Moussa El Kenawy

Saturday evening we ate at our hotel, the Nile Valley, as we were told there would be live music that night. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner of grilled duck, followed by Egyptian baklava and one of the best cappuccinos I’ve had in a long time. At 8:30pm the musicians arrived, Moussa El Kenawy and his Luxor Musicians, and took their seats. Two drummers and two oud players all dressed in traditional galabias. They started to play and warmed up the audience with a bit of fun on the oud while the drummers got into the rhythm. Then a Whirling Dervish appeared and performed for about 10 minutes as the crowd laughed at his antics and clapped along to the music.

I really enjoyed listening to the musicians. They were very good and the music was traditional and they looked like they really loved what they were doing. After the Dervish left they carried on playing as one of them walked around the tables selling CDs. I immediately grabbed one as I thought they were fantastic!

I assumed they would leave after selling CDs but they had other ideas. They played another couple of songs all together and then one of the drummers stood up and began to shimmy with a scarf tied around his waist. The audience loved this and he started moving among the tables trying to get people up and dancing. No one got up but as he made his way to our table he caught my eye and I knew what was coming next. Sure enough he pulled me to my feet and led me to the dance floor in front of the musicians. Then he took a second scarf and tied it about my hips and  showed me how to shimmy.

As soon as I shimmied back without much trouble he laughed and clapped his hands and then to my horror stood to one side allowing me to solo! Now I have danced solo before, a little, but I’m more accustomed to dancing in a troupe (because I can always pass the lead off to someone when my mind goes blank!). Furthermore I’ve never danced with live music before, let alone live music played by local Egyptian musicians. To say I was scared is putting it mildly!

However, I gathered my wits and put a few moves together and danced for a couple of minutes thinking the song was bound to end. However, what I hadn’t anticipated was the musicians loving my dancing and they kept playing! It really was good fun though, despite me being horrendously embarrassed the entire time. The audience didn’t seem to be as into it as me so I tried a couple of times to leave the dance floor and let the musicians play, but they wouldn’t let me for at least 20 minutes! I finally excused myself as they came to the end of a tune and prepared for the next one.

I sat down to catch my breath thinking that would be the end of my performance for the evening. Oh no. I couldn’t get out of it that easily! About 10 minutes later one of the members came to our table and grabbed both me and my husband and pulled us onto the dance floor. This time I was a bit more willing, but the look on my husband’s face was priceless. For those of you who don’t know him, my husband is not a dancer, and certainly not good at shimmying. However I was very impressed when he  allowed them to tie a scarf round his hips and actually produced some good shimmies! I think I cracked a rib laughing though.

After we danced for a few minutes they finally finished playing and we gave them back their scarves. Much to my surprise they started chatting to us and were thrilled that I had danced with them. They even invited me back to dance the next night (unfortunately they were cancelled due to a lack of audience at the restaurant) and spoke to me about how they had visited America. One of the drummers, called Hosam, came to our table as we finished coffee and struck up a conversation and offered to show us around Cairo. Sadly, as they were cancelled we were unable to get his number so can’t take him up on his kind offer.

I think I will be writing a letter to the Nile Valley though to see if I can get some sort of contact information for the musicians. How fantastic would it be to bring them to Texas!!

A View From The Sky

Saturday morning we crawled out of bed at 5:30am to head out for a hot air balloon ride on the west bank. We paid for it a couple of days ago at a travel agent on the east bank near the Winter Palace. Our hotel offered trips too but they wanted $125 per person and we got our trip across the Nile for $175 total with a company called Sindbad. Nevertheless, we were a little concerned about the possibility of things going wrong, but you never experience anything if you don’t take some risks!

We were collected at 6:00am and driven to meet the motor boat carrying others who had also paid to go on the balloon. In total there were 13 of us in the balloon, including the pilot and two random Egyptian men who seemed to have no purpose except maybe to add weight. However, when we arrived at the balloon take off site I was pleased to see that it looked like most balloon sites in the US that I’ve seen on TV. The ground crew were hard at work, no one was standing around lazily and when we were ready to take off that pulled out a couple of drums and gave us a very Egyptian send off!

We floated lazily above the west bank of Luxor for almost 45 minutes. It was very awe inspiring seeing the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut’s Temple, Karnak and Luxor Temple (among others) below us. The sun was bright as it rose over the Nile and the burners of the balloon were hot on the back of my neck, but the views were breathtaking. We even got a closer look at the fields of local farmers as they harvested (by hand) their crops. Several waved enthusiastically and yelled out “Hello!” and “Welcome!”.

