So it's the new year and I'm finishing the blog and about to turn it over to Harold to post the photos, and random items keep coming to mind.
History - There is so much left out of my notes about the 5000 years of history that we learned about ... it is just impossible to include it here. Fortunately for my personal use I have several books purchased in Egypt that will help me refresh my memory when questions come to mind.
Fun Fact #1 - At each historical stop we made, we received colorful tickets with holograms for security purposes. Our collection of these will be part of the mementos that we keep from this trip.
Fun Fact #2 - The cabin stewards aboard our two cruise boats were extraordinary artists and used our clean towels, quilts, pillows and pillow cases, water bottle caps, and personal items such sunglasses, cameras, and pens to create monkeys, crocodiles, hearts, sunbathers, and other creatures in our cabins - sometimes two in a day! Such fun and such surprises. I think this is fairly common on cruises and we totally enjoyed it on our Egyptian cruises.
Fun Fact #3 - Bakeries in Egypt are awesome!
Fun Fact #4 - When the tour book says lots of walking and steep stairs to descend and ascend ... believe it!
Fun Fact #5 - If you ever have wanted to go to Egypt, go now! The revolution has dessimated the tourism business and touring is wonderful without crowds and with attention at the highest service levels ... despite the harassment of the street vendors.
Fun Fact #6 - I'm so glad we went ... I want to go again!
Fun Fact #7 - Our tour group was terrific! Thanks for the memories!
Fun Fact #8 - Our program manager Mohamed Anwar was the best! Thanks and be safe!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Day 16 Monday December 19, 2011
Harold and I have a relaxing morning sleeping in, and going to breakfast, and then meeting up with Den and Donna about 10AM for the shuttle to the airport. We think we are on the same flight to Atlanta. "Think" is the operative word! We didn't bother to reconfirm our flight because theirs was the same time as ours to the same destination, or so we thought. However, when we tried to check in at the airline kiosk, we were not able to do so, so we went to the counter to check in ... to our 8AM flight! Oops! Apparently some time back in October after we booked our flight in September our flight was changed! Obviously we should have reconfirmed before we left home. Since we had no internet access of our own, we just didn't bother to check once we were on the trip.
Fortunately Delta came through with a late afternoon flight and an arrival back into Dayton at 10:30PM rather than 5:30PM! So ... we relaxed, read the newspaper, had a leisurely lunch, and boarded our flight late in the afternoon. With no other problems we were home at midnight. Not so bad ...
Fortunately Delta came through with a late afternoon flight and an arrival back into Dayton at 10:30PM rather than 5:30PM! So ... we relaxed, read the newspaper, had a leisurely lunch, and boarded our flight late in the afternoon. With no other problems we were home at midnight. Not so bad ...
Day 15 Sunday December 18, 2011
Our last buffet breakfast together and then on to the bus to the airport. Tom leaves us at the airport for his own continued tour of Oman and beyond ... he is anticipating Christmas in Bethlehem if all works out. For the rest of us, we work our way through all the checkpoints and find our way to the Egyptair flight back to JFK. It's a good flight with plenty of movie choices (I finally watch Avatar!) and naps and three meals and eventually we get to JFK in NYC. Many of us work our way together through passport control and customs. Others wave goodbye as we are directed to different control points. And eleven of us wait together for 45 minutes in the cold and wind (Yuk!) for the shuttle to the Doubletree Hotel for our last night on the road. Another dinner together for some of us and goodbyes to all except Donna and Den who are on our same flight in the morning.
Day 14 Saturday December 17, 2011
It's time to leave Luxor and to face the fact that the tour is nearly over. Our flight from Luxor to Cairo is only an hour and I spend most of the time looking out the window of the plane. Amazingly I get the third perspective on the Valley of the Kings and the Ramseseum from the air. What a great way to experience the site!
When we arrive in Cairo, Mohamed tells us that we really are not safe to go to Old Cairo which was our optional tour for the last afternoon. The area requires us to go into the city and because of unrest in Tahir Square, Mohamed is concerned about roadblocks and crowd control. Of course we are disappointed because we have heard so much about Coptic Christianity over the course of the past two weeks, and Old Cairo is the site of many historical churches of significance to ancient Christianity. But safety must come first.
