Egypt – Destination NOW

On the Road to Abu Simbel

To acclimate us for the end of our leisurely float up the Nile, we used less luxurious modes of transportation to visit the town of Daraw. We’d been ferried across the Nile by small boats before, but this was our first time in the back of a pick up truck. The truck was covered, but there was such little headroom, I could barely sit upright. And no, that’s not a canvas top to the truck. It’s metal. If you’re wondering how I know, let’s just say there were more than a few bumps in the road.

You see all modes of transportation in Daraw: bikes, motorcycles, trucks, donkeys, tuk tuks, just about everything except cars.

Most OAT groups tour the livestock market, but because there are no markets on the day we were there, we visited the local entrepreneur. One of his many businesses is a “livestock hotel”. Hey, if you don’t sell all your animals on the first market day, you need someplace for them to stay, right?

Another of his businesses resembled a mini petting zoo, which we greatly enjoyed. I’d been warned that camels spit. After being taught a lesson by that rambunctious water buffalo a few days earlier, I kept my distance. Bobbie and I decided it was time to let others interact with the babies.

This camel bumped Jeanne in the head multiple times

There was significant bonding between Bill and baby donkey. We expected him to start negotiating a purchase price.

Next stop, shopping—and eating—in the marketplace. Mohamed purchased Falafel for us to sample. We had just watched as the street vendor was making it. I don’t know that I would have been brave enough to eat food from a street vendor if I were on my own, but with Mohamed choosing the vendor, I felt perfectly safe.

It felt like we were on the Amazing Race when Mohamed instructed us to search for, and purchase, specific fruits and vegetables with the 20 Egyptian pounds, (about $.62 in US currency) he gave us. We were all so focused on our task, there were no photos of the adventure. I foolishly pointed at potatoes and waved my 20 pound note. Any idea how many potatoes that amount would buy? A whole lot. A whole HEAVY lot. Good thing I’ve been going to the Y.

Bobbie, on the other hand, was a smart shopper. She purchased the required peppers, but she negotiated skillfully enough to be able to buy bread for us all. It was delicious and still warm from the oven.

Our last stop before leaving our beloved dahabiya was “Nile Beach”, where are some of us were perfectly content to just stick our feet in the water. Others, namely, Marianne and John, were far more adventurous.

Look how clear the water in the Nile is!

Our “farewell” dinner was even more spectacular than the other meals we’d enjoyed. We were sad to say goodbye to the crew that took such good care of us.

16 crew members for 9 passengers. Was the service outstanding? You bet!

We all got a surprise when we returned to our cabins. We each got a unique Egyptian creature waiting for us on our beds. I’ve seen towel art before, but these were, by far, the most creative. My favorites were the crocodile and the cobra. ( I got a scorpion).

How to describe the ride from Aswan to Abu Simbel? Three hours of sand, sand, and more sand with high tension wire strung along the roadside, delivering electricity from the dam to the populations further north. We needed to get closer to Abu Simbel for the landscape to change.

We stopped midway in our journey for a bathroom break. I think the term “food desert” was coined here. If it wasn’t, then it should have been. The “snack bar” could be best described as “selection-challenged”, but if you’re looking for potato chips, or packaged mystery snacks, you’ll be very happy.

Our group thought we’d seen so many temples and tombs, there was little left for us to see. Boy, were we wrong! The size of the 4 statues of Ramses 2’s temple ALONE was jaw dropping. But to think that this entire temple was MOVED block by block to the higher ground on which it currently stands, is truly hard to believe. Why is as that done? If it hadn’t been moved, it would now be well below the waters of Lake Nassar.

Back in the 60’s, 50 nations cooperated to rescue several temples threatened to be submerged by the creation of the High Dam at Aswan. To me, the engineering that went into the move was as awe inspiring as the temples.

But wait—there’s more to say about this temple. The ancient Egyptians were so knowledgeable about engineering and astronomy that in the 1200’s BC, they were able to construct this temple so that twice a year, on February 22 and October 22, the sun shone all the way through the temple to illuminate three of the four statues in the inner sanctum. The fourth statue is of Ptah, the god of the underworld, who was intentionally left in darkness. Two of the others represent different versions of Ra, the son god. Bet you can’t guess who was the last statue to be bathed in sunlight. None other than Ramses 2. Clearly he didn’t have a self esteem problem.

That black area falling across their laps is a shadow

Next to Ramses 2’s monument to himself, he built a temple honoring his favorite wife, Nefertari. Remember her? We visited her tomb in the Valley of the Queens.

