Egypt Again 2023.... A Frustrated Visit On My Fourth Trip - eVisas Explained and The Arrival Late At Night and Giza

 Of course there was always going to be a fourth trip because the Grand Egyptian Museum was not open last year, and so one year on almost I am on the trip I planned last August because there were rumours that the GEM would be open by ealry 2023.

Of course it isn't, but am I going to let that spoil my trip? No, of course not!

Unusually for me I arrive at 1.00am in the morning at Cairo airport on a full flight from Athens. Indeed so full they were offering people money NOT to get on it, and at the same time checking the weight of cabin bags. Fortunately I avoided this because mine weighed in at 14kgs and you are only allowed 6kgs. One of the advantages of having ''Special Assistance'' through airports is that you manage to avoid the queues...

Arriving at Cairo was no different from usual, with about 200 people queuing to get a visa, but I of course have already got mine because I did it on line so I was through immigration and waiting for my bags, very fast as usual, while others were still waiting to get their visa label! This is one of the advantages of the eVisa, and also it means you have paid in advance so don't have to budget for it out of your valuable cash balance, if you have one.

Outside are the usual number of people offering you taxis, but I already have a pre-arranged transfer via my hotel. This is 20USD for the ride through the deserted streets of Cairo to my hotel in Giza. Taxis now have to pay for parking at Cairo airport so when I get out I give the man a tip equivalent to the parking fee.

And now before your very eyes I will explain a bit about eVisas and how to get one as some people seem to have real problems getting the web site to work, this is more than likely because they have not followed the instructions, others have noted that the site uses 'old' software but nonetheless it does work! And it does save time at the airport. Others have claimed that they have been charged the money but not got a visa and cannot get a refund but like any country visas are sometimes refused but if you applied you still have to pay for it! And imagine how you would feel if you were queuing at the airport and then were refused entry, and it does happen!

Firstly, there IS ONLY ONE OFFICIAL eVISA WEB SITE ...

And it is this one here.... EGYPT eVISA ...It will open in a new window. You will find other sites that appear to be the right site and indeed most/many of them will get you a visa, but they are third party sites who just fill in the forms for you and the charge exorbitant sums for doing it!!

The first thing you have to do is read the terms and conditions for getting a visa which you will find under the FAQ link. Note that you need a passport with at least 6 months validity, the other things they note there, is a ''travel itinerary'' I have never produced one of these at immigration and indeed, have never been asked for one, I have however been asked where I am staying so I carry my initial hotel booking with me just in case. If you try to get a visa with less than 6 months validity your application will fall over at the first stage.

You will also need to create an account before you start.

The first part of the form are self explanatory, I have deliberately left the 'info' box open on the departure date field, because if you are over 65 and you are not going to get a job, you can stay longer than 30 days if you want to!! But you cannot put more than 30 days in this field

Remember to 'SAVE' each page as you complete it so that if you have to leave the form it will still be there as a draft when you go back to the site

  

The next sections are easy enough too.... Just remember to put in your correct name as it is in your passport, and get the dates right, it's surprising the number of people who forget this simple fact, and also cannot read the dates either!

Where it asks for your address, it tells you what characters are permitted, and carriage return is not one of them!! Put the address all on one line... If you get the message about inallowed characters look closely at what you have done becuase it mean you have made a mistake somewhere!Make sure your phone number is valid with the country code and no spaces in it!

And then the picture of your passport... TWO IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE, AND IT DOES TELL YOU, FIRST THE PICTURE MUST BE LESS THAN A CERTAIN SIZE, AND SECOND IT CAN ONLY CONTAIN ALPHANUMERIC CHARACTERS IN THE FILE NAME.

If you have used your phone to take the picture then the chances are the file will be far too large!! Read the instruction under the photo!! Most phones have a built in editor so you can resize the photo, on my phone I have to take it down to 20% of the original.. And while you are editing rename the file to something logical like ''passport''. When you click on ATTACH a window opens with helpful suggestions as to how your photo should look,

Here's a nice clean image, above that works just fine, I know because it is the one I have used more than once..

