Egypt Day One : Cairo

So we left for JFK Airport in a rush as it always happens. Funny how I never learned from my mother's habit of having packed everything the night before, despite the many trips with her, and still have tons left to do at the last moment. We were flying Egypt Air. Many people warned us against it, but it came down to time, as the Egypt Air is a direct flight to Cairo and we didn't want to do the layovers in Europe that other airlines entailed. The process was going smoothly enough at the ticketing desk, but once we reached the gate it was another story. Security was tight. We all stood in lines that kept multiplying from 2 to many more, while they checked through our carry on items. Mr. R ofcourse didn't get why I needed three whole carry on's of which two he had to carry, but I always need many things on a long flight. Next step was intense questioning by US intelligence on the purpose of the trip. There was definitely some obvious profiling going on as we were asked one question and sent away, while others were detained for much longer.

The flight to be fair was not bad at all. Perhaps if you're used to only the top few rated airlines then EA would come as a suprise but having flown some great airlines (Thai & Singapore are my favorites) and some not so great airlines (Northwest Transpacific or British Airlines anyone?), EA kind of fell in the middle. Yes there were some things slightly out of place, but then there was the charming details like everyone clapping upon arrival. No alcohol on a long flight I didn't mind either, as I tend to never drink while flying (leaves you super dehydrated).

Mr. R fully appreciated my 3 handbags once air-borne, as I fly prepared with my own comfortable socks, eye mask, many bottles of water, citrus fruits, and good reading material. The 12 hour flight took forever and we landed in Cairo at 1030AM while the city is at it's full blown state of aliveness. Thankfully we had arranged for meet and greet services and were whisked away through the airport with no hassles.

Now a special note for travelers who may be thinking of visiting Egypt in the near future. Mr. R and I have both avoided organized tours our whole lives, preferring instead to discover at our own pace and independence. Egypt however cannot be done alone. We really struggled with this as many friends who'd travelled there before and share our travel spirit warned us against trying to do it on our own. Our happy balance was to leave 2 days to explore Cairo city on our own own, while organizing the rest with a great agent. Dead set against being ferried with a million others on those loathsome tour buses, we instead hired a private Egyptoligist and driver and car to arrange an itinery of what we wanted to see.

So back to the story, we've arrived in Egypt and are lead out to an awaiting car by our agent's representative. The 40 minute drive to the hotel snaked in and out of fast modern flyovers and congested Cairene streets. We saw both the modern side of the city, as well as the traditional. Both seem to fight to co-exist amongst the smog, pollution and heat that is Cairo, this massive metropolis that survives alongside the banks of the mighty Nile. Dead tired after not sleeping a wink on the flight, we both felt overwhelmed and almost afraid of the city outside the car. We check into our hotel in the Zamalek area of the city. Despite my having hoped to be fresh upon arrival and had planned to visit a few things in the city that day itself, we agreed to fall asleep and decide when we wake up. We woke up at 7pm still groggy and not the least bit refreshed. A walk around our neighborhood Zamalek seemed to be all we can handle. Zamalek, an island in the Nile, is like an oasis in the middle of Cairo. It is home to most embassies and expats, as well as high income Egyptians. The streets were lined with trees, the street signs were in English, and the streets were lined with boutiques, cafes and many restaurants. We headed for Abu el Sid, one of Cairo's best known and hip Egyptian restaurants. We walked to an entryway that had no sign for the restaurant and instead had an imposing very high wood carved front door flanked by a gentleman wearing smart tradionalwear.

Walking into the restaurant felt like walking into Ali Baba's cave - there were many archways separating the different dining areas, very opulent furniture and a smoky vibe. We were happy to see that most of the patrons were locals, albeit wealthy ones, and the ambience was perfect, although perhaps it did play up to stereotypes of what one imagines Cairo to be like - very "exotic". We were guided through the menu and it's altogether foreign items by the friendly waiter and settled on some delicious sounding dishes- sesame encrusted falafel patties, lamb koftas, and a chicken dish with no name. All this was accompanied with different types of bread (thicker and harder than pita as we know it), and different sauces- tahini, a roasted eggplant one (yum!) , and the most divine fresh mango juice ever- thick and pulpy. We refrained from ordering a sheisha (also known as hookah pipes, they are filled with flavored tobacco or simply fruit flavors and no tobacco ...they've almost become a common sight in NYC as well). We really enjoyed our meal at Abu el Sid and I definitely would reccomend it be a part of the Cairo itinery.

