Day 8 - Luxor - The Theban Necropolis

Breakfast on the roof, met Catherine, Eva, and Jeanette who are college grads from Maryland and Connecticut.


We meet downstairs and load into the van to start our day.  We are headed to the Theban Necropolis on the West bank.  The city of Luxor, on the East bank, was originally called Thebes (or the City of 100 gates) and was the capital. Across the Nile on the West bank, they created the City of the Dead - one huge cemetery.  The reason for creating these underground tombs was to prevent the grave robberies that were taking place at the pyramids.  The hill is also pyramid shaped. We are able to visit three tombs here:  Ramses I, II, and V/VI.

The entrance has police guarding it (like the other places we visit) but they just sit in the shade by their vehicles.

No cameras are allowed in the tombs, so Mister leaves his camera in the van. Ragab explains the history and what to look for at the entrance to each tomb. No guides are allowed in the tombs, to reduce the noise and crowding inside and  (supposedly) to reduce talking which causes moisture contamination in the tombs.  Each tomb entrance is above ground and then a descent into the chambers.  Picturing the effort that it must have taken to build and decorate these boggles the mind, but the fact that each one has this massive sarcophagus made of granite deep in the interior is absolutely overwhelming.  How in the world did they get them in there?  The artisans of the time were perfectionists and it shows in the colors and detail of the work inside the tombs -- simply incredible.  As we are entering the 3rd tomb, Eva has managed to lose her ticket and the guard is not going to allow her in.  Mister tries telling him that she has been with us all along and as I offer to give up my ticket for her, he relents and she is allowed in.  We meet back up with Ragab and grab a tram to head to the exit.  Young boys are hopping from tram to tram trying to sell "souvenir" items; they can be very persistent.


We return to the van and drive through the Valley of the Nobles, seeing various tombs from the road and stop in at an alabaster shop where local craftsmen carve figurines and dishes from alabaster found in the area.



We are given a short lesson on alabaster and shown how to tell the difference between the real thing and the fake items we see in the souvenir stands.  They treat us to a drink and I find a cool hand-carved white alabaster sea turtle to take home with me.

 I ask the price and feel that it is too much so put it back.  The shopkeeper starts asking me why and I try to explain that I HATE the haggling.  Just give me a fair price and I will pay it.  I give up and go sit down to visit with Ragab and Mister continues the haggling and gets the turtle for me.  I just dislike the whole process so very much and share that with Ragab who tells me that it is in all aspects of life here -- not just for tourists.  He says if he even stops for a bottle of water -- he has to haggle each and every day as well.  I think it would get so old.

Back into the van and our next stop is Deir-al-Bahri or The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (pronounced like Hot Chicken Soup), the most important woman ever to rule over Egypt as Pharaoh.  Although she only ruled for 7 years, it was a time of peace and construction for her people.

The Temple is a sublime piece of architecture and I am astounded with the size of it.  Another incredible moment in Egypt.

We return to the van and our next stop is at Medinet Habu, The Mortuary Temple of Ramses III.  It is a very large complex in which Hatshepsut built the oldest chapel.

The carvings were deep and still very easy to read.  Ragab said that rulers wanted the carving and cartouches deep so they would be hard to alter by future rulers.


We notice that many of the carvings and statues have been defaced.  We discover that it was done by the Coptics in order to not have any idol worshiping in the land.  It is sad to us though -- as one religion fears something, it takes a large chunk of history away along with that fear.  It is time to return to the hostel, but a quick stop at the Colossi of Memnon shows us statues over 50 feet tall.  One is made of a single solid piece of stone and the other is pieced.  They were the gateway to the Theban Necropolis and are said to sing softly at dawn due to a fracture in one of them.

The site is undergoing archaeological work and so quick look is all we are able to have.  We are back at the Cleopatra and it is definitely time for showers. We go up for a lunch of Koshary on the roof, enjoying the view of the rural setting.

Mahmoud gives Mister a quick shoulder rub, then we go back to the room for a nap and to cool off a little.

Our afternoon activity is a felucca ride on the Nile, so we walk down to the river, passing local shops and restaurants along the way.

We settle in on the boat and glide out onto the river as the boat captain raises the sail.

It is a beautiful evening (down to about 95 degrees) and we relax as we sail towards Banana Island, so named since it has banana plantations on it.  We dock at one of the farms and tour the banana grove, learning all about the way that these trees grow.


After walking through the grove, we are seated under an awning along the shore of the Nile to sample the bananas and have a drink.  We visit for awhile before boarding the boat and making the journey back to the main dock for the return walk to the hostel.

As we are walking, we stop at a fruit stand and Mister buys a watermelon and other fruits to share with all at the hostel.


The day comes to an end with visiting on the roof, snacking on watermelon and mangoes, and bed.  It is another busy day tomorrow.

