Egypt, And Further Thoughts and Notes For The Future......

A couple of weeks have passed since my return from Egypt and I have ''post holiday blues'', particularly as the weather is disgusting and I hoped I would have missed all the rain on Crete....

Looking back at my notes again, it was nice to see quite a few British people travelling in Egypt again. They all seemed to be ''independent'' travellers who elected to fly in through Hurghada and then after a week of 'beach' holiday were travelling inland by private vehicle or coach to the Nile Valley to see the important sites and spend a few days around the area rather than some Hurghada tourists who come inland by coach to see the Valley Of The King's and then leave again.

The general plan after Luxor and Aswan included a few days in Cairo before flying back to the UK. While these plans sound expensive Egypt really is still remarkably cheap, and Luxor has a lot of accommodation for about 5 euros a night if you are staying a while.

As an example in Luxor, West Bank you can find many properties to rent like this one Mahmoud Haseeb Nubian House at very reasonable rates 

This one in Al Bairat has some lovely traditional features like domed ceilings!

This trip was supposed to be my last and was supposed to included Alexandria where I have a 'family' connection and initially I was planning on 6 weeks until I read on Trip Advisor that it was currently impossible, because of COVID, to get a visa extension unless you were in Cairo and wanted to brave the one and only police station that was issuing them....

Of course I later found out that I didn't even need a visa extension because I was over 60.... And the Passport Office in Luxor was open so don't believe everything you read on TA, unless I wrote it

And of course the new museum in Cairo has not yet opened and I still need to visit that so another visit is already in the planning stage to do that and also visit Alexandria....

I still don't know what it is about Egypt that I love so much.....

One thing is sure this time I will do some reviews of hotels and eateries for Trip Advisor this time as looking at my past reviews I didn't do very many!!

So you can expect some updates to the blog again sometime early next year...

Inshallah..

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Karnak and The Sphinx Way

I visited Karnak on my first trip to Egypt in 2017 but like most of the organised trips you do not get a lot of time there so it was nice to go back again for another look, and more importantly I can now get to walk the Sphinx Way from Karnak to Luxor Temple, a distance of about 3km.......

A few photos of Karnak which is not so much a temple in itself but a site containing 4 separate temples, you will recognise Karnak of course from the 1978 film Death On The Nile based on the Agatha Christie novel and starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot and many others!

David Suchet also made a TV adaptation which also used Karnak, and this year sees the release of yet another version by Kenneth Branagh which was filmed in Morocco for some strange reason. If it anything like Branagh's version of Murder On The Orient Express I won't be rushing to see it.....

Approaching Karnak by boat from the West Bank there is a bit of an oddity because here we see water being pumped into the Nile instead of out of it... This water is pumped out from the 'springs' inside Karnak, indeed there is a 'sacred lake' within the complex. This is a bit odd because as you can see the river banks are considerably higher than the Nile and so is Karnak itself. The high water table inside Karnak caused a problem when it was being excavated over a 100 years ago as some of the ruins were submerged.

The main entrance to Karnak is guarded by an avenue of Sphinxes, indeed these are of course a load of old Sphinxes. 

As you can see it's quite busy with tourists, mainly Russian....

And if you have run out of Sphinxes then you throw up a couple of obelisks which is exactly what Hapshetsut did when she was in charge about 4,000 years ago..

It is of course a well known fact that the Egyptians invented the clerestory window... And there are some fine examples at Karnak as shown below, the frame up in the air is a clerestory window, you will of course this architectural feature from your exhaustive visits to cathedrals in the UK....

 Stopping only for an obligatory selfie in front of a load of old hieroglyphics, I am heading for the side door as it were, in search of the exit to the Sphinx Way, which as you know is a ceremonial route to Luxor used during the festival of Opet and constructed during the time of Amenhotep III during the 18th Dynasty around 1390 to 1352 BC, that's over 3,000 years ago, the side exit is the Temple Of Khonsu, the God of the Moon. (But then you already knew that didn't you? Would you believe that a lot of Egyptians actually know all this stuff  about the New Kingdom, the Old Kingdom, and all the Dynasties?).

Along the Sphinx Way there are some huge sign boards very nicely giving a bits of history and also the progress of the excavation which was started in 2017 which is the first time I came to Luxor..

One day I will get the hang of putting photos on to a blog but for now you will have to excuse the large gaps here and there, I usually use these to waffle on a bit rather like you do when you are doing a slide show and waiting for the projector to go on to the next slide.....