The one above is never going to wrok because the software has to read the passport.

There is often a delay before anything happens because internet upload speeds are not that good in many places, and indeed a slow connection means the system 'times out' on occasions too.

When your photo has uploaded you will see this....

When the photo has uploaded you will see the name/DOB/Passport number fields have been populated automatically.... Which is why you cannot fill them in yourself, and people have actually tried to do so!

Saving the information will keep it as a draft and you can come back to it later and amend anything.... Or you can move directly on to the next step which is payment. Make sure your card is valid and can be used for foreign transactions and actually has credit available on it...

See it's easy, and most people already have a copy of their passport on their phone already don't they??

Quite soon after you have filed the application you will get an email confirming so, and a couple of days later, sometimes more quickly, you get the actual visa which you have to print off to present to immigration.

You will also need a landing card which some airlines will give you on the flight but many no longer do so, you can find these in the airports just before the immigration desk.

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Warning - Archaeology Alert!!!! The Valley Of The Queens and The ''New'' City Of Aten

 After my last visit I did a couple of updates on new discoveries but didn't include the 'Dazzling'' city of Aten not far from the Colossi of Memnon... 

Excavation work has been continuing apace here for a while but as yet it is not open to the public....

So you are saved one bit of history!!

Moving right along... The Valley of the Queen's gets a bit neglected I am sorry to say, mainly I supposed because it is not quite so ''exciting'' and doesn't contain the tomb of King Tut, Seti, etc., etc., etc.,

Indeed I myself have neglected it in the past and so time to make amends..

Mentioning my thoughts to the boy, he promptly offered to take me there at a 'special rate' which means I am going to have to buy lunch again, and that as we are heading that way it will probably be in the subterranean cafe in Al Qarnah, their speciality is pigeon by the way... As it turned out the price i had to pay was to get the car fully valetted for the occasion, this cost me the grand total of about £3.50 (70 LE), plus two cups of tea, 20 LE..

This again was an experience which most tourists don't get, i never knew that washing a car needed so much shouting, and while it was being done I was sat on a bench with 3 elderly Egyptians who insisted on speaking German to me, in the end I gave up telling them I was English and replied with my very limited German.

Now one thing we all know about the Valley of the Queen's is that is contains the tomb of Nefertari which is the main reason for going there..... Or so I thought until I looked at the price of the tickets..... To see the tomb of Queen Nefertari will set you back a whopping 1400 EGP or 70 quid in English money.

And I am sorry I am just no paying that so I settle for the normal ticket of 100 EGP (a fiver)..

The Queen's Valley is a lot less crowded than the King's indeed it is quite pleasantly uncrowded and there is a really strong north west wind blowing straight down the valley which means I had to take the Panama off.

And like the King's Valley the landscape is somewhat alien and pitted with holes everywhere..

I must say the tombs here are impressive, not in size perhaps but in the quality of carving and in the colours that have survived thousands of year. Oh if only modern paint manufacturers could make paint that lasted that long today..

i have already made the comment that one camera has given up the ghost, and the Canon is rapidly depleting its battery so I am reduced to a phone camera which means I can at least take a video.

The Egyptian Govt has given up charging for using cameras these days, mainly because every phone is now a camera and they couldn't make people leave their phones at the ticket office as there would be thousands of them in cubby holes, they do still charge for a camera tripod though...

So I got to see three tombs, which from the set up appear to be the only 3 that are open, apart from Nefertari's, although if you look around the place is full of burial shafts and other 'walk in' tombs which are not open... For some reason the tomb of Queen Titi, (Teyet) ahs a large sign on the door saying NO PHOTOGRAPHS, and the man in charge was applying this quite rigourously, although no doubt a 100LE note pressed into the palm of his hand would have changed his mind.

I did take a couple of stills inside but the conditions for photography are difficult because all the walls are protected by perspex screens to keep sticky fingers at bay, and of course the screens are not only dusty but do have sticky finger marks on them so you have to contend with that and also the reflections from the lights.