That old goat lived well into his nineties, acquiring wives and children ( rumored to number approximately 200) along the way. Good thing he lived BEFORE viagra was invented! Of all his women, (thought to number about 100, if you include concubines and mistresses) Nefertari was his favorite—the only one who got her very own temple next to his. There is only one statue of her on the facade. The other five are, of course, of her husband, who was also known as “the Great” (probably self proclaimed).

That random guy standing in front of Nefertari gives you an idea of the scale of these statues.

We only spent one night at the beautiful Seti Hotel in Abu Simbel. Can you see why we were reluctant to leave? The multi-level pool had a swim up bar; each room had a private balcony facing the Nile. It was SO very peaceful.

Before we left for the light show at the temples, we met Hassan, who enlightened us about Nubian culture and history. He also entertained us by playing instruments that were the forerunners of our guitar, banjo and harp.

In 1976, when Hassan visited his cousin in San Francisco, he was invited to play with what he described as “ a small folk group” —the Grateful Dead.

Once again, you had to be there to appreciate how wonderful it was to be sitting under the stars, watching a multimedia show projected onto the temple walls. I didn’t take any shots while the show was ongoing, but did so after, and used that shot the heading for this post.

I truly appreciate everyone’s comments on my blog posts. It almost feels like I’m having a conversation with my friends. Although I know who comments on Facebook and Linked in, many of the comments on WordPress are coming through anonymously. If I didn’t respond to you, that’s why.

Floating on the Nile for Five Glorious nights

I felt like Egyptian royalty, floating up the Nile in our private dahabiya. It’s mind boggling to think that the pharaohs used this mode of transportation centuries ago, when they traveled between their two capitals. Memphis no longer exists, but Thebes still does, except the Greeks changed its name to Luxor.

The dahabiya is certainly is a very comfortable way to travel. Of course, the pharaohs took months to make their journeys, stopping to visit temples along the way. We also are visiting temples, but our river trip only lasts five days.

Although the sails of our boat were unfurled, it was strictly for a photo op. The photo above was taken from the tugboat that pulled us upstream. It is illegal for dahabiyas to have motors because the Egyptian government wants to preserve this ancient mode of transportation. I’m glad they didn’t insist that the tugboat be replaced by a rowboat!

To show you what that looks like, I took the photo below from the back of our dahabiya. The larger boats, and we saw many of them on the river, are allowed to have motors.

We had lots of help climbing from the tug back onto our dahabiya

The Nile starts in Lake Victoria, and flows into the Mediterranean. That means when we travel south, we are going up the river, the opposite of what we are used to. Back in the day, the southern part of Egypt was known as the Upper Kingdom, with the Lower Kingdom extending to the shores of the Mediterranean.

To visit the temples, we had to disembark and when we did it felt like we were walking the gauntlet. The street vendors were laying in wait. “Hey lady, only $5”,or “Welcome to Alaska” which we heard at multiple sites. I didn’t dare take a photo of the chaotic scene. Instead, I focused on walking quickly, avoiding eye contact. It was difficult. I felt I was being rude by ignoring their greetings. After being bamboozled once however, I toughen up.

Was it worth it? Yes! The temples were an oasis of serenity and peace. Although we saw other, larger ships on the Nile, we were the only ones visiting the small temple of Khnum in Esna. Mohammed, our guide, knew the schedule well enough to plan our arrival after the larger ships had departed and before the afternoon ones arrived.

We were able to watch centuries of dirt and muck being cleaned from the temple walls. Mohamed told us that only recently have women been allowed to do restoration work.

Yes, the Sistine chapel’s ceiling is a masterpiece, but the ceilings of Egyptian temples are equally breathtaking. Not only that, but they were painted centuries earlier.

If you were standing below, looking up, this is what you would see. Check out the tops of the columns. Each one is different. It’s difficult to see in the photo, but the hieroglyphics between the columns are depicting the various phases of the moon, something my astronomer husband would have greatly enjoyed.

The next day’s temple was in Edfu. It is dedicated to Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. Horus’ parents were both brother and sister and husband and wife, which might explain why their offspring had the head of a falcon. Sometimes, as in the statue below, he’s depicted as all bird, but on the temple walls, the carvings show him with a human body.

