Luxor

Luxor – Wednesday, December 12, 2007

As usual, the morning came far too early, and after getting up at 3:30 am, picking up other passengers from their hotels, and travelling to the airport, we landed in Luxor shortly after 8:00 a.m. Luxor’s ancient name was Thebes. The area was a much lusher place along the Nile River, where 90% of the crops grown are sugar cane, with corn, cabbage and wheat following in importance. Irrigation comes from the Nile of course.

Although I did see one small tractor, the majority of the work is done by hand with hand tools, and sometimes with oxen (well, they looked more like cows to me.) We whizzed by on the bus so quickly, I wasn’t able to study what was going on or take any great photos.

The people live in poverty for the most part; many still subsist in mud brick houses perched on the mountain and hillsides. Some of the homes are 700 years old, and many of the people who work in the area maintaining and working the excavation sites are thought to be descendents of the people who built the pyramids and dug the burial tombs.

Once driving through Luxor and crossing the Nile River to the west bank (the long way around by land to the traffic bridge), we made a quick stop in the village where our guide had been raised. There twin monuments stood guard at the entrance to the memorial temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, which is being excavated behind it.

It was also time for a quick bathroom break and as per usual the bathrooms left a GREAT deal to be desired. A little old woman swaddled in traditional Muslim garb guarded the stall in the tiny trailer, handing out squares of toilet paper for money. I refused to pay and pushed past her to get inside to a toilet stall where there was no water and the flushing mechanism hadn’t worked in a long time. She stood in my way as I tried to get out again, demanding money. But I pulled my pockets inside out showing her I didn’t have any, so she had to let me go. This kind of thing happened in many places that I toured and I eventually had the foresight to start carrying my own toilet paper with me, but never expected it at that place as the tour guides had recommended the stop and I couldn’t see the woman as I approached. Thereafter I always carried a hunk of toilet paper in my pocket, which definitely came in handy throughout the day.

The drive continued to the Valley of the Kings. The reason they chose the west side of the Nile is because that is the direction of the setting sun, which represented the end of things (e.g. end of the day), and death to them.

There are 63 tombs that have been uncovered there, but only about 11 that tourists can go into. One of them was only discovered a year ago, and work is only beginning on it. They suspect there are some 200 more to be found. Research and excavations are still being carried out, and we could see they were being done the old-fashioned way; men hauling sand and rocks by the pails full down the sides of the mountains on foot (often barefoot).

We travelled from the parking area by trams and then walked into the valley. Our tickets gave us the choice of three tombs to explore. Tutankhamen’s tomb was extra, but I didn’t do it. Apparently this is where his mummified remains are, but they are badly damaged and there is not much to see inside otherwise. At least, that’s what our guide told us. He also said because the mummy is in such bad shape experts chose not to rove it, but they did remove all the artefacts to the Cairo Museum.

I realized why I had thought I would be going downwards to the burial chambers in the Pyramids at Giza. I was getting confused with the tombs of some of the kings in the 18th and 19th dynasties. The pyramids are from an earlier era, and when a king was crowned they began work on his burial place, estimating they had at least twenty years to complete the pyramid. However, some of them were so big, they took longer, and so they began making smaller ones. (The burial chambers in pyramids go upwards, while those in tombs go downwards.)

Subsequent dynasties chose to build burial chambers down into the sides of the mountains in what is now known as the Valley of the Kings, because robbers were easily getting into the pyramids and destroying artefacts and basically disrespecting the ancient rites and kings. The pyramids were so easily found with their shiny alabaster peaks, which could be seen from many miles around. The tombs, however, were very well hidden and their entrances blocked up. Of course, robbers still found their way in. Nobles were buried in tombs higher up in the hills.

The interiors vary from one king to the next, depending on the length of their terms (lives), probably their requests and their power. I went into one chamber that was well preserved; the colours of the hieroglyphics were very bright. I asked where they got the colours from and was told that white came from ground sandstone, the blue from lapis lazuli, green from malachite and red from ochre(a natural coloured clay). They mixed the ground stones with egg white and the colours have remained for thousands of years and probably will continue to do so.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photographs inside the tombs, but one of the ticket takers took my photo as I came up from one of the steepest ones (imagine going up and down this while you are bent over at the waist in a tiny corridor and you have an idea of what I went through to get in and out of the pyramid at Giza, which was a very long way in).

The passageways into the tombs were high enough to walk into, though some were very steep and quite a ways down. Some were easily accessible. Our tour guide recommended several for us to choose from, though I guess we could have seen more, if we’d have bought an extra ticket.

Our next stop was at an Alabaster factory and we learned how the vases and other decorative items are made in the same way they were made many centuries earlier.

From chopping off different sized hunks of the rock, to determining a shape of the vessel, grinding out the centre, and then sanding and polishing, it takes many weeks. Of course, we could make purchases in the shop…all of it over-priced, but negotiable with badgering sales people, each assigned to hassle a tourist to make a purchase. I came away with only a tiny scarab for my son, because alabaster is very heavy and would cost a fortune to mail home. We were given a hospitality drink of pop or karkadee (which I chose) while we browsed, and we could use the bathroom – no woman demanding money for toilet tissue this time….there wasn’t any to be used, nor any hand towels and who knows when it was last cleaned.

