Simply Travels

Goodbye Egypt | Cairo Egypt Day 9

2010-01-04T03:24:00.006-05:00

It was fast approaching the time to say goodbye to Egypt. The flight out of Cairo was at about 5 pm. But because of traffic and all, we had to leave the hotel by 1.30 pm. We were told that we could buy our lunch at the airport.

I decided to have one last walk around the Giza district in Cairo near our hotel in the morning. Unfortunately, the weather decided to be uncooperative. It was extremely windy that morning. Sand was flying all over. And this was the day I went out without a scarf. If not, I could have tied it around my face to protect it from the winds and flying sands.

The shops in the nearby malls were not open in the morning. They only started opening at about 11.30am to noon. All the shops started their day by playing a surah reading from the Quran. It was a surreal experience entering a shop and looking for clothes and hearing the Quran being recited! I have never experienced that before in all of my life. But it was a good feeling to know that people started their day with the remembrance of God.

Here are some shots taken from my walk.

I stopped at a mall and bought a tunic sweater top - it was made in Turkey. But the design was nice and appeared to be a popular style choice during winter in Egypt. Before I knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel. I arrived at the hotel just after 1 pm. A quick washing of the face, and we were off to the airport.

Cairo International Airport departures area is not the best place to be if you are a non-smoker. It seemed that every smoker was inside puffing away - the smoke was trapped indoors and was it felt suffocating! That is one negative thing about Egypt - it appeared to me as if a majority of Egyptian men smoked! If not cigarettes, the shisha. Terrible!

After passing through the check-in, we went to buy lunch. Of course, it is expected that we would have to pay high prices for food at airports. But the prices at the Cairo airport were extremely high - especially when we converted it to US dollars. We should have bought our lunch at the Giza district, but we did did not think of it! In the end, I had a slice of mushroom pizza, which was not very good. Nevertheless, it was a large slice so it kept me filled for the flight back home via Qatar.

That's it for my Egypt adventure.

Next post, I will summarize with some of my thoughts on Egypt and its people.

Step Pyramid | Saqqara Egypt Day 8

2010-01-04T00:21:00.009-05:00

We were fast approaching the end of our trip in Egypt. The first site visited on the second last day of our trip was to the Step Pyramid. The step pyramid was the first pyramid structure built that resembled the more impressive pyramids we are accustomed to seeing - for example, the Pyramids of Giza.

The very first tombs built for the Pharaohs were actually flat-roofed and raised structures called the mastabas.

Intended to hold his mummified body, Pharaoh Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara began as a traditional, flat-roofed mastaba. But by the end of his 19-year reign, in 2611 B.C., it had risen to six stepped layers and stood 204 feet (62 meters) high. It was the largest building of its time.

Extensive use of stone—here and there carved to resemble wood, reeds, or other softer materials—made the tomb more durable than its mud-brick forebears. Such pioneering techniques led many ancient historians to credit the chief architect, Imhotep, with inventing stone architecture.

The Step Pyramid complex was enclosed by a 30-foot (10-meter) wall and included courtyards, temples, and chapels covering nearly 40 acres (16 hectares)—the size of a large town in the third millennium B.C.

As in earlier mastaba tombs, the Step Pyramid's burial chambers are underground, hidden in a maze of tunnels, probably to discourage grave robbers. The tomb was nevertheless plundered, and all that remains of Djoser, the third king of Egypt's 3rd dynasty, is his mummified left foot.

Imhotep was the architect of the Step Pyramid. he was a physician, priest, and founder of a cult of healing. He was deified 1,400 years after his lifetime. His name appears in the temple built next to the Step Pyramid.

Step Pyramid

For the simple reason that the Step Pyramid was the last ancient Egyptian site I would be visiting, I took many pictures of it from many different angles. But I will not post them here and bore you!

Carpet Factory in Saqqara

After the Step Pyramid, we went to a carpet school/factory located in Saqqara. The school takes in young children to train them to make carpets by hand. I saw children as young as seven there, both little boys and girls. It is an arduous task - time-consuming! I tried making a knot myself - the process itself is easy, nothing too complicated. But imagine doing it repeatedly all day to finish a large carpet! The trained ones seem to do it very fast, but still I would imagine it could take months to complete a good-sized carpet.

I took pictures with a small girl who was working on a carpet. She did not want to smile initially. And I spent some time talking to her, asking simple questions in Arabic such as what is your name, and then telling her my name. Then she smiled - so cute. I did not have anything to give her, but luckily the tour leader gave me some sweets to give to her. I think I should have brought such candy treats with me for distribution to children I meet in the future - I actually had the thought, but I did not act on it while I was packing for the trip!

The salesmen then took us to the carpet showroom. The silk carpets were just beautiful. They are termed "magic" carpets because they change color at different angles. For instance, the carpet can look darker or brighter with just a turn of the carpet! The prices were high, a small carpet - what one could use for Muslim praying for instance cost about 450 USD! A small sized carpet for the living room was about 1500 USD. Of course, this was way above my budget.

At the time, I did not contemplate much on the ethics behind the concept of a carpet school. I took it at face value - these kids were being trained in a skill that would ensure them money through their working years. But later when I was discussing the school, I realised that these children were being deprived of an education. They are working on something that will benefit the owners of the carpet factory where the carpets are sold for far more than the carpet-makers would ever get for their hard work!

Kids working on a Carpet

The question that remains in my mind, would a regular education actually benefit these children given the high rate of unemployment in the country? I do not know. But I feel sad thinking that this is their life that had been handed to them.

Then we went to lunch. The restaurant was located nearby - I think it was called the Saqqara Oasis or Club house. We had a delicious buffet spread. Afterwards, I had my picture taken with a two-month old lionness. She was so cute, but huge for a baby lionness. Imagine it hungry at adulthood - shudder.

Memphis - Colossus of Ramses

After lunch, we visited the MIT Rahina Museum at Memphis. There was a colussus of Ramses - that man is not called great for no reason, he was the longest ruler of Egypt (67 years) and he made his mark felt, to this very day!

The Colossus of Ramesses is an enormous statue carved in limestone. It is about 10m (33.8 ft) long, even though it has no feet, and is located near the village of Mit Rahina. A small museum has been built to house this magnificent piece. The fallen colossus was found near the south gate of the temple of Ptah, located about 30m from the huge limestone statue of Ramesses. Some of the original colors are still partly preserved.

After this visit, we were dropped off near a local shopping area in the Giza area. This is where we said goodbye to our Egyptian tour guide - I suppose he had to go meet up with a new tour group (apparently, it was peak season for tourists). We shopped at the METRO grocery store nearby - I bought a huge box of hibiscus tea (karkaday) amongst other things. About an hour or so later, we met up and went for lunch. But since we had a late lunch (3pm) and dinner was at 6.30 pm, we were still too full to eat! I ate something anyway.

When we returned to the hotel, the others retired to their rooms to pack. We had to leave for the airport the next day at about 1.30 pm. But I and my friends hired a taxi through the hotel to go to Khan el Khalili (we agreed on 130 Egyptian pounds for the trip to and from, plus waiting time while we shopped).

The driver was polite - and drove us there in good time. We were told it would take more than one hour because of the traffic. But we made it in about 40 minutes or less. Once there, he told us to take our time and that he would wait.

We shopped at the bazaar, but I think I much preferred it during the day time. When we arrived it was near 9.30pm and although the stores were still open, a good number were already closed. It was also less busy than when we had been there two days ago in the afternoon. I think the sellers were also tired - and they did not harass too much to check their wares - although there was still some of that!

I bought more Egyptian tunic tops and scarfs. I could have stayed longer and explored more shops, but two of my friends appeared too tired and sleepy to continue. Such people I was wide awake though! Sigh....

We returned to the taxi about two and a half hours later. The driver brought us back safely. And we gave him a tip of 10 Egyptian pounds - total 140 Egyptian pounds - cause he was patient while waiting for us. So it cost us about 7 USD per person for this trip to Khan el Khalili at night. Worth it, I think!

At the hotel, I packed my bag in preparation for departure the next afternoon.

Montazah Palace Gardens | Alexandria Egypt Day 7

2010-01-03T08:51:00.004-05:00

These gardens cover an area of 370 feddans and contain trees, palms, and flowers. There is also a museum, several natural bays and beaches, as well as a complete tourist centre, a hotel, restaurants, bungalows and a children's park 4.5 feddans in area.