Day 7 - Aswan/Luxor

Mister is up and getting ready for his morning in Daraw.  He is going to the camel market there. The hotel sets out an early breakfast for him.


It's a half hour drive to Daraw, and the camel market is down narrow dirt roads. The driver and Mister chat on the way, and he is told about how people are adding their own "speed bumps" to the road. It is dangerous for drivers, but since the police are not doing anything about it (the revolution excuse) he has to slow down so as not to scrape. The driver was a guide, but with no tourism, he is now just driving people around. As we enter the "town" of Daraw, even the driver has to ask for directions from people sitting in their shops. How can you hide camels? Well, the walls lining each street really obstruct your vision.

The car passes through a gate and parks next to small trucks waiting to transport the newly purchased camels to their new owners.

The market is a large walled area, and the driver and Mister walk through a covered area with camel buyers and sellers sitting drinking tea and smoking water pipes in the shade.

Mister is the only non-local. The camels are just standing there, some hobbled by having a front leg tied up, but most just standing or sitting in small groups. Handlers are holding ropes and halters as buyers examine the camels (they check the teeth to determine age, like horses) and haggle for the best price. Some negotiations sound very heated, but the driver tells Mister it is normal and not a fight.

It is quiet and doesn't smell that bad. Cattle auctions in the US are worse than this. Mister walks into the crowds as the driver sits under the shade. Mister says he wouldn't have been surprised to see a manger, the setting puts you back in time. Without the occasional view of telephone poles in the distance, it could be thousands of years ago.


Mister takes pictures and everyone there accepts him. No hassles, no problems. The faces are just amazing.
 

The driver finds him and they get back in the car and head back to Aswan.

I get up thinking I'll  go shopping, but am unable to get the information that I need regarding the purchase of an Egyptian rug, so I go back up to the room and go back to bed.  Sleep sounds nice too.  I get up a little later and go down and have a wonderful visit with Hanan and her sister who is in town to vote in the election for President.  In Egypt, you have to travel to the city you are from to cast your ballot.  They vote and then are marked by having their finger dipped in purple ink so that they are unable to vote again.  Everything is going smoothly with the election -- no hassles or intimidation going on at all.  It is their first election in 30 years and the people are all very determined to share how they feel about it and who they are voting for.  We visit for awhile and then I return to the room to wait for Mister.  He returns and we pack, take our bags downstairs, and decide to grab some lunch. We go around the corner again to a little place called Farahat where we are the only customers in the restaurant for the second time in two days.  We have some baba ganoush, salad, and Mister has pigeon soup.

After lunch, we go back into the market and are fortunate to visit a bread bakery (of course it involved baksheesh) and we're taken into the back to see the whole process.  Between the ovens and Aswan -- goodness, it was hot in there.



It's time to head for the train and so we go to the hotel to pick up the bags and Hanan is just leaving to go visit her mother, so offers to give us a ride to the train station so that we don't have to call a cab.  She is amazing and we will remember this hotel and the wonderful service we received for a very long time.  The train is on time -- WOW -- and we are on our way to Luxor.

Mister calls and books a room in a hostel and arranges for us to be picked up at the station.  On the ride, we watch out the windows at the farmers at work -- we are shocked by how hard they are working in this heat and by the way they do it all by hand.

A tractor is a very odd thing to see -- donkeys, water buffalo, etc. are a more frequent sight.  The farms are immaculate -- such a difference from everything else in this country and we sight many different types of crops.  I am fascinated by the date palms that line the farms -- they are LOADED with dates -- looks to be a bumper crop.


Sugar cane and rice are also large crops along the route.  We arrive in Luxor and are met by the driver holding a sign that says "Cleopatra", the name of the hostel.  It is a long drive over to the west bank of the Nile where the hotel is, and is very rural compared to the east bank where the bulk of the city is.  We check in and Nasser, the hostel owner, tells us to head up to the roof deck for a late dinner. He helps us set up the following three days of tours and we work out a price.  Then we are joined by Ragab, the guide, who already has a group for a tour tomorrow. The plans change and we renegotiate.  The group turns out to be 3 American college girls staying at the hostel.

We invite Nasser and Ragab to eat with us and visit for awhile.  I ask for a cold vegetable dish and/or fruit. These have been rare in Egypt. The meal is cooked and served by Mahmoud, Nasser's nephew, and he visits a bit as well.


Everyone makes you feel perfectly comfortable in the hostels we've visited, like it is their home.  It's time for showers and bed -- very busy day tomorrow.

Day 6 - Abu Simbel

The alarm goes off at 3 a.m. and I cringe as I climb out of bed.  We dress and gather our things and go downstairs to the lobby where Hanan has coffee and tea waiting for us along with 2 very large breakfast boxes for us to eat during our 3 hour drive through the desert to Abu Simbel (30 miles north of the Sudan border).