We had to be up at 6 for a trip to the pyramids, but sleep completley eluded us. More later from our first real day in Egpyt. To be continued....

Egypt Day Two : Cairo, Giza, Saqqara

We managed intermittent sleep, but were wide awake starting 3AM. We even make it down for the hotel breakfast, which we are never awake for. Our Egyptologist Marwa meets us in the lobby and escorts us to the car for our drive to Giza, which is technically a suburb of Cairo. Friday morning after midnight, the time went forward an hour in Egypt, and Friday's are also a holiday. The driver seems delighted with the streets, which remain relatively empty until people emerge after the noon time prayers and we race along to Giza.

The ancient Egyptians used the West bank of the Nile as their necropolis (to bury their dead) and the East bank for the living. Giza and the pyramids are therefore West of the Nile, although today both banks of the Nile are used by the living. I had always imagined the pyramids were further along in the desert, but in reality the buildings of Giza suddenly end, and the desert starts. Before I'd even mentally prepared myself, the great pyramid was in front of me. And goodness was it great. Pictures and videos never do the majesty of it justice. Both Mr. R and I were left quiet by the grandness of it all.

The pyramids are considered the oldest tourist attraction in the world: they were already some 2500 years old by the start of AD. The first pyramid (Cheops) was built by the Pharaoh Khufu and is also the largest. The second one (Chephren) was built by the son of Khufu, Khafre. It is smaller than Cheops but because it stands on a hill, it appears almost taller (clever son eh?). The third pyramid (Mycerinus) was built by the grandson of Khufu and the son of Khafre, the Pharaoh Menakaure. Marwa was very adamant on referring to them by their real ancient names, and not the names the Greeks had endowed on them and with which the rest of the world has come to know them. The Egyptians also have no word for "pyramids" (also a Greek name) and refer to them instead by the individual names of Khufu, Khafre and Menakaure.

The pyramids were built with blocks of sandstone that were floated down the Nile during flood season from as far south as Aswan. The blocks were then cut to precision and so accurately used to build the great pyramids- it astonished us that there was nothing used to hold the stones together- they were so perfectly planned, that they fit together on their own. That such a level of thought and execution existed so long ago is completely mind boggling and a true testament to the greatness of the ancient Egyptians. You just want to stand there and gaze for hours at these ancient marvels, and their sheer perfection (no other word does it justice). The pyramids were used by the Pharaohs as tombs, and were believed to have been stored with riches unimaginable. However, having their tombs inside such huge structures was like asking to be robbed, and no treasures today remain. It is quite easy to understand (once you see them in person) why there are thousands of those who claim that the Pyramids cannot be man made and are instead a divine creation.

Knowing no trip to the Pyramids would be complete for me without a camel ride, Mr. R agreed to go on a ride with me in the desert around the great structures. Our guide was a silly Sean Penn look a like who insisted on taking many pictures of the two of us together. The camels themselves were even sillier, and so easy to manipulate into going which ever direction we pleased.

Whereas the Pyramids seemed larger in life, the Sphinx on the other hand seemed almost smaller than I had expected. It perhaps had to do with the construction going on around it and the sorry gate that led to the site where it sits. With the head of the Pharaoh Khafre, and the body of a lion the Sphynx has stood as a mystery throughout time. Built out of the bedrock leading to the pyramids, and near the funerary temple of Khafre, it stands somewhat out of place and time has not been kind- he is without nose and beard (the latter lies in the British Museum). The structure is also decaying from the inside and recent attempts at restoration are jarring in their inadequacy.

After the trip to see the the Giza pyramids, we headed to the ancient town of Memphis, which was the capital during much of Pharaonic times. At Saqqara, which was the necropolis of Memphis and an active burial ground for some 3500 years, we saw the first attempt at a pyramid - the Step Pyramid: the world's first stone monument. Prior to the Step Pyramid, tombs were topped with perishable material, of which there are no remnants and therefore the Step Pyramid and the direction in which it led the rest of Egyptian architecture cannot be understated.

