The (Belated) Return to Egypt January 2019 - Cairo.

Somehow i just knew I was going to come back to Egypt again.....

But first, I have taken the liberty of re-dating the original posts so that they start earliest first, this will give new readers a chance to start at the beginning instead of the end of the 2017 trip!!

A few weeks after my return from the January 2017 trip I was taken into hospital in Greece (where I was spending the winter), the doctors were surprised that I had been able to fly to Egypt so recently, and even more surprised to find that the previous January (2016) I had spent 13 hours on a flight to Singapore!! Anyway it is the end of March and I am due to fly back to the UK the following weekend in time to celebrate my 65th birthday in Brighton. Except I am not because they will not let me......

Two days after I returned from the 2017 trip I was already looking flights and doing a bit of planning towards returning in January 2018, but the (not unexpected), news that I had chest problems put the fear of God up me, and the plan was dropped as I had now become a nervous flyer!!

Yes me, nervous. Me who over the period of many years has clocked up millions of miles at least!!

But in the meantime something else came up that didn't need to much flying, well only one way across the Atlantic anyway, and in September 2018 I spent 6 weeks in the USA and Canada, but that is another story.

The hankering to return to Egypt was still there and having clocked up a few more air miles I had free tickets to Egypt and back..... So........ The trip to the US and Canada having been a bit breathless (pun intended), a more relaxing holiday to Egypt is called for and time to fill in a few blanks as it were.

The itinerary will be Cairo, and Luxor, and that is it. No desperate one day tours into the desert, no cruise to anywhere, and just a few visits that were an absolute must to fill in the gaps from before.

Arriving in Cairo in the middle of the night, (that's air miles for you, they put you on a flight that nobody wants to be on), I have booked a transfer except that this time there is nobody to meet me before passport control, but that is OK because I have done this before... First change money, and get the visa, stick it in the passport, and go to immigration with the landing card.... Reclaim bags, but still nobody with a sign up with my name on it.....

Something different, after reclaim you don't get your passport checked yet again, but they do X ray your bags on the way out.

I get the usual approaches from taxi drivers and at this point many might think, ''Hell my transfer is not here. I'll get a cab''. But my driver is outside the terminal building, no sign up but a tablet instead!! How modern is that then?

And Tim's Tip Of The Day.... Get WhatsApp on your mobile phone. Everybody in Egypt is on it and it is a really good way of getting in touch with transfer drivers and tour companies. You don't even need to use data because there are Wi-fis everywherem and if you do need to turn data on then WhatsApp is very frugal with it!

I am staying at Mena House, yes I am still on the Agatha Christie trail, and remember I was a bit put out because my co-travellers on the Nile cruise in 2017 had stayed there and I hadn't. Not that I was jealous of course.

So Day 1 is in Cairo.... Breakfast time at Mena House. And what a crap view that is to have to look at while you are having breakfast on the terrace at Mena House.

Slightly disappointed that the old part of Mena House is not currently open but never mind. I am in Cairo so what else matters. And the Great Pyramid of Cheops is just a short walk away.

Walking up to the Pyramids is like, well I don't know what it is like, but it involves getting accosted by taxi drivers, (why do I need a taxi? It is only half a mile away), and people trying to sell you tours, and tour guides, and who needs one of those when you can read the guide book??

But I found the same tactic worked as with boatmen in Luxor, engage them in conversation and then walk off..... On the way up the hill you pass a yard where they keep lots of very dusty cars, carriages, and spare camels.

Getting a ticket into Giza means standing in a queue, but this gives you time to read the price list, (entry in Egyptian archaeological sites is still cheap compared with other countries), and the plethora of options that seem to be available is confusing in spite of the gentlemen that approach you and offer to sell you a ticket for US$50. When you finally get to the ticket office, be prepared to be ignored and get pushed out of the way by a local who is obviously in a lot more of a hurry than you. So when I finally get the man's attention I just ask for a ticket. 

''Just one?'' 

''Yes, just one.''

Five English Pounds later I have my ticket, (which apparently does most things depending on the time of day, and the day of the week, and whether it is an odd or even date, and whether there is an R in the month), and on the way up to the Great Pyramid I am accosted yet again by an ''official guide'' flashing a very official looking ''badge'' asking me what ticket I have. So I show him and he very helpfully tells me what it entitles me to see, except the man checking the tickets has already told me... I think he was expecting a tip for telling me but he didn't get one.

The last trip was somewhat rushed and with long explanations from my guide there was no time for roaming. This time I am able to roam at my leisure and marvel at the people taking selfies with nothing but desert and blue sky behind them. Rather like people who take pictures of themselves on a beach with nothing but sea and sky behind them. They could be anywhere.....

