Nov 11 2008
My Egypt Trip
I will keep on updating this blog as i pursue my adventure through the land of pharoahs, mummies, tombs and as i dive into the depths of the red sea.
Day 4: Luxor: Hot Air Balloon and Museums
This year after i got hooked onto scuba diving, I wanted to take dive trip to some exotic location so to say. Hollywood divers they were going to Wakatobi in Indonesia in September and to the Red Sea in November. Both of these trips could be combined with a india vacation for me, provided i got time off work. Mom and Dad were going to be in US till early October so i couldn’t make it for the Wakatobi trip and also since that trip included the airfare it was going to be tricky, the red sea trip didn’t include the airfare. i.e. i had to make my own travel arrangements so it worked out great for me. As soon as i got permission to take 4 weeks off work, it was time for me to start planning this trip out.
I was kinda lazy in booking the flights etc since i wanted mom and dad to visit Egypt along with me but they weren’t that keen on it so then as i realized that i was going to be by myself i finally booked my flight in July. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant flying experience as i found out later. I had to fly to New York and then to Cairo, while returning it would be Mumbai – Cairo – New York – Los Angeles phew…. That was the best deal i was getting so i had to go for it. Out of two weeks in Egypt one was definitely going to be spent diving but i wasn’t sure how to spend the other one. I wanted to see the Pyramids of Giza but after that there were too many options for me. After lot of deliberation i decided not to make hectic travel plans by taking a Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor or vice versa. I was going to spend couple of days in Cairo and then travel to Luxor for couple of days, I wasn’t sure though how many days I would be spending in Luxor and finally as I write this in flight I decided to spend 3 days and 2 nights in Luxor visiting all the temples and the tombs that it has to offer.
I bought lonely planet guide to egypt to get more information and also a pocket arabic dictionary. I am not sure how useful the dictionary is going to be. I only booked my hotel in cairo and luxor and rest of the things I was going to take care of once I got there. Also my flight from cairo to sharm el sheikh (henceforth referred to sharm) was booked, I was going to meet with Jeanne (My awesome Scuba Instructor) at the Cairo airport and it turned out that we were on the same flight to sharm. This was the only planning/bookings I had done prior to departure, I knew what places I wanted to visit and what I wanted to do but at the same time I kept my schedule flexible.
I had contacted lot of travel agencies trying to figure out the prices and the kind of tours they offered, most of them were the same cruises on nile and all that stuff. Even though I was clear on my dates most of them didn’t bother to read how much time I had and kept sending me all these 10 -15 day itineraries, no thanks. Also when I contacted some of the hotels for bookings information they wouldn’t share any details, it was like you come over here and then we will figure it out. Lonely planet warns of such things and all the scams that can happen while you are in egypt. Lets see how it plays out for me.
The Loooooooooong Boring Flight
I took my packing as seriously I took my planning :), I filled up my dive bag with all the stuff a week ago and thats how it remained until the night I was about to leave and nothing else was packed. I wasn’t sure if I would carry a suitcase or how I would do it. Cairo Airport apparently doesn’t have baggage holding facility so I decided to carry my backpack instead. I was surprised how much I could stuff into my backpack, most of the old clothes which I wanted to take to india I was able to fit into it and the weight didn’t seem to be an issue. Packing didn’t take me that long probably about two hours max and then it was all about putting in the minor things in place.
My shuttle arrived at about 2.55 am and it was on time, but then we had to pick some other guy who never showed up so by the time I reached airport it was about 3.45 am and it was deserted. Apprently all the ticketing windows and kiosks at the airport they open only at 4 am but then the ladies took their own sweet time to adjust all the signs etc so it wasn’t until 4.30 that I could checkin. My dive bag was about 54 lbs and backpack 46 lbs so I was asked to transfer some weight, I simplly took the mask box from dive bag and put it in my carry on backpack. It was still 51 lbs and I requested her to allow me to check in the bag. It wasn’t a big deal.
Since it was going to be almost 6 hour flight to NY, my plan was not to sleep at my home and do all the napping in flight, that didn’t work out so well. Passing through the security is always an adventure and this time I was sure that my bags would be checked because I was carrying my dive computer as well as the regulator. As expected my bags were going to be checked but it turned out that they were bothered by a swiss knife I had in my waist pouch, it was an old one which I had bought in Nepal in 95 so I wasn’t complaining too much. The flight was on time and as soon as I sat in my seat (unfortunately it turned out to be center one) I dozed off. I took a brief nap only to wake up to neck pain, it was really uncomfortable and my neck wasn’t happy at all. Also before boarding the flight I saw some actress boarding the flight, it was Diane Keaton. I somehow managed to survive the flight and reached JKF airport in NY. It was supposed to be a 3.5 hrs stop, I had to go to a different terminal and then check in again. The checkin process went smoothly and this time as well going through security was a breeze.