Built on a low plateau east of Alexandria and overlooking a beautiful beach amid about 370 feddans of gardens and woods, the Montazah palace comprises a number of buildings, the most important being Al-Haramlek and Al-Salamlek, the summer residence of the former royal family. This palace was started by Khedive Abbas II in 1892, who built a large palace inside the complex called the Salamlek. In 1932, King Fuad built a larger palace and called it the Haramlik. His son, King Farouk, built a bridge to the sea to act as a water front. It is now a presidential residence, after being restored for 7 million pounds by President Sadat. It is closed to the public, but there are gardens of Palm trees cover the area around the palace. This is a wonderful spot to enjoy the beauty of Alexandria. It is situated 25 km from Alexandria train station. Gardens of pine trees and drought resistant plants surround the Montazah palace lying between it and the sea. It's a nice restful place to go and walk.

I wish we had more time to walk around. But we only spent about 35-40 minutes there. We managed to watch the sunset there.

Montazah Palace Gardens Pictures

View of the Mediterranean Sea

Date Palm Trees - Common in Egypt

After the visit, we got back into the bus for the 3 hour ride back to our hotel in Cairo.

Sunset Viewed from the Bus on Way Back to Cairo

Qait Bay Fort | Alexandria Egypt Day 7

2010-01-03T08:30:00.006-05:00

After lunch, we visited the Qait Bay Fort, which was located just by the Mediterranean Sea.

The Citadel of Qaitbay (or the Fort of Qaitbay) (Arabic,قلعة قايتباي) is a 15th century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea coast, built upon/from the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1477 AD by Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay.

The founder of the Citadel of Qaitbay is Sultan Al-Ashraf Abou Anasr Saif El-Din Qaitbay El-Jerkasy Al-Zahiry (1468-1496 A.D) who was born about 1423 A.D (826 H). He was a Mamluke who had come to Egypt as a young man, less than 20 years old. Bought by Al-Ashraf Bersbay, he remained among his attendants until Al-Ashraf Bersbay died. Then the Sultan Djaqmaq bought Qaitbay, and later gave him his freedom. Qaitbay then went on to occupy various posts. He became the Chief of the Army (Atabec Al-Askar) during the rule of the Sultan Tamar Bugha. When the Sultan was dethroned, Qaitbay was appointed as a Sultan who was titled Almalek Al-Ashraf on Monday 26th Ragab, 872 H. (1468 A.D). He was one of the most important and prominent Mameluke Sultans, ruling for about 29 years. He was a brave king, who tried to initiate a new era with the Ottomans by exchanging embassies and gifts. He was fond of travel and made many prominent journeys.

Qaitbay was so fond of art and architecture that he created an important post among the administrative system of the state; it was the Edifices Mason (Shady Al-Ama'er). He built many beneficial constructions in Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. In Egypt there are about 70 renovated edifices attributed to him, among them are Mosques, Madrasas(school) , Agencies, Fountain houses (Sabils), Kuttabs, houses, military edifices like the Citadels in Alexandria and Rosetta (Nowadays the city of Rashid). These Citadels were built to protect the north of Egypt, mainly against the Ottomans, whose power was increasing in the Mediterranean.

Qait Bat Fort, Egypt Pictures

Egyptian Cat in Alexandria
I would term Alexandria the "City of Cats"
for the sheer numbers of well-fed stray cats
Egyptians leave packets of food for the cats
along the banks of the sea-line for the cats!

Mediterranean Sea

Alexandria Egypt Day 7

2010-01-03T07:35:00.008-05:00

We had to set out early for our visit to Alexandria. From our hotel in the Giza district in Cairo, it would take us about 3 hours to reach Alexandria. We set out at about 7 am. I spent much of the time looking out of the window.

Tolls at Giza Cairo - Leaving

Rest Stop Along the Way to Alexandria

One thing you will notice when you use public restrooms is that there are no toilet paper. Instead, there will always be someone outside the restroom "selling" toilet paper. But it is customary to pay 1 Egyptian Pound to enter the toilet even if you have your own toilet paper with you. Keep in mind that Egypt is a poor country and that people are just looking for a way to earn a living.

The public restrooms are frequently washed - so it is common to walk into a toilet that is all wet. I noticed that there is almost no nasty smells perhaps because of the frequent washings. Just be sure to hitch up your pants before lowering them so it does not touch the wet ground!

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

We drove to the first site of the day - Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. We were told that it was located in a poor neighborhood. The lanes got narrower as we went deeper into this small town. The bus driver did a fantastic job maneuvering the bus - there were many other big tourist bus attempting to either enter or leave one narrow street leading to the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. It was amazing how calm all the bus drivers were as they moved the bus around.

Maneuvering Tourist Bus

Tiny Street Near Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (meaning 'Mound of shards' or 'Potsherds') is a historical archaeological site located in Alexandria, Egypt and is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

The necropolis consists of a series of Alexandrian tombs, statues and archaeological objects of the Pharaonic funeral cult with Hellenistic and early Imperial Roman influences. Due to the time period, many of the features of the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa merge Roman, Greek and Egyptian cultural points; some statues are Egyptian in style, yet bear Roman clothes and hair style whilst other features share a similar style. A circular staircase, which was often used to transport deceased bodies down the middle of it, leads down into the tombs that were tunneled into the bedrock during the age of the Antonine emperors (2nd century AD). The facility was then used as a burial chamber from the 2nd century to the 4th century, before being rediscovered in 1900 when a donkey accidentally fell into the access shaft. To date, three sarcophagi have been found, along with other human and animal remains which were added later. It is believed that the catacombs were only intended for a single family, but it is unclear why the site was expanded in order to house numerous other individuals. The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa is, according to some lists, also one of the seven medieval wonders of the world. One of the more gruesome features of the catacombs is the so called Hall of Caracalla. According to tradition, this is a mass burial chamber for the humans and animals massacred by order of the Emperor Caracalla.

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa

Pompey's Pillar

Then we visited the Pompey's Pillar. An approximately 25m red Aswan granite column with a circumference of 9m, was constructed in honor of the Emperor Diocletain. Originally from the temple of the Serapis, it was once a magnificent structure rivaling the Soma and the Caesareum. Nearby are subterranean galleries where sacred Apis bulls were buried, and three sphinxes. After his defeat by Julius Caesar in the civil war, Pompey fled to Egypt where he was murdered in 48 BC; mediaeval travelers later believed he must be buried here, and that the capital atop the corner served as a container for his head. In fact, the pillar was raised in honor of Diocletain at the very end of the 4th century. Diocletain captured Alexandria after it had been under siege. The Arabs called it "Amoud el-Sawari", Column of the Horsemen. The Pillar is the tallest ancient monument in Alexandria.

Pompey's Pillar

Egyptian Museum | Cairo Egypt Day 6

2010-01-02T03:18:00.003-05:00

After our stop at the Khan el-Khalili bazaar, we were brought to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I was a bit upset at that because I did not want to have American food in Egypt. But thankfully, it was not burgers and fries after all. We had a buffet spread of a mix of Egyptian and American style of food, which suited me fine.

We then went to the Egyptian Museum. The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of ancient Egyptian history. It houses the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, and many treasures of King Tutankhamen.

Egyptian Museum, Cairo Egypt

Unlike many of the tombs discovered in Egypt, that of King Tutankhamun was found mostly intact. Inside the tomb there is a large collection of artifacts used throughout the King’s life. These artifacts range from a decorated chest, which was most likely used as a closet or suitcase, to ivory and gold bracelets, necklaces, and other decorative jewelry, to alabaster vases and flasks. The tomb is also home to many weapons and instruments used by the King. Although the tomb holds over 3,500 artifacts, it should be noted that this tomb was not found completely intact. In fact, there have been at least two robberies of the tomb, perhaps soon after Tutankhamun's burial. The most well known artifact in King Tutankhamun’s tomb is the famous Gold Mask, which rests over the bandages that wrap around the King’s face. The mask weighs in at 24.5 pounds of solid gold, and is believed to represent what the King’s face really looked like. Many features of the mask the eyes, nose, lips and chin are all represented very well.

