Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Luxor Part 2

Our guide asked that we be ready by 7 am for today's tour as the temperature would rise to 40 degrees by the middle of the day and he wanted to take us to the West Bank of Luxor first, have a break during the middle of the day and then continue our tour when the temperature dropped in the afternoon.  Wise thinking....
The first thing that comes to any ones mind when you mention Luxor is Valley of the Kings, or Thebes as it is known also, where the Kings (Pharoahs) built their tombs.  Most of the tombs there were cut into the limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber where the mummified body was laid to rest.  Of lesser renown is the Valley of the Queens where wives of the Kings were buried.  Both of these places are on the West Bank as well as the Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut.  We visited all three of these places.
The first was the temple.  I was once again speechless as we approached this magnificent multi-tied temple with its grand terraces.  The approach to the temple was via long ramps that in ancient times were lined with Sphinx.  It was originally many buildings but the main building is all that remains. This photo gives you an idea of what it would have looked like in 1490 BC......
Hatshepsut, who built the temple, was the second female Pharaoh (the Egyptians were way ahead of time!) and ruled for two decades until her step-son, Thutmose III, would come of age to succeed her.  It is not known how she died but almost all images of her were destroyed by Thutmose when he came into power. In the surviving images however, she appears as male with the royal headdress and kilt and false beard. Some inscriptions even refer to her as male.



The Valleys of the King and Queens are on the other side of the temple in a very hidden place.  To date 64 burial sites have been excavated with Tutenkanam’s being number 62.  We travelled by vehicle to the sites and our ticket gave us admission to three of the tombs. Our tour guide suggested Ramsses III, IV and VIIII (3,4,9 and please forgive me if my roman numerals are not correct). No photography is allowed inside the tombs without a special licence but take my word for it they are very special places.  You enter the tombs by a wide corridor that are lined with magnificent coloured drawings and stories.  The reason we know so much about the history of the ancient Egyptians is because of the details they included in their stories.  




After the Valley of the Kings we stopped for a photo shoot at Colossi of Memnon.  The remains now are about 23 metres high and weigh a thousand ton.  Though damaged by nature and ancient tourists the statues are still impressive.
In the late afternoon we stayed on the East Bank and visited Karnak Temple of Amon that is situated on 247 acres of land.  Though badly ruined, the site is impressive.  Massive columns still stand as a testament to the building ability of the Egyptians and the site has a central lake with stairs leading to the waters edge that provided a place to bath.





Our last place, and saving the best until last, was the Luxor Temple.  We arrived just on dusk and it was the perfect place to watch the sunset.  The avenue of the Sphinx links the Luxor Temple to Karnak Temple and is almost 3kms long.  Many sphinx still stand and there is ongoing work to repair this magnificent avenue.





This has been a long post but there is just so much to tell! We have only touched the surface of Luxor and you would need at least a week to see and do everything.  We left Luxor with a heavy heart (and aching feet!) but god willing we will return.

Luxor (Part 1)

I am now writing the next two posts in between flights back to Australia and at the moment I am sitting in Egyptair Business lounge waiting for our flight back to Rome.  From Rome we travel with Emirates to Dubai where we have a few hours before we connect to Brisbane and then on to Cairns.  I think we will be in transit for 30 something hours, however I am trying hard to not think about it.
So.....Luxor.
Luxor was like a breath of fresh air (literally) after Cairo.  As we flew in we could see the mighty river Nile and irrigation channels running east-west, north-south, crisscrossing the lush green countryside.  The Nile is now under control with the Great Dam being built some time ago.  Before that the Nile flooded vast areas of Egypt, hence the fertile soil.  The dam according to some Egyptians is a blessing and to others it is not. It depends whether you are a city dweller or a country dweller.
Across the road from our hotel many, many Nile River Cruise ships lay anchored.  It is coming into their quiet time now as the temperatures soar to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer months that lay ahead.  Nobody wants to be here in the summer months!

Luxor city has a population of around 400,000 but does not seem like a crowded city.  It is so incredibly clean with not a piece of rubbish anywhere to be seen and you can tell the residents of this lovely city are very proud of it.  When we were travelling to our tour destinations we passed many farms where the farmers were very busy harvesting the wheat before Ramadan commences on the 5th May and finishes on the 4th of June.  During this time Moslem's do not eat or drink anything between 3.30am and 6.30pm so it is best not to work in the soaring heat as they cannot consume water to quench their thirst.