I was deliberating if I should eat something or not since my flight was in couple of hours and they would provide me with a meal, it turned out to be a good thing that I has a sandwich because it wasn’t until 7.30 that we were air borne and then after an hr or so dinner was served. The flight as expected was pretty standard, there was no behind the seat entertainment system and it turned out that there weren’t going to be any movies as well. It was going to be 9.5 hours flight and the aircraft wasn’t the biggest one in the fleet. Even though the aircraft was pretty standard and there were no luxories as the such the crew was really helpful.
I tried to sleep, roam around (though u can’t do much) and somehow managed to survive the flight, the food was alrite and the morning breakfast was ok too.
I had asked the hotel to send a cab to pick me up from the airport so i wasn’t that worried about getting to the airport. We landed in Cairo on time and passing through the immigration etc was very easy, a guy with my name on a sign found me. I was worried about my luggage since they were going to transfer it from NY flight but after some waiting the luggage showed up. I picked up all my stuff and got out, surprising i wasn’t haggled at all. I read a lot about all the stuff goes on and the scams people run but not many touts approached me. It took a while for the guy to show up again and then he set me up with a cab driver.
Then it all began, I got a good idea of the baksheesh (tips) system that exists in Egypt and I gave that dude couple of bucks. The Taxi driver didn’t know english and I was referring to my arabic dictionary to communicate, it wasn’t easy nor fun. He took me to the city and then he had no clue about the whereabouts of the hotel. I had to pull out the maps and the address and try to figure out where we where and stuff like that. Also I got taste of the general system that exists out here, the driver stopped in middle of intersection to ask a policeman for directions but he still couldn’t figure out the place.
We were lost BIG TIME and this dude was shouting at people all over the place to ask for directions, he pulled up in front of a hotel and was like this is a hotel u can stay here, but i was adamant about going to the hotel i had booked. So we continued out quest, We were in the vicinity of the hotel but couldn’t find the place. He then consulted another guy and he didn’t know about it either but this dude was tell to me to go this other hotel which had cheap food etc etc. All this was in Arabic and i was just getting a general idea about the things going on. Finally after one more turn, this guy consulted some other policeman and he knew exactly where the hotel was phewww…. It was walking distance from the place so the cab driver just parked his car in middle of road and then we set off on foot. So after walking for 5 mins or so there it was Windsor Hotel. I was so relieved 
I began to wonder whether it was a scam to get more money out of me or something but it didn’t seem like, if it was a scam it was a very good idea and i didn’t care. So I checked into the hotel at about 2.30 pm and then after a shower was ready to explore my options. But first i had to get some Egyptian currency and also a pre-paid phone card. I expected that the dabba V66 which i had bought as a temp phone would be good enough but apparently it wasn’t. The phone guy was nice enough not to charge me for the SIM card even though he had to open up the seal etc.
I was hungry so first i decided to eat something before heading out for a walk, so i went to the bar which the hotel has. I wanted to try out the standard fuul (paste of beans stuffed in bread i think) but they didn’t have it. I ordered a cheese sandwich and gulped it down with a stella :). Then i decided to head out for a walk in the city.
Ramses Square
Since i had decided to head out to Luxor the next day and spent 3 days there, I thought it was about time i booked my tickets. So i headed out to the Ramses Station which is about 15 mins walk from the hotel. It wasn’t that hard to find as well and while i walking out there, all of sudden a lady walked upto me to ask for directions. Apparently I look a lot like egyptians, only if i knew arabic :).
After booking my tickets, I headed back to the hotel and it was about 6 pm when i decided to call it a night. Tomorrow I was going to head out to the Pyramids of Giza, Dashfour, Memphis and Saqqara. I was excited about it.
I was going to take a shared taxi to visit Dashfour, Memphis and Saqqara. Then the cab was going to drop me to Giza pyramids since i had to take the train for Luxor from Giza Station. I was going to see the sound and light show at the pyramids and then take a taxi from the pyramids to the station. This was supposed to be the plan for the day.
I woke up at 6 am and then got ready for the day. I was going to travel light and leave most of my stuff behind at the hotel. I had breakfast at the hotel, It was part of the package. Egyptian coffee had a tinge of sweetness to it and i really liked it, the food wasn’t much. When i headed to the front desk i was told that first they had to take permission of the people who rented the taxi, if they would allow me to travel with them or not. If not then they would figure something else for me.
I dumped my luggage at the hotel and the couple who had rented the taxi they agreed to let me tag along. Richard and Mary were originally from US but they were currently residing in Hyderabad and their son worked in Los Angeles. It was funny co-incidence. Our driver Hosan was a nice guy and could speak english fairly well, mary and richard had him as driver for their trip to alexandria. All along the way, it was very green and we stopped/slowed down to take pictures.