Our guide insisted we visit a fragrance factory on our way back into town- Egyptians love smelling good, and they manufacture about a 1/3 of the world's flower fragrance in the oasis of Al Fayoum. Here we got to sample many essences (flower nectar in the pure form, ie without alcohol) - as well as the essences they supply to the fashion fragrance houses- Chanel 5, Calvin Klein Obsession etc. I tend to prefer more subtle scents, but we were convinced into buying something that should help me sleep- lavender without the side effects. Haven't tried it yet.

After all this we arrived at our hotel dusty and dirty, with an hour to prepare for the pre-wedding dinner of my friend Sussi. The wedding of Sussi and Erik was what precipitated our visit to Egypt in the first place- Sussi being a dear friend of mine- we've lived/worked in Thailand, Nepal as well as now in NYC together. Sussi is a Coptic Christian who is half Swedish and half Egyptian, while Erik is a Swede. They had friends and family from all over the world attending their wedding, and it was really a great ceremony. This night, we attended a pre-wedding reception aboard a luxury boat on the Nile, complete with a lavish dinner, belly dance performance, and a fabulous Bedouin singer. Needless to say, we were wiped out by the time we headed back for the hotel.

Egypt Day Three : Old Cairo

We start the day early and catch a taxi to old Cairo- riding taxis in Cairo is an art in itself and we are told early on to not ask the price and just hand over the right amount at the end of the trip, all the while acting as if we know what we're doing. This ofcourse is a little difficult when you don't know what you're doing! Thus we land at our destination, and hand over an amount that seems to please the driver and we walk away with absolutely no sense of by how much we over payed. (note: Cairo taxis have meters, but none of them work).

We have arrived at the Citadel, home to Egypt's leaders for some 700 years, which contains 3 mosques, two museums (Police & Miltary) and a terrace that provides good views over the sprawling city that is Cairo. Work began on the Citadel in 1176, to fortify it against the Crusaders but through time who ever was in power at the time added their own addition to the Citadel (including the British who used it during WWII as barracks). The most impressive structure within the complex is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, which dominates the skyline of Cairo when and if you can see beyond the thick smog. The tomb of Ali lies outside the Mosque and is an interesting interpretation of classic Turkish style. The terrace outside the Mosque provides a really good idea of how huge Cairo is (20 million inhabitants, or 1/3 of Egypt's population) and it stretches in every direction until the eye can see. Cairo air, especially in the old part of the city, is unbreathable. I've lived in my share of polluted cities, but I've never encountered anything like the smog filled streets of Cairo. This is especially noticeable when looking at the city from the Citadel, as well as the Pyramids- there is a permanent gray haze over the city.

After the Citadel, we taxi it to the Al Azhar area to visit the famed Khan el Khalili bazaar. We are dropped off in the middle of the bazaar on a Saterday (holiday) and are met with crowds and crowds of women covered head to toe in black, school boys pushing through the crowds and vendors angling for your attention. We were half afraid to look at the merchandise they were attemtpting to sell due to their agressive tactics. It's amusing in the start to be called the name of different Bollywood actresses (Hindi movies are popular inEgpyt), but got really annoying quickly. We tired fast of the atmosphere at the Khan and really were hard pressed to see the charm of it. It seemed little more than frenzied alleyways with potholed streets and over-aggressive salesmen. We were looking for the famed El Feshawi Cafe with no luck, and luck would have it that the one alleyway we ducked into would contain this exact cafe.

Walking through it's door provided a very much needed respite. El Feshawi is most known for its famous patron- the Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, who visited the cafe daily for his mint tea and sheisha pipe. Legend has it that the doors of cafe have remained open continously for the past 200 years, as it is open 24 hours. The interiors are jam packed with brassware, bright yellow walls and charming photos from across the years. The waiters are prompt but non-pushy and we wanted to stay forever. After drinking fresh mango juice, some mint tea, and sharing amazingly delicious falafels, we try to head out. I don't think of either of us as intrepid travelers- after all having lived in countries like Nepal and Thailand, we are used to the lively chaos of the East. Cairo, particularly old Cairo, is almost unbearable. The heat coupled with constant haggling, and the crowds made me dizzy. Knowing we'd only covered a miniscule portion of Khan, but unable to return to it, and yet desperate to discover a more pleasant side to it, we decided to do a "Naguib Mahfouz walk" through Old Cairo. I've long been a fan of Mahfouz's work and was eager to see the actual Midaq Alley. We made it through the first few landmarks on the map, including the house where he was born, but then somehow got lost. The map wasn't making sense no more, but Mr. R and I continued through the maze like streets taking in the daily life of the people around us. Mahfouz was largely inspired by these neighborhoods and I was eager to take it in.