When we landed, thankfully quite smoothly, I was surprised to see some local children appear from nowhere. Some were riding donkeys, one had a tortoise and they all carried broken stalks of sugar cane. They were very friendly but they all wanted one thing. Baksheesh. Little rug rats. As much as I love kids we just can’t afford to give everyone who asks baksheesh so I just had to smile and shake my head, despite their attempts to look pitiful.

After tipping the ground crew we were taken back to our hotel where we were just in time for breakfast on the roof.  I highly recommend going up in a balloon, I just wish the ride had lasted longer!

The Nile Valley Hotel and Luxor

After disembarking from the Crown Jewel in Luxor we transferred to a small hotel on the west bank called the Nile Valley. It’s actually a little gem! Run by Hamada and Karin Khalifa the hotel has so far been our favorite place to stay. It’s located away from the bustle of the main part of Luxor, although the village on the west bank is by no means sleepy. It consists of 20 rooms, a pool and a rooftop restaurant serving Egyptian food, with a few European dishes thrown in too. It’s also a good price that doesn’t break the bank and we both highly recommend it to anyone thinking of coming to Luxor! It’s not deluxe accommodation but it meets our needs and the views of the Nile, particularly from the roof, are stunning.
We’ve spent a relaxing few days here just soaking up the sun and the local atmosphere. Day one was spent catching up on sleep and chilling by the swimming pool, and Sunday the same. I got chatting to a Canadian couple who seemed to have a very busy vacation doing several things in one day. On Monday we ventured back across the Nile on the passenger ferry, which is conveniently located about a minute away from the hotel. We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours exploring the Luxor Museum, which was the best museum we’ve experienced over here.
The Luxor Museum has a very good collection that is laid out in a simple but logical pattern. Even better, no “guides” are allowed (although you still have to be careful of the security guards who will try and earn baksheesh by offering to let you take photos). They have two mummies on display: Ahmose and an unidentified mummy thought to be Ramses I. There is some other pretty impressive stuff on display, including a few things from Tutankhamen’s tomb.
After we left the museum we took a wander along the promenade to go to the bank and find a store that sold swimming trunks so that Oland can enjoy the pool with me. Of course we had to dodge numerous attempts to get us into a taxi or horse carriage (honestly you’d think these people believe Westerner’s are lazy or something!). Then we wandered back and decided to go to the local McDonald’s for lunch for a laugh (Andrea you’ll be proud!). It wasn’t bad, though filled with tourists! What was even more amusing was that it was located behind the Luxor Temple so we had first class views while we ate our burger and fries.
Then we found the market! This market has been paved to appeal to tourists, so it’s lost a little of it’s original charm, although there are more local markets around it. However, the stores seemed to have a better collection of souvenirs than anywhere else I’ve seen, especially when it comes to scarves and other items of clothing. We ended up spending more money than we intended buying a Bedouin outfit for me as well as some bellydance hip scarves. The Bedouin outfit ended up costing about what you’d pay in the US (no surprise there, as we’ve discovered you can’t expect to get things dirt cheap over here because the sellers know the currency conversion rate better than you!). I had fun with the bellydance coin scarves though, which really annoyed the seller. They were pretty good quality scarves, but I bargained hard and got them at a decent price and the seller grudgingly took my money. I had to laugh really because I’m tired of everyone thinking that Oland and I are stupid Americans who know nothing.
After another day of relaxation we hit the east bank again today, just wandering and window shopping (a concept not really known in Egypt). Oland was in a good mood and kept putting on a Swedish accent and telling everyone who asked that we were from Sweden. We found a nice little snack bar that had decent coffee, a roadside café with passable shish kebabs (and kitty cats to feed!) and then we found a government run jewelry store. We were curious to know the price the store owner would quote us for gold and silver and were pleasantly surprised! We ended up buying two gold cartouches with names on, a ring for Oland and a gold and lapis lazuli pendant for me for a price that didn’t break the bank. It is so refreshing to find someone who will sell at honest prices, and we have a tendency to reward those who do by spending a good amount of money in their stores.
We spent the rest of the evening, after a lovely meal at a local restaurant near our hotel called King Fish with really good seafood, sitting on our balcony. We sit here every evening and enjoy the view. Our balcony overlooks the street and the Nile so we get the pretty view of the river at night as well as the ability to watch the locals go about their evening business. All of whom are fascinated with us it seems (there’s a group of young guys who sit at a café smoking shisha pipes or cigarettes and leer at us as we walk by everytime we venture out for dinner).
Tomorrow we’re going to look into the cost of a couple of tours that the hotel organizes, as wel as checking to see that everything fits in our luggage! If not we will probably have to buy another suitcase, but I think we can make it fit.