We were first going to head out to Dashfour when they have the Red, Bent and the Black Pyramid. We could see the Bent and Black from a distance and were going to enter the Red Pyramid. My first pyramid and i was going to go inside, yay. I was super excited when we got to the place.
Bent Pyramid, as the name suggests its bent so to say. Its angle is different as you view it from different sides and you cannot approach it since its within a shooting range where the egyptian police practice. The picture tells it all about its shape.
Bent Pyramid.
Black Pyramid, this is not actually a pyramid but a lump of rock, thts it. We could see it from a distance.
Red Pyramid, this pyramid is made up of red limestone and hence the name. It might not appear to be red from the outside but as you enter it, you can see the red limestone which is protected from the elements of the nature. As we approached it, we could see the entrance to the pyramid and it wasn’t crowded at all. Mary decided not to go for it, so it was richard and me going to enter the pyramid. I thought pictures inside the pyramid won’t be allowed but it wasn’t the case. I regret not taking my camera but it was ok, its more of your loss than mine. The images of inside the pyramid are in my head ;). The climb to the entrance is about 15 mins thorough a series of steps and then you have to descend 63m to get to the first chamber.
First View of Red Pyramid
Entrance to Red Pyramid
I stood at this 4×5 feet narrow descending passage not knowing what to expect when i got down, you have to marvel at the egyptians for building these things. As we reached the bottom, you could feel the air getting stale and really damp. The first chamber is about 12m high with tapered ceilings and then another narrow passage of about 10 ft takes you to a the highest chamber which is 15m high. WOW is the only way you can describe it and it doesn’t end here. You then take a series of steps to a third chamber and the final chamber which is about 12m high.
This third chamber is where the sacrophage was supposed to be there but there were just bunch of stones, since the air was really stale we didn’t linger for long and then headed out. I thought about getting my camera and heading into the pyramid again but i was kinda tired by the time i came out and i didn’t feel like it. Also the stream of tourists waiting to enter the pyramid didn’t help either. Richard told me that this was the best pyramid to enter, the giza one doesn’t have a chamber which is equally big. I was really happy that the first pyramid i saw was supposed to be the best from inside.
We then headed off to Memphis, its a small place and there is not much to see expect for statue of Memphis II and Alabaster Sphinx. Alabaster is a type of rock which is found in egypt and it is fairly transparent. Egyptians used it all the time to make statues as well as a lantern. The significance of this place lies in the fact that this was capital of the new kingdom in Ancient Egypt. We spent about half an hour at Memphis and then headed off to Saqqara, the birth place of Stone buildings. It was at this place for the first time in history of mankind stone was used to make buildings instead of the traditional mud and straw bricks.
Sphinx in Memphis
Saqqara is the place where the first pyramids were built in Egypt. Imhotep was the Architect who came up with the idea and all the designs. It was his invention and creation that the pyramids as we know today exist. After building a small sample pyramid of Unas, the Step Pyramid was built and it lay the foundations of the big pyramids of Giza. I wasn’t impressed by the fact that the villain in the Mummy and Mummy Returns movies (Brendon Fraser) is called Imhotep as well.
We first visited the Imhotep Museum where there was a Mummy on display, it was very easy to miss. I took some pictures but we are not supposed to use flash because it is not good for preserving the mummy as well as the artifacts. It was really cool museum and Richard told me that it was also well maintained as compared to the Egyptian Museum. Though it was a small museum it was very nice.
We then headed out to check the tombs of some of the important people during that period, the first egyptian doctor, imhotep and other noble men have their tombs in Saqqara. Also this is the most recently discovered area so parts of it were closed. No photography is allowed inside the tombs and also they were not allowing the cameras outside. I don’t consider myself a history guy but then as you walk inside these tombs you can’t help but wonder at the detailed carvings and the paintings done by the egyptians. Every minute detail of their life is well portrayed, different species of fishes, animals, how they hunted them, their significance etc. It was mind blowing.
Teti Pyramid: From the outside among all the sand dunes one could hardly figure out that a pyramid existed but this was there and one could go inside as well. I was the only one who decided to go in and the air in this one wasn’t as bad as the red pyramid. The chambers inside were also small and there was one big sacrophage at the bottom. There was another dark chamber which i just poked my head in but didn’t venture into it.
Step Pyramid. After checking out this pyramid we headed out to the step pyramid. As the name suggests, this is built in a series of steps, you are not allowed to enter this pyramid. It had a big court in front of it and the entrance hall was grand as well. We came across some structures created out of bricks which were made from straw and mud. At this location there was a stark contrast between the green and the desert regions of Egypt. It was time for lunch at this time and a pleasant surprise awaited me.