Walking through several neighborhoods, completely devoid of tourists and where we were left alone, we saw the poverty of a neighborhood that was completely different from the area we were staying in. Overwhelmed and dirty, we hailed a taxi and headed back for our hotel, all the time covering our faces with handkerchiefs, unable to breathe in the smog that was Cairo.

At the hotel we hurriedly got ready for the wedding of our friends. The wedding was held in a lovely Coptic church in Maadi, a leafy suburb with beautiful houses and manicured lawns- we were a world away from where we'd been that afternoon. After a beautifully international ceremony, we headed to the Mena House Hotel by the Pyramids for the reception. We had a wonderful time taking in the colorful entertainment (the bride and groom were serenaded for an hour by traditional singers, complete with bagpipes... an exuberant bellydancer... a elegant Sufi band...), the delicious food and toasting the happy couple. This was a reception full of opulence, glamour and lots of fun. After dancing for hours, we headed to the hotel at 2am completely worn out.

Egypt Day Four : Cairo, Train

Finally some sleep! A good six hours! We let ourselves sleep in till 10, and even have a leisurely sit down breakfast. There has been one sight that I was dying to see since landing in Cairo, and we saved it for our last day as we wanted to be able to spend a solid 5-6 hours in there. Armed with a very thorough guide to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, we once again took a taxi with no idea on the fare to Midan Tahrir.

The Egyptian Museum is a behemoth structure- the building that stands today is the same building built by the French way back when. To say it is massive would not do it justice- I've visited larger museums, but I don't think I've ever seen one so bursting at the seams with amazing artifacts. We headed first to the Tutankamen wing simply unable to resist the temptation, and spent the next two hours completely blown away by the level of sophistication present 3000 years ago. Tut's tomb remains the only tomb found relatively unscathed by the wrath of thieves, with much of what the young pharaoh was buried with present at time of discovery in 1922. We saw many beds with curved lying areas, chests with drawers (!), and even entertainment in the form of chess sets. Tut was buried with several dozen pairs of underwear, socks and clothing. Mr. R was most impressed with the vessels of wine, labelled with year of manufacture. Almost eery was the deathmask- there cannot be a child remaining who hasn't stared at that obsidian and quartz mask. We were lucky that the day we visited, the crowds in the museum were manageable as we'd heard that there is usually a long line to view the famed mask. I got to spent a solid 5 minutes gazing at it undisturbed. The slight smile on the Pharaoh's face, the 11 solid kilos of gold, the simplicity and yet perfection of the lines is nothing short of astonishing. Equally impressive were the 2 coffins on display, the outermost one which was of gold and weighed 110 kilos!

We were glad we decided against hiring an Egyptologist for this day. It was quite a sight to see them rush around with tourists trying to cover the treasures in a short hour or two. A good guide book is a must inside this museum, as little is labelled in an explanatory way. We were happy to just walk through all the rooms at our own pace, interpreting what we saw ourselves, and using the guidebook to aid us in more fully understanding the artifacts. (side note: I suppose I lucked out by having a travel partner with the most impressive knowledge of ancient Egyptian history...Mr. R was throughout the trip my own private Egyptologist) The Egpytian Museum is not the most impressive institution in terms of organization and maintanence- many of the items were poorly lit, and devoid of even the most basic description. We at one point watched in shock as two young men dangled two recently restored items that easily were thousands years old up the stairs to the second floor. We hear that the government is in the process of building a more modern museum, though most Egyptians laugh at this as it's been in the planning stages since atleast the last two decades.

After our day at the museum, we left once again silent and completely in awe of this civilisation that was far more advanced than anything else at the time, and really proved that civilisation has never been linear. Having seen the treasures to emerge from so many tombs as well as the mummies on display, we were all the more excited about our trip later to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.