And there's the Temple of Khonsu, and before me lies the the Sphinx Way...

It has taken a while to excavate it because there was a minor hiccup in that the Coptic (Christian) Church was partially obstructing the route.

There were various proposals for solving this problem, the most popular was to knock the church down. A solution that did not go down very well with the Christian congregation who probably retaliated with the suggestion that the mosque built on top of Luxor Temple should be knocked down...

On the way along there is a conveniently placed coffee shop and also some shady resting points, there are also a couple of features to note such as the Nileometer which the priests in the Temples used to calculate the taxes due from the peasant farmers, the Nile used to run alongside the Sphinx Way but is now much further to the west.

As you can see parts of the route require some maintenance and are a bit uneven but bear in mind this paving is over 3,000 years old whereas pavements in most modern cities are not that old so it seems the problem of maintenance has not improved in all that time.... 

The poor old Nileometer could do with  clean up as well, as could the Roman baths built much later.

Many of the Sphinxes are missing, presumably carried off to be used elsewhere or broken up to be used as something else....

And you might be wondering how they solved the problem of the Coptic Church,

oh yes you are, now admit it... Well you can see how in the photos below...

The one on the left was taken in 2019, the one below is now...

Yep... You got it, they cut off the back end of the church...

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Messing About On The River

 I have mentioned before in one of my old posts how important the Nile has been in the past, today it is still important as a source of water and without it the Nile Valley would be an arid desert.

Today also it is still used for transport in this case to and from across the Nile usually using the public ferry, 1LE for Egyptians, 5LE for tourists, if you have got used to the exchange rate that is 20p one way.

For the tourist it is more of a source of entertainment and no visit to Egypt would be complete without at least one cruise on a felucca, the traditional Nile boat. Feluccas come in all sizes most of those used for tourist trips are no more than about 6 or 8 metres long but there are some moored up which are far larger and can take 10 to 20 people in extreme comfort up or down the Nile for a week long cruise to visit the archaeological sites bordering the Nile.

SO there was me on Friday sitting there stationary by the public ferry waiting for lunch to arrive when all of sudden we took off across the Nile taking somebody across to the East Bank on business....

A bit later after lunch I took off for an hour with Saieed for a more sedate cruise along the river as far as his house and farm where we stopped for the proverbial cup of Egyptian tea... Getting back on to the boat was a bit of a challenge walking up a narrow gang plank and naturally as there was water involved I fell off the gang plank and got the Gucci Loafer wet...... Nothing serious..... 

While we were out a normal felucca passed us.... Very relaxing they are too unless you are on the one that took in 2019, look further down the blog at the older posts and you will se the bit when we nearly capsized.

Egypt Part The Third - Weather, Health, and People.

Inevitably I will mention the weather.... At this time of year Egypt has warm sunny days and cool nights, indeed past experience in Cairo it can be quite cool during the day and even colder at night. Heading further south to Luxor and Aswan the day are usually around the mid 20s and because this is desert weather cold at night.

The first day I got here I had to ask for an extra blanket because this year the nights are very cold indeed. So cold it is that even the locals are complaining about how cold the weather has been, even during the day it is only a 'chilly' 18C. And there has been a fair amount of cloud around as well.

And so to health..... I have already made a trip to the pharmacy for a bit of a stock up on essentials although obviously I brought my normal medication with me, but there are some times when I need antibiotics and trying to get these out of the NHS is a problem and they are extremely mean, indeed I think they probably waste more money trying to save money if you see what I mean... Even in Greece these days you need a scrip for antibiotics which means a trip to the doctor.

So what a change to go to the pharmacy and buy three packets of antibiotics for less than £3, and this makes you wonder how much the NHS are paying for the same thing when they have to make the pharmacy fart about and only give you 8 out of a pack of 10...... Or the Greek healthcare system where they cost €5.

On a personal note, my breathing becomes a lot easier in this climate because of the much lower humidity,

often only a few percent on some days and rarely much more than 35%.

This time around I have also been aware of how many foreigners, i.e. non-Egyptians live here on a long term basis. I think I probably noticed it before except the higher number of tourists masked the actual numbers.

I noticed with some amusement that many of these are British, and often more decrepit than me! Listening to a few overheard conversations many of them come only during the winter months, (spending their heating allowance here!), which brings me to the subject of the normal tourist visa..... The normal tourist visa is valid for 30 days from the date of entry, however if you are over 65 and not working (obviously), then it seems you can stay as long as you want!

Talking to a Canadian couple they have been here for 4 months.

