Egypt Part 7 - SAILING UP THE NILE

WEDNESDAY MARCH 7th to SATURDAY MARCH 10th. After the Unfinished Obelisk expedition, we had an hour before boarding our Feluccas for the 3 day sail down the Nile towards Edfu. I spent a very pleasant tme in a restaurant called 'Aswan Moon' floating on the Nile opposite Elephantine Island taking in the scenery and chatting with some of the Explore Group over cold d rinks and Mint Tea (Chai be Na Na). Aswan is similar to Luxor in that it is next to the Nile with a Corniche walkway, a Souk and plenty of small shops. The Nile here has several islands between the banks, Elephantine Island and Kitchener Island, the scenery across the river is dominated by a big sandy rise with an ancient monument on its crest. A more modern eyesore is the Movenpick hotel on one of these islands which looks more like an industrial water tower. The population here is more mixed and Nubians with their striking features, darker skin and bright smiles are noticable amongst the Egyptian faces. By 10am the Camel trekkers had returned via a small motorboat and met us at the Aswan Moon. We then walked along the Corniche to our waiting Felucca sail boats. The Felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used for many centuries. The deck was spanned with wooden planks under which we stored our heavy luggage, keeping a daysack with us for water, suncream and reading books etc. Above the planks we had soft mattresses covered with a large sheet where we could all spread out and laze around shaded from the sun by a canopy. It was really quite nice! Between the group of 20 travellers we shared 3 boats. Each boat had a crew of 2 men - all Nubians with a sense of humour! Our boat (I forgot the name of it) was captained by Hamada and his second in command called Islan ( I think). Between them they very casually and without fuss sailed the boat perfectly, whilst making us hot tea or settling down to play chess with each other - keeping a foot on the tiller and a glance at the sails! Our first brief stop after setting sail was to a small island nearby for the Police to check the paperwork for all three boats before allowing us to continue. This didn't take long and we were soon making good progress on the river in convoy, zig zagging from one bank to the other into the wind, but with the Nile current in our favour. The initial buzz and excitement of leaving the dusty shores for water lasted for a few hours as we had plenty to look at - passing ships, bridges, wildlife on the shore, the sailing itself, the rush of the water along the hull of the boat, waving passengers from their cruise liners and the scenery on land. Aswan faded into the distance and around lunchtime the three boats moored onto a sandy bank with tall dunes for a rest, toilet stop and food. This was our first experience of 'Freestyle' toileting and I had no problem with it, but it was tricky to find a secluded spot as there wasn't much cover and the sand was boiling hot! Meals for the whole group took place on the largest felucca with food laid out in the middle in a help yourself buffet. A typical lunch comprised pitta bread, chopped salad veg, fetta cheese, some fruit and a hot drink. Dinner was hot pasta or rice & potatoes with a meat dish followed by oranges. A full afternoon of sailing brought us at dusk to our first camping spot. The wind had dropped so we had to drift to the bank for over an hour and it was dark when we arrived. Supper was followed by a large fire on the bank and Nubian music and dancing. It was a lot of fun! Our tour leader had the task of constructing our toilet on the bank. This was a loo complete with lid over a dug out hole surrounded by a low level tent. It wasn't very glamorous! The loo travelled with us tied to the boat which looked hilarious! Sleeping on the Felucca was fine, warm and comfortable, broken only by the rocking of the water as the large cruisers went by through the night heading south to Aswan. The next few days passed by in a similar pattern. Awake at dawn, coffee and biscuits made by Islan. An early morning exploration of the river bank, a group breakfast of bread, jam, eggs, fruit and hot drinks. Morning sailing, A Temple visit followed by lunch, then more sailing, setting up camp, supper, fire, music and dancing. Each of our stops has it's own memory. The First night - stray dogs running around on the bank and our first 'environmental toilet' Second Day - Kom Ombu Temple - meaning ' Land of Gold' this amazingly well preserved Greco/Roman