Hopefully though you can still see the carvings and colouring sufficiently well to be impressed!

By the way on the way out the the man in charge of the ''very clean toilets'' has taken the price for Nefertari's tomb to heart and is asking a piss taking price of 5 LE as against the normal 1 LE, (it used to be less than that but they seems to have stopped using all the piastra coins these days).

Needless to say he only got 1 LE from me and nothing from some other people,,, so on with the videos..

Firstly the tomb of Prince Amenkhopshef...

And second the tomb of Prince Sethherkhopshef...

And sadly I am now getting near to end of my stay because it is Saturday 19th February and tomorrow I have to get a pcr test, but still more time for a bit of out and about!! Meanwhile a picture of the resident dog at the Valley of the Queen's, and like the King's Valley the people trying to sell you alabaster and papier mache statues and replicas are a bloody nuisance....

 

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - You CAN Read Arabic, Noises In The Daytime, and A Bit More About Egyptians As I See Them..

 Just in case you thought that Arabic was difficult to read, this picture proves otherwise, clearly you can read what is says! 

And below.... This is dried tamarind, seeds, stalks, leaves, the lot I am told. These balls cost the princely sum of 50New English Pence each so I am taking some home with me to see if I can use them for making curry!

We have done noises in the night,

so here are some noises during the day.

In any Egyptian city and even in the middle of nowhere you will get the 'prayers' at certain times of the day. 

This particular lot of prayers sounds more like a speech at a political rally, but the again maybe it is just that!

Certainly you can here it above the sound of the traffic...

And now a bit more about Egyptians... Egyptians always have something for sale, exactly what it is they are trying to sell is never quite clear... You know how it goes, you have just come off the ferry from the East Banks and immediately somebody will try to sell you a taxi, very cheap, very good price, Egyptian price... Having refused the taxi you will then be offered a boat to the East Bank, even though you have quite clearly just come from there... But it will be cheap, you know how much?

No I don't know how much but you are about to tell me.. And if i refuse that I will be offered a felucca for a 'sunset hour' or Banana Island cruise...  

If you keep on refusing various modes of transport they will usually run out of options and in the end offer you a cotton scarf...

Much the same happens with property, they stick a for sale sign up but nobody knows what it is they are trying to sell... And even if you ask you will not find out! And naturally they are having to sell it because they need the money, well actually they don't and this is another similarity with Greeks, many Egyptians own more than one apartment block.

Of course there are some that are as poor as church mice, but many are not, so we don't believe the sob story either!

And then there is the man that wants to sell the family silver for no apparent reason. Or at least a faulty reason... Take the man that has three apartments and wants to sell one of them to buy a new car.

Why does he want a new car?

Well at present he has a car provided by one of the tour companies and he is at their beck and call to take people from Luxor to Hurghada, (and other places), for which they pay him the sum of 200 EGP....The going rate for the trip is 1700 EGP but this man thinks that he will make a lot more money than 200 EGP by buying his own car... Wrong of course because apart from the cost of the car there are all the associated bills so unless he is going to do three trips a day he is not going to make anything, and in the meantime he has lost the cash flow from the apartment he has sold...

This same man is currently doing a bit of building work on one of his apartments and he needs 1500 EGP, (why is it always 1500EGP they need?), very cheekily he has asked me if I would like to make a future booking and pay in advance the sum of 1500 EGP... Why he needs the money I do not know but he could have saved quite a lot if sign writing because he has put his name and phone number on the outside of my apartment... Except that nobody is going to see it because there is a high wall between the building and the street...

Decoration I can understand but he could have saved the cash having his name and phone number written!!

This sign writing can't be seen from the street either....

And even more amusing the table in the top photo has LED lights inside the top and lots of holes drilled in the top... Why????


Meanwhile elsewhere in the 'garden' he has constructed a 'puddle' for producing is own bricks and plaster for his buildings..

Egyptians are naturally noisy as well...

Down  by the ferry there is continuous shouting going on since they moved the arrival point for the public ferry on the east bank, an enterprising band of locals is now running an almost scheduled service across the river to the old arrival point by Luxor Temple, and many are using it because it saves a long walk!