And then there was the inevitable boat trip. This involves looking at the river banks from the river rather than the normal look at the river from the river banks.... It is only necessary to do this once, unless you particularly enjoyed it in which case you can do it again. Indeed the touts expect you to because they will see you get off a boat and as soon as you get ashore offer you another trip, sometimes at half the price you have just paid!

This time round the captain was the very jolly Mahmoud who insisted that he be allowed to try on my size 45 Gucci Loafers when his feet are quite clearly about size 60!

I really don't know why I let myself in for this sort of thing as barter as I might it usually costs far too much and if I do get it cheap I usually have to buy lunch...... But at least I do know that I don't pay as much as some of the tourists do! And next week I really must try and do something a little more constructive with my time.....

 

The Return To Egypt 2019 - Marooned!! English Tourist Faces Near Death Experience!

The dramatic story of near disaster on The Nile as three men in a felucca faced a good soaking with great courage, whilst awaiting rescue from a near death experience with only half a bottle of water, 40 cigarettes and a Bluetooth speaker system attached to a mobile phone.

Rarely in the history of mankind has anyone shown such bravery in the face of insurmountable odds.

The drama began with a Sunday felucca trip from Ramla on the West Bank of the Nile to Banana island for Sunday lunch and the outward voyage was nothing but routine, but who was to know that the return trip was to turn into a nightmare.... The captions tell the story thus far...

Continuing the story the English tourist said, "I did think as we left the mooring that we were carrying a bit too much sail, and that the keel should have been lower, but as the only sailing experience I have had is on Piddinghoe Pond some 50 years ago, I did not like to criticise."

"As it became obvious that to continue and risk another swamping would undoubtedly sink us, the captain made the wise decision to head for the nearest land which was a small uninhabited island in the middle of the Nile."

"Distress signals were sent up, (the first mate got out his mobile phone), several times until somebody responded. By this time we had only half a bottle of fresh water left, and no facilities for making tea so as you can imagine I was getting just a tad tetchy, let alone the fact that I was obviously going to be late for my afternoon nap."

"Meanwhile other craft sailed past completely unaware of the difficulties nearby, especially as by now the captain and first mate had smoked nearly 40 cigarettes between them and were beginning to argue about who had smoked the most."

''Fortunately the first mate retrieved his Bluetooth speaker system from the water on the deck and finding it still worked was able to provide some calming music while we waited and the captain went ashore and finding an old 2 litre water bottle which he cut in half, he was able to start bailing out while we waited to be rescued."

After what seemed like eternity, but was actually about 30 minutes, help, in the shape of Mohammed, arrived."

The story continues in the photo captions......

 Departing from the garbage wharf at Ramla on the West Bank of the NIle, the felucca cruise to Banana Island for Sunday lunch should have been easy..

 The outward voyage began well with at good north westerly breeze making for good speed to the destination

And the lone passenger, a British tourist enjoyed the outward trip..

 Arriving at Banana Island there was time for the captain and crew, and the passenger to enjoy the view of the Sunday traffic on the river

Sunday is ''family day'' in Egypt, and the ''public'' restaurant is full of mothers and many, many children so Abdul has suggested that we go to the nearby hotel on the island as it will be quieter.....

 While getting to observe the local wildlife in 
the shape of a very pregnant cat which appeared the same time as lunch...

 On returning to the mooring the captain was in exuberant mood as we began the return voyage and here the lone passenger takes up the story..

Our captain who is very tall with flowing (to say the least) robes only needs a turban to look like a magician from the Arabian Nights!

"The return voyage began well and with the the wind against against us we completed the first couple of tacks with no problem, but then an unexpected gust of wind caught us and the starboard gunwhale briefly dipped below the water and we shipped a small amount of water, but we went on with no problem.....

"The waiting for rescue seemed to take for ever but we kept our spirits up with lively banter...."

"Passing traffic seemed unaware of the drama unfolding quite close to them..."

"Finally the rescue boat arrived with Mohammed on board. It appears that Mohammed is actually the man that built the felucca and if I am not mistaken he is giving the guys a bit of a dressing down for not sailing it properly....  Mohammed literally runs up the mast, bare footed as you can see, and furls the sail and in no time t all we are underweigh being towed by a motorboat. Underway back to Ramla, although I think many people were a bit confused as to why a felucca should need to be towed" 

The Weather Turns Against Me, and The Egyptian Experience Begins A Day Late.

I just know this is going to make you laugh.

