village of Karnak with its huge temple on the East Bank and, the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens on the West Bank. This area was overwhelming in its antiquities, ancient history lessons and enormity of structures. It was much more than we could take in and we continue to be in awe even as we study the area to glean more background and understanding.
Our first stop was at the Luxor Temple of Ramses II which dates to 1950 B.C. The photo shows the great entrance with two of the colossi of Ramses, looking into the inner court. You can get some sense of the enormity of the temple by looking at the size of the people in the foreground. It was awe-inspiring to imagine the elaborate processions that were a part of the pharaoh's visits to the the temple; or to imagine that Alexander the Great walked the same path in the 4th Century B.C.
The second photograph shows the processional approach to Luxor Temple. The royal sphinxes on each side of the entrance protect the temple and those approaching it.
Maged's history lessons began in earnest and we tried to follow what he was saying as much as we could. However, due to the size of the group and the constant chatter among some of them we lost much of what he was saying. We were content to stare in wonder and capture visual images in our minds, knowing that we would continue to study it upon returning home. We do remember that Maged told us that the entire colossal complex was under 25-30 feet of mud and silt when excavations first began.
Quena
From Luxor we traveled to Quena, one of the more fascinating sights along our way. This is the view from the ship. It was open expense of lawn and maze of sidewalks that extended for quite a distance. It was pristine. Many of us wanted to go for a walk and stretch our legs. However, we were not allowed to disembark and explore on our own. This whole expanse was built as a buffer between the river and the town of Quena after the terrorist attacks and the whole area was heavily guarded. Later we would take a bus tour of the city and see a very clean and antiseptic city that left us with a feeling of unreality. We are not certain what that tour was all about.
Meanwhile back of the ship a machine gun was being mounted on the top deck and would stay there as long as the ship was docked. The machine gun was manned by very young soldiers who encouraged people to take their picture with the weapon for a price...
The gun was ancient and we wondered if it was even operational. Was all this security overkill or a statement to let tourists know they would be safe? Or was this whole display to protect the city from the tourists? We weren't quite certain what to think about any of this.
West Bank
The West Bank was one of the most fascinating visits of the whole trip. It contains the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Here are the immense sarcophagi of the pharaohs. Under the huge mounds were immense complexes that contained the pharaohs and all of the possessions that they would need in eternity. It has to be seen to be appreciated.
Here you can see at map of one particular tomb.
Walking down steep steps that went on forever and reminded us of the subway in Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, we were mesmerized by the bright colors of the drawings on the walls. It looked as if they could have been painted yesterday. The opulence, enormity and intricacies of the tombs were amazing to us. Of course no pictures were allowed.
The tomb of Tutankhamun is the most famous but it is also one of the lesser tombs in terms of size and significance because he died at age 19. Our tickets allowed us to explore three of the sarcophagi. To see Tutanknamun's tomb it would be a separate fee and we were discouraged from checking it out as there is nothing to see inside. This was also what our guidebooks stated so we decided to forego entering the tomb but instead had our picture taken at its entrance.
Upon returning home, it was exciting to read in February '06 that a new tomb had been discovered across the road from King Tut's tomb. The archaeologists would later decide that the rooms they uncovered were used for embalming. Still pretty exciting...
Of course we had the obligatory stops at a carpet shop and other local craft places, with much encouragement to put money into the economy. This shop was particularly interesting to us as it had an elaborate brightly colored building facade depicting the owner's hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). The mosaic pictured below is of the Ka'aba, the focal point of Islam, to which all Muslims pray.
Only after leaving the Valley of the Kings and Queens did we hear the story of the terrorist attacks in 1999. During that time tourists were fired on by terrorist who stationed themselves above the tourists visiting the tombs and were trapped in the valley below. German and Japanese tourists were killed. The terrorists were Egyptians who were protesting the Egyptian government and were trying to hurt them where they could the most -- in the pocketbook, by attacking tourism, the primary source of income in the country. Two of our guides were present at the time of the attacks and managed to keep their tourists safe. One of the program directors told us that he took his busload of American tourists to the home of Muslim Egyptians who guaranteed their safety. They said they would die before allowing anything to happen to their guests. That is a little known part of Muslim culture and religion. That program director, a devout Muslim, told us that he had symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for years afterwards. It also led to his impassioned belief in the teaching of peace, love and tolerance that he said are the hallmarks in all major religions if they are taught correctly. We felt connected with him in a very special way and wish that more people could understand things as he does. We told him that his message is also ours and one we try to communicate as much as we are able.
Karnak
We have to admit that most of us were most familiar with Karnak from Johnny Carson's "Karnak the Magnificent" routines. Until coming to the area we didn't know that the temple of Amon-Re at Karnak complex was so immense that the only way to have an idea of its size was to capture a picture from the air. Even so, we were told that we could have weeks of wandering around inside and still not see all of it. Its excavation lasted more than 100 years. So what we explored was just a tiny fraction of it.
This is the only surviving temple of three that claimed supremacy over all others in Egypt. The original building of this vast complex began 4,000 years ago and continued to be built in stages through eras and dynasties for 1500 years. This temple was the melting pot of religion and politics and witnessed the most important events of Egyptian history.
Here is a colossal statue of a pharaoh that was originally owned by Ramses II or an earlier king. A queen or princess or much smaller dimensions in sculpted in front.