As a really amazing alternative, after we check into the hotel (Radisson Blu in Heliopolis near the Cairo airport) Mohamed arranges for the bus to transport us to the City Stars Shopping Mall which is nearby. So instead of visiting Old Cairo, we get the opportunity to visit NEW Cairo! The Mall is the second largest in the middle east - second only to the one with the indoor snow skiing feature in Dubai! There is no revolution here! Except for the misguided liberated women who are change smoking in the restaurant we choose for lunch. The Mall is totally amazing! All the upscale American and European brands plus many from other parts of the world that are unfamiliar to me are available here. Christmas decorations adorn every escalator and lobby area ... no Christmas music because the Beatles promotion prevails. It is difficult to describe how bizarre this scene is after two weeks of Old Egypt! Nevertheless, we absorb it, starting with lunch at Paul's French bistro and the absolutely best French onion soup I have ever had. Then it's off to find the Egyptian chocolate shop in Donna's quest for camel's milk chocolate. There is none, but the alternative Egyptian dark chocolate is quite satisfactory! And then we are off to find the mall's Khan El Kalibi bazaar where I find five meters of fabric for a tablecloth and napkins. I've been looking for this fabric the entire trip. I have seen versions of it in decorative displays in many of the tourist shops throughout Egypt, but always as part of the display and never as part of the merchandise. The fabric is multi-colored with vibrant blue-purple, gold, orange, green, and red. It is a pattern that is used by Muslims during Ramadan so that will lead me to pay attention to the calendar in honor of our new Muslim friend. We reconvene with the rest of our group and find the bus back to the hotel.
It is our last night together as a group, so many of us meet for cocktails in the hotel bar and then we go to the served dinner and celebrate the trip and our experiences with toasts and tears, smiles and last photographs, and special tributes to our extraordinary program manager and tour guide Mohamed Anwar! It is a bittersweet evening, but we all believe our friendships will continue through our email network and visits with each other as we travel around the USA and possibly on future Vantage tours.
When we arrive in Cairo, Mohamed tells us that we really are not safe to go to Old Cairo which was our optional tour for the last afternoon. The area requires us to go into the city and because of unrest in Tahir Square, Mohamed is concerned about roadblocks and crowd control. Of course we are disappointed because we have heard so much about Coptic Christianity over the course of the past two weeks, and Old Cairo is the site of many historical churches of significance to ancient Christianity. But safety must come first.
As a really amazing alternative, after we check into the hotel (Radisson Blu in Heliopolis near the Cairo airport) Mohamed arranges for the bus to transport us to the City Stars Shopping Mall which is nearby. So instead of visiting Old Cairo, we get the opportunity to visit NEW Cairo! The Mall is the second largest in the middle east - second only to the one with the indoor snow skiing feature in Dubai! There is no revolution here! Except for the misguided liberated women who are change smoking in the restaurant we choose for lunch. The Mall is totally amazing! All the upscale American and European brands plus many from other parts of the world that are unfamiliar to me are available here. Christmas decorations adorn every escalator and lobby area ... no Christmas music because the Beatles promotion prevails. It is difficult to describe how bizarre this scene is after two weeks of Old Egypt! Nevertheless, we absorb it, starting with lunch at Paul's French bistro and the absolutely best French onion soup I have ever had. Then it's off to find the Egyptian chocolate shop in Donna's quest for camel's milk chocolate. There is none, but the alternative Egyptian dark chocolate is quite satisfactory! And then we are off to find the mall's Khan El Kalibi bazaar where I find five meters of fabric for a tablecloth and napkins. I've been looking for this fabric the entire trip. I have seen versions of it in decorative displays in many of the tourist shops throughout Egypt, but always as part of the display and never as part of the merchandise. The fabric is multi-colored with vibrant blue-purple, gold, orange, green, and red. It is a pattern that is used by Muslims during Ramadan so that will lead me to pay attention to the calendar in honor of our new Muslim friend. We reconvene with the rest of our group and find the bus back to the hotel.
It is our last night together as a group, so many of us meet for cocktails in the hotel bar and then we go to the served dinner and celebrate the trip and our experiences with toasts and tears, smiles and last photographs, and special tributes to our extraordinary program manager and tour guide Mohamed Anwar! It is a bittersweet evening, but we all believe our friendships will continue through our email network and visits with each other as we travel around the USA and possibly on future Vantage tours.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Day 13 Friday December 16, 2011
It's morning in Luxor where we docked during the night!