Horus, outside his temple’s inter sanctuary. His angry look was designed to keep the common folk out of the sacred spaces. On his head are the crowns of Egypt’s upper and lower kingdoms

Like medieval churches, the temple walls are used to tell a story. Here’s the Cliff Notes version of a rather long legend. Osiris was killed by his jealous brother Seth, who chopped him up and scattered the pieces all over Egypt, but Isis found the pieces and (unlike Humpty Dumpty) put Osiris back together again, except for one key piece—his most prized possession. (I hope I don’t have to spell it out for you. ) Anyway, Horus was determined to get revenge for his uncle’s dastardly deed. The two of them fought an epic battle. Although Horus won, during the battle he lost one eye, which then magically came to life. To this day, Horus’ eye is a symbol of healing and well-being.

Our guide claims the following wall carving represents incense being burned. The ladies in the group decided it was actually Osiris’ missing member. You decide who had the better interpretation.

As you can see from the visual of our 5 day journey, we took a temple break to visit a farm on Bishaw Island, where we met members of the village and had lunch in the home of the very charming Sayed.

In the USA, we can step back in time by visiting Plymouth Plantation or Williamsburg, where people dress up in period costumes and demonstrate how different tasks were performed during colonial days.

THIS was authentic. It might look like the village women are making wood fired pizza, but they are actually baking a day’s worth of bread. Sour dough. The loaves all came out perfectly.

Bill was recruited to help remove seeds from hibiscus, which is used to make tea. He was a natural; in fact, he did such a good job, I was wondering if he’d be allowed to leave.

What are these women doing, you ask? Well, they are making sure there are no barley grains among the wheat. Why? I have no idea, and no one thought to ask.

Yes, this baby water buffalo is adorable. Especially when he is tied up. He wasn’t when we entered the enclosure, so he was able to charge at us, first at Bobbie, then when she moved aside, he came at me, either trying to bite or kiss my leg. The only thing I know for sure is the Bobbie and I were left with water buffalo lip smears all over our pants.

Our next stop was far more tame. We visited the quarry from which the pyramids’ sandstone building blocks were cut, then floated down the Nile. That block must have been enormous! I should have had someone stand beside it for scale.

Our final temple (for the cruise part of our adventure) was Kom Ombo, which was again timed to ensure that we avoided the crowds (at least of tourists—not of street vendors). This temple is unique in that it was dedicated to two gods: Sobek, who has the head of a crocodile, and Horus, the falcon, shown here with his human body.

The view of the Nile from inside Kom Ombo

Now here’s something you don’t see every day— mummified crocodiles. A live crocodile, believed to be the earthly incarnation of Sobek, was kept in a pit in the temple. When it died, it was mummified and replaced with another.

Although we have another day on our wonderful dabahiya, this post is already quite long, so I’ll end it with a sneak preview of tomorrow’s activity. Not another temple—tomorrow we go to the livestock market. Let’s see if another animal wants to get up close and personal with me!

Luxor

I was awakened from a deep sleep by Jeanne, who was standing at the foot of my bed, shaking my leg. That was strange, given that we weren’t rooming together. Was it a dream? Nope. It seems I managed to sleep thru my 4AM wake up call, my cell phone alarm, and numerous text messages. They say there’s one in every group, and this time it was me.

Fortunately, I had arrived early for every other meeting, so my group knew I wasn’t t just being an inconsiderate jerk. At least not this time. They were concerned that something bad had happened to me. Was I dead? (I probably looked like I was). Did I meet with foul play? (No). Was I unconscious? (Sorta). What happened was I woke up at 2:35 but made the mistake of not getting up then. Lesson learned. Next time, I’ll grab my phone and do wordle, read email, check Facebook until it is time to leave.

Good thing I had packed almost everything for our flight to Luxor the night before, and laid out my clothes, so with Jeanne’s help, instead of being on the bus at 4:45 AM, my butt was in my seat at 4:52 AM. I’m quite proud to say that those 7 minutes also included the elevator ride all the way down from the 17th floor. Still, l felt bad for keeping the others waiting.

Normally, I put my empty backpack into my carryon, but because I stuffed my toiletries into my carryon (so I could brush my teeth at the airport), I needed to pull out my backpack and allocate the carryon contents between two bags.

Well, I almost left my carryon at security. I was at the check in desk when I realized I should have THREE bags, not two. Yes, you put ALL luggage, including your checked bag thru the X-ray machines, before you arrive at the check in counter to get your boarding pass. Then your carryon goes thru security again, after you dropped off your checked luggage.

Maybe when I get home I’ll do a post about my “interesting” airport experiences, of which, so far, there have been several, especially in Jordan where I got intimately acquainted with security coming and going.