After a quick dinner, we were picked up by our agent and driven to the Giza Station to board our over night sleeper train to Aswan, in Southern Egypt. The train was suprisingly comfortable, clean, and far more "posh" than the European sleeper trains. In our individual compartment were two beds, as well as a sink- we were also served a dinner and breakfast that was no where as bad as the reviews suggest. The price of the train is very expensive considering local prices (130$ roundtrip) but it was a comfortable way to see some of the countryside and maybe arrive refreshed at your destination (insert here the music for "to be continued" :)

ps: cameras are strictly not allowed inside the museum - the pictures inside were not taken by me

Egypt Day Five : Aswan

The train ride proceeded smoothly- there were control panels in individual rooms to control heat, music, light etc. Great! We are awoken by the conductor, and served a breakfast complete with coffee.. "Nescaf" as they refer to the coffee Westerners are used to, rather than the stronger concoction Egyptians toss back. While we are waiting to disembark from the train with our suitcases in tow, the conductor rudely reminds us to tip him with a curt "baksheesh" barked in our faces. This topic of baksheesh could really take up an entire new post as life in Egypt seems to revolve around it. Locals expected tips for everything from pushing the door open in random places, to the woman in public toilets handing over toilet paper to you (talk about unsanitary). The most funny was when we were riding the local train between Aswan and Luxor - the seats before us were in recline mode despite no one sitting in them. There was plenty of leg room so we didn't mind- but a man materialised out of nowhere, put the seats into normal and then affronted me for "baksheesh". Note though that this practice applies to Egyptians, as much as it does to foreigners, but foreigners are expected to cough up large amounts for services rendered, whether you asked for it or not. We were startled for example to realise that the man at the money exchange counter expected a tip as well- not being used to the custom, we felt completely uncomfortable by the practice. It ruined many moments for us in Egypt that could have been otherwise pleasant... More on that below.

"Welcome to Aswan". So we tip the conductor to his satisfaction, and are met on the platform by our agent who ushers us into an awaiting car and drives us down the block to our hotel, which is on the banks of the Nile. After giving us a total of 10 minutes to freshen up, we are led away by our Egyptologist to visit the High Dam. Aswan was in the news worldwide in the 60s as work began on the high dam amidst controversy. The Nile's flooding is what had allowed Egyptian civilization to flourish in the first place, but it had become a nuisance. Egypt is 90% desert, and the topography was indeed surprising. About 10 kilometers around both banks of the Nile you'd see immense greenery and farming taking place, while futher away the desert began again. The great river flooding each year meant that fertile soil was left on the banks which allowed food to be grown. With time and as agriculture itself became more sophisticated, the Egyptian government drew up plans to build the dam to control the flow of the Nile. After the US and the World Bank withdrew from the project, it was with the nationalising of the Suez Canal, and the support of the former Soviet Union's that it was built.

Standing on it you can see why it was once considered an impossible dream. It's a massive structure of concrete, requiring 18 times the material required for the Great Pyramid. Today on one side of the dam lies Lake Nasser, the world's largest man made lake which further south turns into the Nile again and flows down to Lake Victoria. On the other side continues flowing the Nile, albeit a more stabil one. With the building of the Nile, most Nubian communities that lived around the area became displaced as their homes were flooded. Several monuments in the area were also flooded and remained under water until the international community rescued them and lifted them to higher ground stone by stone. When I asked our guide why they monuments hadn't been moved in the first place, BEFORE the dam was built, she seemed startled by the question. There were at the time greater priorities. Priorities greater than saving monuments thousands of years old?!

After the high dam, we headed for Philae Island, home of the Temple of Isis- one of the monuments that was under water a few years ago. It's original location is still visible from where it stands today, and it took UNESCO 8 years between 1972 and 1980 to move the temple. We take a short boat ride to the temple, and are entranced by the story of Isis and Anubis. The temple's exterior itself tells interesting stories- built in the Graeco-Roman style during the time when Egypt was ruled by the Greeks, but later used by Coptic Christians as a church, they tried to deface it's carvings, attempting to replace it's hyrogliphs with the Coptic cross. Both are visible today.