And it's another early morning (5:30AM pick up) since I have talked Harold into taking a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings! Nothing is simple, of course. We walk through three other boats to get to the long ramp and walkway to the street where a van picks us up to take us to the boat that will take us across the Nile to the west bank to another van that takes us to the balloon launch site. But first a comment on the experience of the boat that transports us across the Nile. There actually are 6 or 7 boats waiting for other vans of balloonists. Our boat is the first one we board and it is outfitted with benches and low tables set for tea with china and silver! Our tea service comes complete with twinkies ... that's right ... twinkies! Harold and share a sandwich from our boxed breakfast provided by our cruise boat restaurant and save other food items (mostly rolls and another sandwich - cheese and salami) for later in the morning.
At the balloon launch site we watch the sun rise over Luxor as our team inflates our balloon and while other teams inflate 6-7 other balloons and while our videographer continues to record the events of our flight. (Our videographer started our record as we descended the stairs into the cruise boat lobby to collect our boxed breakfasts and water bottles!) We climb into the basket with the assistance of our team - five of us in each of four sections in the basket plus the pilot in the separate center section. It is exciting as we see other balloons begin their ascent! And finally our team slowly releases the cords holding our balloon to earth, the pilot releases a blast of hot air into the balloon, and we are off. Just like that ... smoothly, soundlessly, breathlessly. Already we are wondering why we have never done this before ... it is glorious ... we float over the Rameseum - a huge temple structure devoted to Ramses II (as if I had to tell you that). It is a large rectangular fenced structure with the temple and various outbuildings, visible from a great distance. We float through the morning air, diminished ony by smoke from a fire burning in Luxor. We see the Nile River and many irrigation canals and we see the dramatic change from irrigated land to desert, so distinct and clear. We see Queen Hatshepsut's Tomb (one of the most beautiful and famous though it is not included in our itinerary) as well as the Valley of the Nobles. This Valley (of the Nobles, of the Kings, and of the Queens) is the tomb alternative to pyramids. This location for tombs is hard to access and is in a valley where there is no other business. The idea is that the tombs will not be subject to tomb robbers as the more visible and obvious pyramids and mastabas of Old Kingdom pharoahs were.
Entirely too soon our flight is over. We have ascended to over 2000 feet and our ears pop as we descend! The landing is only slightly bumpy with three bumps and then we are stopped. As we wait to disembark, we watch the team try to get the balloon under control, deflating it and gathering it into folds and into the equipment van. The team then helps us out of the basket and invites us into song and dance in celebration of our flight, recorded for perpetuity by our faithful videographer!
About 8:45AM we meet up with the rest of our group at the Colossus of Memnon - two gigantic stone statues that once guarded a royal tomb. The Colossi were moved in order to protect the secrecy of the tomb.
By 9AM we are on our way to the Valley of the Kings and passed by the Ramseseum where the bus stopped for a few minutes for Mohamed to tell us about the site and to point out a hugh statue of Ramses II lying on its side at the site. Soon we are walking in Peabody's footsteps (the protaganist in Elizabeth Peters' novels!). As usual the vendors are everywhere and very pushy ... so frustrating when all we want to do is experience the valley and visit as many tombs in the time we have. We stopped in a shaded area for orientation and logistics where for the first time Mohamed went on and on and repeated much that we already had heard about the Valley of the Kings ... I am trying to remember that it is not his fault that at 9AM I already am tired due to the early morning balloon flight ... on the other hand ... let's get on with the tombs!
Our first tomb requires an extra fee which we willingly pay and for which we are richly rewarded. Forget everything I have said earlier about colors in the temples, early tombs, and pyramids. Ramses VI tomb is indescribable! The colors in the hieroglyphs look as though they were painted yesterday! Vivid reds, blues, greens, yellows, golds, black and more. The figures of the pharoahs, the gods, the animals, and tables, the food, the containers, and more are all over the walls and the ceilings. We walked down a long ramp and stairs and descended into the tomb surrounded by these glorious hieroglyphs! Terrific! It definitely was worth the treachurous walk into the tomb and the extra fee. Once again if we had stopped the tour then and there we would have been satisfied (especially since we didn't know what was still ahead of us!). There were large and small scenes which we had seen previously but not with such vibrant colors. And there was the Book of the Dead, the prayers that were carved into the walls and ceilings so that the gods would know that the pharoah truly would be deserving of the afterlife.