The remains of many famous Pharaohs are stored in the Egyptian Museum. One of these is Pharaoh Ramses III, who was an extremely skilled warrior. For many of the mummified pharaohs, it has been very difficult to determine when they were born. Also, historians can only estimate a time when they reigned over Egypt. For Amenhotep IV, historians have estimated that he reigned around 1372 B.C. They knew this because they found out when Amenhotep IV's father, Amenhotep III died. Also, that Amenhotep IV's tomb inscribed five names he gave himself and one of them, Golden Horus, proves that he was crowned on the bank of the Nile, his father's favorite domain. Before he even became pharaoh, however, he was already married to Nefertiti. When Amenhotep IV did become pharaoh, he destroyed the religion of Amun. He did this because he wanted start his own new religion of Aten, the disc which sent out rays ending in hands. King Sneferu was believed to be the first king of the Fourth Dynasty. The year Sneferu was believed to have started his reign over Egypt was around 2620 B.C. Sneferu is believed to have been a fair and just king. Master of Justice or Truth was his other chosen name. Sneferu, like many other kings, built many temples and structures. All of Sneferu’s structures and buildings had a signature. His signature was having a statue of a woman symbolizing the foundation. The statue of the young women is presenting the sign of life and votive offerings, as well as the signs of the city and the stronghold. There are about four or five of these in each province. A lot of the pharaohs had coronation names and they all seemed to be alike. For example, Sneferu, Tut, and Amenhotep all had the name "Golden Horus".

Photographs were not allowed inside the Museum, but I managed to find some pictures of some artifacts I saw at the museum that were very interesting.

Take a look.

Sheikh el-Balad, Arabic title for the chief of the village, was the name given to this remarkable wooden statue discovered by the workmen of Auguste Mariette, the French archaeologist, because it resembled their own village chief.

The statue depicts Ka-aper, the chief lector priest, in charge of reciting prayers for the deceased in temples and funerary chapels. It is one of the masterpieces of the private statuary of the Old Kingdom.

The arms were separately modeled and attached to the body, a technique frequently used in wooden statuary.

A wooden cane supported the left arm, made out of two pieces of wood joined together.

The eyes are inlaid; the rim is made out of copper and the white is of opaque quartz, while the cornea is made out of rock crystal.

Present location: EGYPTIAN MUSEUM [01/001] CAIRO EM
Inventory number: CG 34
Dating: 5TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: SAQQARA NECROPOLIS
Category: STATUE
Material: SYCAMORE
Technique: SCULPTURED
Height: 112 cm

Rahotep might have been a son of King Senefru and thus, a brother of King Khufu. He held the titles of High Priest of Ra at Heliopolis, General of the Army, and Chief of Constructions.

He is seen here wearing a short kilt, short hair, a fine mustache, and a heart-shaped amulet around his neck.

Rahotep's wife, Nofret, is described as "the one acquainted to the king." She is seen wearing a shoulder-length wig, decorated with a floral diadem and a broad collar. Her natural hair can be seen under the wig.

We recognize the distinction in the skin coloring of the two statues: reddish brown for the man and cream wash for the woman. This was an artistic convention followed throughout ancient Egyptian history. The colors are well preserved and the faces have realistic expressions.

The torchlight reflecting on the inlaid eyes of these two statues caused the workmen who first gazed at them to be afraid.

Present location: EGYPTIAN MUSEUM [01/001] CAIRO EM
Inventory number: CG 3 , 4
Dating: 4TH DYNASTY
Archaeological Site: MAIDUM
Category: STATUE
Material: LIMESTONE; QUARTZITE
Technique: CARVED; POLISHED
Height: 121 cm
Width: 51 cm

Khan-El-Khalili Bazaar | Cairo Egypt Day 6

2010-01-01T23:50:00.009-05:00

After our visit to the Citadel, they brought us to the Khan-El-Khalili bazaar. The bazaar was built in 1382 by the Emir Djaharks el-Khalili in the heart of the Fatimid City.

I had been waiting for this for a long time - being a shopaholic, bazaars are havens for me. In fact, this was so much looked forward to, that when I saw things for sale over the last few days from Luxor to Aswan, I told myself to save the money for shopping at the bazaar. I expected to find great buys at the bazaar. Well, imagine my disappointment when the tour guide told us that we would only be given 45 minutes to shop at the bazaar! What nonsense. How could anyone explore a huge and maze-like bazaar like the Khan El-Khalili in 45 minutes?

I believe that the real reason why we were not given time to shop at Khan El-Khalili was because it benefited only us, and not the tour guide. The tour guides bring tourists to stores where they can get commissions from everything we buy. I suppose that's how they make a living - but I much preferred shopping at the bazaar then other places.

Despite our protests, we only got an extra 15 minutes. We were told that we had to go for lunch after the bazaar, and then after lunch we were headed to the Egyptian Museum. I would have loved to skip lunch, but ah well. When you travel with a tour group, these are such inconveniences you have to deal with.

We rushed to the bazaar, and got trapped in one store right from the beginning. My friends agreed on prices for some t-shirts. After 15 minutes spent on selecting the items, the seller raised his prices. Meanwhile, I was looking at some Egyptian cotton tops, and the seller was smoking right in my face. That was a major annoyance. When he reneged on the agreed upon prices, we stormed out in anger and the seller called us crazy. But we had no time to lose!

We chanced upon a store selling nice Egyptian tops. The seller, an elderly man, seemed to have known that we were in no business for haggling and wasting time. He quickly agreed upon a price - 30 Egyptian pounds for cotton Egyptian tunic tops - and brought us to his larger store where we selected the items. I probably bought more stuff from him that I did with any other seller during my time in Egypt so far.

Because of the limited time we had, we spent all of our remaining time at that shop. Then we rushed back to the bus - we were late by 15 minutes and the rest of the group was waiting for us. I felt disappointed that I did not have enough time to browse around the shops in the bazaar. But I made plans with my friends to return to the bazaar on our own when we found the time - which we did later on our last night in Cairo.

Khan El-Khalili Bazaar Cairo Egypt

The El-Fishawi Cafe, or Cafe of Mirrors
Was once a meeting place for local artists, and is still
frequented by the Nobel Award winning Naguib Mahfouz,
one of Egypt's most well known authors.

It would be a good idea to spend an entire afternoon browsing around the Khan el-Khalili bazaar - amongst the many tacky made in China trinkets, it is possible to find great buys, like lovely scarfs, mirrors and even spices.

Citadel of Salahaldin | Cairo Egypt Day 6

2010-01-01T23:22:00.007-05:00

The first visit of the day was to the Citadel of Salahaldin in Cairo. We had to go through Cairo's usual day-time traffic on the highway to get there!

Cairo Highway Traffic

The Citadel began its life not as a great military base of operations, but as the "Dome of the Wind," a pavilion created in 810 by Hatim Ibn Hartama, who was then governor. These early governors, not realizing its strategic importance, simply used the pavilion for the view it provided of Cairo.

It was was fortified by the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) between 1176 and 1183 AD, to protect it from the Crusaders.

The citadel contains the Mosque of Mohamed Ali (or Muhammad Ali Pasha), which was built between 1828 and 1848, perched on the summit of the citadel. This Ottoman mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's oldest son, who died in 1816. However, it also represents Muhammad Ali's efforts to erase symbols of the Mamluk dynasty that he replaced. When Ottoman ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha took control from the Mamluks in 1805 he altered many of the additions to the Citadel that reflected Cairo's previous leaders. One obvious change that Muhammad Ali enacted pertained to the uses of the Citadel's northern and southern enclosures. During the Mamluk period the southern enclosure was the residential area, but Muhammad Ali claimed the northern enclosure as the royal residence when he took power. He then opened the southern enclosure to the public and effectively established his position as the new leader.

Citadel of Salah al-din Pictures

Mosque of Mohamed Ali Cairo, Egypt Pictures

Pyramids of Giza | Cairo Egypt Day 5

2010-01-01T09:15:00.014-05:00

We had to leave the cruise ship at about 4am for our 6.30 am flight from Aswan to Cairo. The cruise staff packed us our breakfast boxes consisting of croissant sandwiches, pineapple juice, chips and apples. Once we checked our luggage in, we sat down to have our breakfast. The airport in Aswan that early morning was rather quiet. There was two many sandwiches (4) packed in each box for one person. So instead of wasting the food, we gave away our sandwiches to the cleaning staff at the airport. They took it and distributed the food amongst themselves.

Aswan Airport

The flight on EgyptAir took about 3 and a half hours. I was so tired that I slept for most of it.

Upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, we proceeded to the baggage collection area. My luggage was the very last in our group to arrive - which led to a brief panic on my part because I was really worried that I had lost my luggage! But thankfully, it arrived...We boarded the bus and headed to the Pyramids of Giza.

