Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Aswan and Luxor, Egypt - Days 11-16
We're sitting in an air-conditioned (yes!) internet cafe in Luxor full of children loudly playing computer dragon games, but let's back up a little. We took an overnight train from Cairo south to the city of Aswan. It was even hotter down there, but at least there wasn't as much smog. What makes this city nice is that it is on a beautiful stretch of the Nile with several islands scattered about. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel, showered and hit the town. We walked the Corniche (boardwalk along the water), chatted up some Brits who were driving overland from Alexandria to Capetown in a Jeep and ended the night at The Nubian House for sunset overlooking the Nile. It was relaxed and romantic.
Pics of our view of the Nile over dinner from the restaurant, The Nubian House:
We enjoyed mint and hibiscus tea before our meal
A few shots from the streets of Aswan:
Three hours south of Aswan and 30 km from the Sudanese border on Lake Nasser is one of the great monuments of Egypt, Abu Simbel. Travel down here is restricted, so we had to ride our minibus in a "police escorted convoy." This is supposed to be for our protection, but in reality it just means that all of the buses and vans holding tourists wait in the street at 4am and leave in a big line at the same time. No police that we could see accompanied us. Much more dramatic sounding than it really was.
Anyway, the temple was really great! It actually used to be 60 meters lower on the banks of the Nile. When they built the great dam, it would have been flooded. A massive coalition of countries chipped in (including the US...we have a complete temple at the Met in NY as thanks) to move many of the temples to higher ground. Impressive achievement! I did, however, get my camera confiscated and held for ransom inside Abu Simbel because of course I was trying to sneak a few illegal pictures! Got it back though!
Ramses II built Abu Simbel to intimidate the native Nubians of the region who were under his control as well as to serve as a warning for those entering Egypt that they were in his house now.
Us in front of the colossal statues
On our ride back from the temples, as we zoomed through barren desert in the heat of the day, our minivan had a very inopportune air-conditioning mishap. Somehow there was scalding hot air blowing at everyone's feet to the point that Erika sat criss-cross for three hours to survive in her flip-flops. The bus was in full mutiny, but our driver couldn't understand a word of English. Very frustrating, but after some complaining back at the hotel where we had booked it we got free laundry out of the deal.
The next day we left on a sailboat called a felucca to head up the Nile on the way to Luxor. This ended up being a trip highlight! It was extremely relaxing to lay around on the mats and feel the cool breeze as we glided by Nile-side villages, fishermen and playing kids. A few other travelers joined us as we floated until dusk, and we all slept on the boat that night for a great night's sleep.
Pics of our felucca trip up the Nile:
Erika kept looking for the perfect reeds that baby Moses was possibly found in
This little girl gave us limes as a gift as we left her village
Erika traversing the sand dune to return to the boat after a shore exploration
Fisherman on the Nile
This local guy stopped for a chat with our Captain, Fahti
Here's Fahti, our captain. We loved him! He was extremely friendly and giggly and kept trying to get us to learn Arabic.
These little guys were trying hard to grab hold of our boat for a free ride as we glided past.
This was taken in the quiet moments of sunrise as the rest of the boat slept
Saying goodbye to Akmed, the 16-year-old first mate, and Fahti
A minibus took us the rest of the way to Luxor by way of a couple temples. Here's Erika with a suspicious-looking smile as we rode along that morning.
Luxor is trying to bill itself as the "largest open-air museum in the world," and they have a right to claim this. It's all about tombs and temples here. One of them, the Luxor Temple, dominates the center of the city right on the banks of the Nile. We took that one in at night, which was really cool to see it illuminated while the sun set. The next day we toured around the West Bank and visited the Valley of the Kings where many of the pharaohs were buried (ie. Tut) in ornately painted tombs, many of them still being discovered. We visited other sites as well, but at this point we've hit our max of tombs/temples. All in all, though, incredible!
Luxor Temple at night
Erika, donning her new sun protection, and I at the Valley of the Kings on our way to entering a tomb
There are 63 tombs throughout the Valley, and no pictures were allowed inside so sadly all we can show you is an entrance
These guys are clearing the way for some more excavating
This is Hatshepsut's Temple, the most famous of a very few female pharaohs. Our guidebook says that this sight is "one of the hottest places on earth," and we're in agreement. We basically scurried from shade to shade taking pictures along the way.
Us at the entrance to Hatshepsut's Temple
We had a fancy early dinner this day of fatta bil moza, lamb over rice with yoghurt sauce. Erika wasn't so sure about it, but we both ended up enjoying it. Oh, and some watermelon juice. Yum!
Erika amid the gigantic 134 columns of the complex at Karnak, the world's largest religious structure. This was a holy place where they had festivals and whatnot and was added onto by various pharaohs over the course of 1500 years. Huge!
Wall from Karnak. Everywhere we went we noticed how almost every possible surface was covered in carvings and hieroglyphics. Really overwhelming.
Even though it's low season here (who in their right mind would come when it's this hot!), there are still many tour groups of primarily Asians. We loved this high school guy and his immersion into Egyptian fashion!
Finally, here's a clip of me, using the guidebook, and Fahti counting to 20 in Arabic on our felucca. Please note his infectious enthusiasm which is why we loved him.
Off tonight for a rather long bus to the Red Sea coast and the Sinai peninsula. We're looking forward to a break from Pharaonic history for some mountain-climbing and reef-exploring!
Until then...
-Brent