Our second tomb was Ramses I which we chose because of the gorgeous blue background on the walls and ceilng. Most tombs have a yellow background. The blue was deep sea blue and really made a significant difference in the look of the other colors. In this tomb the sarcophagus (a huge black granite block) was still in place, making the actual tomb room very crowded. There only was space to walk in single file about the sarcophagus.
The last tomb we went into was Ramses III, a larger, longer walkway to the burial chamber was covered with hieroglyphs and pictures of the dogs including huge painting of Anubis, the dog god who governed the afterlife and the mummification process. In this tomb the walls were so accessible that they were protected from fingers and hands by clear plexiglass panels. Fortunately the quality of these panels was excellent and the view was not at all obstructed.
At last we honored our promise to the vendor who had followed us around this section of the Valley and purchased two photo books of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Though the quality of the photos is not great, the narrative descriptions of the tombs are very valuable in helping us remember which is which and where in the various dynasties various tombs fall.
The Valley of the Kings is totally fascinating. Next time we will spend more time and visit more tombs and go to the Valley of the Queens ... so much more to see and to learn ...
By 11AM we were back on the bus and enjoying a little more of our breakfast as well as the air conditioned comfort. The Valley of the Kings was our hottest day yet ... aggravated by our layers of attire needed for comfort during the balloon ride. Though the bus ride back into Luxor seemed extremely long, we enjoyed superb panoramic views of the landscape of rural Egypt, the Valley of the Kings in the distance, and the green fields and donkeys and horses and farmers working in their fields followed by the rural streets with houses and shops of the fringes of Luxor and then the city of Luxor and an actual huge bridge over the Nile that enabled us to cross back over to the east side of the Nile without the benefit of a transport boat! BTW, the farm fields are small; there is no large farm equipment; four-legged power is most common; fields are demarcated by raised rows of dirt; common crops are sugar cane (largest in Egypt), plus huge cabbages, cauliflower, corn, and other vegetables plus alfalfa for the horses, goats, and donkeys.
Finally we pass the Luxor Temple for our first view in the light and then we arrive at the Karnak Temple. Fortunately at the visitor center at the Karnak Temple there are public restrooms where for a small token (like a half Egyptian pound if you are feeling generous) you can purchase a few squares of toilet tissue and use the facility! This practice is very common in Egypt. If you get into the stall using your own paper, you definitely will have the opportunity to pay for paper towels to wash your hands afterwards! I usually tipped a higher amount and was rewarded with big smiles and larger portions! It's a racket but unemployment is high and clean bathrooms are hard to find!
OK ... back to the temple. In the visitor center we had the advantage of a large scale replica of the site so that Mohammed could explain what we were experiencing. What is most interesting to me is that at each site, but especially here and at the Luxor Temple, each pharoah wanted to out-do the previous pharoah so as to show his greater power and grandeur. So the temples grew and grew. Sometimes the old was carved over but often it was built around so that eventually these last two temples (Karnak and Luxor) were the biggest and grandest of all. Karnak is huge and the approach to the temple is the largest plaza we experienced. We crossed over a canal and walked through a long passageway lined on both sides by sphinxes up to the pylons or huge entrance gates common in all of the temples. Through the gates we walked through the first chamber and into the hypostyle hall of huge columns - 163 of them, as I remember - and walked in awe as Mohamed described the statues and the carvings and interpreted the historical significance of what we were seeing and experiencing.
The most significant difference (besides size) in this temple in comparison with others was the presence of obelisks! Karnak has many and their story is extraordinary. The largest was carved and erected in seven months according to the record on the carvings. It is difficult to believe but there is no reason not to believe. The story of obelisks is a strange one in that Europeans and Americans tried to transport them to their homelands with great problems, including the loss of one at sea ... I would love to find that one! Only the Egyptians seem to have been able over the course of history to carve obelisks from a single piece of granite and carve them and move them into place in the designated temples. No other civilization has been able to duplicate this accomplishment.
In a large open court the gigantic stone scarab held court and invited me to walk around it seven times in a vicarious effort to support future pregnancies of our only daughter who is still interested in such things and our only granddaughter who is similarly interested! Nearby was the sacred lake as well as huge statues of King Tut and King Ramses II and many other pharoahs and gods. We had a delightful time wandering around on our own, enjoying the huge columns of the hypostyle hall, photographing the sphinxes, and generally enjoying the experience. As we passed down the last row of sphinxes we came to areas still under excavation and wondered how much more there is to be excavated. Given the long history of Egypt, there may be much more!
