On to Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Nile River!

Flying to Abu Simbel, where the Egyptians (with the help of UNESCO) dismantled and reassembled the Temples of Ramses II and Nefertiti on higher ground so they wouldn't be permanently submerged under Lake Nasser, turned out to be ridiculously easy. The plane leaves Cairo, stops in Aswan to pick up and drop passengers, and continues on to Abu Simbel.

Lake Nasser, of course, was created in the late 1960's with the building of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River (a lower one was built by the Brits in 1899). It is now the second largest man-made lake in the world...huge and deep and home to immense crocodiles. The Nile flows through 9 African countries (beginning in Lake Victoria) before arrriving in Egypt and hence is full of nasty stuff like zebra and water buffalo parts--food for the crocs who keep it clean and hence are protected by the government. They grow to be 30' or more.

Not surprisingly, there is no swimming in Lake Nasser.

Not only does it boggle the mind how they moved these temples, which were cut into the rock originally--not built up out of stones, it is completely amazing to think about the exact methods (still unknown/unproven) they used to build them in the first place.

The four seated statues all represent Ramses II...and were moved (after being cut into pieces, numbered and so on) exactly as they were found.  The head of the second Ramses from the left is missing, knocked to ground by an earthquake in something like 27 AD. You can see the head below his feet--as found.  They also built the mountain above/behind the temple to resemble the orginal location.

It also turns out that graffiti is not such a new idea...this details shows names and dates carved into Ramses leg by visiting British, French and Italian soldiers.



This is one of many local men who work around the temples--he was making sure that no one took pictures inside the temple, and seemed very cheerful.

The Abercrombie & Kent rep found us after the flight back to Aswan to board the Nile Adventurer, but took us instead to the A & K's Sunboat IV. Turns out that we were the only ones booked on the Adventurer, so they sent back to Luxor empty to pick up people booked on the next cruise, a they consolidated us onto the very much upscale Sunboat IV.  This ship holds 87 passengers, but there are only 22 of us aboard for this cruise!! We have met a family from Tennessee, another from London and another from Brazil. Among them they have several teenage girls and a few boys, all of whom ask lots of questions about the history and seem quite interested.

The boat has an amazingly comfy upper deck.

And they serve lunch on the outdoor dining deck.

This morning we went to visit the temples at Philae, another set of temples that had to be moved...these because of repeated flooding, partially as a result of the dams. The upper Nile (in the south) area is home to the Nubian population, darker than Egyptians and they have a traditional language that is only spoken--there is no written alphabet or grammar.  They run all the hundreds of boats that ferry visitors out to the restoration on an island. They wear long coats and wrap up with great scarves and also sell souveniers.



The temples before they were moved.

and in their new location.

Above the village surrounding the temples are several turrets that were erected as guard towers right after the 1997 massacre of 73 Swiss tourists at Luxor.  They aren't manned any more. Our guide said that Egypt evacuated 2.5 million tourists in the two days after the shootings and it took 2 1/2 years before any tourists came back.



The views along the Nile are fascinating.  There are farms, small islands with herds of donkeys, pumping stations for banana plantations...some very lush and green sections, some sections where you can see the demarkation between the areas that get water and the desert beyond.

and in some places, like Kom Omombo, you can see temples right from the boats.

We're learning alot about how the temples were abandoned when the Christians came in, covered with sand over the succeeding centuries, the rediscovered in the 19th century by French and British explorers and ultimately restored (well, not restored, but preserved). A Frenchman named David Roberts explored during the late 1830's and left incredibly detailed drawing of the Sphinx, the temples at Luxor and much, much more, so we can see the exact extant to which everything was buried.

To bed now...we've made some friends and are looking forward to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings tomorrow.



Egyptian Politics, Casinos and "Alex" on the Mediterranean

Tuesday night we made it down to Giza to watch the "Sound and Light" show, which was amazing.  We were expecting an illustration of how the pyramids at Giza were constructed, but the show covered the essentials of Egyptian history as a whole...all played in lights using the pyramids as a canvas and Omar Sharif's (who knew he was Egyptian?)voice as narrator. It was lovely...and a bit sad, as only about 10% of the seats were filled. The night lighting really showed the facing or outer limestone "skin" of the pyramids has fallen off over the centuries.