Karnak and Luxor Temple

On our last day aboard the Crown Jewel we spent the morning exploring two impressive temple sites: The Temples of Karnak and the Luxor Temple. Both of them were fascinating. Karnak is the largest temple site in Egypt covering approximately 150 acres, though much of it is in ruins now. Luxor Temple though smaller is an extremely interesting site to visit as it houses many structures from different cultures and time periods: an Egyptian temple constructed around the reigns of Amenhotep, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, a Roman temple dedicated to Aphrodite, an Islamic Mosque, a Coptic Church and a Macedonian temple built by Alexander the Great imitating the style of Egyptian temples.

At Karnak our guide took us to some of the most important parts of the temple complex before leaving us to wander through it ourselves taking photos. Like the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Karnak had a special atmosphere to me. Although it was full of tourists you could really imagine quite easily how it would have looked in ancient times. The temples at Karnak were built by 40 different pharaohs and the complex is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra. Our guide told us that in December the sun rises directly between the pylons at the main entrance and that in ancient times the King would come here at sun rise to watch the birth of the new day.

Like many temples, Karnak was at one point half buried in Nile mud and submerged by flood waters. As a result of this many of the columns were damaged and have since been restored. It’s still impressive despite the restorations. The carvings on the walls are still intact for the most part, and at the top of columns you can still see the original colors.

There is also a lake here called the Sacred Lake which is still filled with water. I’m sure in ancient times it was a beautiful place but now it’s surrounded by modern buildings and people selling cokes.  Next to the lake is a statue of a scarab beetle around which everyone was walking for good luck. Three times for general luck, five times to get married, seven times to get pregnant and nine times to get divorced. We joined in the fun but stopped at seven!

Afterwards we headed to Luxor Temple about 2km from Karnak. We saw the avenue of sphinxes that have recently been discovered lining a walkway that once linked the two temples together. Luxor Temple itself is an impressive sight, with an obelisk and two huge statues of Ramses II at the first pylon. At one point this temple was covered with silt from the Nile and a village was built on the top. However the government removed the village and the mud uncovering the temple. All that is left of the village is a mosque that still remains as part of the temple wall.

It really was a fascinating walk through history seeing the passage of time from the original temple buildings, seeing the mosque, the Christian artwork and the temple built by Alexander the Great. Thankfully at both sites the number of street vendors and “guides” was minimal so we could enjoy walking through the buildings and ruins without distraction.

We headed back to the boat for tea time and got chatting to our Australian friends again and arranged to go on a shopping trip before dinner. We ended up in the middle of horse carriage wars as drivers and touts fought over who was getting our money and we were warned by both sides not to trust the other. It was rather amusing but it made me want to walk instead of riding the carriage, but nevertheless we took the carriage through the local market and were dropped at a supposedly government run bazaar in a three storey building. Neither of us were convinced on the government run part as they had no certificate on display like all the other places we’ve been with a license from the Ministry of Tourism. Still they had some nice pieces of “papyrus” artwork and we decided to go ahead and get one with our names hand drawn in hieroglyphics. On the second floor I found the perfect gift for a friend’s son but when I enquired about it the guy obviously saw $$ signs because he paused and said “850 pounds … genuine cubic zirconia.” Even for cubic zirconia that’s extortionate (about $155), but in this case the piece I was looking at was obviously cut glass and not cubic zirconia by any stretch of the imagination. I just laughed at him and walked away.

We were then dropped outside another bazaar this time containing numerous shops and restaurants all catering to tourists it seemed. That was fun to walk through with a larger group as some of the hassling was deflected among the four of us rather than just on me or Oland. A few people tried to rip us off though and we had to laugh and walk away. One jeweler wanted to charge us $400 for a necklace and bracelet set that I could get at Midland Mall from one of the Chinese stalls for $30 or less.

Shopping is hard work over here and not for the faint of heart. At the markets I can understand it but at the stores where there is a fixed price on some things they still try and rip you off. I guess there are enough tourists who pay whatever they are told to make it worth the vendors’ while.

Back at the boat and we enjoyed our last evening meal of the cruise before heading to the lounge bar to watch the bellydance show that was scheduled. Another disappointment! The live band was fantastic and the bellydancer was dressed more modestly than the last one we saw in Cairo, but I have no idea what she was doing on the dance floor. I saw a few shimmies and hip bumps, but her arms flailed a bit or hung limply by her side and overall I just wasn’t that impressed. She also started 5 minutes early and most of the cruise passengers hadn’t made it to the show! She danced for 10 minutes and was done. She did pull me up to dance with my Australian friend, which was fun, but it was the Whirling Dervish who came on after her that stole the show.

Hopefully we get to see some better bellydancing before the end of our trip! Though I suspect we’ll have to pay for it if we want to see a professional. If our budget allows it we’ll look into it in Cairo next week.

Aswan and the Nubian Museum

We had a free day in Aswan on Wednesday. It was a day when most people disembarked or paid extra to visit the Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel. It was a rather pricey excursion so we opted to stay in Aswan instead.