At 1PM we were back at the boat and enjoying lunch and a quiet afternoon prior to our evening visit to the Luxor Temple. [As I am writing from my notes, I see the entry in my notes that I was making the notes as our Egyptair plane passed over Belgrade on our return trip to the USA!] Our visit to the Luxor Temple was timed to be there at sunset but given the capacity of our camera, we really wished we had gone a little earlier so that we could take photos before dark. That said, it was stunning to be at the temple at dusk. The lighting was dramatic and hypnotique! It is hard to identify how this temple is different from Karnak but a few things come to mind. There is a hugh obelisk at the entrance pylon which used to have a mate, but the mate is the one at the bottom of the sea on its way to France. Inside the pylon is a beautifully restored mosque which was built on the site over the years when the temple was in disuse. During the temple's restoration, the Egyptians determined that the history of the mosque was valuable as well and restored it. According to Mohamed, it is his favorite mosque for his personal worship. Also unique to this temple is the avenue of sphinxes which have been excavated in the past year! Think of this! If we had been in Egypt at this time last year, we would not have seen this extraordinary sight! And the plans include excavating the avenue entirely since it extends several miles all the way to the Karnak Temple. Note to Egyptian tourism officials: Let us know when this excavation is complete and we will visit again! Our walk down the avenue of sphinxes led us to an psychological place of interest: here we were in the midst of ancient Egyptian religion, listening to the Islamic call to evening prayers, and looking at the Christmas lights on the shops at the end of the avenue! Priceless!!!
Back at the boat ... we are surprised when we go into dinner to find that dinner is being served with white glove service ... no more buffet dinners for us! It is our last night on the boat and they are going all out for us with a five course dinner! Really special with lots of time to visit and enjoy the company of our tour mates. Alas dinner ends and we must negotiate our final purchases with the boat gift shop proprietor - very satisfactory! and then try to pack everything we have purchased and get ready for the end of the trip. We decide to skip the belly dancer and whirling dervish in the lounge ... a decision that is affirmed at breakfast by those tour mates who did attend!
And it's another early morning (5:30AM pick up) since I have talked Harold into taking a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings! Nothing is simple, of course. We walk through three other boats to get to the long ramp and walkway to the street where a van picks us up to take us to the boat that will take us across the Nile to the west bank to another van that takes us to the balloon launch site. But first a comment on the experience of the boat that transports us across the Nile. There actually are 6 or 7 boats waiting for other vans of balloonists. Our boat is the first one we board and it is outfitted with benches and low tables set for tea with china and silver! Our tea service comes complete with twinkies ... that's right ... twinkies! Harold and share a sandwich from our boxed breakfast provided by our cruise boat restaurant and save other food items (mostly rolls and another sandwich - cheese and salami) for later in the morning.
At the balloon launch site we watch the sun rise over Luxor as our team inflates our balloon and while other teams inflate 6-7 other balloons and while our videographer continues to record the events of our flight. (Our videographer started our record as we descended the stairs into the cruise boat lobby to collect our boxed breakfasts and water bottles!) We climb into the basket with the assistance of our team - five of us in each of four sections in the basket plus the pilot in the separate center section. It is exciting as we see other balloons begin their ascent! And finally our team slowly releases the cords holding our balloon to earth, the pilot releases a blast of hot air into the balloon, and we are off. Just like that ... smoothly, soundlessly, breathlessly. Already we are wondering why we have never done this before ... it is glorious ... we float over the Rameseum - a huge temple structure devoted to Ramses II (as if I had to tell you that). It is a large rectangular fenced structure with the temple and various outbuildings, visible from a great distance. We float through the morning air, diminished ony by smoke from a fire burning in Luxor. We see the Nile River and many irrigation canals and we see the dramatic change from irrigated land to desert, so distinct and clear. We see Queen Hatshepsut's Tomb (one of the most beautiful and famous though it is not included in our itinerary) as well as the Valley of the Nobles. This Valley (of the Nobles, of the Kings, and of the Queens) is the tomb alternative to pyramids. This location for tombs is hard to access and is in a valley where there is no other business. The idea is that the tombs will not be subject to tomb robbers as the more visible and obvious pyramids and mastabas of Old Kingdom pharoahs were.