I drive to the airport on the first leg of my journey to Cairo via Athens.... In a snow storm following the tracks of the car in front through slushy snow and water... 

Yes a snow storm on Crete. You see we do have a winter.
There are no flights going from Heraklion because the incoming flights coming from Athens have been delayed by snow in Athens. Eventually two aircraft arrive, the 8am flight leaves 4 hours late, mine doesn't go anywhere because there is a problem with the aircraft as well as the snow. No problem as I had a four hour wait in Athens, three hours later it is clear that I will not be in Athens in time to get my onward flight. No problem they say, we will put you on the night flight from Athens to Istanbul, a good one hour flying time in the wrong direction, and from there you can pick a flight to Cairo and you will only be 12 hours late. No thanks.



So I am spending the first night of my hols in Athens, and then onward to Istanbul and then Cairo the following afternoon, except that at 7.30am they decide that the flight from Athens to Istanbul has been cancelled due to snow at Istanbul airport. Finally I am put on the direct flight from Athens to Cairo to get me there a day late.

Which is well and good, but I have a hotel booked, and I have an airport transfer booked, fortunately the transfer company got the message in time to re-arrange the transfer, but I have lost the hotel booking because it is not refundable. 

(Notice there that I said I had booked an airport transfer? I almost always do that unless it is somewhere that I know. It just saves all the hassle of getting taxis, airport buses etc. after a day travelling, and in this case the transfer rep even meets you before you go through immigration and carries your bags. The Egyptians are wonderful).

And at the airport is where your Egyptian Experience begins...

The first job is to get an Entry Visa and you can buy this from any of the banks/exchange booths when you change some money into Egyptian Pounds (EL for short), and whatever you read on web sites to the contrary you are going to need cash to buy bottles of water, cups of coffee, and above all to pay tips to everyone that does something for you, and that includes the toilet attendant who gives you a bit of toilet roll to dry your hands on. 

And you might well need it for ''baksheesh'' which in a way is a bribe, for instance I managed to get photos of the inside of Abu Simbel for the small ''consideration'' of 5 EL (about 25 pence in English money).

You might also read of beggars and children approaching you for money as well, although this is not as common as some web sites would have you believe, if you are approached then do remember that giving alms is one one of the tenets of Islam. More often the asker will actually be offering you something, a pack of tissues is not uncommon with children for instance. It is up to you whether you actually take them or not! This type of baksheesh is quite rare in my experience.

The biggest problem you will have here is having any coins to give! You just don't see them that much although they do exist, even 1 EL coins and notes are a rarity and you have to be really insistence with shop keepers (who want the odd 5 EL from you so that they can give you large notes for your change), that you do not have any small notes!

Tour guides always seem to have quite a stock of coins which is a very good reason to take guided tours and you will often see them give odd coins to security guards at archaeological sites for no apparent reason.

Having got your visa sticker and stuck it in your passport, you will then pass through immigration where they stamp it and take the boarding card you filled out on the aircraft and then it's time to get your baggage.

After that you get your passport inspected once again as you leave baggage reclaim and you are out in the big wide world where you will be mobbed by taxi drivers and their helpers (who will want a tip for carrying your bags).

Welcome to Egypt!

On the way from Cairo airport into the city you will realise why you do not want to rent a car, if there are supposed to be two lanes on the highway, the Egyptians will make three, if there are three lanes they will make four. Indeed in many places there are no road markings at all and you need a pretty strong stomach to sit in the front passenger seat of a car!

Surprisingly there seems to be very few accidents although a lot of cars seem to have rounded corners!

On your way you will get your first sight of security measures as there are frequently check points manned by army and police, both armed, and that ''sentry box'' that looks empty probably isn't because there is the barrel of a machine gun sticking out of the window. Sometimes the inspection is cursory, sometimes the boot is opened and they will check who is in the car.

And when you arrive in your hotel you get the second sight... Every hotel has an X Ray machine and the good old metal detector arch just like in the airport.

My hotel receptionist is delighted to see me and finds it very amusing that 
I am a day late due to bad weather..... I ask about a refund for the first night as it was not my fault. ''No'' is the answer, ''but I have upgraded your room to a Nile view suite''! And quite right too, after all it is a Novotel, and they are part of Accor and they own Raffles in Singapore where I have stayed twice and paid a fortune for the pleasure!