Step Pyramid
We were going to have lunch at this place near saqqara and it was a nice location with garden etc, the bread or the rotis were being made outside in a clay oven. I knew from the start it was going to be an interesting experience. We settled in and it was time to order drinks, me being the mango lover ordered mango juice and some vegetable platter. The first sip i took of the Mango juice and i was in heaven………….mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm simply too good, reminded me of hapoos back home, i finished it immediately and ordered another one, I could have had lunch on just the juice and the bread. I ended up having another glass, i just couldn’t resist :), the other things were grilled veggies for which i could care less. At the end i just had enough space in my tummy to handle turkish coffee, a thick viscous coffee with little sweetness to it. I was way too happy after this meal, too bad a nice nap didn’t await me
Now the cab driver was going to drop me off at Giza but before he did that we decided to halt at a Egyptian Carpet school, there are tons of them in this region. The guy showed us how they make carperts/rugs etc out of silk and wool. Sometimes they use wool made of camel hair. Those rugs were not only expensive but also simply amazing, the silk from which they were made was heat and fire resistant, that guy at the shop pointed a flame at it and it didn’t feel warm or anything. The best thing about these carpets, some of which took like over 2 yrs to make, was the way they changed colors depending on the light. It was brilliant.
I was getting late to get to Giza because the ticket office closes at 4 pm and also they start pushing the tourists out at the same time, traffic wasn’t helping at the same time and it was going to be really close. I was planning on taking a camel ride and i was cautioned to pay only after getting off the camel since the guys out there scammed a lot of people. The camel guys, they take the money from tourists prior to the ride and then refuse to let them down unless they pay them more. The cab driver told me that he knew some folks for the camel ride and i should be fine that way. Also the shop owners were supposed to be more aggressive out here, instead of just asking if you wanted to buy something they would simply thrust stuff into your hands. I was glad that it was late and also a lot of people think i am an egyptian or more like an egyptian expat.
Pyramids of Giza: We reached Giza almost at 4 pm and then immediately i got onto the camel, the price was negotiate quickly. There were two guys going to accompany me, the ticket office got closed but these guys bribed the police officers and they let me into the compound, i breathed a sigh of relief. Even though i couldn’t get closer to the pyramids or the sphinx i got a fairly decent view of them and i was so happy with the earlier events of the day that i didn’t care that much either. I also got some good pics, sorry mike you will still be disappointed. We rode along the sides of the pyramids for an hour or so and then headed back. There was a time where i almost fell of the camel but managed to hold myself. Now my only worry was getting tickets for the Sound and Light show for the pyramids. It was about 5.30 or so by the time the whole camel ride got over and then i had an hour to kill before the sound and light show began.
Camel Ride.
Pyramids of Giza
I realized that tickets were easy to come by for the show and then i was looking to find a coffee place but there didn’t seem to be one close by so i headed into the fancy egyptian and indian food restaurant. It turned out to be a good find since it was directly in front of the pyramids and from the roof top i could see the pyramids all lit up since the Arabic sound and light show was going on at this point. The authorities were shining bright lights into this place so that one wasn’t able to see the entire show just sitting into this restaurant and others. I killed time at this place by having turkish coffee.
It was time for the sound and light show and i was trying to take some good pics rather than pay attention to the narrative. I still paid some attention and found out about the significance and the different statistics of the pyramids which i am sure you could find off wikipedia. It was cool though to see the Sphinx light up and then the laser beams were being used to make shapes etc and explain things. I would recommend that you do this while having dinner or coffee at this restaurant i was at, since you can see the main pyramids light up and also can hear the entire thing :).
Sound and Light Show.
It was 7.30 when the show got over and I had to be at the Giza train station by 8.30 pm, i knew getting a taxi would be an adventure again since i would be kinda short on time as well as i would have to haggle about the prices. After saying no to couple of drivers this guy agreed at the price which was supposed to be correct and then after a while he realized that i wanted to go to Giza train station and not the metro station which he thought. pfffffff I was glad that time wasn’t wasted and confusion was cleared out early, this guy said that he would ask another driver to drop me off. So after getting in from this cab i immediately got into the other cab, traffic was really bad at the exit. This guy asked me again where i wanted to go and i told him Giza train station but i didn’t think he got it, he asked me about my hotel and i told him that and he was like let me take you to this hotel. I was like no, i have to go to the train station and then i showed him my train ticket. At this point he realized where exactly i intended to go and then he started taking side streets etc to get out of traffic.
I got a close up view of the egyptian suburbs and it was interesting and very comparable to some of the Mumbai suburbs. I on purpose told the can driver an early time so he would hurry up and finally after 30 long minutes or so I was at Giza train station. I had no clue from where to board the train and there was a train in front of me but it was the earlier sleeper train to luxor. I confirmed with 3 other people to make sure that this wasn’t the train that i was supposed to be on and after a while i was all calmed and relaxed. Our train arrived at 8.45 and it had an interesting setup. It was a cool setup more like indian trains berth but cut up into half and it also had a wash basin which was nice. I was going to share my cabin (i knew about it) and a british tour guide was going to be my compartment mate.