We are picked up at 3:15 by our driver and settle into our seats on the bus.  We make several stops around town picking up others who will be going along with us.

Soon we head out to the meeting spot as all cars heading to Abu Simbel must be documented by the police, and must travel together in a "caravan" to the temple and back.


The caravan leaves at 4 and we try to sleep until the sun comes up and we can see the desert.

We smile at the "steep hill" signs on the road.  Where?  This is FLAT, with only slight grade changes.

We arrive in Abu Simbel around 7:30 and have 2 hours to see this magnificent place.  We purchase our tickets and enter the grounds looking for the English speaking guide and cannot seem to locate him.  The directions from the gate personnel are sketchy at best (we are getting used to Egyptian directions).  They just keep pointing and saying, "inside".  We decide that inside must mean inside the temple and not inside the gate so we start walking towards the entrance.  It is already hot out and we know it will continue to climb during our stay.  Abu Simbel is located on Lake Nasser and as we walk around the mountain, we are on it's shoreline, only high above it.

It is crystal clear and looks wonderful -- would love to jump in.  We continue around the bend and we stand in front of the Temple of Ramses II staring at how incredible it is. We discover that our guide is right in front, and he takes a picture for us.

Our group, about ten of us, go over to some small benches under a solitary tree for a little shade while he shares with us what we are going to see inside.

He is a wonderful story teller and sets the stage beautifully for us so that we know exactly what we are looking for inside and why (no cameras inside).  We enter the temple and are astounded at the vivid colors that exist to this day.  This is nothing short of incredible.  We are in awe.

Ramses II tells the story of his life here and the detail and color are not to be surpassed.  Then, to know that this particular structure was taken apart piece by piece and reassembled higher on the mountain due to the creation of Lake Nasser -- oh my.  What a place.

We venture over to the smaller temple adjacent to Ramses' that he built for his queen, Nefertari.  Her temple is also resplendent with color and is a very romantic temple with many engravings of tender moments and painted beautifully.  She is shown as a beautiful, sexy woman and one whom Ramses adored.  I am blown away by the act of building this for her.

As we exit the temple, the sun has now risen high in the sky and it is stifling out, so I go back to the benches to sit in the shade and cool off while Mister finishes up with the pictures. We wander around the other side of the mountain back towards the main entrance and stop for a snack and juice before we head back to the van, snaking through the merchandise hawkers as best as possible.   The 3 hour trip back to Aswan is back though the now very-hot desert. We close the curtains in the van and try to settle in and nap.


 We arrive back in town and the driver pulls into a gas station. There are empty pumps in the front (petrol) but also a long line of trucks out into the road waiting for diesel. Some yelling starts as we try to sneak in line for diesel. We are told to get out of the van and a military guy stands with us. We assume since we are tourists, we were able to jump the line.


I talk with a couple from Australia about our impressions of Egypt and discover that the same issues that bother me (which is the "in your face" aggressiveness of the sales people) plague her as well.  She and her husband, though, share some great stories and I tease them about wanting to go to Australia but that it is so dang expensive.  It is amusing, but they agree. We are dropped of at the hotel and head straight for showers and a rest. Hanan goes above and beyond in her customer service as we have rose petals and a heart towel sculpture on our bed.

It is 1:00pm and already over 115 degrees outside.  After a cool shower (yes, even I, queen of the hot shower, learned how wonderful a cool shower could be while in Egypt) and a nap, we are ready to go again.  (Oh, I also never complained about the air conditioning and spent most of my "room time" with little or no clothing on --- that tells you how hot it was.)  We decide to walk to the train station and get our tickets for the following afternoon to Luxor. Mister queues up (actually it's just a mob in front of the ticket counter, with everyone holding out money and yelling in Arabic) and gets our tickets to Alexandria.

We walk through the souks (markets) and determine to only shop where we are not hassled.

That sure limits our choices.  I find a shop with dresses, select one after some time and the owner running back to other shops looking for one that I like.



We find another quiet shop and Mister picks out a small box for the living room -- our little memento of Egypt.  With backpacks, we are so limited in what we can purchase -- I've decided that that is both good and bad.  We snap pictures and talk with shop owners whenever we can.  The meats, spices, fruits, and breads are in abundance and the shops are so interesting.

After a quick stop back at our room, we go to Estacoza, a great little fish restaurant just around the corner from the hotel.  Our table is laden with food -- grilled fish, shrimps, veggies, the obligatory coke, etc.  All of it is so delicious and we partake with joy.  The owner is delighted that we are there, things are really slow here -- not many tourists at all.


After dinner, back to the hotel and Mister arranges for a trip to Daraw the next morning while I make plans to sleep in.  YAY.  Off to bed.