temple was built around 300BC for 2 gods - Sobek (crocodile god) and Horus. Each having hieroglyphs and reliefs on separate sides of the temple. we were also plagued here by local kids selling jewellery! Later that day we also passed the EXPLORE Cruise boat DOMA going South and waved at our week one buddies from our Feluccas! Second night - A very noisy buffalo who was less than pleased to see us! Third day - Swimming in the Nile - a chance to wash my hair too! Another very unhappy buffalo which tried to get inside one of the boats on arrival! there were some very sweet donkeys as well though. Saturday morning - visit to Edfu Temple. One of the best preserved and imposing temples. Scenery - wonderful Nile scenes through the day, and sunrise & sunset. Dramatic views of the mountains, palm trees, crops on the riverbank, donkeys, kids, farmers and locals waving from the shore. The wildlife was wonderful too. I saw lots of Kingfishers which are larger than British ones with black and white feathers and they hover above the water. The nests in the dry mud of the river bank were visible all the way along the Nile. At dusk I heard the sound of Egrets, frogs, moorhens and other birds. Through the night you could make out the distant sound of the Mezzuin callng to prayer. Overall it was a very special experience. On Saturday morning we left our overnight camp and drifted together a very short distance to the edge of Edfu. Our luggage came of each boat and we said thank you and goodbye to the crews. Mini buses took us along bumpy tracks through tiny village streets to the centre of Edfu - a busy town and a hub for the cruise ships. We visited the large and impressive EDFU Temple - built in the Ptolomeic period and dedicated to Horus. With just 45 minutes here I took time walking the outside walls which carry huge carvings over 15m high. It was busy with tourists and not so easy to appreciate the quiet areas. If I ever return to Egypt this is one temple I'll try to visit again. There is so much to see here, and I'd like to be able to understand the story behind some of the murals and carvings. Inside the temple were shrines decorated with hieroglyphs lit by orange spotlights for maximum effect. It was however, the best temple we had visited thus far (better still to come) Before coming to Egypt I had not fully understood that each temple and monument would have been colourful. I was aware of the carvings, hieroglyphs and obelisks, but in ancient times, these would have been brightly painted in Red, Blue, Green, Gold. In places around the temples today you can see traces of this colour. The original effect must have been stunning. BACK TO LUXOR AGAIN ! Mid Morning we left Edfu in our mini buses to join the Police convoy north to Luxor. This relatively short journey brought us back to our Hotel Emilio in the bustling and dusty Luxor by lunchtime. The peace of the river shattered by the noise and crowded streets! The aroma of dirt, sewerage, spices, horses and car fumes was quite pungent! It was good to be back here and I was looking forward to free time over the weekend to explore Luxor Temple, the museum, Winter Palace and my hot air balloon ride!

Egypt Part 8 - LUXOR & BALLOONING

SATURDAY MARCH 10th - LUXOR the foursome of myself, Jan, alan and Dereck headed ino the Souk at Luxor to buy some gifts and souvenirs. The traders are a bit of a pest and notorious for their pushy tactics - the only ay to cope is to smile or ignore them completely but keep walking. I had inmind to buy some scarves and at the very end of the Souk we found a small stall and were told 'no hassle' by the owner - although this wasn't strictly true ias it turned out, but I did buy some nice scarves and paid an acceptable price. Emerging from the Souk, the impressive site of Luxor Temple faced us with the Nile and Wst bank behind. Feeling thirsty after our haggling ordeal, we wandered along the road to find the Winter Palace Hotel for a 'posh' drink. the hotel is a landmark of Luxor, famous for being the winter lodge for King Farouk and also the preferred hotel for Lord Carnarvon and other foreign visitors over the last 120 years or so. The pale yellow building has an imposing stone stairway off the street and was crying out for a photograph! Not being guests at the hotel and looking a little shabby we weren't expecting to be allowed inside, but hoped for some tea on the terrace overlooking the Nile. However, once through the tall revolving wooden doors into the tranquility and air conditioned lobby we