And Egyptians are incredibly cheeky if you let them get away with it, this one (below) seems to think we are ''one''.... Which means it is quite ok for me to buy him lunch on a daily basis...

And we will finish off with a bit of Egyptian music and a belly dancer...

And Egyptian men always seem to have enormous feet.... 

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - A Trip To The Market.

I have given u trying to catch up on the blogs that were missed for now, so on with the current stuff and then the rest will follow out of chronological order and you will never know!

When i said i wanted to go to the market everybody thought I just wanted to get the ferry cross the River to the souk to buy a bit of fruit and veg and maybe some spices...

No I want to go to a proper market where they sell camels and horses and animals..

Really??      Yes really.

I don't know why anybody should think it strange that I can milk a cow, or that I want to know how much a camel costs.

Or why I should even be interested in farm animals, but surely I am not the only person who has lived on a farm for a few years, or indeed there must be many that own farms in other countries who might be interested.

After a bit of discussion it seems that the best/nearest livestock market to go to is at Armant about 20kms south of Luxor. For a really big camel market you need to go down to Aswan which is a bit too far... In fact the market is not in Armant at all but to the west almost in the hills and right on the edge of the agricultural belt.

Armant is about centre in the map with the little blue marker..

Map courtesy of Google of course...

So I am up bright an early to leave at 6 am, I should have known that not a lot was going to happen going to happen at that time of day except breakfast...

A couple of wrong turns later and we finally got there, and the easiest way to show you is with a bit of video
.

And it was just what I expected... In a lot of ways it was just like an English livestock market with lots of farmers sitting around drinking tea, (instead of beer), and more than likely discussing the weather and the price of oats and note the almost total lack of 'western' clothing, out here not a lot has changed for a thousand years, except of course they now have a lot more water for crops....

Exceptionally though there was not an auctioneer, everything is sold by battering for it....

And how strange the breeds are compared to the ones we see in Europe... Some might say the cattle are underfed but you see them chomping their way through food and realise they are not underfed it is just the way they are.

Donkeys there are aplenty, at a price...

Camels are worth a lot more than donkeys and indeed horses so a man's wealth can genuinely be calculated by the number of camels he has!

Junior here wanted to demonstrate that he can milk a cow..... But as it was a heifer I don't think he would get a lot out of it.

And in aisle 3, we have these... And I don't think these are donkeys... I think they are either mules or hinnies.

In the absence of any form of pens except a low row of rocks to keep the animals off the carpets nearly everything is 'hobbled' which looks a bit cruel but they don't use rope and it does solve the problem of the animals wandering off!

Goats and sheep are in aisle 1...

Titch on the right has just been sold along with one of his siblings for a total of 3200 EGP about £80 each, which I thought was quite expensive... The 'boy' tells me this is a sheep but it isn't, it's a goat...

And some very cute goats here as well, quite ornamental in fact. Oh dear admiring goats means I have lived on Crete for too long....

Get a camera out in Egypt and you are never short of a subject, this one on the right should go far, he seemed to think his picture was worth 10EGP, but all he got for his trouble was a clip around the ear from his father for pestering the tourist.

       

And some people, below, do not look too thrilled by the idea of market day...

And finally the ''tea tent''.. An important place for meeting friends and chewing the fat over a cup of tea and a shisha...

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Out And About and Transport - Part 1

 One doesn't like to be nosey, but then when you are out for a walk how can you help noticing things....?? I was going to try and put on a map of where I go often for a walk but unfortunately by the time I have zoomed in on it it is too big to fit an a blog!

Suffice to say it is very dusty most of the way around, 

And before I forget... This should have been in the blog about Luxor City... This is the El Karnak International Hospital.

I don't know why the International because it is for everybody. As you can see it is new!

                           

The two photos above probably say it all, the one on the left is typical in the fields, I have yet to see a tractor.... The load on the donkey and cart is the tops from the sugar cane which they use for animal feed, the one on the right is in the city and they still use donkeys even there, but behind it is one of the minibuses they use in the cities and in the country.