My ticket does not let me go into everything, but I manage to get into the Boat Museum, and also I can visit the Temple of Khafre and The Sphinx..... And also the Tomb of Seshem Nefer Theti.






Meanwhile I encounter Ali..... Ali has a camel.... Ali wants me to take a camel ride, and if you read the blog on the 2017 trip, I am never getting on a camel again.

Ali will take a picture of me sitting on the camel, while it is on the ground, for a couple of English pounds... Ali is a rip off merchant.....




 Ali takes a very nice selfie of himself using my camera, and a picture of me on the camel.... Which is fine but then he pockets my camera, whistles and the camel stands up and takes off across the desert, stopping next to a ruined wall which means I can get off the camel on to the wall......


He then thinks I am going to give him US$200 for the camel ride and to get my camera back. Ali doesn't know that I only have a few English Pounds on me and he can keep the camera...

Something of an argument ensues while I walk back up to the track leading to The Sphinx, but I do give him a fiver and he does give me back the camera while still shouting (presumably) abuse at me.......

I think Ali is saving up for some serious dental work.

On the way down to the Sphinx I pass two policemen who ask me what was going on up the hill, so I tell them and show them the picture of Ali. They are not happy and a few minutes later I see them up the hill talking to Ali.

I think Ali got into trouble. But never mind, I arrive down the hill at the Sphinx and a very nice official guide takes my photograph for me, doesn't even want a tip, and restores my faith in human nature. Before leaving Giza Plateau I take a look around and still marvel at how Giza has grown since I saw pictures of the Sphinx in the ''Children's Book Of Knowledge when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when it was in the middle of the desert.... They seem now to be pulling down some buildings nearby, and I am heading for the rather excellent restaurant where I had lunch the last time I was here, only to find it is closed, and has been for some some, as is the restaurant next door.

Indeed none of the restaurants in the area seems to be open. A sign of the times, or are they going to knock them down I wonder??

I cannot re-enter the Plateau it seems so I take a walk by the main road back to my hotel, this turns out to be the long route, and certainly not the prettiest. Egypt is not a place for those of limited physical capabilities. The pavement all seem to be at least a foot high and involve a big step up and down as you cross a side road. Which is why everyone walks along the side of the road I guess.

I don't think many tourists walk this way as I don't get accosted at all by any of the shop keepers. Disappointing in a way, but I do get something to eat and I let the man in the shop do the choosing for me, and end up with more food than I can eat for EG£75, say GB£3.50 roughly.

When I get back to my hotel I pause to take a picture of the very large light fitting in reception before getting an early night.

Tomorrow is flying to Luxor day, and as I didn't get to sleep until gone 3 am this morning and early night is called for.

The next day is a leisurely one with plenty of time for breakfast before my taxi to the airport.

You will read that the trip from Giza to Cairo Airport takes less than an hour via the ''ring road''. It doesn't because the traffic is at a complete standstill and it takes over an hour and a half. Luckily I have allowed plenty of time, and it was worth the extra time just to get a view of IKEA on the way.....

Let's Start At The Beginning, The Independent Traveller Follows Poirot.....

Which is always the best place to start.....

I have wanted to visit Egypt ever since I read (at primary school), about the plans to save the temple of Rameses II from the rising waters of the newly formed Lake Nasser, and also seeing pictures of the treasures from King Tut's tomb.

Yes I really am that old!

Somehow I never seemed to get around to making the trip until finally last August 2016, I decided that it was time to go. 

When I said to friends that that I was thinking about Egypt the instant response was ''Hurghada or Sharm El Sheikh?''

Neither I replied, ''Cairo, a Nile cruise, and maybe some extra time in Luxor and Aswan.''

''You can't do that,'' they said, ''It's not safe''.

Well three weeks later I am back home after one of the most enjoyable, and interesting holidays I have ever had.

So let's get rid of a few myths to start off with...

Egypt isn't safe - Well if you walk down unlit back alleys in the middle of the night nowhere is ''safe''.

You will get robbed - As ever, walking around dripping in jewellery, flaunting expensive designer clothes is always a draw anywhere you go.

There are children who will approach you begging for money - Occasionally

.

People will try to sell you things you don't want - Then don't buy them.

You have to bribe everyone - Well no not really, but an occasional bit of ''baksheesh'' never hurts anywhere you go. Just look upon it as a tip but a lot less than you have to pay in other countries.

You have to travel in convoys with armed guards - Well actually no you don't.

Unfortunately since ''the revolution'' in 2011, which was mainly centred around Cairo and Alexandria many would be visitors have been put off, and with reports of the occasional shooting by extremists at some archaeological sites 20 (yes 20) years ago, it is still more than likely true to say that you will get on the wrong end of a shooting in the USA rather than in Egypt. 