Cairo Airport

Unfinished Buildings in Which People Live
They have No Money to Finish
Or Leave it that way because of tax payment issues

Typical Cairo Dwelling
Enroute to Pyramids of Giza
If Only They Would Clean UP!

Pyramids of Giza
Located Near Communities

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period concluding around 2551 BC. The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. Originally the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, but what is seen today is mainly only the underlying core structure, with a few of the original casing stones that once covered the structure simply representing the four compass points around the base.

There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The so-called Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the main part of a complex setting of buildings that included two mortuary temples in honor of Khufu (one close to the pyramid and one near the Nile), three smaller pyramids for Khufu's wives, an even smaller "satellite" pyramid, a raised causeway connecting the two temples, and small mastaba tombs surrounding the pyramid for nobles.

The Great Pyramid consists of more than 2.3 million limestone blocks. The Egyptians obtained the majority of the limestone blocks from a nearby quarry. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's" chamber, weigh 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported more than 500 miles away from Aswan. Traditionally, ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering wedges into the stone which were then soaked with water. The wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.

Pyramids of Giza Pictures

Great Pyramid With Late Morning Sun Overhead

Close-Up of the Stones Making up the Great Pyramid

Panoramic View of the Pyramids of Giza

Camel (Jamal in Arabic)

After the visit, we had lunch - we had good lamb and beef kabobs and fresh pita bread. I had some Turkish coffee too. Then we went to see the Sphinx.

The Sphinx Pictures

By then we were thoroughly exhausted. We checked into our hotel that was in the Giza district in Cairo. It had a nice view of the pyramids. After showering, we met up for dinner. Then we went for a walk around the area. Even though it was about 9.30 pm, people were still out shopping. When people say Egyptians do not sleep, they mean it!

Giza District Cairo

Traffic was crazy though. Cars whizzing past without signaling - yet the drivers seem to have some understanding of each others moves as they shift lanes. Crossing streets was also quite terrifying - locals seems to be able to glide past the moving cars effortlessly. Me on the other hand found it very difficult. In fact, at one point I was waiting one one side of the street for the traffic to clear up before attempting to cross. Of course, it never did. Another friend who had already crossed the street had to come back across and take me by the hand for me to move. Yeah, traffic was that bad!

But we probably attracted some attention because after I crossed the road, we were approached by a man who started asking us where we were from and all that. Then he asked if we were lost - we said no, but he continued to follow us. Then he asked which hotel we were heading back to. And we made the mistake of telling him because we were not that suspicious of him...yet. When we said our hotel, he said we were heading the long way, and said we should follow him. He also said he recognized us from the morning as he was a hotel staff! Amazing!

I think if I had been alone, I might have believed that he was a hotel staff. Cause I am not the suspicious type and he seemed genuinely wanting to help us get back to the hotel. He then helped us cross a second street - then said we could follow him back to the hotel in his car. But my friend said we could get back on our own. Nevertheless, he continued to follow us. He said his grandfather's shop was nearby and he wanted us to visit it. Now we were up to his ruse - he wanted to walk us to a shop! Then my friend decided to get rude with him so he would leave. He did leave. But appeared again after a few minutes. Then followed us for about 5 minutes until we reached a street - he said this was his grandfather's shop, but it was a dark alley! Did he really think we would follow him into a dark alley? I could see a shop, but still, it was not safe. We ignored him and walked quickly away. And he gave up. Phew.

But this was a good lesson - do not blindly take people at their word, especially at night! The guy was likely not a hotel staff, but only said it to lower our guard.

Last Day At Aswan | Aswan Egypt Day 4

2009-12-31T11:20:00.007-05:00

I was rather exhausted after the long day, so it was good that the last activity for the day was a relaxing felucca (sailboat) ride on the Nile River to watch the sunset. Really, the Nile is beautiful - but I could have done without passing all the cruise ships docked at the sides. Apart from that, I enjoyed the slight breeze. I do not usually take time out from my day to watch the sunset. I should do that more often - only the view at home is not as great as the view on the Nile!!

Pictures of the Sunset on the Nile River, Aswan Egypt

After the relaxing cruise, I headed back to the cruise ship - walking. While the rest of the group visited a local spice market. I wanted to shower! On the way back, I passed by a Aswan bazaar located not too far from where the ship was docked. I made note to visit it after dinner.

Dinner was not the usual buffet. I actually prefer the options for the buffet. The highlight was the dessert. After the waiters cleared our plates, we were left waiting for sometime. The people at out table began to gripe about the tardiness. But suddenly the lights dimmed, and the waiters and chefs came out thumping on small drums, and singing a cheery song. It was our finale dessert making its way out.

I had no idea what they were singing, but it sounded festive. So nice that the ship crew actually made an effort to make our last night on the cruise ship a special occasion for us. The dessert itself was all right for me, ice cream cake - since I am not much of a dessert person - I am not a good judge. But all the others looked like they enjoyed it!

Last Night on our Nile River Cruise Ship

After the exciting finale to our dinner, I went walking to the local Aswan bazaar with a friend. I think it is quite safe to walk about in Egypt at night - we were two females alone, but most people left us mostly alone, although curious looks were common. Ignoring call outs is a sure way to get them to leave you alone - key is not to make eye contact and walk forward.

The bazaar I went to appeared to be catered for the locals. There were no tourists and the sellers did not harass us at all. It was fun walking about there - but there was not much variety - it was a rather small bazaar. I found a store selling galabiyas, and I found one that I liked. He wanted 155 Egyptian Pounds for it, but I bargained it down. I insisted on 120 and finally he gave it for that price. But it was a size medium, which was huge on me. Still, it was lovely - heavy cotton with intricate embroidery. I intend to get it altered to make it smaller.

Back at the ship, we chanced upon an old couple. We had seen them on the ship together, and we stopped to speak to them. I asked the wife if what I paid for the galabiya was a good price. She looked at it and said it was all right price - the real price would have been around 100 (her husband translated this into English for us). They invited us to sit down for a chat. He told us that he was the assistant director of police of the Luxor-Aswan division. And he actually lives in Luxor. And his wife lived in Cairo. She was here visiting him now. Then he showed us some pictures of his daughter who was recently married in Cairo. He showed us his son - who looked like a young version of Obama!

And so ended my last day on the Nile cruise. The following day, I would have to wake up early for my flight to Cairo.

Philae Temple | Aswan Egypt Day 4

2009-12-31T11:04:00.005-05:00

After the Aswan High Dam visits, we took a motorboat ride to the Philae Temple. On the boat ride, several Nubian men showed off Nubian handcrafts for sale. We busied ourselves looking at the bracelets for sale. They were well-made, and scented slightly. They said it was made of sandalwood, but I doubt that was the truth. It was more probable that they sprayed some sandalwood scent on the bracelets. After handling though, the bracelets quickly lost the scent. But since they were well made, I selected five bracelets and set it aside. I would pay and collect after the visit to the Philae Temple.

Nubian Handicrafts for Sale
on Motorboat to Philae Temple

Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan. It was called in Hieroglyphic “Apo” which means Ivory. It was also known by the Greek “Elephantine”, most probably because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory.

The Ancient Egyptians built a beautiful and magnificent Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island. The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible.

Firstly, a cofferdam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. Each and every stone had to be numbered, and then replaced, in the same position, in the new location. It was a massive, and very complicated, project taking over 9 years to be accomplished.

The Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980!

Temple of Philae Pictures

Motorboats Docking Area to Temple of Philae
Check out the Bob Marley Flag!

Aswan High Dam | Aswan Egypt Day 4

2009-12-31T02:19:00.003-05:00

After lunch, we visited the unfinished obelisk. This obelisk located at the ancient granite quarry at Aswan was supposed to be a massive one. If finished, it would have been a mind-boggling 41.75 meters (app. 137 feet) high - higher than any Egyptian obelisk that were ever actually erected. It was not finished because a crack was discovered in it.

This site was insightful because it shows how the obelisk was created in the ancient times. Being at the quarry, just how did they get create these giant single pieces of rock out of the mountainside? They made a row of holes app. 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, and inserted wood in the holes. Then they poured water on the wood. The wood then expands by such force because of the water that the rock splits. The basic shape of the obelisk is created by rows of workers pounding the shape on the rock with dolomite rocks, or dolostone, and creating the app. 1 meter (3 feet) wide shafts at each side of the obelisk-to-be. This is possible because the dolomite is even harder than granite. To smoothen the sides, bricks are heated and put on the places that are to be treated. When the rock is sufficiently hot, cold water is poured on, and the uneven parts come off in flakes, thanks to the crystalline structure of the granite.

Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan, Egypt

Then we visited the Aswan Dams. Aswan Dam refers to two dams, both located near Aswan, Egypt. Most commonly today the name refers to the High Dam, which is the newer of the two dams at Aswan. Construction on the High Dam was completed in 1970, and has had immeasurable impacts on the Egyptian economy and culture. The earlier Old Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam was completed in 1902. e. The earlier Old Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam was completed in 1902. The aim of both of these projects was to regulate river flooding, to provide storage of water for agriculture, and later, to generate electricity.

Before the dams were built, the River Nile flooded each year during summer, as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water, plus natural nutrients and minerals that continuously enriched the fertile soil along the river and made the Nile valley ideal for farming, as it had since ancient times. As Egypt's population grew and conditions changed, there came a need to control the flood waters to both protect and support farmland and economically important cotton fields. In high-water years, the whole crop might be wiped out, while in low-water years widespread drought and famine occasionally occurred. With the reservoir storage provided by these dams, the floods could be lessened, and the water could be stored for later release.

Aswan High Dam Pictures

Nubian Village | Aswan Egypt Day 4

2009-12-31T00:58:00.009-05:00

The plan for some of tour group was to take an optional trip to Abu Simbel. I opted out of this visit because we had to wake up very early - leave the ship by 3.30am for a bus ride to Abu Simbel. I did not fancy that idea of waking up that early given that I had gone to bed late the night before anyway.

Besides, I had every intention of returning to Egypt for a second visit sometime in the future. So I decided I would have another chance to visit Abu Simbel later on. The other girls also decided not to go for this trip. But we decided to go something fun, which was to visit the Nubian Village.

At about 9.30 in the morning after our breakfast, we walked down the docks looking for a boat driver who could take us to the Nubian Village. Almost immediately, not even two minutes into our walk, a Nubian man approached us and asked if we wanted to visit the Village. We asked the prices and he said 50 USD per person for the whole trip inclusive of boat ride, visit, tea and henna tattoos. Our tour leader had earlier told us not to pay more than 30 USD for this. So we brought it down to that. And the man agreed.

We got into a motorboat - it had two levels. An uncovered top and a covered seating area below. We sat on the top deck - there was a table and seats nailed down. We had fun taking pictures of ourselves and the environment.

It was a beautiful morning - the fresh sun was lovely. It was neither too hot nor cold, perfect!

View from the Top of the Motorboat

Passed our Cruise Ship

The boat ride was about 30-35 minutes. Once we arrived at the Nubian Village, we had to climb up the rocky banks and walked through the village shop area to get to a Nubian house.

Some People took a Camel Ride to the Village Area
On Hindsight, We Should Have Agreed
But we were Afraid that They May Charge Extra
Still We Should not Have Assumed!

Nubian Women

They Breed Crocodiles

Usually, the Egyptian tour guide would arrange these visits. Since we did it ourselves, I think we got the raw end of the deal. The guy who brought us to the village did not speak very good English and could not answer our questions about the village. It dawned on us that this part of the village was very much geared to the tourists. We were given hibiscus tea - which was watered down. But tasted good all the same. Then we noticed that other tourists (with their tour guide) got bread along with their tea, but we didn't!

The woman who did our henna tattoos also wanted money, but we told the man who came with us that we had already agreed for an all-inclusive tour. That marred our visit for us - they were after money, and we felt it. And I suppose it would be a fair trade off, if only the woman who did our tattoos was more hospitable. She was in such a rush and would not do what I asked for exactly - how very rude of her.

Our Nubian Henna Tattoos

Mummified Foxes

Top View of Village

Good thing About the Village is the White Wash
Welcome Chance from the all-common Brown Walls

Nubian Handicrafts Sold at the Village
I bought necklaces that they said was mad from camel teeth
But I wonder if it is real??!

Traditional Weaver at Nubian Village

The boat driver allowed each of us to drive and steer the motorboat on our way back. That way nice, but I did not like it. Too much work for me!

On our return to the ship, we chanced upon several others from our tour group who had not gone to Abu Simbel as well. They told us that they were walking down the docks and a man had offered to take them to a Nubian Village for $1 USD each! There were about maybe 10 of them together. They were brought to a real village area, not the touristy Nubian Village we had gone to. Imagine our disappointment. They did not get Nubian henna tattoos - but given what I had gotten for my tattoo, I would have given it a miss to go see a real village.

Sigh.

Moral of the story - haggle, haggle, haggle. And do not agree to something with the first person you chance upon. Think it over after getting several offers.....

Ah well - anyway, it was an adventure.

Aswan Egypt Day 3

2009-12-30T03:54:00.007-05:00

After the Kom Ombo visit, we visited the many stalls set up along the Nile River docks for a bit of shopping. The male sellers called out to us, but we gave our business to an elderly lady who sat by the banks without a stall. She was selling belly dancing hip scarves, spread out on big cloth on the ground. A friend bought one from her, but I did not as I could not find a color I liked.

A few stalls later, I found a scarf I liked - a simple black one with silver coins and tassels. The seller showed us how to tie an Egyptian style hijab. It was relatively simple. The style was done using my own pashmina shawl. We could not do much shopping as the cruise ship was set to sail again - this time headed to Aswan.

We rushed back to the cruise ship - me in my Egyptian styled hijab! Which I have to add was very cool looking.

Back at the cruise ship, we took our showers and freshened up. Then we decided to take some pictures of ourselves in Egyptian styled hijab - much fuss was made over the tying of the hijab. But we had lots of fun doing it.

The cruise ship arrived at Aswan just after dinner and docked for the night. We decided to go for a night walk in Aswan. Aswan was more lively than the other towns we had been too along the Nile. Aswan was more of a city - it had many buildings along the Nile. Aswan is Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town located about 81 miles south of Luxor - it has a distinctively African atmosphere.

I found out later that as of 6 October 2009, the last rainfall was a thunderstorm on May 13, 2006! I do not know how much rain Egypt gets in general - but while I was there, it did not rain a single day.

Our ship had just docked outside the Aswan police station. We walked along the streets - and came across a lively group of Nubians. They were beating drums outside of a photo studio. We guessed that this was for a wedding, and hung around wanting to watch what happened.

A group of boys - seven in all - were at the side playing. They instantly crowded around us curiously. And I attempted to speak to them in my basic Arabic. The oldest of the group, whose English was the best, was 15 year old Ahmed. The youngest looked to be about only 7 or 8 years old. I wondered why they were all out playing so late in the night - didn't they have to go to school. Ahmed told me that they did not have school the next day - a Friday. The school days were six days of a week with Friday off. Imagine that! I am used to a five day school week - how studious of the Egyptians.

Ahmed told me that his father was a cook at a nearby shop. And he lived nearby too. I asked if he was a Nubian, and he said he was not a Nubian. But his uncle was attending the wedding event inside. His friends also did not look Nubian. It was nice to see that Nubians and the other Egyptians had a good relationship. They all spoke Arabic by the way.

We hung around hoping to see the bride and groom. But it took a while for them to come out. Meanwhile the boys wanted us to watch them play football, but we were more interested in the wedding - typical gals we were!

We saw some little girls around, but they hung with their mothers mostly. There were no groups of girls running around and playing the way the boys were.

I got involved in a conversation with a Nubian older lady. Somehow I could understand their Arabic. And I told them where I am from. Then she looked at my friends who did not look like me - and asked where they were from. I said the same place. And she looked very confused. She then wanted to know if my country had people who looked only like me. I had to explain in my rudimentary Arabic that my country was multi-racial with people who looked different - like me and my friends!

Then another lady came - she could speak English. She told us about the wedding. And even invited us to join them for the wedding celebrations after the photo shoot. But it was late and we had only just arrived. So we did not dare join them!

Then she asked us to visit her at her home - she offered to do henna tattoos for us. We asked if she lived in the Nubian village. She said no, she lived in Aswan, and that the village was farther.

But she did not have paper to write her address, and neither did we. Then the bride and groom came out. And it was a missed opportunity. She would have been good to talk with at a home visit!

After the wedding procession left, a man approached us and invited us for tea at his family's jewelry store. He was pleasant enough, but his store just across the street looked immensely fancy with real gold jewelry. We had no money for that kind of purchases - so even though he said we would not be under any obligation to buy, we declined the invitation.