Entirely too soon our flight is over. We have ascended to over 2000 feet and our ears pop as we descend! The landing is only slightly bumpy with three bumps and then we are stopped. As we wait to disembark, we watch the team try to get the balloon under control, deflating it and gathering it into folds and into the equipment van. The team then helps us out of the basket and invites us into song and dance in celebration of our flight, recorded for perpetuity by our faithful videographer!
About 8:45AM we meet up with the rest of our group at the Colossus of Memnon - two gigantic stone statues that once guarded a royal tomb. The Colossi were moved in order to protect the secrecy of the tomb.
By 9AM we are on our way to the Valley of the Kings and passed by the Ramseseum where the bus stopped for a few minutes for Mohamed to tell us about the site and to point out a hugh statue of Ramses II lying on its side at the site. Soon we are walking in Peabody's footsteps (the protaganist in Elizabeth Peters' novels!). As usual the vendors are everywhere and very pushy ... so frustrating when all we want to do is experience the valley and visit as many tombs in the time we have. We stopped in a shaded area for orientation and logistics where for the first time Mohamed went on and on and repeated much that we already had heard about the Valley of the Kings ... I am trying to remember that it is not his fault that at 9AM I already am tired due to the early morning balloon flight ... on the other hand ... let's get on with the tombs!
Our first tomb requires an extra fee which we willingly pay and for which we are richly rewarded. Forget everything I have said earlier about colors in the temples, early tombs, and pyramids. Ramses VI tomb is indescribable! The colors in the hieroglyphs look as though they were painted yesterday! Vivid reds, blues, greens, yellows, golds, black and more. The figures of the pharoahs, the gods, the animals, and tables, the food, the containers, and more are all over the walls and the ceilings. We walked down a long ramp and stairs and descended into the tomb surrounded by these glorious hieroglyphs! Terrific! It definitely was worth the treachurous walk into the tomb and the extra fee. Once again if we had stopped the tour then and there we would have been satisfied (especially since we didn't know what was still ahead of us!). There were large and small scenes which we had seen previously but not with such vibrant colors. And there was the Book of the Dead, the prayers that were carved into the walls and ceilings so that the gods would know that the pharoah truly would be deserving of the afterlife.
Our second tomb was Ramses I which we chose because of the gorgeous blue background on the walls and ceilng. Most tombs have a yellow background. The blue was deep sea blue and really made a significant difference in the look of the other colors. In this tomb the sarcophagus (a huge black granite block) was still in place, making the actual tomb room very crowded. There only was space to walk in single file about the sarcophagus.
The last tomb we went into was Ramses III, a larger, longer walkway to the burial chamber was covered with hieroglyphs and pictures of the dogs including huge painting of Anubis, the dog god who governed the afterlife and the mummification process. In this tomb the walls were so accessible that they were protected from fingers and hands by clear plexiglass panels. Fortunately the quality of these panels was excellent and the view was not at all obstructed.
At last we honored our promise to the vendor who had followed us around this section of the Valley and purchased two photo books of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Though the quality of the photos is not great, the narrative descriptions of the tombs are very valuable in helping us remember which is which and where in the various dynasties various tombs fall.
The Valley of the Kings is totally fascinating. Next time we will spend more time and visit more tombs and go to the Valley of the Queens ... so much more to see and to learn ...
By 11AM we were back on the bus and enjoying a little more of our breakfast as well as the air conditioned comfort. The Valley of the Kings was our hottest day yet ... aggravated by our layers of attire needed for comfort during the balloon ride. Though the bus ride back into Luxor seemed extremely long, we enjoyed superb panoramic views of the landscape of rural Egypt, the Valley of the Kings in the distance, and the green fields and donkeys and horses and farmers working in their fields followed by the rural streets with houses and shops of the fringes of Luxor and then the city of Luxor and an actual huge bridge over the Nile that enabled us to cross back over to the east side of the Nile without the benefit of a transport boat! BTW, the farm fields are small; there is no large farm equipment; four-legged power is most common; fields are demarcated by raised rows of dirt; common crops are sugar cane (largest in Egypt), plus huge cabbages, cauliflower, corn, and other vegetables plus alfalfa for the horses, goats, and donkeys.