Dinner wasn’t that good at all, they served some veggies to me in white sauce and some bland pasta. I thought it was a poor imitation of alfredo sauce but there is a local white sauce as well, though there was hardly any sauce on the veggies. I gulped it down with assistance from the yogurt. Dessert was nice though something cake like soft made with coconut, i liked it. I was ready to crash since it had been a long day but ended up having a conversation with the next door couple from NY for sometime. They were telling how good it was that Obama got elected since the world had a good perception of him. We could have talked on and on in general but then i had to go to bed so i decided to cut the conversation and then headed off to bed.
Temples and Tombs of the Ancient Kings
Dave told me that usually the train reaches Luxor by 8ish, I wasn’t too pleased with that because i was planning on taking a tour to the west bank which usually begins early morning. Egypt Railways didn’t displease me and we reached Luxor at about 7 am which was late according to the schedule but it worked out perfect for me. The hotel which i had booked was walking distance from the train station, I had emailed them about the pickup but it was a late email. I didn’t have any problems finding hotel this time :). I wasn’t expecting to get checked into the hotel and the tour was going to be rough without a shower but the guy was really nice and without even me asking for it he asked me to shower quick and get ready for the tour.
I checked into my room and it was almost the same size as the windsor one but the vibe was completely different, i really liked it. I got ready quickly for the day ahead, Alladin was going to be our tour guide and i was joined by 4 other people. 3 girls and 1 guy a group of french canadians who spoke in french all the time.
Our first stop was Colossi of Memnon, this was supposed to be a temple but all was left of it was these two giant statues thats about it. We spent about 15 mins out here and then headed of to the Temple of Hatshepsut.
Lone Statues remain.
Temple of Hatshepsut: Hatshepsut was a queen who ruled egypt, we spent about an hour in this temple. Our guide explained some of the carvings on the wall, how the egyptians also worshipped the cow, the sending of first trade missions to land on punt (now syria) by Queen Hatshepsut. It is really well documented in the hieroglyphics and the carvings, he also explained how the names of the people were written in a oval box called as Cartouche. Some of the carvings depicted that how the egyptians were into water sports, a guy is shown carrying a surf board. The attention to detail to every small little thing is simply amazing. It was in this temple that in 97 terrorists attacked tourists and killed 63 of them.
The temple among the mountains.
Surfer Dude at Hatshepsut
Valley of the Kings: We then headed to the valley of the kings where the tombs of the Kings of the New Kingdom were built. There are so many tombs out here and still they are discovering more. Also in the tomb of Tutankhamun, his mummy was on display. I was excited by it and decided to shell out few extra bucks for the same, i was disappointed after checking it out that is a different story. On a single entry ticket you are allowed only to enter 3 tombs and so our guide picked out the best 3 tombs according to him. No cameras are allowed inside the tombs. Also getting in and out of tombs is lot easier than the pyramids because the entrance and the passages are really big, one can easily walk through them.
Tomb of Thutmose III:
This is the farthest tomb in the valley and to gain access to this entrance you first have to climb a series of ladders. Once you are at the entrance then you drop down in a series of passages before arriving at the main chamber where the sacrophage is located. It gets really hot down there, the main chamber doesn’t have carvings only the vast sketches of the book of the dead. It is also constructed in shape of cartouche i.e. oval. It wasn’t possible to linger in this tomb for more than 5 mins because of the intense heat. It was really a spectacular sight nevertheless.
Stairway to Tomb Entrance.
Tomb of Tausert/Setnakht:
This tomb had interesting carvings in a way that some of the things were carved out of the rock and some of it were carved in. Just like all the other tombs every single aspect was very detailed and colorful. This also had a small chamber showing Anubis, the Jackal God overseeing the mummification process.
Tomb of Seti II:
This was an unfinished tomb but it had better paintings and sculptors. It wasn’t hot inside as compared to the tomb of thutmose. finally it was time to see the tomb of tutakhamun which had its mummy inside on display.
Tomb of Tuthakamun:
It was the smallest of all, it only had its main mummy board and mummy on display. When it was discovered all the treasures were buried in a separate room. This guy was only 18 when he died and he ruled for 9 years of it, one could tell from the mummy it was tiny so to say. Apparently when it was discovered it had all of its treasures, the raiders were not able to loot this mummy because it was below the tomb of Ramses II. Most of the treasures of this tomb are on display in Egyptian Museum which i plan to check out later. There were 7 layers of boxes for this small guy. I kinda fell cheated for having to pay extra for this tomb and later when i visited the Mummification museum in Luxor i realized that this was an official scam. oh well.
After this we went to visit a local Alabaster carving shop which showed us how cool this stone was. It could be used as a lantern since it was transparent. It was a business gimmick more than anything else since i am sure our guide would get a cut from whatever sales he was able to make. Also our guide showed us silver cartouches which we could get made with our name written in hieroglyphics. I wanted to get a pendant of key of life anyway so i thought it would be cool to have that on the back and with my name in hieroglyphics on the front of this cartouche shaped pendant.