Many of the hieroglyphics were amazingly fresh looking with their colors still vibrant. Hieroglyphics is a pictorial writing and was not deciphered until the late 19th Century. The oval shaped figures are called cartouches and the enclosed figures represent royal or divine names.
Here a man walks among a few of the 135 columns in Karnak Temple.
Edfu
Edfu is famous for the temple honoring the falcon headed god, Horus, for avenging the murder of his father, Osiris. Begun in 237 B.C. it is today the best preserved monument in Egypt. As we walked around and listened to the explanations of Maged, we noticed that many of the images were defaced. At some time in history someone had attempted to erase the head, hands and feet of Horus, Osiris and his wife, Isis. Having read about and seen this destruction of Hindu temples and images in India, Tom assumed that these images were damaged by Muslims. We were surprised to learn from Maged that the damage had been done by early Christians. The Egyptian "Holy Family" of Horus, Osiris and Isis was widely worshipped in Egypt and regarded as a threat to the Christian holy family. As a result, Christians tried to take away the power of the deities by defacing their images.
Arriving back at the ship after our visit to Edfu Temple we notice that the television was on even though we distinctly remember turning it off before leaving. Then we saw Mr. Toilet Paper Head sitting in the chair, remote in hand studiously watching the screen depicting the view of the river from the stern of the ship. It gave us quite a chuckle.
Kom Ombro... Unfortunately we can't remember much about Kom Ombro or its famous temple, if truth be told. We had seen so much antiquity and amazing sights that we were saturated with information and visual delights. So rather than recapitulate what we saw, using our numerous guidebooks as sources, we decided to be honest and say we just don't remember.... We are reminded of what happens in visiting cathedrals in Europe and getting "cathedralled out". Tom is reminded of a friend whose aunt sent postcards from the various places she visited with the message "SOS" (same old stuff). This definitely wasn't "Same Old Stuff" but an indication that we couldn't take in any more information and remember it clearly.
And so we sailed on to Aswan and a more modern wonder.
Aswan
Aswan Dam was finished in 1971. It was a grand scheme to control the annual flooding of the river, to produce electricity and to bring irrigation to large areas of Egypt, which increased agricultural production by 40%. The High Dam has brought many good things to Egypt but there are some drawbacks. Much nutritious silt is blocked by the dam, necessitating the purchase of fertilizer by farmers, the advancing of the saline line up the Lower Nile, the flooding of monuments (such as Abu Simbel) and the widespread evacuation of many Nubian villages.
Philae
We traveled to Philae Island by felucca boat. The temple of Philae was one monument threatened by the rising waters of the Nile. A team of Italians moved more than 40,000 stones to a nearby island and totally reconstructed the temple on the island.
The Isis temple complex is a lovely site. The imposing structures were set off by the blue sky and the blue waters of the Nile. As at Edfu, many carvings in this temples facade were defaced by early Christians.
The felucca boat was manned by three generations of the same family, Nubians from the region. We thought that the youngest member of the crew and the oldest member were magnificently attractive.
While returning across the waters and back to our boat we were entertained by the young man on the right with songs and comedy routines delivered in a number of different languages, parodies and impersonations that make us double over with mirth. He was so talented and charming.
Of course his endearing himself so well helped to increase the tip significantly.
Papyrus Institute. A trip to the Papyrus Institute in Aswan was one of those "must stop" tourist destinations that we were actually looking forward to. We were interested in buying some calligraphy and we knew that this was the place to get it. After the mandatory demonstration of how papyrus is made we had time to meander among the artwork and were pleased to find many things we wanted to buy at reasonable prices. And it was the real thing --- not the cheap imitation papyrus that had been pressed into our hands by hawkers throughout other parts of Egypt.
Abu Simbel. This was another optional tour that we opted out of. For others it was the primary reason they had come to Egypt and something that they wouldn't have missed for anything. We had looked at what appeared to be a grueling schedule for a day at the end of our time in Egypt, along with the high cost, and thought it might be just too much for us. We decided to relax and again walk along the Nile and explore as much as we could at our own pace. We had some interesting encounters. There were all the horse drawn carriages with aggressive men who insisted that we needed a ride and were not about to take no for an answer. On more than one occasion they only left us alone when they saw a policeman approaching. We chatted with these young students who were willing to share with us their backgrounds and seemed eager to interact. However, when we asked if we could take their picture, one of their friends started shouting, "Baksheesh, Baksheesh!" They were laughing and we were laughing with them. We thought he was kidding. But he was serious and became angry. They seemed embarrassed by his behavior. He wanted money from us. He started pushing and shoving his friends when they posed for the picture because he didn't want them to cooperate. An interesting scenario. We weren't certain if we should give them money under those circumstances and can't remember if we did, but found ourselves in a similar situation on more than one occasion. We also discovered that no matter how much money we would give, the recipient always demanded more. The word baksheesh literally mans, "share the wealth," and is a way of life in that part of the world.
When our fellow travelers returned from Abu Simbel we were eager to hear about their trip. The reviews were mixed and several people told us quietly, "You didn't miss anything." Some said that after a very hot long walk to the site that it was magnificent. Most told stories about the mob scene and aggression at the local airport. Some of our group had physical altercations and were attacked by tourists from other groups. We're not sorry we missed that.
Back to Cairo... overnight at the hotel and time on our own
And then on to Jordan...