After breakfast we ventured out onto the street. As always as we walked it appears the Egyptians have no concept of just taking a stroll and we had carriage drivers crossing the street trying to get us to ride their horse drawn carriages, as well as taxi drivers slowing down and honking us. It was rather tiresome but we managed to make it to a market area relatively unscathed.

We were “found” by a guy in the street walking the same direction who led us into the main market area. He told us about his “family” store called Nubian Smile and insisted we follow him inside. We were both rather dubious about his claims of family and rather suspected he had followed us from the boat and brought us here to get a commission from any sales. Nevertheless we went into the shop and were introduced to his “Uncle”. They both promised there would be no hassle and we could shop without being pestered.

There was a nice collection of jewelry and we showed an interest. The no pestering rule was of course not adhered to as the “Uncle” insisted we look at his pendants and emptied several bags onto the counter for us to look at. There were several pendants that I liked so we agreed to purchase them. The haggling then began. He kept telling us we were getting a discount but the first price he quoted was over $200 making the pieces about $45-$50 a piece, which despite his discount was very expensive. We argued with him for several minutes because really we could get these pendants in the US for $25-$30 a piece and we weren’t going to pay any more than that. We managed to get him down to $30 a piece and agreed to pay him that amount as it was a much fairer price and he refused to go down any further.

A few minutes after leaving his store we were approached by a gentleman who wanted to show us his store (like everyone else in the market). However this store was government run which we have already discovered means a much fairer price. We spent an hour or so shopping with him picking up more souvenirs including more jewelry (which he had a better price on) and some spices. I opted to buy spices from this store as he had a decent price on them already and I was too exhausted mentally to try battling the market to purchase some off a stall there.

We decided after this store to head back because there was no way we could wander through the market without being constantly pestered by store owners. As much as the initial experience of haggling was fun I have to say it is really off-putting to have people try and get you into their store one after another, many of which sell the same thing. And they have no idea what “No thank you” means. So we went back to the Crown Jewel amid constant honks from taxis and calls from carriage drivers (one of whom remembered us from earlier, ran across the street and tried to force us into his carriage).

After lunch we ventured out once more to visit the Nubian Museum. This time we actually needed a taxi so hailed one down and haggled with him briefly to get a decent price on his fare. He dropped us outside the museum and then insisted on waiting for us to drive us back for the same price. We tried to tell him he didn’t have to wait (as we didn’t want to pay any hidden fees), but he ignored us.

The Nubian Museum was actually quite enjoyable. It was a newer building than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and better laid out. It didn’t have too many artifacts and the displays were poorly lit in areas, but it was a fascinating journey from prehistory (which suited Oland perfectly considering his interests in that era) right through to the relocation of the Nubian people when the Aswan High Dam was constructed.

That evening we went to the second Galabya Party of our cruise and this time I dressed in the red and gold dress I bought in Cairo. It was good fun really, though the lack of English speakers meant that the games pretty much were a non-starter, but we met a family from Australia and had a great chat.

Exploring Aswan and the First Cataract

We docked in Aswan late on Monday evening and I was greeted with a huge round building housing among other things a McDonald’s. I had the impression that Aswan was a smaller town like Luxor as the guide book said it was very laid back, but as it turns out it’s a big bustling city. Everything was lit up, McDonald’s on one side of the river and the Tombs of the Nobles on the other side.

We set off the next morning at 9am with our tour guide Mohamed El Aswany. There were six of us in the group and our mode of transport, in the morning, was a local felucca. The feluccas are the small boats with one large sail that have been traditionally used on the Nile to transport crop harvests to other settlements for trade purposes. Nowadays they are mostly used for tourism purposes due to the construction of the railway and roads in the country.

Compared to the cruise ship the felucca was wonderfully peaceful. We were taken across the river to a small island known as Kitchener’s Island, which once belonged to the British general Horatio Kitchener. According to the guidebook, he was given the island in the 1800s as a reward for leading the Egyptian army’s successful campaigns in Sudan. He turned the island into his home and planted many exotic and local plants forming a lush garden. Now it is known as the Island of Plants and is home to botanical gardens. We enjoyed a lovely walk through the trees enjoying the quiet.

We then boarded a small motor boat and headed further up river to the First Cataract to visit a traditional Nubian village. The village was quite interesting. We started at one of the schools that teaches kindergarten children and older illiterate people to read and write. First we had our own small lesson learning the numbers 1 to 10 in Arabic and Nubian, followed by the Arabic alphabet and finally got to write our names in Arabic. We were then taken into a couple of children’s classes all of them about 4 and 5 yrs old, which was adorable. Kids appear to be the same the world over. We were also shown a sewing room where local women, particularly older widowed women with no income, are taught how to sew and make cloths, bellydance costumes and hip scarves for sale in the village and other local souqs.