Next stop was Temple of Ramses III at Medinat Habu, this was going to be our final destination for the day. It was a very nice temple, mainly depicting the war scenes. The main entrance pylon on the back shows Ramses beheading his enemies and through out the temple scenes like this are depicted. On the south side of the temple on the outside there are older egyptian numbers and the calendar system carved. There was a room dedicated to the storage of the harvest and the carvings in that hall made the whole scene pretty obvious. The main hall isn’t that huge as the temple of Karnak but still it was very nice. It was only going to be an indication of the things to come as i was going to see the sound and light show at Karnak temple tonight.
Entrance
Beheading of Enemies and Lion biting arm.
It was a nice end to the tour of west bank of Luxor and Alladin our guide invited us for lunch at this place near the hotel i was in. He suggested Kushari, a blend of macaroni, noodles, lentils and onions in a tomato sauce. I was initially skeptical about it but then as i dug into it i really enjoyed it. I had mango juice with it which wasn’t as good as the one i had in cairo but it was still alrite. I was ready for a nap now but instead i decided to head to the hotel roof top and smoke some sheesha along with turkish coffee while enjoying the view. I just chilled at the roof till it was time for me to head out to Karnak temple for the sound and light show.
Chilling with Sheesha and Turkish Coffee.
Karnak Temple: It is about 2-3 kms away from my hotel so i decided to walk it up, egypt is a very safe country as such to walk in night and i didn’t have any issues. I didn’t take the direct route to the temple so had to ask for directions along the way. As i reached Karnak the ticket office was still closed so after a while it opened and i got tickets. It was going to be an interesting experience since you have to walk through the temple as the show progresses. I thought that after watching this show i won’t have to come back to Karnak and see its glory in day light but the charms and the beauty of Karnak was too much for me to resist.
Karnak Entrance.
The show started at the first pylon which was beautifully lit up and it proceeded to the main court explaining the significance of the entire temple. I was paying attention to this show since i wasn’t expecting a return visit but that changed as soon as we entered the Hypostyle Hall. 134 huge columns representing the papyrus flower cover an area of 5500 Sq meters. It is HUGE and simple wow. As soon as i laid my eyes inside this complex i knew, this definitely warranted a second visit.
Simply amazing Hypostyle Hall.
The show then took us to the seating area in front of the sacred lake and it continued, i was trying hard to pay attention to it at this time. It was a long hr and half show which was very informative as well but i was really tired at the end of it. As i walked out of the parking lot the horse carriage guys approached me and asked a fairly steep price to get me to the hotel. I was planning on walking anyway but then in middle one of the guys agreed for a low price so i took it. I was planning on having dinner at this restaurant which our guide recommended.
As i got into the restaurant the group from the tour earlier was there as well, they asked me to join them but the setup didn’t allow for an extra person so i was on my own. I didn’t find the menu of this restaurant impressive and the food was alrite as well. I wanted to try Mehalabaiyya which is an egyptian dessert but this place didn’t have it, i ordered some other dessert called Baboshka or something like that but i wasn’t impressed by it either. So slightly disappointed i headed back to the hotel. It was going to be another early day tomorrow since i had to wake up at 5 am for the hot air balloon ride.
I was up at 5 am for the hot air balloon ride and the guide picked me up on time at 5.30. We waited for sometime at the banks of the nile to cross it, they gave us some breakfast as well in the small motorboat which we used to cross the nile. We then headed off to the collosi of memnon and then near the balloon. I was disappointed by the fact that we were going to start the ride south of the valley of kings or for that matter even south of habu temple. Also the sun had already risen so it wasn’t going to be a view of the sunrise when we got up in the air. As the other balloon was landing it was right over the habu temple and it would have been a really nice close up aerial view of the temple for the people in the balloon.
I was little disappointed but they also couldn’t help it because the landing and the direction where the balloon goes is all dictated by the wind. The pilot or the captain can only control the height of the balloon the direction in which it goes is all determined by the wind so it was ok. We got into the balloon and the pilot explained to us what position to be in when we land, other than that as long as we didn’t try to jump overboard it was fine. It was a slow rise to about 1600 ft and the view of the mountains, the contrast in different regions i.e. the green egypt and the desert part of it was very interesting. It is surprising how green those parts of egypt are and how nile has been shaping the life of egyptians for centuries.
The ride lasted for about 45 mins or so and it was a really pleasant relaxing ride, call me crazy but there were certainly times when i wished that i had a chute and could jump off the balloon :). I was back at the hotel at about 8 am and then had the entire day with not much left in luxor to see. I decided to go to the less popular places like the Mummification Museum and the Luxor Museum, they weren’t bad places at all to visit. None of the places allow to take pictures.