were met by a porter who looked us up and down and eventually agreed to let us take a look inside the hotel for a few minutes. It's pretty smart, but not unaffordable - it still has that colonial atmosphere of restrained elegance. Jan and I took our chance to use the very posh loos (luxury after the river bank!) and then we all enjoyed a cold drink on the terrace outside. It was a brief moment of luxurious respite before rejoining our 'no frills' (but fun) adventure with Explore. Our next stop was Luxor Museum. A pleasant walk along the Corniche (ignoring the endless heckles to take a Felucca, taxi or Calesh) brought us to this very modern museum mid afternoon. Fully air conditioned and beautifully laid out with superb lighting, this place was far superior to the Cairo Museum, but lacked some of the treasures of Cairo. However, there were some amazing examples of statues, wall decorations (incredibly intricacy of the painting) and 2 mummies: Ahmose and Rameses I. Inside a smaller wing are a dozen statues which were recently dug from Luxor Temple and found in almost perfect condition. Outside the museum it was almost dusk and we were all a bit tired and flagged down a Calesh to take us back to our hotel. He promised 'a good price' and then demanded the equivalent of £8 for a trip of less than a mile! I argued that not even a London Cabby would charge that much! We gave him more than it deserved but not that much. At least his horse was reasonably well cared for. Later, we had a very nice group dinner by the river and then walked back through the Souk again and bought yet more scarves! then an early night in advance of my Balloon Ride! SUNDAY MARCH 11th Another 5am alarm call - for my Balloon ride! Still dark outside I met Mike, Tim and Dereck in the lobby and were soon collected in a minibus and taken to the motorboat. Abord the boat we were one of around 20 other people all on the balloon. The crew provided hot drinks and we listened to a briefing from the pilot - a very nice man who proudly wore his Blue Peter badge! (he took them up in 2005 for the BBC). Once across the river, the buses took us to the launch sight, not far from the Hatshepsut temple close to the village of Gurna which is going to be flattened for excavation of tombs underneath. This was to be my first ever balloon ride so was quite nervous but excited. I have a little fear of heights, but didn't worry too much. I was one of the last to get into the enormous basket which involved using holes for your feet and clambering over. The basket was oblong and sectioned to prevent tipping and our pilot had the middle with his gas canisters and burners. All around us there were balloons taking off, some already high in the sky. The dawn was rising and despite some haze it was a good sky. Very quickly we lifted off the ground, without any real motion and within 10 seconds we were quite high. At this point my stomach turned and I thought I'd made a mistake - but it wore off and I really enjoyed the feeling of drifting and looking around at the sites below us. The burners were incredibly hot and at times and really uncomfortable so I ducked to avoid the blast of heat. Our height reach 2000ft and it certainly felt high! We were above the other balloons with spectacular views across the Nile, Valley of the Kings and out into the mountains of the west. It was strikng how the green land abruptly stops and becomes desert, showing the importance of the Nile waters. I was able to pick out many of the sites we'd already visited on our tour, and took loads and loads of photos and short films. We found the house that Howard Carter occupied during his excavations - surrounded by trees near to the road we had ridden on donkeys the week before. Hatshepsut temple looked amazing from this high up, and the path of our valley walk looked far steeper and higher than I remembered! After 40 minutes floating over the tombs and temples of the west bank the pilot headed us towards the Nile and dropped low over some farms and mud houses. The sounds of cars, donkeys, farmers below drifted up towards us, and kids waved. We gained height again for a short while before coming down slowly to hover just 2m above the ground. The pilot skilfully used the burners and airflow to position the balloon in the perfect landing spot which was so smooth that I hardly noticed. A crew of men grabbed the basket and brought us gently to earth. To celebrate we had a traditional dance and a song from the crew, followed by certificates and a tshirt.