On our way back to Luxor, we stopped at Queen Hatshepsat’s temple, a truly magnificent place in its day. She was the first Queen to rule in Egypt (all the other queens were only the wives of the ruler kings, with the exception of Cleopatra, who was from Greece, years later.) Hatshepsat did much for the people and for relationships with other countries, but her stepson killed her and destroyed anything with her image or name on it. Sometimes he replaced his own image in her stead. He carried out this destruction, because when he was very young (after his father had died), she had sent him away to military school and his homeland for twenty years, declaring herself the ruler and basically usurping him and his rights. Either way the temple complex was huge and would have had beautiful gardens at one time, though all that is left are the walls that surrounded it.

While we waited for the others to join us, I chatted with two couples that I had been chumming with on the tour. One set was an elderly couple from Australia and the other a middle-aged divorced husband and wife (they are still friends) from Scotland. He does tours in and around Edinburgh and runs his own company as well. I became quite good friends with the wife, Jean and we exchanged e-mail addresses and I now have a place to stay if I ever want to go to Edinburgh again.

Once we were gathered again the bus took us to a spot across from Luxor. We then took a motor boat across the Nile River and walked five minutes to our lunch place, which was a nice buffet in a small hotel. By this time it was 2 in the afternoon and we were ready to be refreshed and fed. The day was exceptionally hot.

Our next trek was to the Karnak Temple where we spent about two hours. The temple was huge with several sections to it. It was built by Amenophis III and Ramesses II, and subsequent kings added to the structure. All of the areas were built to honour and be of use to the sun god, Aman Ra, including the pool. In one area there was a pedestal with a huge scarab (beetle) on it. Our guide told us that it is said if one walks seven times counter-clockwise around the scarab that your wish would come true. I’ll let you know if it works.

We made a stop at a perfume place, where we were given a demonstration on glass blowing of the perfume bottles and tried samples of perfume. They did not make many sales from my tour group…we were all exhausted by then and most of us found the perfume essences a little overwhelming. Besides, I’d already done this on my own when I first arrived at Sharm El Sheikh in a much more relaxed and jovial way.

As we still had quite a bit of time before our plane left, we made a final stop at a papyrus shop. I’d already seen the demonstration of making papyrus in Cairo, so I just browsed at the lovely papyrus pictures that were for sale. Unfortunately, we were again assigned a sales person, who glommed on to me like an appendage. I kept telling him I wanted to browse and I was looking for a picture with two people in it, that I specifically knew what I was looking for, but he kept drawing me to other pictures and explaining them. He became so annoying even after I had to be almost rude to him. I made a game out of trying to ditch him. He was very persistent, but I was quick and finally lost him, In the end I purchased a couple of pieces and had names inscribed in hieroglyphics, but this shop was not as professional as the one in Cairo and I was not impressed by their work or their high prices. I’m so happy I had a more positive experience in Cairo; otherwise I would have taken away a very negative perception of the whole business.

While I waited for the others to come out of the shop, I ventured across the street to where a vendor was selling herbs. Hhe had bushels of hibiscus flowers and saffron.

While waiting for our flight in the airport, I reflected on Egypt being quite an experience. If I were ever to come back again, I would make a trip to Alexandria and travel down the Nile River in a boat, stopping at various places, in particular at Aswan. There is so much to see here and all of it fascinating. One could spend a very long time here and still not see everything. I probably would not stay in Sharm el Sheikh again, because it is simply a tourist city, though a lovely place, if you like that kind of thing. I much preferred the smaller city of Luxor (population 150,000). (www.luxorguide.com)

We arrived back at our hotels about 10:30 pm. I dropped into bed, but was awakened by a crying, then screaming, hysterical baby next door. The parents totally ignored the noise, but it went on so long, I phoned the reception desk, because I wondered if the child was alone. However, the parents were there and finally the howling stopped, but my sleep was ruined. I asked to be switched to another room, and I was changed for last night. My sleep was even worse though as a child cried throughout the entire night, though it seemed the parents might have been attending to it….no matter now, I leave for Portugal at midnight tonight.

Bedouin Dinner & Camel Ride

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Those of us who were brave enough to attempt the camel ride were picked up from our hotels early (about 3:30 pm), so we had time to arrive at the Bedouin ‘party’ site with the others. We went by bus outside the city of Sharm, going through one security check point, before travelling into the desert for about a half an hour or so. (We had to carry our passports in case they wanted to see them.)

When we arrived there were a number of camels and their Bedouin owners awaiting us in an open area in the mountains. The first thing I noticed was the horrible stench of the animals…worse than a pig barn in my estimation. We were quickly matched with young Bedouin boys to board their camels, although I was one of the last assigned, being one of the few single people there. (They did the pairs first.)