This by the way is a sales tactic. They invite you for tea, and then try and hook you with a product. And it actually works.

But in our case, we politely declined and said we would try and stop by the next day.

Then we walked back to the ship after saying bye to Ahmed and his friends.

Kom Ombo Temple | Kom Ombo Egypt Day 3

2009-12-30T03:28:00.008-05:00

After our leisurely morning and a lunch, our group met up for a late afternoon visit to Kom Ombo temple. Our cruise ship docked for a few hours to let us off for the visit. The Kom Ombo temple was situated just near where we docked - with a brilliant view of the beautiful Nile River. It was about 28 miles north of the city of Aswan, in a village called Kom Ombo.

The Temple known as Kom Ombo is actually two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a Temple of Haroeris. In ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank near here. The Temple has scant remains, due first to the changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as a church, and finally by builders who used the stones for new buildings.

Everything is duplicated along the main axis. There are two entrances, two courts, two colonades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries. There were probably even two sets of priests. The left, or northern side is dedicated to Haroeris (sometimes called Harer, Horus the Elder) who was the falcon headed sky god and the right to Sobek (the corcodile headed god). The two gods are accompanied by their families. They include Haroeris' wife named Tesentnefert, meaning the good sister and his son, Panebtawy. Sobek likewise is accompanied by his consort, Hathor and son, Khonsu.

The temple is not as impressive as the ones we had seen earlier. Maybe it was also a case of temple fatigue - massive columns were no longer as awesome as they were earlier? But there are very interesting wall carvings to view.

Ancient Calendar at Kom Ombo Temple
Depicting Days of Important Ceremonies

Sobek, Crocodile God on the Right

Guide Said Women Depicted Sitting
Might be Women Giving Birth
It sure looks uncomfortable!

Toenails!
I am always amazed at the level of attention
paid to the features in these depictions

Kom Ombo Temple
As the Sun Begins to Set

Nile Cruise | Egypt Day 3

2009-12-30T00:00:00.009-05:00

After our morning visit to Temple of Horus, we returned to the cruise ship on the horse drawn carriages. The cruise ship was set to sail at 10.30 am that day. It was the first time since we've been on the ship, that we had sailed so early. This was a welcome chance to relax on the top deck during the day time.

Right after we got settled in, I went to the top deck. I ordered myself espresso and sat down under the shade as close to the rails of the ship as I could. Then I enjoyed the slight cool breeze as the ship sailed. The speed at which the cruise ship traveled was just right - neither too fast or slow. I would say it was at the speed of a slow train.

Here are some beautiful shots of the Nile as the cruise ship sailed.

The Nile River, Egypt

View from Inside the Cabin Room

Another Cruise Ship Heading
in A Different Direction from Us

Width of the Nile River - About 700 metres

A Jetty

Typical Houses Along the Nile

Temple of Horus | Edfu Egypt Day 3

2009-12-29T22:05:00.006-05:00

Sometime the night before, we arrived to Edfu. Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people.

After breakfast, we gathered outside the cruise ship. There were several horse carriages outside - we were going for a horse carriage ride! The only drawback was that stench of the horses. The horse carriage drivers had attached some sort of bucket to catch the horse dropping - I suppose that it is better than allowing the horse droppings to fall all over the streets. But I noticed that the buckets were not all empty. That probably contributed to the stench!

Two of my friends got themselves seated in the carriage - but there was no space for me, so the driver suggested I sit next to him. This was fine. Then he allowed he to actually ride the horse. The horse, I think a female horse, was strong and had a shiny coat. Initially when I took the reins, the horse proceeded on its own. I felt I was not doing much steering. Later when we approached slight bends in the street, the driver showed me how to pull one rein and slacken the other rein to make the horse move in the desired direction. Then I felt in control of the horse. Quite an exciting feeling, if you like myself, had never experienced it before.

Horse Carriage Ride - Edfu, Egypt

Here are some pictures of Edfu - what friends managed to capture while I was doing the horse riding!

Police Station, Edfu

Shop Making Fresh Bread

Morning Market, Edfu

Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller New Kingdom temple, oriented east to west, facing towards the river. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple pylon to be seen on the east side of the first court.

This is not only the best preserved ancient temple in Egypt, but the second largest after Karnak. It was believed that the temple was built on the site of the great battle between Horus and Seth. Hence, the current temple was but the last in a long series of temples build on this location. It is said that the original structure housing a statue of Horus was a grass hut built in prehistoric times. At any rate, there is an earlier and smaller pylon of Ramesses II which sits in a 90 degree angle to the current building.

The main building, which includes a great Hypostyle Hall, was uncovered by Mariette in the 1860s. There are numerous reliefs, including a depiction of the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting, the annual reunion between Horus and his wife Hathor. The reliefs are mostly situated on the inside of the first pylon, and spiritually connect this temple with Hathor’s Temple at the Dendera complex. During the third month of summer, the priests at the Dendera complex would place the statue of Hathor on her barque (a ceremonial barge) and would thus bring the statue to the Edfu Temple, where it was believed that Horus and Hathor shared a conjugal visit. Each night, the god and goddess would retire to the mamissi, or berthing house.

There is still an entrance colonnade to the mamissi, and reliefs with considerable remaining color just outside the main temple. These images portray the ritual of the birth of Harsomtus, son of Horus and Hathor.

Temple of Horus, Edfu

Esna Lock | Esna, Egypt Day 2

2009-12-28T08:38:00.007-05:00

After our sight seeing for the day, we returned to the cruise ship. The cruise ship was set to sail to Esna that night. And on the day when the cruise ship sails, there is tea served on the top deck. So after we had checked out the small jewelry store in the ship, we went up to the top deck for tea at about 4.30pm.

The deck was not at all crowded - which suited me great. I just abhor crowds! We had the place almost to ourselves. The cruise ship moves along at a steady speed - not too fast though. We busied ourselves taking pictures of the glorious sunset (sunset was at about 5.20pm).

After dinner, I went up deck again to relax. There was soft piped music playing - Celine Dion of all was featured! I would have preferred something local, but ah well. It was still nice to sit by the dimmed lights and enjoy the breeze.

Then out of the dark waters, I heard a voice calling out hello twice, then added "I am here". Initially, I thought it might be someone on a cellphone. But when the voice came again, I got concerned, wondering for a moment, if someone had fallen overboard. That was a scary moment.

I went to check, peering over the rails. But I could see nothing. But as soon as I did that, the voice called out again. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I realized that there was a man in a small row boat. He was being pulled along from the back of the cruise ship - apparently, he had attached his small boat to the cruise ship with a rope. Instantly, it came to me what this might all be.

Before my trip, I had read that as the cruise ship neared Esna Lock, the nearby villagers would approach the cruise ships in row boats, selling their wares from galabiyas (long dresses) to shawls. But all the accounts I had read about had occured during the day time. And the accounts had not said anything about peddlers attempting to sell things while the cruise ship was moving!

I sent a friend to get a touch light as it was impossible to see the man holding up his wares. But even with the torch light, it was impossible to see anything. We shouted and gestured for the man to move to the side of the boat.

He did this, and suddenly many other small boats appeared and latched themselves to the cruise ship. Meanwhile, all the ruckus brought the guests up the deck. As I am a true shopaholic, I got very excited - asking to see what they had.

I dealt with the first man we had encountered. How it worked was this - he asked if we were interested in galabiyas. I said yes. Then he asked for color. I said blue. Then he places a glalabiya into a plastic bag, and throws it up to the top deck. Mind you, the cruise ship is about 4 stories high! That was some aim. As soon as we got the bag, we checked it. This process happened many times as we selected our galabiyas - I wanted a smaller size (size three was the smallest, but still a bit big for me), another friend wanted a black large sized galabiya. It was so much fun.

After we had selected our galabiyas, then the bargaining occurred. The sellers could speak English, so that it easier. We bargained down our galabiyas to 55 Egyptian Pounds a piece. The main reason why I stopped bargaining was because we were fast approaching the Esna Lock, and I could see the cruise ship approaching the dock area. The row boats were being squeezed between the ship and the banks of the dock. I was so afraid that they would be crushed. So I insisted we stop bargaining and just give them the money....

After we settled on the price, we placed the money into a plastic bag with an item we did not want. Then our Egyptian tour guide, who had somehow appeared while we were busy bargaining, helped us to throw the bag back to the seller.