Afterwards we walked through the market area, buying a few handmade items and enjoying the scent of many spice stalls. We even got to see piles of bright blue powder for sale which turned out to be Indigo. There was also a gentleman there making a pashmina scarf with a wooden, foot pedaled weaving machine. Our final stop in the village was at a local residence, where we looked at the living quarters of these people. The houses are actually quite large built with adobe and mud bricks with domed roofs.

After lunch on the boat we headed out again for another full afternoon. We started by visiting the Unfinished Obelisk, which was interesting if you have a tour guide with you to explain the history behind it. Otherwise it really is just a lump of rock in the ground!

After 30 minutes we headed off again to visit something a little more modern: the Aswan High Dam. I remember whilst still at school spending several geography lessons studying this dam so I was very interested to visit it. It is an area that is very heavily militarized, so photo opportunities were limited, nevertheless we were allowed to get pictures from the top of the dam on both sides. On one side facing down river to the First Cataract you can see the place where the rock that was used to fill the dam was quarried and the huge power station. On the opposite side of the dam is the lake formed by the building of the dam, Lake Nasser. It’s quite an impressive sight. Even more impressive is what else occurred at the time of the lake creation. Lake Nasser stretches for more than 500km (310 miles) south into Sudan. However the land it now covers was not entirely free. About 40,000 Nubian people were forced to relocate (most of them ended up at Kom Ombo approximately 50miles north of Aswan). In addition many historic sites, particularly temples, were threatened by the lake including the Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel and the Temple of Philae. A huge project run by UNESCO was created to physically relocated these temples and such to higher ground. For example this involved cutting the Temple of Ramses II out from the rock face and moving it about 210 meters back from the water’s edge and higher up to avoid possible flooding. The Temple of Philae was actually submerged about three quarters of the way and to first be pulled out of the water before it could be moved.

The Temple of Philae was next on our list of places to visit. This temple was begun in the Ptolemaic period and is dedicated to the goddess Isis. It is located next to another island that is supposedly the grave of her husband Osiris. When it was relocated they made sure it remained close to this island to preserve its integrity. The only way to reach the temple is by boat so we found ourselves once more on the river. The temple itself is another impressive sight and fascinating to wander through. Luckily the water didn’t do too much damage when it was submerged, however other damage was apparent. Like many of the other sites in Egypt, the Christians that came after the end of the dynastic period chiseled away the images of all gods and goddesses (unless they were covered with sand as was the case in many instances) to prevent the rest of the population worshipping the “wrong” god. Philae is particularly interesting in this respect as Coptic crosses have been carved into the walls replacing some of the hieroglyphics  and the temple at one point was converted into a church.

By the time we got back to the Crown Jewel  we were both shattered!

The entertainment in the evening was a Nubian Show featuring musicians, various male dancers and audience participation. Yours truly was of course forced to join in several times, but it was all good fun.

The Temple of Horus and the Temple of Kom Ombo

Our second day of tours started early again, though thankfully not as early as yesterday. We docked in Edfu and rode horse drawn carriages to the Temple of Horus. It was an enjoyable 10 minute drive through the small town of Edfu. Again some of the horses looked less than healthy but thankfully ours didn’t have its ribs sticking out.
The Temple of Horus, the falcon god, is a really impressive sight, just as impressive as the pyramids at Giza. It was built over the course of about 180 years during the Ptolemaic era of rule. Although during this time Egypt was technically ruled by the Greek family of Ptolemy, the buildings constructed during this period were dedicated to Egyptian gods and goddesses with very little Greek architectural influence. It was buried beneath layers of sand and silt for two thousand years so was protected from the effects of weather erosion. When it was cleared it became the largest and best preserved Ptolemaic temple in Egypt.
This was to be a short visit. Our tour had allotted us 2hrs to get there and back and walk round the entire building (fighting the crowds of tourists). We were a little late getting back to the ship, which was due to sail at 10am, but it was a fascinating visit and probably one of my favorite places so far.
Once on board again we were taken on a Manager’s tour of the boat, visiting both the kitchen and the captain’s room. The kitchen was quite interesting and it put our minds at rest when they described the method of preparing food and we were impressed with the sanitation methods on the boat. In the captain’s room we met the driver of the boat and the boat manager told us about how the boat drivers are trained. It was quite eye opening to hear how there is no official training program for these men. Instead they start at the age of 15 and are basically apprenticed for 10 years before getting the first of three licenses for driving the cruise ships.
This tour was followed by a short towel demonstration by the house keeping team. We’ve been entertained by house keeping’s artistic endeavors with our towels each day. They were quite talented!
At 5pm we disembarked a bit further down the river at Kom Ombo where we were taken on a tour of the temple there. Like the temple at Edfu, this one was both built during the Ptolemaic era and covered in sand. Much of it is intact, but a significant amount is ruins. Still this doesn’t detract much from its presence. This temple is dedicated to two gods: Sobek the crocodile god and the falcon god Haroeris the Elder. It’s quite a sight as it’s on a hill right on the bank of the river. At the end of the tour the sun started to set and it was a stunning sight to view the Nile painted orange.
At Kom Ombo there was a street vendor sitting on the ground with real Egyptian Cobras and for a small fee you could take his picture and even pose beside him with a cobra draped around your neck. I volunteered and because I was not scared he got another snake out and held it on my head while I had one round my neck. It was a little disconcerting, but the snakes seemed docile enough.
Now we are getting ready for dinner and then later this evening the ship is having something called a galabya party. I suspect they are going to dress us all up in galabya dresses, which Oland will probably have nothing to do with. As I’m already wearing a galabya shirt I will of course be game!