Mummification Museum: This is a very small museum which shows the process of mummification and also had some cool animal mummies on display. The ancient egyptians were very strong believers in life after death and hence the whole tombs and mummies process. They also mummified a lot of animals, mainly the ones which existed as gods like the jackal god anubis which is incharge of overseeing mummification process or the crocodile god sobek which is the night god.
In this museum there was a mummy of some priest and it was stored in his mummy board which was cool. All the mummies that i have seen so far they were by itself but this one with its casket as such. The animals on display which were mummified were the cats, ibis, a baboon, ram and also part of goat leg which could serve as food for the soul in afterlife. The best of them was a more than 6 ft long crocodile, it was simply amazing how well this croc mummy was preserved. One could easily mistake it for a live croc, it was unbelievable. I was glad that i visited this museum.
Luxor Museum: My next stop was the luxor museum which is bigger than the mummification museum, it mainly has all sorts of things on display. Mainly the statues found in the temples of Karnak and Luxor as well as few mummies. Most of the stuff on display was from the new kingdom. Lots of stuff which was used in warfare to defeat the libyans and push them out of the nubian territory. Couple of the statues on display were simply amazing, the fine finish and the all detailing carved in stone really amazes you.
Now the only thing left on my list of things in Luxor was the amazing temple of Karnak which i decided to visit the next day. Luxor temple isn’t that big at all and most of it is visible from outside and from the roof of my hotel so i didn’t see any value in going inside.
I decided to have lunch at the hotel restaurant and ordered vegetable tajin, most of the stuff is cooked in these clay pots called Tajin. It was alrite, for some reason after the first day my food experience in egypt just hasn’t been the same. At the end of the meal i ordered some Mahalabeiyya but he said he didn’t have it and suggested Ummm Ali some other dessert, i was like ok fine get me that stuff but then after a while he didn’t have it either but had some hot Mahalabeiyya so i ordered that. It was alrite and the fact that it was warm didn’t help it. I will give that stuff another shot some other time.
Rest of my day was spent on the hotel roof smoking sheesha and having Hibiscus tea, it is something i really like and enjoy. In evening i decided to head out to the banks of nile to take some sunset pics and as i got there people starting bothering me for a felluca ride. I earlier was interested in one of those rides but then later i decided against it.
Nile Sunset
This time for dinner i ended up having pizza egyptian style, it was pretty good. They didn’t cut it into slices or anything and the bread was different as well. I liked it and then after a while it was time to call it a day. I was thinking if i should wake up early and get to karnak or just wake up as usual and then head to karnak temple whenever. Being the lazy bum that i am, i decided on the latter.
I woke up at 8ish, got ready had bf and then headed out to karnak. I was planning on walking inside the temple and take my time. The lonely planet guide has explained a lot about karnak and also since i paid attention to the sound and light show i was sure that i would be fine in getting to know the facts about the temple. Also the signs inside the temple are somewhat descriptive so it isn’t that bad at all.
Ramses Temple Complex
Visiting the temple during day time gives a different perspective altogether and for the sound and light show we were restricted to certain parts of the temple but this wasn’t the case now. I was able to enter the temple built by Ramses and also the small place built by Seti II for the triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. The Colossal Hypostyle hall is the next and its nice to sit back and be in complete awe of this gigantic maze of 134 columns some of which are 12m and some 20m with each having a diameter of roughly 3m.
The Great Hypostyle Hall
I roamed around in the rest of the complex, the obelisks of Hatshepsut and all the other things. Some of the structures still had paint visible and they have sketches of some coptic saints indicating the diversity of this place. I spend few hours at this temple before heading out, it was really nice. This was just the major part of karnak temple, the other stuff which is part of the temple is not accessible to general public.
Paint on the Columns.
As i headed out of the temple few horse carriage guys approached me but i intended to take the walk back and found this cool place along the bank of the nile where i took the best picture of the entire trip so far. It was a panorama of the nile river with the mountains of the west bank in the background. I loved the picture when i put it all together.
Awesome it is the west bank of nile.
Lunch was a pizza at the restaurant near the hotel and at the end of it i ordered umm ali which i didn’t like. It was kinda bitter, i tried adding sugar to it but that didn’t help either. It is kinda sad that most of the traditional egyptian dishes are made of meat. I had to catch the 9.45 pm train to Cairo, so the rest of the day i just chilled at the hotel rooftop finishing up writing this blog etc. Also the hotel has a pool table so i played few games of pool with the guy who works there and surprising enough i won
At about 8.30 pm i started to head out towards the train station and there i was kinda confused about where the train would arrive, gladly i wasn’t the only one. I recognized this couple from the hotel who were going to catch the same train so i had company and then on the platform we met two british chicks who looked in their teens but were lot older and one of them was indian. Yes both of them were cute 😉 but i didn’t have more time to interact with them.