Some Kids in Our Group Holding Up Our Purchases

What an exciting event. That could never happen elsewhere, I think!

As we neared the Esna Lock, we all proceeded to the front of the boat to watch the process. We were very lucky that the Esna Lock was not closed for maintenance - usually between the 1st and 15th of December, the Lock would be closed, and those on the Nile cruises would have to take a bus from Luxor to Esna instead of cruising down the Nile. Thankfully we passed through!

The lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber whose water level can be varied.

Esna Lock - December 9, 2009.

Hatshepsut Temple | Luxor Egypt Day 2

2009-12-28T06:48:00.008-05:00

After the Valley of the Kings, we proceeded to the Hatshepsut Temple which was located not too far away. In Arabic the temple is called Al-Deir al-Bahari Temple. Hatshepsut was a female Pharaoh - an impressive figure in Ancient Egyptian history.

She was an 18th dynasty Pharaoh, daughter of Thuthmose I and Ahmes. When her father died her half brother, Thuthmose II, ascended to the throne. He was young, apparently younger than Hatshepsut herself.

The Egyptian tradition of having the Pharaoh marry a royal woman led Thuthmose II to marry Hatshepsut. (The women in Egypt carried the royal blood, not the males. To become Pharaoh, the man had to marry a female of royal blood, often a sister, half sister or other near relative. Usually it was the eldest daughter of the previous Pharaoh.) Thuthmose II died soon after becoming Pharaoh, leaving the widow Hatshepsut, a daughter Neferura, and a son by another wife - Thuthmose III.

Due to the young age of the Pharaoh, Hatshepsut became his regent. They ruled together for a number of years until she proclaimed herself Pharaoh (perhaps when Thuthmose III was reaching manhood) - something almost unheard of, despite the higher status of women in Egypt compared to women in other cultures at the time. Women could own land, inherit from family members, and even go to court to defend her rights. But before Hatshepsut, there were queens who had ruled Egypt... but not a female Pharaoh.

She managed to rule for about twenty years, before disappearing from history - coinciding with Thuthmose III's becoming Pharaoh in his own right.

Hatshepsut began to adopt several male attributes, after the Oracle of Amun pronounced it Amun's will that Hatshepsut should be Pharaoh. She gradually took on the new role, rather than appearing all at once as the Pharaoh. That would have been a drastic step - she was rather cautious. She dropped her titles relating to those only a woman could hold, and took on those of the Pharaoh, and slowly started the trend towards appearing like a male, wearing the shendyt kilt, nemes headdress with its uraeus, khat head cloth and false beard. She even, eventually, dropped the female ending from her name ('t') and became His Majesty, Hatshepsu.

Interesting! Her history is depicted on the walls of her impressive temple. However, there is evident damage. Someone, most likely Thuthmose III, tried to erase her name and image from every monument that may have had her name.

The temple is created out of the mountain - a sight to behold.

Hatshepsut Temple

Massive Mountains at the Hatshepsut Temple

Walking Up a Massive Ramp to Get to the Hatshepsut Temple

Inside the Hatshepsut Temple

After the visit to the Hatshepsut Temple, we were brought to an alabaster factory. They make the figurines and vases from alabaster by hand. Impressive.

Alabaster Factory at Luxor Egypt

Artisans work on Alabaster by Hand, Luxor Egypt

Artisans work on Alabaster by Hand, Luxor Egypt

We returned to our cruise ship for lunch. After a short rest, we went to visit the Colossi if Memnon in Luxor. The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. For the past 3400 years (since 1350 BC) they have stood in the Theban necropolis, across the River Nile from the modern city of Luxor. The statues are badly damaged - but the sheer size of it is remarkable.

The original function of the Colossi was to stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple (or mortuary temple): a massive cult centre built during the pharaoh's lifetime, where he was worshipped as a god-on-earth both before and after his departure from this world. In its day, this temple complex was the largest and most opulent in Egypt.

Colossi of Memnon, Luxor Egypt

Valley of the Kings | Luxor Egypt Day 2

2009-12-27T23:37:00.009-05:00

After a night's rest, I felt much better. We started off relatively early - had breakfast and met with the group at about 9.30 am. Our first destination for the day was the Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Kings is located on the West Bank of the Nile in Luxor. It is essentially a site where the ancient Egyptians created tombs for their kings and powerful nobles during the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt) over a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC.

This was my favorite site (apart from the Egyptian Museum that I would visit later) amongst all the historical sites that I had visited. The area is quiet and calming, and I can understand why the ancient Egyptians chose this area as a resting place for their kings. As we drove in, the valley became flanked by huge brown mountains.

The sheer size of these mountains was breathtaking. The Egyptian government had created paved roads for tourist buses to drive on into the site - but I could imagine what it would have been like ages ago when the ancient Egyptians had to walk on the desert sand to reach the Valley.

Massive Mountain in the Valley

We were told that there were 63 tombs that had been discovered in the Valley so far. It is possible that more may be uncovered in the future. Apparently, another tomb had been discovered only months back! From the 63 tombs, the guide bought us tickets that would gain us inside access to three tombs. The ticket cost 80 Egyptian pounds. The tombs had been filled with ancient treasures, but grave robbers in the past had taken away many of these treasures. And others, for example, the only intact tomb found with items (from Tutankhamun's tomb) were placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

View from Outside the Entrance to Valley of Kings

We could not bring our cameras into the Vally of the Kings. So we had to leave them on the bus. After getting our tickets, we entered the entrance building that had been built. There were exhibits with pictures of the various discoveries of the tombs - for example, Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun in 1922. We then took a tram ride to the tomb areas - after that we walked. Even with the throngs of tourists milling about, I liked this site the best. It was pleasantly cool that morning - the valley was somewhat shaded from the sun.

The Short Tram Ride to the Tombs Area

The selected tombs we entered were pretty amazing - the brilliant turquoise blue colors were still visible. This is where the brilliant turquoise blue that is seen on jewelry sold along the Nile comes from. I wish we could take pictures, but completely understand that concern that flash from the camera would over time fade away the depictions on the walls.

I bought a little booklet called the Valley of the Kings for 25 Egyptian Pounds from peddlers outside. It contained a factual information, and brilliant pictures of the scenes on the walls in the tombs categorized by Pharaoh.

The eighteenth dynasty tombs in the Valley of the Kings have a simple structure, consisting of a series of corridors and stairways. They are separated from each other by door jams, running to the east, south and west in bent axis with shafts in the floor. The shafts were designed to obstruct tomb robbers and act as drainage for rain water.

The nineteenth and twentieth dynasty tombs consist of a series of jagged or straight axis. Each pharaoh added corridors, side chambers or pillars as new elements, or simply increased the length of the tombs.

The walls of the tombs are decorated with scenes of the journey of the sun god through the earth and heavens. The deceased pharaoh is shown as the companion or embodiment of the sun god, sailing through the Underworld at night on a boat. There are also scenes of gods, like Hathor, giving the key of life (ankh) to the the pharaoh.

One interesting fact is that in spite of the many precautions taken by the ancients, the tombs were prone to robbery. At some point, a list of the tombs that had been robbed was created. Then the priests of the 21st Dynasty King gathered all the remaining royal mummies and rewrapped them. They hid the mummies in two secret caches - one collection was in the tomb of Amenhotep II and the others in the tomb Inhapi. This was discovered by Maspero in 1870.

The tour guide told us that if we wanted to visit Tutankhamun's tomb, we would need to get a separate ticket. We asked if there was anything inside the tomb besides the wall art - and we were told that all of the items in his tomb had been moved to the Egyptian Museum. I assumed that his mummy was also at the museum. And we would be visiting the museum in Cairo later. We were essentially discouraged from buying this additional ticket!

Later on, I found out that Tutankhamun's mummy was INSIDE the tomb. I was so very upset that this crucial information was not divulged. If I had known his mummy was inside the tomb, I would have bought the additional ticket.

What a waste - well, I plan to make a second trip to Egypt in the future, so I will definitely go then.

So if you are at the Valley of the Kings, know that Tutankhamun is inside his tomb - they have his face uncovered, and he is in a climate controlled box. I would think it would be worth seeing....Sigh.