The traffic here is just bewildering. There are virtually no traffic lights and traffic police (since the revolution) are either nonexistent or completely ignored. Residents aren't concerned about getting tickets or fines, and do pretty much what they like...speeding, going down one-way streets the wrong way--whatever. There is no way we could ever drive here, in spite of our experience in places like Montenegro and Bosnia.  In fact, our guide today, a wonderful man named Mohamed, doesn't drive himself--he has had his own driver for 12 years!

On the route to Alex yesterday (a 3 1/2 hour drive each way) we saw these strange-looking towers.  Mohamed said they are coops for raising pigeons--a delicacy in Egypt, best stuffed with rice and fried. We haven't tried it!

We hit a torrential rainstorm in Alexandria, which is the port most cruise ships come into when Egypt is on their Mediterranean itinerary. The city was orginally laid out by Alexander the Great along two perfect natural harbors, and hit it's heyday around the turn of the century when the British and French influence resulted in a long, lovely corniche (waterfront boardwalk) backed by Belle Epoque mansions.  You can see the remnants now--though a fresh coat of paint here and there would do wonders.

We ate lunch at a fabulous restaurant called the Fish Market--fresh pita bread with mezze or appetizers like hummus, babaganoush, yogurt with garlic, then fresh fish, shrimp and calamari. Yum.

They did not serve alcohol out of respect for Muslim traditions--but this is something new.  Mohamed said he was there a few months ago and had wine/beer. This conservative approach is something very new, and a result of the revolution. More and more restuarants and resorts are going "nonalcoholic" and there is even talk of closing down all the casinos (there are twenty in Cairo alone).

The liberal intellengencia, the more educated people, especially those who work in what used to the $12billion tourism industry, are very anxious about the revolution and it's resulting swing to a very fundamentalist and religious society. Almost everyone agreed that Mubarak was corrupt and had to go, but to be replaced with what? Right now many basic services (like trash collection) are simply not happening.  Police are not enforcing laws --though we did pass through one checkpoint where the police and army were looking for guns/weapons. There is a general sense of unease over what will come next and how conservative the swing will  be. Mohamed said all the elections should be over and the new constitution drafted by mid-summer. It's been quite an education and we will now read all news of Egypt in a different light.

These two students were taking a break from the incredible library at Alenxandria.  The girl on the left is wearing the Saudi-influenced black head-to-toe covering, while the girl on the right is in a more typically Egytpian headscarf. It must be brutal in summer! It used to be that any woman in black like this was assumed to be a Saudi, but no more. About 25% of Egyptian Muslim women now wear these. I keep looking for happy, smiling faces!

We have felt very safe everywhere, though.  Truly. Last night we took a cab up to the casino at the Marriott, which is in an old palace. Security was tight, with the cab having to stop, shut it's engine off for the dog-sniffing patrol. Once cleared, we got out and went through a metal-detector--these are standard in hotels and major buildings. We lost a bit of money the $5 at Caribbean Stud table, but finished the evening up at the $5 Black Jack here at the Sofitel.

We are actually fairly near Tahrir Square and have passed through several times.  It looks like this...a fairly normal city square with traffic, vendors and such. Protests happen generally on Fridays, though.  But we'll be gone by early tomorrow morning, so won't see anything.

This morning we went to the Great Pyramids at Giza...we saw them at night for the light show and wanted the daytime view.  They are amazing...huge and ancient and technically perfect in terms of mathematical precision, polar orientation, engineering and architectural techniques--and all 5000 years old. Eman was with us again and expressed again how sad it was that all the tourists are staying away.  There are whole villages and cities that rely on the trade for their livelihood and we could see lines of camels waiting for riders, knick-knack sellers hoping to sell their stuff for any amount.

It made it easy for us get around, though.

Entrances to the inner level of tombs have been uncovered, and you can go down inside the pyramids...but it's dark, very low overheads and was too spooky for me and Bud to attempt.







I did, however, get to ride a camel--something I have wanted to do for a long time.  Eman helped me negotiate a deal with the young owner of this fellow, a 12 year old camel named Michael Douglas (go figure!)