As I have mentioned in the previous post we are staying at the magnificent Winter Palace built for King Farouk. It is one of the most beautiful places we have ever stayed.  As you walk through the wide corridors you can almost imagine yourself to be royal! There are lounge areas that are definately fit for a king and can we talk about the foyer (photo taken from the third floor). And what about the three sided elevator.  I’ve only seen them in movies!



The gardens are magnificent and we had the pleasure of walking through them to have lunch poolside on one of the days that we stayed there.



The Winter Palace has such a wonderful history and most famously when the Englishman Howard Carter, announced to The World on the stairs of the Winter Palace that he had discovered King Tutunkanem’s tomb. What a find!
(I am now sitting in the magnificent Emirates Lounge at Rome International Airport after our flight from Cairo. I just commented to Philip that is by far and away the best airport lounge that we have ever been in and we almost have it to ourselves....)
Anyway, back to Luxor.  Needless to say we loved Luxor and already we are talking about when we might return to perhaps do a Nile River Cruise.
Till my next post (probably from Dubai) sleep tight....



Monday, May 6, 2019

Cairo Day 2

Day two in Cairo we had to rise fairly early as our guide wanted to check us out of our hotel before our tour began so that we could go straight to the airport after today's tour. That meant a 5.00 am rise in order that we could have coffee and shower, pack our suitcases, have breakfast, call a porter and check out in time for our guide to meet us at 7.30 am.  I am not good at living out of a suitcase and prefer the ease of a cruise, but our hotel is lovely and the rooms are large and spacious so how can I complain....
Flower Arrangement in the hotel lobby
The first port of call for today's tour was to the citadel of Salah el Din that is a medieval Islamic fort.  It is located on Mokattam hill near the centre of Cairo and was once famous for its fresh breezes and grand views of the city.  Not so these days though.  Cairo, with a population of over 20,000,000 has a heavy haze that hangs over the city.  This is probably a combination of vehicle pollution and dust coming in from the city.  I, personally, would like to see the Egyptian Government put some $$$$’s towards cleaning the city of the rubbish that lines the streets and river banks and to perhaps clean some of the magnificent buildings.
You can just see the Giza Pyramids in the foreground (through the haze)

The magnificent Mohammed Ali Mosque is situated in the citadel and it is a grand mosque and very similar to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul that we visited a few years ago. We spent some time here with our guide and discussed with him the Muslim thoughts on life and death.  It was a beautiful place to discuss this.

After the Mosque we made our way to the Egyptian Museum.  At this point I have to mention our bus driver who we nicknamed Morgan Freeman because he looked and spoke just like him!  He was an extremely good driver and believe you me it is not an easy task to negotiate your way through the Cairo streets that are very similar to driving in Mumbai!
So, let’s talk about the Egyptian Museum for a moment.  It is an extensive collection of more than 120,000 items of ancient Egyptian antiquities.  It houses the worlds largest collection of Pharaonic items including the Gold Mask of Tutankhamen (that you are not allowed to photograph). This museum is being replaced by a brand new one that will open next year god willing and from the way our guide spoke it will be worth a trip back to Cairo to look at it.
As it is, it would take weeks to look at everything inside the existing museum so our few short hours only gave us enough time to skim.  Thank goodness again for our guide Mohamed who was able to take us to all the important things and gave us time on our own to go back and explore.








After the Egyptian Museum our guide took us to a great restaurant for lunch where we were served many courses including falafel, dolmades, mixed grill selection, salad and finally a delicious baked dessert.  It was so good and cost around $40US for three.  Our guide informed us that food is subsidised in Egypt so all meals are very reasonably priced.
Sadly, after lunch we said our goodbyes to Mohamed who we now considered a friend and were taken to the airport by another Mohamed to board our one hour flight to Luxor. The flight was uneventful and we left and landed on time arriving to Luxor around 6.00 pm.  We were taken to our hotel The Winter Palace and our jaw dropped as we entered this magnificent building that was built by King Farouk.  It is gobsmackling awesome and I am looking forward to our two night stay.