Touring Egypt is tolling. Despite being driven around to the sights in the comforts of an AC'd car, the heat outside is exhausting. It seems to pierce through and burn you, made all the more strong by the reflecting sand everywhere. We are happy to leave the outdoors and head to lunch. Our Egyptologist takes us to a popular restaurant in Aswan town, where she orders a lavish feast for us- we start with salad (a mix of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, and parsely- this is served everywhere and with everything in Egypt), and then comes the soups (a really delicious lentil soup), then the breads with the various sauces (tahini, hummus, eggplant etc) and then for what we had ordered- the fire grilled lamb kababs and koftas served with a flavoured rice. These two were my favorite thing to eat in Egypt. The food was delicious but unaccustomed to eating such a heavy lunch we both head back to the car feeling as lethargic as can be.

Next stop: felucca ride. Feluccas are these gracelful sail boats that populate the Nile. We board one driven by a Nubian and set sail for the islands around the Aswan shore- Elephantine Island, the botanical garden island, Nubian villages etc. It is a really wonderful ride- we enjoy taking in the colorful scenery, and the young Nubian boys who rush to our boat riding self made tiny vessels singing a completely out of synch version of "row row row your boat" for a tip. Mr. R and I try and just lose ourselves in our surroundings, and try to ignore the constant bleating our our Egyptologist who tries to sell us one thing after another. Although our Egyptologist in Cairo as well as later in Luxor were wonderful, our Aswan guide is a lady who seems far more interested in selling us items then she is in sharing the rich history we are there to see. When we ask questions, she attempts to escape hastily back to the car telling us she suffers sun allergies. Travelers to Egypt beaware- your experience depends on a large part on the Egyptologist you have, which is out of your control.

We exit the felucca feeling happy and in awe of our lovely fertile surroundings. This mood is instantly ruined by the felucca driver who is not content with the generous tip we've provided him with, on top of the fee he's charged for our ride. The manner in which he accosts us is totally off putting. "Tipping is for the giving, not the expecting" we want to say to him- someone should tell the bloke that if he was more pleasant perhaps we'd be happier to over tip him even futher. It's a shame but the complete peace we'd been feeling is ruined, and we return to our hotels really displeased. Tourism in Egypt seems to have gone terribly wrong. As one European we meet tells us "I'm very impressed with the ancient Egyptians, and not so impressed with the modern ones". He jokingly tells us he's thinking of having shirts printed with this and selling them.

We are happy to be rid of our Egyptologist and set off to explore the Aswan souk on our own. It is a better bazaar then Khan el Khalili- smaller scale with the same merchandize, without the crowds and over zealous haggling. We are yet again amused by the sale tactics : "If you want to spend your money, I can help you" seems to be a favorite line! We walk laughing through the souk after vendors attempt to grab our attention by guessing our nationality.. starts with "Indian?", "Pakistani?", with a final and feeble "Egyptian?". I buy a gorgeous Nubian amber necklace, a mother of pearl inlaid box, scarves and other goodies. Aswan is especially popular for it's fresh spices, the colorful boxes line the markey, as well as dried hibiscus and it's red henna.

We head towards our hotel just in time to catch a gorgeous Nile sunset from our balcony, and order some more kababs, salads and eggplants from room service. We have to be up at 3am the next morning, so we try to sleep.

Egypt Day Six : Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor

Egypt Day Six : Abu Simbel, Aswan, Luxor

We are awoken at 3 by our front desk to get ready for the 4AM police escorted convoy to Abu Simbel. If I wasn't so eager to see this ancient marvel, I'd probably sleep on, but we sleepy eyed get ready for our 3 hour bus ride. A bus arrives at our hotel to transport us as well as our Egyptologist- the same lady as the day before unfortunately. About 40 buses of all shapes and size gather along a road where police are walking around taking down liscense plate numbers. Around 430am, we head out into the vast dessert, one bus after another speeding towards Abu Simbel.

I found Egypt to be safe. Even when we were out late into the night, there was always activity going on around, and the streets were not desserted. The hassling you get in Egypt as a woman seems to be as far as it goes- we felt safe at all times. Security in Cairo was fairly invisible to the eye. We visited Egypt two days after the first bombing in Dahab, and were expecting more heightened security. Security was more visible in the southern part of the country, in Aswan and Luxor. Since 1997, when tourists were massacred in Luxor, security has been very tight in the Aswan/Luxor area. Though I didn't quite understand the reason that the vehicles had to be escorted to Abu Simbel, I always appreciate security measures. As a traveler, you cannot hire a car and head to Abu Simbel on your own. You are required to buy a ticket on one of the many buses, and all the buses leave together escorted by police. It's a three hour bus ride through the vast dessert at an ungodly hour. The two lane road through the dessert seems to serve no purpose other than as a road to Abu Simbel, and as our buses were the only vehicles on the road, they proceeded to race with each other at speeds only fit for the Autobahn.