As it turned out, we were not forced to wear galabyas, but many people had bought them so came dressed appropriately. It was good fun and I won at the tombola. I spent the evening chatting with an Italian girl called Sylvia and we had a good giggle at the escapades of some of the people at the party during the games.

The Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut and the Valley of the Queens

5:45am on April 4th saw me roll out of bed and start my day. Oland followed a little later because as usual I take longer to get ready than he does. We breakfasted, enjoying an array of cereals, fruit, pastries and cooked food (though I couldn’t eat much as it was earlier than I usually eat breakfast). Then we sat in reception to await the start of our tour.
There are a few English speaking people aboard: some Canadians, some Americans and some British. So we were looking forward to getting to know them a bit, but we were sorely disappointed when all the English speakers except us left with one tour guide, and we were given our own personal tour guide. It seemed a bit of a waste really, but c’est la vie. Anyway, our guide was called Hassan and he turned out to be a very knowledgeable and helpful guide as we set out by vehicle to the other side of the Nile.
Our first stop was at the location of the Colossi of Memnon, two huge statues that originally guarded the mortuary temple of Amenhotep. These were an impressive sight, despite the swarms of tourists and village vendors at their feet. We were allowed only a brief 10 minutes here due to the traffic congestion (both human and vehicular), before we were ushered on to the Valley of the Kings.
This was both exciting and disappointing at the same time. Exciting because this a place with a vast amount of history in a very contained area. We drove through the village of Old Qurna and the house of Howard Carter (who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922) before winding our way to the parking area where we were informed that all photography was banned. This was disappointing as I’d hoped to get some good pictures of the Valley, but alas this was not to be. Apparently some of the pictures inside the tombs here were being damaged by flash photography.
We visited the inside of three tombs, which while absolutely fascinating was quite a struggle. Even though we arrived early in the morning it quickly became swelteringly hot and down in the tombs it was very muggy. Each tomb we visited had purpose built walkway in the center, electric lights and “guides” you had to avoid unless you wanted to part with more money. We did not visit the tomb of Tutankhamun because this was 100 L.E each extra and Hassan explained that the tomb was small and cramped and all the most interesting artifacts were housed in Cairo at the Egyptian Museum. We opted to save our money this time and not worry about it.
Both of us were delighted with the tomb paintings though. Some were unfinished due to the early demise of their owner, but this gave us the opportunity to see how they began these masterpieces. You can see where the ancient artisans sketched out what they were going to chisel and paint as they had crudely drawn it on the walls first.
After the Valley of the Kings, Hassan took us back to the village of Old Qurna to visit an alabaster factory run by a family descended from the ancient artisans of Egypt. In fact, all the residents of this village descend from these artisans, so it really is fascinating to visit. At the alabaster factory we were shown how they hand make the alabaster vases and statues and how they paint the limestone pictures. After our tour we shopped for a bit and picked up some nice pieces to take home as souvenirs.
Our second major destination of the day was the Temple of Hatshepsut. This was quite visually stunning and the use of photography was thankfully allowed. Hassan gave us a thorough tour of the temple, explaining its history and purpose before allowing us time to explore on our own. Hatshepsut was apparently a queen who took power of Egypt after her husband died and while her stepson was still a child (though technically he was king). She reigned for about twenty two years and after her death her stepson supposedly came to this temple and defaced all the pictures of his stepmother.
Our final destination took us to the quieter Valley of the Queens. Here the tombs are much simpler and many of them have been completely destroyed due to erosion caused by heavy rain fall. Many of the tombs have entrances that lead straight down into the ground, and did not have a covering on the doorway, so all the pictures have been washed away. We did however see two tombs here, one of which had the mummified remains of a baby that experts believed was miscarried. Again, photography was not allowed.
We arrived back in Luxor and boarded the Crown Jewel just in time for lunch. I was ravenous and devoured two plates of food and dessert. We were due to set sail at 3pm and I wanted to view the departure of the ship from the sun deck, but we fell asleep after eating and didn’t wake until 3:30pm. The rest of the evening we sat and drank beer and watched the banks of the Nile slip by. It really is an amazing place.