The ride was very smooth--though it takes a bit of hanging on while the camel is getting up and down. The camel's owner was quite fond of him.

It was a lot of fun, though Bud stayed on the ground!



We are resting a bit this afternoon...I have had an awful cough.  I don't feel at all sick, just am hacking all the time.  The hotel was great to call a pharmacist and get a prescription delivered...all for about $6 USD. We have really enjoyed this hotel, with a view of the pyramids and access to the Club floor, which has saved us a bundle in food/beverage costs.

Tomorrow we getup at 5:00 am to fly to Aswan and pick up a short flight to Abu Simbel, the temple that was taken apart and reassembled to make way for the the Aswan Dam. We'll see that for an hour or two, then fly back to Aswan to board the Nile Sanctuary Adventurer for our four-day river cruise up to Luxor. Not sure whether or not there will be WiFi...so I may or may not blog again until Monday.



Albert of Arabia

Today is our first full day in Egypt. We had a quick breakfast at our hotel, the very nice Sofitel el Gezirah (meaning Sofitel on the island, since it sits on island in the middle of the Nile River). Our driver, Tamar, and our Egyptologist, Eman, picked us up at 8:30 for a ride through the city and due south to the ancient areas of Dashur, Memphis and Sakkara.

The city is dusty, noisy and very interesting. There are donkeys pulling carts of vegetables and other goods everywhere.

Eman told us a lot not only about ancient egypt, but also about current customs and the impact last year's revolution had. I was very curious about the number of woman and girls with the head scarves on.

Eman said that covering heads and wearing the robes is new for women since the 1990's. Back in the 60's and 70's Egyptian women wore primarily Western clothing and Cairo looked very much like any European city. Women were professionals in all areas of business and commerce, education and the like. Since the rise of conservative Islam (which she said traveled from Saudi Arabia) is what is behind this...and she also expects it to swing back, in time.

On a lighter note, we noticed tons of "tuk-tuks", the small 3-wheeled taxis that we last saw in Bangkok.  eman said they showed up a couple of years ago  and now she thinks there are more in Cairo than in Bangkok.  They are often run by young boys.

Our tour coordinator has our time in Cairo organized by chronology of ancient Egypt. So we started at the first pyramids built, down in Dashur. The first one is called the crooked pyramid because one side is built at one angle and the other side another angle.  This makes it looked lopsided and the theory is that the builder was trying to get it right. It was first  close-up look at a pyramid as well as a camel.  The fellows tried to get us to take a ride, but we decided to wait until the most famous pyramids at Giza later in the week. They were almost persuasive--a third one carried an AK 37.

On the second try,  he got it right. Apparently 43 degrees is the proper angle for a perfect pyramind.  This is called the red pyramid and is nearby the first one...it's called red because it was originally covered in a reddish colored sandstone sheathing.

How they know this I am not certain.  I should also put in the disclaimer that any errors in Egyptian history and/or spelling are purely mine. Eman is a terrific guide and certified Egyptologist, but I was not taking detailed notes.







We moved on to Memphis and ended up at Saqquarra where the Step Pyramid is (so called because it is built in six set-backs or steps). The tomb there has incredibly detailed frescoes of Egyptian life and a dramatic column-lined entrance to a large courtyard. Eman said I should take a shot of the entrance--it was virtually empty!  Normally a shot like this is impossible because there are so many tourists. Eman said this is now high season--but because of the revolution, tourists are simply not coming. She was quite interested in our reasons for coming--I told her we figured the media was making things out to be worse than they actually were.

The fellows who make a living giving camels rides and doing photos ops there got ahold of Bud. Before he knew it the fellow had him all dressed up Arab headgear.

It is amazing how the terrain differs once you get a bit away from the Nile. It turns to stark and completely inhospitable desert and high plateaus. This is what it made the areas attractive for tombs for the ancient pharoahs--no flooding from the Nile could reach their monuments.



We were delighted to find that we have a distant view of the pyramids at Giza from our balcony on the 24th floor. Tonight we will go to the "sound and light show" there--it will be interesting to see how it compares to the sound and light show at Chichen Itza in Mexico.

Tomorrow we are going to see Alex--as the locals call the city of Alexandria.  We'll be gone most of the day...so look for another post tomorrow night.