There is far too much to say about Luxor to dwell on my rocky start, so I’ll move on. .

Did you know that 1/3 of the world’s antiquities are in Luxor? And that Luxor was once known as Thebes? I hope those are trivia questions some day.

The reason we had such an early start was so that we could go straight from the airport to the Temple of Karnak, then on to lunch before checking in to our hotel.

At one time this avenue united the Karnak and Luxor temples. Notice the rams head sphinxes that lined the avenue.

Just about everyone has seen photos of Egypt’s temples and tombs, right? But let me tell you, it just isn’t the same. You really DO have to be there to appreciate the immensity of these structures.

Although it looks crowded, and certainly felt that way, this is about half of what the crowds normally are at this time of year.

If you walk counterclockwise around this beetle (scarab) seven times, your wish is supposed to be granted. I had nothing better to do, so why not?

I’ll admit it, by the 7th time around I was starting to feel a little dizzy. But if I get my wish, it will be well worth it.

Lots of school groups were touring Karnak Temple that day. As was our experience in Jordan, the children were adorable and oh so friendly. They blew kisses, waved, shouted “hello” “how are you” and “welcome”.

That evening, five of us had dinner at the home of Mansour and Azza. We were joined by their two gorgeous daughters-in-law and their two very outgoing and entertaining granddaughters.

It was the perfect way to end our first evening in Luxor.

We spent two nights at the historic Winter Palace Hotel. Besides us, other famous guests included Jackie Onassis, Princess Diana, Henry Kissinger, Al Gore and Richard Gere.

On our free afternoon, Jeanne and I enjoyed a glass of wine in the gorgeous gardens. Helpful hint: if you’re going to drink the local Egyptian wine, go for the white.

Our second full day was spent exploring the Valley of the Kings in the morning, and the Valley of the Queens in the afternoon.

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s first female ruler, was our first stop on the way to the valley of the Kings. According to historians, her reign was quite successful—no wars, a prosperous economy, but that didn’t stop her successors from trying to completely erase her from history.

Fortunately, archaeologists were able to recreate her story by studying the empty spaces on the walls, and the remaining, very faint outlines.

On our visits to the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, we explored the tombs of Ramses 1, 3, 4 , King Tut and Queen Nefertari (wife of Ramses the Great, also known as Ramses 2). All were spectacular, covered with vibrant hieroglyphics, but Tut’s tomb was unique in that his actual body—with face and feet exposed—is still in his tomb.

I had originally planned to leave Mike’s ashes inside King Tut’s tomb, but then I thought the caretakers might sweep him up, so I went with Plan B. I dug a little hole in the ground outside Tut’s tomb, inserted the ashes, then constructed this little pyramid atop them using stones lying nearby.

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t look like much, but I didn’t take 20 years to build it and I didn’t have the help of thousands of workers.

By the time we’d finished with the tombs, we were all too tired to tour the Temple of Luxor. It was just down the street from our hotel, so I caught a glimpse of the outside at night when it was lit up. That was good enough for me.

Our final Luxor activity was an optional one—a balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings. Only 4 of us were willing to endure yet another early morning departure (5AM). THIS time I was early!

To get to the balloon site, we had to cross the Nile by boat. Well, there were many boats lined up at the pier. To reach our boat, we had to climb through other boats. In one instance, it felt like we were walking “the plank”. But there was a reward. Take a look at what we got for our efforts. Yes indeed, that is a Twinkie in my hand. I hadn’t seen one of those in decades; it was so long ago, they came two in a package! No, I didn’t eat it, but it did make me smile.

The day before our balloon ride , we had seen these statues of Amenhotep III from the ground.

Here is the aerial view.

Next post will be about our 5 day cruise on the Nile.

Cairo

Cairo is a complete sensory assault, especially after the serenity of Petra. The noise of thousands of horns blaring reminds me of a Las Vegas casino. Smoking is allowed EVERYWHERE, so the smell of cigarette smoke is omnipresent. On the positive side, however, the people are quite lovely and gracious, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. In this Muslim country, we were frequently greeted on December 25th with “ Merry Christmas”. If one must stereotype huge populations of individuals, why not picture Muslims the way we are experiencing them on this trip — as friendly, kind, helpful and warm, instead of envisioning all of them being like the small minority we see on the nightly news?

But enough of that. Let’s get to the magnificent sights from our first full day in Cairo.