I needed help to get my leg up and over the camel’s hump so that I could get seated in the saddle….my short wheelbase has its disadvantages sometimes. At any rate, once we were all seated, the camels rose en masse, high back end first so that we were pitched forward at an alarming angle that made us all feel like we were going to topple off ass over teakettle, and land in front of the camel and be trampled.

Alas, that didn’t happen, but I certainly let out a shriek at one point, which was when one of the owners snapped the photo of me. I think I kind of blacked out after that, though really I just snapped my eyes closed and did a great deal of praying as I grappled with the tiny, round saddle horn(like a stub of a broom handle)—the only thing we had to hang on to. I clung to it for dear life while the beast rose on its front legs. I swear I had the tallest camel there!

Camels are very jerky animals to ride, kind of doing a loping gait with their long gangly legs, not smooth like horses. I became brave enough as we moved a long to try and take photographs one-handed, but ended up with a shot or two of the sky and the tops of heads as I quickly popped the camera up and then down again to grab the saddle ‘horn.’

Just before the ride ended, I actually relaxed somewhat and was able to take a couple of decent shots, but this was after a half an hour of riding them. Getting down and off the camels was almost as bad as getting on. They go down on their front knees first, of course, then their back ones. I didn’t mind the actual riding part, but not sure if I would be in a hurry to go on one again.

Once we arrived at the Bedouin site, we were given what they call Bedouin tea (I’ve also been told it is Egyptian tea)…it’s actually a peppermint tea of some kind, though milder than what we are used to. This particular brew was far too sweet, but it was nice and hot seeing as how the sun was setting and the air cooling off.

We were then shown how they made their Bedouin/Arabian bread, which is made of flour, salt and water, mixed and rolled thinly, then stretched by throwing it into the air like pizza dough.

Once thin enough, they slapped onto an upside down ‘wok-like’ thing over an open fire. It is turned several times, then ripped into pieces and shared. We could also smoke a shisha if we wanted to (it was extra), but smoking isn’t my thing so I didn’t try it, but there were some lovely apple and other scents wafting through the air.

Loud disco-type music suddenly blared out of their sound system, but it wasn’t appropriate to the scene of a soft desert night with lights flickering from the sides of the mountain, and many stars visible in the clear sky above.

Several of us complained, including two friends I made on the trip. They were a daughter and mom from Germany (Berlin – the east side). (The daughter was probably about the same age as me.) I was told they would play Bedouin music when they did the dance show at 8 pm. The others had more luck, and for a time the music was turned off completely.

My new German friends were great and we had good conversations though haltingly sometimes as we had fun testing each other’s languages. I also spoke to a family group from Norway- a mother and her two sons and her sister. Luckily, these different groups of people can speak a little English so we could communicate.

The excursion wasn’t very well organized and we sat for two to three hours doing nothing much, while we waited for the bus loads of people to arrive and the dinner to be served. The food was scrumptious, but I suspect not traditional Bedouin as we expected, though it was very tasty. I tired a little of everything, though we weren’t sure what we were really eating, except for the chicken and rice. There were several salads, potatoes, some kind of sausage-like things without casings, a stew made of mostly potatoes and a few carrots and a little meat of some kind, and more bread. I did ask about some of the dishes, but I couldn’t always understand what they were saying.

Soon after the meal was served, the dancing began with some accompanying music and singing. There were a number of different performances with men and women, either separately or together, including a belly dancer, and a single special dance with a man in a long, colourful skirted costume, who whirled around in one direction with a number of different sized tambourines in various formations, similar to a First Nation dance with hoops. (Though of course, the tambourines were solid, so he couldn’t use his arms and legs to step into them to make the designs and tell their traditional story, though we had no idea what it was.) He spun around for a very long time in the same direction…quite incredible really, and then going through the crowd, still spinning like a top.

At one point they got the whole crowd up doing a kind of snake dance that seemed to go on forever. I ended up in the centre with the belly dancer, attempting to emulate her. (Yeah, right…I really should have taken my friend Susan’s advice to learn belly dancing and practiced before I left Canada.) The rest of the people kept dancing around and round us, snaking in and out of each other, dancing, and yelling and singing. It was great fun, but all I could think of as I danced and shook and swirled that at least no one knew who I was and I’d probably never see any of them again.

After the whirling man finished, the entertainment abruptly ended and the entire ensemble all of a sudden started packing up…it was over….All through the entire evening, we did not have anyone explaining what was going on or what the Bedouin life was about or the meaning of their dances, what food we were eating, etc., so I was very disappointed, because I wanted a total experience and to understand the people and their culture. I was back at the hotel by 10p.m. We caught a bus back—they didn’t want us riding camels in the dark. I will talk to a young man at the hotel tomorrow and ask him to give me some details of the Bedouin life as I think he is of Bedouin descent.

I’m not sure if it was something I ate that didn’t agree with me, or the fact that we ate so late that upset me, but I didn’t have a great sleep that night and felt kind of ill in the morning. This wasn’t good as I was up at 3:30 a.m. to catch my flight to Luxor the next morning, but it wasn’t bad enough to make me stay home.