We were delivered to Abu Simbel in one piece thankfully! Abu Simbel is some 40 kilometers north from the Sudanese border, and 280 km south from Aswan. Once there, we were happy to be visiting at 730am when it was still relatively cool and the sun was not out yet in full force. Abu Simbel comprises of two temples (Temple of Ramses II and Temple of Hathor) on the banks of Lake Nasser. Like the temple of Philae, the building of the dam submerged the temples of Abu Simbel under water where they remained until rescued in 1964, and at a cost of US$ 40 million. Over the course of 4 years they were cut into more than 2000 huge blocks, weighing from 10 to 40 tonnes each and moved to a specially built mountain. The original Temple of Ramses was carved out of a sandstone mountain and is a intimidating construction mainly consisting of four collossal statues of Rames II on the exterior. It stood on the banks of the Nile as a monument to the strength of Egypt under his rule, and also an awesome quartet of sentinels watching over any boats sailing into the Pharaohs land from the South. The 4 statues of the pharaoh are flanked by smaller (but still larger than lifesize) statues of his wife, children and mother standing around his feet. The interior of the temple is a marvel of a high ceilinged main hall and smaller annexes. It is just spell binding to look at the scenes decorating the walls commemorating battles fought by the pharaoh and his offerings to the gods.

Ramses II built not only a temple for himself, but also one for his favorite wife (this man had many wives and is believed to have fathered over 100 children) Nefertari. The temple of Hathor is a monument in her honor, dedicated to the godess of fertility, and love. The exterior comprises six statues- four of Ramses himself, and two of the Queen Nefertari. Interestingly, in these statues she is the same height as her husband (whereas in most statues, consorts are depicted as only coming up to the knee of the pharaoh). Although not as grand as his own temple, the temple of Hathor is still grand (look at how small I am standing at her feet). After taking in all the murals and the grandeur of the two temples, we sat by the banks of Lake Nasser and just took in all the sites. Once again we were impressed beyond words by the imagination, engineering and level of thinking of the ancient Egyptians. Our sun allergic Egyptologist all the while was luxuriating at the small cafe that flanks the entrance of Abu Simbel.

We headed back to our vans for our dreaded three hour drive back to Aswan, where in daylight the race between the buses was even more frightening! I was half tempted to leave the buses and head further south to explore more of this fascinating continent but the rifle bearing police guarding the exits brought me back to reality!! A short nap on the bus and we were back in Aswan city at 1pm. We extended our check out time, and were hungry and sleepy, but sleep won out and we napped till 3. At 3, our ever trusty Travel reps escorted us the 5 minute drive to the train station and led us to our train compartment for our 4 hour train ride to Luxor. The compartment was airconditioned, with comfortable large seats and I managed to fall asleep for an hour or so.

We arrived in Luxor and were met by yet another travel rep. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we were driven to the Temple of Karnak for the light and sound show. There are light and sound shows at almost all of the major sites in Egypt, and having heard that the Karnak one was the best, we were eager to see it. More than a temple, Karnak is a wonderful complex of sanctuaries, obelisks, statues, and pylons all dedicated to the Theban gods. Everything at Karnak is on a large scale, and was added to over a period of 1500 years by the various pharaohs. Called the "most perfect of places" it was the most important place of worship in all of Egypt during the height of Theban power. I'm really failing at this point to do any justice in words to these spectacular sites, so the quote the great adventuress Amelia Edwards: "It is a place that has been much written about and often painted; but of which no writing and no art can convey more than a dwarfed and pallid impression... The scale is too vast; the effect too tremendous; the sense of one's own dumbness, and littleness, and incapacity, too complete and crushing." The sound and light show was a little too Hollywood for us, with booming and overly dramatic narrations, but it was still worth it to be able to walk through the complex in the night time with the various monuments lit up gorgeously and to sit back at the end at height and wander about life in Thebes back then. Tomorrow we'd be travelling to the Valley of the Kings, and we were both very excited about that.