Unfortunately, the GEM, the new museum, is still not finished. It was started in 2010, but has been delayed by wars, covid, the Arab Spring. The Egyptians were hopeful that it would be completed by November 2022, the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. Maybe next year? Or the year after?

The new museum, as seen from the pyramids. These two major attractions are within walking distance of each other.

Many treasures have been removed from the “old” Cairo Museum to the “new”, unfinished one. Still, there was no shortage of truly spectacular objects in the old museum. In fact, it was hard for me to imagine how more artifacts could have fit into the available space. I actually was glad that there was less to see; it was less overwhelming.

After having the sites pretty much to ourselves in Jordan, we weren’t used to having to wait to view or get a clear shot of a particular object. Even so, it wasn’t bad because the number of visitors was about a third of the normal amount for this time of year, according to Mohammed, our guide.

Once again, I’m not going to post the usual photos of famous items everyone has already seen, like Tut’s gold death mask. Instead, these are a select few of the objects that caught MY interest.

How in the world did they ever get those tomb paintings to line up so perfectly? Well, this unfinished segment shows us. This is the Egyptian equivalent of our graph paper, but drawn on the wall. By the time the wall is completed, those guide lines will have been covered up, painted or plastered over.

Talk about aging well! This papyrus, found in one of the tombs is thousands of years old. The colors are vibrant and the papyrus shows absolutely no sign of wear.

Ever wonder about those strange “things” hanging from the pharaohs’ chins? I sure have. Mohammed explained they are made from goat hair, and held in place by strings attached to the headdress. Why? Well, because the ancient Egyptians thought the gods had similar beards, and the pharaohs wanted to appear Godlike. (Interestingly enough, the Egyptians refer to their leaders as Kings; pharaoh is just one of the king’s 5 titles).

In case you’re wondering, this is King Khafre, the builder of the middle pyramid in Giza.

From the side view, you can see Horus, the falcon god, spreading his wings around the king’s head to protect him.

Carved on the side of the throne are papyrus and lotus which symbolizes the unification of the upper and lower kingdoms of Egypt.

The statue below represents a member of the working class. Look carefully. In addition to carrying something in his hands, he’s also wearing a backpack! I’ll bet it was this planet’s first.

One more photo, before we move on to the pyramids in Giza. Take a look at the eyes of the “seated scribe”. They are made of crystal and are amazingly lifelike, when you see them “in person”. This statue and the one above are carved from wood.

We ended our first full day with a delicious dinner at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I was particularly grateful for our guide and our security guard who helped us avoid getting run over on our way back to the hotel. No photos of that particular adventure, but I did take one of the view from our restaurant.

Old and new structures separated by the Nile.

Our last day in Cairo was spent visiting the pyramids at Giza in the morning and at Saqqara in the afternoon. We were supposed to have the afternoon free, but because all 9 of us wanted to see Saqqara, Mohammed changed the itinerary to accommodate us. Now, that’s a great guide.

Everyone has seen Cheop’s pyramid, which is the largest of the three great pyramids of Giza. But those aren’t the ONLY pyramids—just the most spectacular. They aren’t even the only tombs. Take a look at these, which are close to the great pyramids. These tombs were for lesser beings, like the pharaoh’s administrators.

I found myself quite taken with the camels and spent as much time gazing at them as I did at the pyramids. They have such expressive faces!

Check out the tattoos on the camel on the right. these two were engaged in some very deep communication

Giza was even more chaotic than Cairo. Fortunately Mohammed prepared us for what to expect. He explained that the helpful men who offer to take your photo expect to be paid. There were so MANY of them! It was hard for me not to engage with the friendly young men, but I heeded Mohammed’s warning. Most wanted me to hold my hand up so that it looked like I was touching the pyramid’s top.

When we moved away from the craziness of Giza to get a panoramic view at a quieter site, we discovered this young man taking a more creative approach.

Our final stop before heading back to our hotel was to view Egypt’s very first pyramid, the step pyramid at Saqqara. We didn’t have much time at the site so we had to choose between entering the pyramid or visiting Serapeum, the tomb for the sacred bulls. I chose the latter.

The serapeum is an underground structure with huge sarcophagi located in each alcove.

The Egyptians worshiped one bull at a time. When it died, it was mummified and placed in one of the 24 sarcophagi. Unfortunately, the site had been looted, so there is nothing left to see other than the immense sarcophagi.

The step pyramid as seen from the serapeum

It was a tiring day, and we have to be on the van at 4:45 tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Luxor, so it is time to press “publish” and hope for the best.

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