Early night called for after something to eat, and my tour guide for tomorrow has sent me an SMS to say he will be picking me up at 6.30am. Well actually he won't because I am on holiday and I tell him that it is going to be 8.30am and no earlier, but when I get downstairs for breakfast he is already there so I take him for breakfast.... And the Egyptians certainly know about breakfast, a buffet with virtually everything you could want (except bacon of course, but then they do do that wonderful smoked beef), and while we are at it we discuss the day's plan.....

And we are not doing that either because there is not time for coffee anywhere in the schedule.

Adjustments will need to be made!

The Nile Cruise Part the Second..... Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Aswan

At this point I should tell you that you are not going to get a blow by blow account of the entire 7 night cruise, somethings have to be left for you to discover by yourself.

It is enough to say that after going to the West Bank at Luxor the ship sails upstream and through Esna lock so that the following morning you visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu and later that day the Temple of Haroeris and Sobek. The latter visit was a bit of a change because it was evening when the temple is floodlit.

The trip from the ship to the Temple of Horus is in one of those horse drawn carriages, which because of the height off the ground and the not too good roads, gives the impression that at any minute it is going to tip over. I think I would rather ride in a took took.

There is much to see at Edfu as it is one of the best preserved temples and second largest after Karnak.



Edfu is probably where you will first come across a ''Nile-o-meter'' the device used by the priests to levy taxes on the local population. Basically it measures the height of the Nile during flood season. The higher the flood, the better the harvest, the higher the taxes.

Today the tax man has invented even more ingenious ways to separate us from our hard earned cash.

On the voyage upstream it becomes clear that the Nile forms a formidable barrier between the east and west banks being quite wide in places. If you are interested in wildlife then there are opportunities for bird watching along the way, and a chance to view the construction of new bridges across the Nile.

Arriving at Kom Ombo at dusk brings a new perspective...... And again there is much of interest, those who are observant will realise that as you visit various temples the style of carving changes over time, indeed, the quality of the carving in the hieroglyphics also changes. Also among the carvings here are some depicting ''medical'' instruments and also a ''recipe'' curing ED, or so the guide tells us, but then he could tell anything.

We also stopped in a local ''cafe'', where we caught a bit of the local culture. Many of these cafes, and indeed restaurants have dirt floors. You get used to it after a while, some are the same even in the middle of Cairo.

Back on board ship we are about to have the inevitable ''fancy dress'' night. I think it was about the only time the on board shop actually did any business.

I got mine late so stocks were limited, and obviously my djellabah was meant for somebody of more magnificent proportions than me. 

My keffiyah on the other hand was too small and took two of the ''boys'' in the restaurant to fix it.

While this is going on we are heading upstream to Aswan.

You will note that we are on the ''Poirot'' route.......

Arriving in Aswan we are let loose on the unsuspecting locals, there are various tours organised but feigning illness I get a note from the teacher to say I can have the day off, and anyway I am coming back to Aswan....

There is also the trip to Abu SImbel, and as I have already said I am not getting up at 3am...

So I have the day spare to have a wander, and Abdul's cousin is going to meet me and take me for lunch, which means I am paying.

And also there is a trip to Kitchener Island with myself and one other of the English contingent.

My co-traveller has organised a trip on a felucca, at least it is a big one, for himself, and asks me along. But because there are two of us now it is going to cost more, well of course it will, extra wear and tear on the hull, more wind needed to move the felucca. But it is ours for as long as we want it, so we are going to Kitchener Island, and the around the serpentine rocks and back to the ship.... Kitchener Island is a delightful spot sometimes described as a botanical garden. Well it is in a way but few of the plants are rarities but it does have some delightful corners and some rather eccentricities. I recommend it!

The pictures do the talking, a leisurely stroll from one end of Kitchener Island to the other, and then picked up by our captain, who isn't doing a lot because my colleague is driving. We pass the mausoleum of the Aga Khan who was a regular visitor in the winter months, and then sail around the serpentine rocks, a black granite outcrop that gets a mention in ''Murder On The Nile''!

The mausoleum of the Aga Khan, built from pink limestone.

Our captain.... He was very impressed when I wrote down his phone number in Arabic characters!!

One tries to do one's best, except that everyone has the numbers on their phones in normal characters!

To the right, another example of a Nile-o-meter...

And so back to the ship.... Where we find that they have been trying to cook Brussels sprouts...


Now as I said before with the green beans I am all for 'al dente' when it comes to veg, but to be honest these sprouts were sufficiently hard that if they had used them as foundation stones for ancient Egyptian temples they would still be standing today..

The steak was fine though!
 And perhaps my favourite picture of the trip................................................