The train was on time and the guy immediately offered me dinner which was worst that the earlier fare dished out on the train. This time i only had carrots and other vegetable which was boiled and without any sauce. I just ate the bland pasta with assistance of the yogurt, salt and pepper. I wasn’t full at the end of this meal so i decided to head out to the bar for a drink, these trains have a bar at the center, it is kinda neat. So after having one local luxor beer, which wasn’t that bad, it was time for me to hit the bed. I wasn’t sure about my plans for the next day, i was thinking if i should go to egyptian museum directly or first head out to the hotel and then proceed to the museum. I decided to see how i felt in the morning and take it from there.
When i woke up in the morning, i felt really fresh so i decided to head out to the egyptian museum directly instead of going to the hotel and then going to museum. Also i wasn’t sure if i would get the same treatment as i got in luxor, i.e. the hotel would allow me to check in early or not. The train arrived at Ramses Station at about 8.15 am so the timing was also good for me to head out to egyptian museum, it opens at 9.
I really enjoy walking through cairo, its fun almost like walking in bombay, i managed to find the museum with little difficulty. Along the way i came across a typical egyptian way of making people buy things, this dude walks upto me and greets me etc and then tells me that he has a perfume shop just close by and i should check it out. I wasn’t keen on it but he kept forcing me into it so i walked into the shop and he showed me couple of perfumes and then insisted that i buy something for as cheap as 50 piastres, i refused and surprisingly enough this dude got really pissed and angry. It was funny how he changed his attitude towards me even though right from the start i made it clear that i didn’t want to enter his den.
When i got to the egyptian museum it wasn’t open yet but the crowds were already there, also it being a friday there were lots of locals at this place. They are very strict about cameras at this place and you are required to deposit your camera at the safety box, something i found out only after entering the museum. This is a fairly big museum with lots to see and the it was really crowded as well, to avoid the crowds i proceeded to the first floor where they had all the treasures from the tomb of King Tutakhamun. Also this has a separate area for the royal mummies and to enter it you have to pay extra, i wasn’t keen at all in checking out more mummies, after all they all look the same at the end :).
So the first thing i did was check out the treasures from the tomb of Tutakhamun and it was simply unbelievable, the lengths to which the egyptians go to make sure that the soul in afterlife has everything it needs is simply crazy. All the details on the jewelry which adorned the mummy and the the face mask etc was simply astonishing, words are not enough to describe it, you have to see it for yourself and the best part of the tomb was yet to come.
The mummy of the king was buried in 7 layers of boxes and casings, there were 4 huge boxes, the biggest one being atleast 12 ft in height and it contained 3 boxes of shrinking sizes. Finally in the smallest box there were 3 coffins inside one another which had the mummy. All of this was plated in pure gold, it just leaves you wondering, i was in complete awe and amazement. Apart from this grandeur on the outside, the mummy itself was covered in lots of different ornaments and pieces of jewelry each of which is on display in the museum. Not to mention that everything was completely described in hieroglyphics as well.
After checking out this whole king tut stuff, i was fairly tired and i just skimmed through the rest of the museum. The rest of the sacrophages, mummy boards of the other kings get boring once you check out the cool gold plated king tut stuff. Though some of the statues on display are really good but then i had spent a lot of time at the luxor museum so it wasn’t anything new for me. It was about noon by the time i got out of this museum.
Since my food experience wasn’t all that good with the local fare, i wanted to find this place mentioned in the lonely planet guide book which was supposed to be one of the best eats in cairo. I walked in the correct direction, over shot the place and then retreated and after half an hour of searching around i managed to find it place but it seems that good local fare isn’t for me because this place was closed and would open in evening, this was according to a guy i asked, though personally i wasn’t completely sure if i had found the right place. I was too frustrated and exhausted at this point so i decided to head out to the hotel and then figure out what my options were for lunch.
On the way back to the hotel i came across this fancy restaurant which i decided to visit once i showered up and got fresh. I checked into the hotel, got my old stuff back and then headed into this restaurant, there was a menu outside which i should have consulted because at this place there wasn’t a single vegetarian dish. The waiter suggested another place in front of it which could dish out some veggie stuff and so i headed out there. There wasn’t a single english speaking guy at this place and it was kinda hard to communicate but i managed to order fuul, tahini and falafel. The stuff was alrite and then i went to the hotel bar for turkish coffee. After having the coffee, idea of a nap was too much for me to resist so i dozed off for few hours.
I was contemplating a walk to Al Azhar park and Islamic cairo but decided against it. I might head out there tomorrow morning but as i am writing this blog, for some reason i am really tired from all the walking i have been doing. So i think i will just sleep in tomorrow and then proceed to the airport in afternoon. The start of my journey into the depths of the red sea begins tomorrow and so will a new post on my blog for the same…..