Crown Jewel: Embarkation

Saturday morning saw us checking out of the El Gezira and carrying our luggage to the ferry to cross to the east bank where we had to locate our cruise ship, the Crown Jewel. The travel company we booked the cruise through, who are the biggest tourist company in Egypt, failed to tell us where exactly to join the ship. We were very lucky however that only a few meters from the ferry on the east bank we met some crew members who were only too happy to show us where the ship was located.
We had our first hiccup at check in as the reception desk wanted to see a printed copy of our reservation. However, the website and our confirmation e-mail said nothing about bringing a printed copy, so we didn’t have it with us. There was no printer on the ship either, so we had to cross the street and use the nearest internet café to get the document required. We also discovered that a “technical problem” on the ship prevents us using the internet while on the cruise. In addition to the two days at El Gezira, this brings the total number of days without internet access too 10. On the one hand we love not having the internet, but on the other we’re having withdrawal symptoms from Facebook and e-mail!
We paid as fully inclusive guests, which means that all our food, soft drinks, wine and beer is free (yay! Free beer!). The reservation actually says “all alcohol” but we discovered that’s not the case as we still have to pay for cocktails. Oland was a bit agitated over this as there’s nothing stating this fact anywhere on the website, but he’s now learning to appreciate beer.
The rest of this first day was spent lounging on the sundeck with a beer, and I tried out the swimming pool too. That evening we had to go out shopping for more anti-diarrhea pills, more lip salve and new sandals for me (because my “quality” ones from Khan Al-Khalili literally fell apart).
The sandal escapade will live on in infamy in my mind. Both of us knew it was not going to be fun, we’d have to haggle and that is getting tiresome. The first store we visited didn’t have a style I particularly liked so we moved on to the second one just a few doors down. The vendor was very helpful and helped me try on several types and I found a pair I quite liked. I really needed sandals as they fell apart while I was walking on the street so at this point I was padding barefoot along the lower promenade. All respect for the second seller disappeared however, despite his helpfulness, when he quoted me the astronomical price of 250 L.E or US$50!! These sandals can be bought easily in the US for about $15, so there was no way I was paying 250 L.E. We tried to haggle with him but he wouldn’t budge. Kept showing me the “quality” of the sandals. Obviously he thought that I would pay any price rather than walk barefoot, but he was very much mistaken and I think we left him rather surprised when I walked out of the store still barefoot and determined to go elsewhere. The third store, again only a couple of doors away, had more of the same style of sandals I tried on at the second store and we decided to try one more time to find something at a decent price. I found a pair of red sandals that fitted nicely and were comfortable. Then we discussed price and the third seller quoted us 95 L.E (big difference from 250!). This works out about $15-18 so was a very fair price so we didn’t bother haggling it lower (we were tired of haggling anyway).
Back on board the ship we dressed for dinner (or rather I dressed as Oland only brought a certain amount of clothing … he’s not very high maintenance). The food is served buffet style at all meals and I have to say it is pretty good. It’s not going to win any awards, but it is very tasty and hits the right spot after a day of trekking, haggling or just lazing in the sun. We retired to bed early as we were shattered, plus Oland’s intestinal problems are really running him down. Our first tour was scheduled for the next day at the Valley of Kings on the west bank and we had to be up and breakfasted before 7am. I think we both slept like the dead!