Egypt Part 9 - LUXOR TOMBS & TEMPLES

SUNDAY MARCH 11th LUXOR TEMPLE After breakfast back at the hotel, I met Alan & Jan again at 9am for a tour of the LUXOR Temple complex. This was close to our hotel so an easy walk. At this time of the day it was already quite busy and without the benefit of a guide we were left to fathom the meaning of the pylons, obelisks, statues, columns, frescos, shrines and hieroglyphs. I have read up about it since though! Luxor temple was dedicated to the god Amun and aplace to celebrate the festival of Ope. Linked to Karnak temple since the 4th Century BC by a long avenue of sphinxes of which only 37 survive today on each side before hitting a wall with the buildings of modern Luxor blocking the way to Karnak. There has been some recent digging (visible from our hotel) to uncover more of the sphinxes. Luxor temple was mostly built by Amenhotep III in the 18th Dynasty (C1350BC) and added to by Rameses II in the 19th Dynasty. The 2 giant statues which guard the entrance are of him as were the pylons which depict his battle with the Hittites at Qadesh in 1274BC. There were many other statues and a pair of obelisks - only one remains and the rest of the pieces are now in Paris - the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. The temple was home to the Gods Mut (wife of Amun) and her son Khonsu - the statue of Amun Ra lived in Karnak and was brought here to join his family during the festival. Inside the entrance is a hall of columns added by Hatshepsut and strangely a Mosque from the 12th century. Further inside is a staus of Tutankhamun and his wife before entering the Hypostyle hall of papyrus columns, leading to another court for Amenophis III. Alexander the Great also added his own shrine to the temple. In the Roman period the temple was used to worship Emperor Constantine (AD 312-337) and an area of hieroglyphic plaster depicting Amenhotep III was smoothed over and replaced with a fresco of the Emperor and his court. TOMBS OF THE WORKERS At noon we joined the whole group for a trip back across the river to the west bank and the Tombs of the Workers. This site near to the Valley of the Kings was home to hundreds of skilled craftsmen who designed, dug, plastered and decorated the tombs for the Pharaohs. These workers tombs date from thegolden age of Egypt between 1500BC and 1000BC also known as the New Kingdom when all the great Pharaohs lived during the 18th, 19th & 20th dynasties. The tomb workers were not slaves but highly skilled and valued employees of the king. They lived and worked in the valley with little time off, but when they did have free time it was used to build their own tombs. The tombs which remain today are mostly in a poor condition, but 2 well preserved tombs remain and are open to the public. The workers saved the best for themselves and decorated their own tombs with incredible images of the afterlife and their hopes for life in eternal paradise. The quality of the artwork and their colours take your breath away. These photos are from the postcards I bought since cameras were not allowed. the tombs we entered were at the bottom of short but steep steps and small but what they lacked insize they made up for in quality. It's hard to imagine that these tombs are over 3000 years old although little remains of the village of mudbrick houses alongside the tombs. MEDINET HABU - MORTUARY TEMPLE OF RAMESES III (c. 1184-1153BC) Our final temple in Luxor was the best and not one which is often visited by the tourists. Built for the 70 day mummification rituals for Rameses III it is a funerary temple dedicated to the achievements of his reign. It's located on the west bank at Medinet Habu and is the biggest standing temple away from the noise of Luxor and with a rocky backdrop it makes for a tranquil and atmospheric location. Rameses III was the last great pharaoh of Egypt and won many battles against invaders. The entrance walls are unusal in that they follow the Syrian style and surrounded by a mudbrick fortification wall. On the massive pylons are depictions of the king smiting his enemies and the heads of his enemies are used as steps on the upper levels of the entrance. Inside, his victory against the Libyans is shown by several graphic scenes of prisoners having their hands. tongues and 'manhood' removed to count their numbers. Many of the scenes inside show Rameses honouring the gods - primarily Amun. The temple roof is missing but the preservation of the colours and carvings into the stone and plaster are breathtaking. I hope the photos do it justice. I've added a close up of Rameses cartouche. There are many more temples in and around Luxor and the west bank and I'd like to go back one day and visit them, as well as the new excavations under Gurna, and the tombs in the valley which were closed (Seti I, Ramses II, Hatshepsut) so I've plenty of reasons to go back! Once we had returned to the east bank in our motorboat, some of us called in to visit the 'week one' Explorers on their cruise ship DOMA which was back from Aswan and moored nearby. We had a tour of their ship and stories of their antics aboard which all sounded fun. I was happy to have chosen the Felucca though. The others went back to the hotel but I stayed with them until 6.30pm then walked alone to the restaurant for our final group dinner before the final week of our tour into the Western Desert.