Meanwhile in amongst the fields they are building yet another mosque, as if they haven't got enough already...

This road is a road not just a dusty track, you really would not want to be disabled around here and a wheelchair user... The canal on the left is an irrigation canal but at the moment they have a problem further up the road as the culvert that carries the water from the main channel has become blocked with rubbish and general black Nile mud!

By the way all these dusty tracks have LED street lighting which they have been using for years in Egypt... Who said they were backward?

Like Greeks they do like building stuff in the middle of nowhere... This is destined to be a hotel in a few years time, yes another hotel...

The palm tree on the right amused me rather, never waste a good palm tree is the motto I suppose.

Years of ploughing has resulted in the soil compacting down, and in dry weather blowing away as dust and left this tree high and dry!

Below right n the banana fields they cover the developing fruit with blue plastic bags to protect them from the cold.

Walking around these back streets you get to speak to a lot of people, many of them invite you into their homes and show no embarrassment that the floor is compacted earth, but somehow spotlessly clean. Years of damping the floor and walking on it compacts the dirt down, indeed they even sweep it.

And of course you get the children and sometimes the adults who ask you for money, and for many this seems strange or unusual, but many Egyptians will refer to it as ''a present'', at this point it is worth remembering the Five Pillars of Islam, one of which is 'Charity'.....

Give an Egyptian an apple and you will often see him cut it in half and share it with somebody else.....

The video is just a part of my daily walk, I took it because of the level of the Nile at the moment which is the highest I have ever seen it. Where the donkey is is usually dry land but at present it is flooded. I asked around and apparently the level depends on the rainfall in the mountains where the Nile rises and when Lake Nasser reaches maximum capacity then the flood gates ae opened, but the level also depends on agricultural demands for the rice fields downstream in the Nile delta around Alexandria. Bet you didn't know they grow rice in Egypt!

Meanwhile the weather is still misbehaving and it is very cold at night.... So along the riverbank there are burning braziers to keep tourists and local alike, warm.

And somewhere I have lost the plot on the transport side of things!!

Egypt Part The Third 2022 - Archaeology Warning!!!! Medinet Habu Temple

 The Luxor area is literally littered with archaeological sites which is hardly surprising when you consider it is the location of Thebes, the glorious capital of Upper Egypt during the time of the New Kingdom. The city of Amun, later deified as Amun-Ra...

Most visitors to the area are on a time limit unfortunately so they only get to see The Valley Of The Kings and The Colossi of Memnon which you cannot miss because they are on the side of the road!!

To visit all of these sites in depth would take years and I met a Spanish Egyptologist who has been studying the sites for years and she says she still hasn't finished!

So at the risk of boring you dear reader I visited one of the other temples in the area, Habu Temple, the mortuary temple of Rameses III.

Rameses III was known for his battles against the ''Sea Peoples'' unfortunately the day of my visit that part of the complex was off limits for some reason so I cannot bore you with the huge carved wall depicting the defeat of said Peoples....

Much excavation work has been carried out on the site, since 1926 mostly by the University of Chicago Oriental Department who are still busy at work on the site to this day, the middle of the site once contained a Byzantine Christian church which was demolished to allow excavation of the ancient site below. Needless to say nobody thought to do any drawing or photographs of it beforehand. We can blame the French for that I believe... From here on I will leave you with the pictures although there are a couple of comments further down!

The Temple is built on a slight slope which makes it a bit more interesting than some.

As you can see it is not too crowded...

Lots of statues of Rameses III pretending to be Osiris....

Like a lot of them he thought he was a God...

Note the colours which have remained for 1000s of years which is more than you can say for some of the modern paints.

A lot of the carving is excellent and unusually deep.

If you think the picture below looks familiar look at the picture of the railway station in a previous blog..

At some stage the builders have been in (left), and put in a new piece of wall which has obscured the carvings on the original wall......

Some of the excellent carvings are on the outside of the buildings, hopefully you can see the detail on the picture below..