The Luxor Experience

After a very restful night we awoke refreshed and ready for the day. We breakfasted on the roof with a light meal of tea, bread, cheese and yogurt before setting off to explore the ferry across the river. We double checked the price of the ferry with the hotel reception and were told it was 1 L.E per person each way, which is a very good price.
Upon leaving the hotel we were of course beset with people wanting to know if we wanted a taxi or boat, some offering to take us to Karnak (for a fee of course). Although I understand why they are so persistent, it is getting really, really annoying now. Especially as they won’t take no for an answer. Sometimes they will run across two lanes of traffic to try and get you in their taxi!
The ferry was your standard short haul passenger boat carrying tourists and locals alike. It was indeed 1 L.E although the ferryman tried to make us pay double (for the return journey). We refused, mainly because they do not give you receipts so we knew we’d be charged to come back anyway. He got a little rude with me when we refused telling me “Ok, you cross then swim back.” I ignored him.
We docked on the east bank and disembarked amid a throng of people and climbed steep steps to the promenade area (where of course we were immediately asked if we wanted a taxi). We decided to take a wander along the Nile to see if we could locate where our boat would dock for tomorrow. The east side of the Nile here is lined with cruise ships, small speed boats and feluccas. Every couple of steps a boat owner would run out and try and convince us to take his boat, but we had other plans for the day so refused everyone (much to their frustration I’m sure). We walked past the historic Winter Palace hotel and Luxor Temple, both of which are situated on the Nile. I would have loved to have stayed at the Winter Palace but it’s a luxury hotel so only the wealthy tend to stay there.
We took a wander down a main street, again beset with people trying to gets us to take rides in horse drawn carriages. One guy followed us declaring that it was Friday so nothing was open (which we already knew), but after firmly telling him we were fine walking he let us go muttering under his breath. We wandered back towards the banks of the Nile and stopped to buy a couple of sodas, some cigars and a razor because silly me, left her razor in the other hotel in Cairo.
We also browsed a government run tourist shop (where the prices are relatively fair and not adjustable by haggling) and picked up two Egyptian music CDs one entitled “Music from Egypt” and one called “Arabian Traditional Music”. I listened to several, and loved them all but at 65 L.E each couldn’t afford all of them. Besides I am sure I will find more CDs over the next two or three weeks.
Then we wandered down to the lower promenade to look in the windows of the various shops right at the dockside. A word of warning to everyone considering a trip to Egypt, there is no such thing as “window shopping”. They don’t seem to understand that just looking in the window does not mean you want to buy anything. Also, shop vendors will come out of their shops and try to force you inside.
One seller of perfume oils and bottles managed to get us inside despite my reservations. He seemed to sense our intense hesitation and distrust but he spoke very good English and seemed to understand why we were wary of him. He ended up giving us five small perfume bottles (which he assured us were made in Egypt) as a gift (which I was dubious about, but he didn’t charge us for them so I guess he was actually one of the few “honest” sellers). After chatting to us for a while and offering tea he invited us to look around. We decided that we did need to pick up gifts for people, so we did decide to buy a selection of small bottles. Then began the tough job of haggling. Oland seems to let me get on with it, but as he currently has all the money I have to keep asking him if things are a fair price (he has a better head for such things), which seems to annoy the vendors no end. Nevertheless, we managed to get a decent price on what we bought so everyone was happy.
We didn’t find our cruise ship, but if it is out it won’t dock until this evening anyway. There were no signs and the e-mail reservation didn’t tell us where to go. Embarkation is at 12 noon tomorrow so we have plenty of time to find it, though I suspect a phone call might be in order so we don’t have to walk around with our luggage navigating around ruddy taxi, carriage and boat drivers. We have no WiFi at the El Gezira Hotel, which is a bugger but we’ll manage somehow.
At about 12:30pm we decided we were hot and hungry so headed back across the river to our hotel. The breeze from the Nile was most refreshing as we crossed. Then came the chaos of getting off the thing. There is no order to it, and everyone pushes and shoves a bit in order to get off. In addition there were people trying to get on, and about 5 taxi drivers getting in everyone’s way wanting to give us a ride. All the taxi drivers asked every tourist getting off, again they do not like to take no for an answer. Oland had to get really quite short with two of them which made them angry. The thing is our hotel is a 2 minute walk from the ferry docking place so we didn’t need a taxi. One of them made some rude gesture at us as we walked away and yelled “tourists!” in a very derogatory manner (you don’t need to speak the language to know when they are being obnoxious).
Before we got to the hotel we stopped into another hotel closer to the river to enquire about their prices for the week we’re back in Luxor after the cruise. They had space available, it was clean and newer looking and the price was very good. So we went ahead and booked nine nights there and paid a 50% deposit. We can breathe a sigh of relief now that all our hotel needs are taken care of.
We lunched at the El Gezira, Oland enjoyed a tuna sandwich and I had a hot vegetarian dish called shakshouka which is grilled or pan fried green peppers, onions, garlic and an egg, served with rice. As we were heading back to our room we saw they had changed the time of the bellydancer evening to 3pm either today or tomorrow (it was hard to tell, even when we asked). As we’d just eaten lunch at 1:30pm and Oland wanted a nap (he’s still catching up on sleep from 4 months of working 7 days a week, 10 hrs a day) we knew we’d miss it today and if it is tomorrow well we’ll be on the boat anyway. I was very disappointed. Not sure why they changed it from 7:30pm to 3:00pm as it’s still hot at that time and the tourists will usually still be out sightseeing at that time. Oh well, maybe we’ll catch something during the week we’re saying at the other hotel.
Not sure how we’ll spend our evening, but I suspect we’ll be lazy again and enjoy good food, a beer or two and watch the sunset on the Nile.