Finally we pass the Luxor Temple for our first view in the light and then we arrive at the Karnak Temple. Fortunately at the visitor center at the Karnak Temple there are public restrooms where for a small token (like a half Egyptian pound if you are feeling generous) you can purchase a few squares of toilet tissue and use the facility! This practice is very common in Egypt. If you get into the stall using your own paper, you definitely will have the opportunity to pay for paper towels to wash your hands afterwards! I usually tipped a higher amount and was rewarded with big smiles and larger portions! It's a racket but unemployment is high and clean bathrooms are hard to find!
OK ... back to the temple. In the visitor center we had the advantage of a large scale replica of the site so that Mohammed could explain what we were experiencing. What is most interesting to me is that at each site, but especially here and at the Luxor Temple, each pharoah wanted to out-do the previous pharoah so as to show his greater power and grandeur. So the temples grew and grew. Sometimes the old was carved over but often it was built around so that eventually these last two temples (Karnak and Luxor) were the biggest and grandest of all. Karnak is huge and the approach to the temple is the largest plaza we experienced. We crossed over a canal and walked through a long passageway lined on both sides by sphinxes up to the pylons or huge entrance gates common in all of the temples. Through the gates we walked through the first chamber and into the hypostyle hall of huge columns - 163 of them, as I remember - and walked in awe as Mohamed described the statues and the carvings and interpreted the historical significance of what we were seeing and experiencing.
The most significant difference (besides size) in this temple in comparison with others was the presence of obelisks! Karnak has many and their story is extraordinary. The largest was carved and erected in seven months according to the record on the carvings. It is difficult to believe but there is no reason not to believe. The story of obelisks is a strange one in that Europeans and Americans tried to transport them to their homelands with great problems, including the loss of one at sea ... I would love to find that one! Only the Egyptians seem to have been able over the course of history to carve obelisks from a single piece of granite and carve them and move them into place in the designated temples. No other civilization has been able to duplicate this accomplishment.
In a large open court the gigantic stone scarab held court and invited me to walk around it seven times in a vicarious effort to support future pregnancies of our only daughter who is still interested in such things and our only granddaughter who is similarly interested! Nearby was the sacred lake as well as huge statues of King Tut and King Ramses II and many other pharoahs and gods. We had a delightful time wandering around on our own, enjoying the huge columns of the hypostyle hall, photographing the sphinxes, and generally enjoying the experience. As we passed down the last row of sphinxes we came to areas still under excavation and wondered how much more there is to be excavated. Given the long history of Egypt, there may be much more!
At 1PM we were back at the boat and enjoying lunch and a quiet afternoon prior to our evening visit to the Luxor Temple. [As I am writing from my notes, I see the entry in my notes that I was making the notes as our Egyptair plane passed over Belgrade on our return trip to the USA!] Our visit to the Luxor Temple was timed to be there at sunset but given the capacity of our camera, we really wished we had gone a little earlier so that we could take photos before dark. That said, it was stunning to be at the temple at dusk. The lighting was dramatic and hypnotique! It is hard to identify how this temple is different from Karnak but a few things come to mind. There is a hugh obelisk at the entrance pylon which used to have a mate, but the mate is the one at the bottom of the sea on its way to France. Inside the pylon is a beautifully restored mosque which was built on the site over the years when the temple was in disuse. During the temple's restoration, the Egyptians determined that the history of the mosque was valuable as well and restored it. According to Mohamed, it is his favorite mosque for his personal worship. Also unique to this temple is the avenue of sphinxes which have been excavated in the past year! Think of this! If we had been in Egypt at this time last year, we would not have seen this extraordinary sight! And the plans include excavating the avenue entirely since it extends several miles all the way to the Karnak Temple. Note to Egyptian tourism officials: Let us know when this excavation is complete and we will visit again! Our walk down the avenue of sphinxes led us to an psychological place of interest: here we were in the midst of ancient Egyptian religion, listening to the Islamic call to evening prayers, and looking at the Christmas lights on the shops at the end of the avenue! Priceless!!!
Back at the boat ... we are surprised when we go into dinner to find that dinner is being served with white glove service ... no more buffet dinners for us! It is our last night on the boat and they are going all out for us with a five course dinner! Really special with lots of time to visit and enjoy the company of our tour mates. Alas dinner ends and we must negotiate our final purchases with the boat gift shop proprietor - very satisfactory! and then try to pack everything we have purchased and get ready for the end of the trip. We decide to skip the belly dancer and whirling dervish in the lounge ... a decision that is affirmed at breakfast by those tour mates who did attend!
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