Tutankhamun

Luxor Temple | Luxor Egypt Day 1

2009-12-27T09:20:00.008-05:00

Luxor Temple

After our visit to the Karnak Temple, we all got back onto the tour bus. We were headed to our cruise ship. I was excited, but a little nervous. I had never been on a cruise ship before, and I had heard that the rooms on such ships were tiny!

As we neared the Nile, we saw a number of cruise ships docked at the side. The Nile looked brilliant - a shimmering blue against the bright cloudless skies. We finally reached our ship - it looked spectacular! It was called the Radamis II.

The Nile River Banks at Luxor

The cruise ship staff unloaded our luggage while the tour group went in for our lunch. We were told that we would visit Luxor immediately after lunch. So I had a quick lunch, and went straight into the room for a quick shower. The shower completely refreshed me. I do not know how the others in my group actually survived the second visit of the day without showering! The room by the way was spacious - so I was very happy. It had large windows with a view of the Nile. I was so loving it!

Luxor Temple is located on the east bank of the River Nile, it was founded in 1400 B.C.E. The temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad Gods of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple (ipet-isut) to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility.

Luxor Temple

Abu Haggag Mosque
This was built when the temple was completely buried under.
The temple ruins was only discovered much later!

Pharaoh's Enemies Depicted with Hands Bound - Asiatic Enemies

Pharaoh's Enemies Depicted with Hands Bound - African Enemies

Roman mural in an inner chamber

Massive Columns

Pharaoh and his Queen

After the Luxor temple visit, we headed back to the cruise ship. We had dinner, and we retired to our rooms. We were all exhausted!

That was the end of Day One in Egypt!

Glorious Sunset at Luxor Nile River Bank

Karnak Temple, Luxor Egypt - Day 1

2009-12-26T09:57:00.017-05:00

Luxor, Egypt

This was the first time I was traveling on a group tour. I have always traveled to new places without use of tour guides, so I was a little apprehensive at joining a tour group. However, a few friends had signed up for the tour, and since I had never been to Egypt, I decided to join them too. I realized later that many tourists opt for tour group visits to Egypt - I saw many groups from varied countries like China and Russia. I suppose for a first visit guided tours are useful for a place like Egypt, especially with the language issues. Not everyone in Egypt speaks English.

My flight was at night. I met with the rest of the tour group at the airport - there were three families each with two kids; and several teachers (my friends amongst them); as well as a visually handicapped lady with her sister. Accompanying us was a tour leader from the travel agency. We flew to Luxor with Qatar Airways via Doha, Qatar.

Upon arrival to Luxor, we were met with the Egyptian representative - he was a short man holding out our travel agency name on a placard. He was our first encounter with the Egyptians. His reaction to me was odd - he said in English to me that my face was like an Egyptian. This was probably because most of the people in the tour group were Chinese and I was the sole Indian - as a result of being brown skinned, that made me stand out, confusing people. Luxor is south of Egypt - later on, I would realise that the people in Luxor were mostly brown skinned (I am not referring to the Egyptians who were clearly of African descent) - I think it has a lot to do with the strong sun.

Luxor airport is a relatively small airport. When we landed (at about 10 am in the morning), we were the only foreigners. The tour leader liaised with the Egyptian tour guide and processed our USD $15 visa on arrival for us. The group milled about the airport while waiting for them to paste the visa into our passports for us - imagine that?! I was surprised that the Egyptian tour guide actually did that for us.

Some of us took the opportunity to exchange money at the airport money changer - from USD currency to Egyptian pounds. The tour guide recommended not changing all of our money, just a small portion. I changed USD $50 which got me a lots of Egyptian pounds (the exchange rate was about 1 USD - 5.4 Egyptian pounds)! How exciting to handle lots of notes, hehe....

I attempted to take some photos of the area where we had landed. But a policeman saw me and gestured that I was not allowed to do so. So I retreated back to the group. I took pictures outside the airport though. The airport, like I said, was not busy at all. The area outside had many date palm trees. Several buses had parked out front in the car park. We rolled our luggage over to the bus. The tour guide and his assistant then helped us load the luggage into the bus.

Luxor Airport

But we were not going to the hotel! Nope. We were going to our first site - the Karnak temple. I was dreading this because I am the type who needs a shower every 10 hours or so, and it was past due my time for a nice shower (the travel time to Luxor had taken at least that long!).

In the bus, the tour guide introduced himself - Essam was his name. He gave a brief introduction about Luxor. Luxor is a small city, mostly catered to the tourism industry. The area is mostly agricultural. It is the site of Thebes, the ancient Egyptian city. It is home to the ruins of Karnak and Luxor temples. On the West Bank of the Nile (only a short distance from Karnak and Luxor temples), there is the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. Tourism formed a significant part of the Luxor economy.

The tour guide droned on, but I tuned him out, being dead tired from the long flight. I was nevertheless excited about being in Egypt. I spent my time looking out at the Luxor landscape as the bus moved on. We passed through the city area - most people were dressed in traditional Arab clothes - the long garb, galabiya. The women all wore head scarfs. Some of the men wore white cloth draped around their heads. There were horses and donkeys on the streets. Then we passed by the country area. I do not know what they grew on the lands.

Luxor Country Areas

We arrived at Karnak Temple. The air was warm. I had been worried about the weather since I knew it was winter time in Egypt. Even though I had checked the weather report, and it indicated a temperature range of between 12-20 C. With that sort of temperature range, it is always hard to determine what kind of jacket one would need. Glad to say, I did not pack any heavy jackets. The temperature in Luxor during the day is warm - no jacket is needed. The sun is strong - be warned! If this is their winter, I dread to imagine what it is like during the summer!! The evening though is rather pleasant, and like early Fall weather in the US east coast.

Model of Karnak Temple

The tour guide bought us our tickets to the Karnak Temple. When we entered, we saw a huge model of the Karnak Temple. The scale of the temple is massive. The name Karnak comes from a nearby village called el-Karnak. But the ancient name for this temple was Ipet-isut. There are four main precincts of the temple - the largest is the precinct of Amun-Re (god). About thirty Pharaohs had contributed to the building of the temple - adding new parts through the years, hence the sheer size of the place.

Entrance to Karnak Temple

Upon entering the temple complex, there are two rows of ram headed sphinxes.

One side of the Ram Headed Sphinxes

Close Up of Ram Headed Sphinxes

These ram headed sphinxes were built to protect the Temple. There are 20 rams on each side, extending from the small harbour to the 1st Pylon, which was built during the time of King Nektanebo I (30th Dynasty). As you cross this pylon, it takes you into an Open court, whose dimensions are 100m long by 80m wide, built during the 22nd Dynasty, and containing rows of bud papyrus columns.

Rows of Bud Papyrus Columns, Karnak Temple

After walking through the first and second pylons, we entered the Great Hypostyle Hall, which measures 103m in length and 52m in width. It contains 134 papyrus columns; each column is about 22m in height and 3.5m in diameter. Amenhotep III built it and Ramses I, Seti I, and Ramses II decorated it, while King Seti I erected the other 122 columns in 14 rows.

The ceiling in the centre is higher than the laterals, and it allows light into this spot, which was the processional avenue of the Triad during the festival of the Opet. The scenes of the Hypostyle Hall represent King Seti I, in front of different deities, making offerings, while the southern wall is decorated with scenes of Ramses II, making offerings to the different deities or worshipping the Triad of Thebes.

Close-Up Massive Columns of the Hypostyle Hall

The Sacred Lake - goes back to the time of Tuthmosis III. It measures 80m in length and 40m in width. Near the Sacred Lake there is a scarab, which is considered the biggest scarab left from Ancient Egypt, dating from the reign of Amenhotep III. The Ancient Egyptians called the scarab, Khebry, and it was the symbol of the Sun God. The word itself means to create; it was thought to bring to the sun in the early morning.

Sacred Lake

The tour guide told us that it was believed then that walking around seven times around the scarab would bring good luck. Since I was a Muslim, I thought it wrong to perform this pagan ritual, even if it was only for fun. But two of my Muslim friends decided to perform this ancient ritual while I watched in amusement.

Lucky Scarab

Simply Travels

2009-12-26T00:24:00.003-05:00

I have created this blog to pen my thoughts on the new places I have visited. I hope that readers will find it informative as well as entertaining.

I have always liked traveling. The best travels I have done have been to places that were completely different from my everyday environment.

I think this sort of travel has the effect of enlivening the soul - almost jolting one out of the mundane life one has become accustomed to.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

Aswan, Egypt

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2009-12-25T10:39:00.000-05:00

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