Take a look at this web site if you don't believe me, http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ and then tell me how many reports there have been of tourist being shot in Egypt, and rest assured you would have heard about it if there had been!

So minor rant over and let's get down to business. Of course these are only my findings, and it was after all my holiday, but I do like to ask questions and I don't always ''follow the herd''.

Egypt is majority a Muslim country. Not all Muslims are extremists or terrorists, that is only what the press (and possibly your government) make them out to be. Some of them are devout Muslims, and some are not. Just like Christians of which there are a fair amount too. And look all of them manage to live together!

As for Egyptians themselves? Well they are ready to smile, you smile at them they return the smile without imagining that you are some kind of nutter, not only that but they have a great sense of humour too. 

They are polite and helpful, and expect you to be the same.

They will walk past you in the street and say ''Welcome to Egypt''. And they mean it. And they will help you to cross the street too, and boy, will you need the help in Cairo!

They are incredibly impressed if you can read Arabic numbers if nothing else, even though, like everywhere these days, all the bills and cash registers print out everything in Latin characters. And virtually all them speak English.

So there is your xenophobia gone for a start.....

Many people still go to the Red Sea resorts, but all inclusive hotels resorts are not Egypt.

To see Egypt you have to travel and this is what this blog is about.

Us English are a strange lot, apparently. Or so one of my tour guides seemed to think. Well I think that he thought that because we have an author called Agatha Christie, who wrote a book called Death On The Nile.

Agatha, bless her, travelled around a bit, and she went to Egypt, to Cairo, Aswan, and down the Nile and was inspired to write the book, and ever since armchair travellers have followed her. Of course you have to remember that the English (rightly or wrongly) have had a close relationship with many parts of Africa not only with Egypt and Sudan, but many other parts of it too.

My inspiration comes not from her book, but from things I read so many years ago and I don't like things that are too organised and like to do a fair amount of things on my own, with the help of the internet of course. But of course I would like to follow a little bit in Poirot's footsteps so on the list of things to do is visit Karnak, the Aswan Dams, and Abu Simbel, and stay at The Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, and The Winter Palace in Luxor, so naturally the Nile cruise is going to be the way to go.

But I also want to see The Great Pyramid, THE Sphinx, (as opposed to any other sphinxes there may be) and Fayoum Oasis which not so many people go to.

So at ''the core'' of my trip is a Nile cruise with bits bolted on to visit other things away from the Nile. There are about 280 Nile cruise ships in existence, only about 80 of them are actually running because of the current downturn in visitors to Egypt which for those tourists that are visiting, (and there are many of them), makes the whole experience mush more enjoyable as you are not vieing with hoards of other people everywhere you go. (Although it does not do a lot for the Egyptian tourist industry).

This makes the choice of cruises a bit more limited especially as I do not want a flight from the UK included in the package because I live on Crete, and surprisingly some of the tour companies do not want to know you unless you are taking the whole package. So by the time I have added on the single supplement, (which I personally think should be dropped), moved my cabin up a deck, and taken the ''included drinks package'', the price came out about the same, a shade short of £900, as if I had had the flights included.

Having booked a 7 night cruise I have to look at the other things I want to see so I started with 6 nights in Cairo, my original plan of taking the train from Cairo to Luxor to join the ship was changed to flying so that I got a full extra day in Luxor so that I had time to visit the Temples at Abydos and Dendera, and also booked a 2 day guided tour around Cairo, a bit extravagant that might seem but so much easier logistically than doing it my own. Further investigation produced the overall feeling that guided tours were definitely the way to go, you certainly don't want to be driving a rental car in Egypt!

The prices of guided tours are quite reasonable, most of them include lunch and you get a guide and a driver both of whom are licensed.

And here's Tim's Top Tip Of The Day - Car registration plates are colour coded in Egypt. Private cars have a blue stripe along the top, taxis have an orange stripe, tourist vehicles (cars and minibuses) have a cream coloured stripe along the top, and public transport/freight have a red stripe.

So if you are told by someone that they are a licensed tour guide and they put you in a car with a blue stripe then they are no such thing, similarly the man that asks you if you want a taxi, grabs your bags and puts them in a car with a blue strips is not a taxi driver.

Most of the important sites are already included in the cruise itinerary, but the trip to Abu Simbel is an extra, and from the cruise itinerary it is fairly obvious that to take the optional trip to Abu Simbel means getting up at 3am!

I am on holiday so there is no way I am getting up at 3am, which is the reason for backtracking to Aswan so that I can take a 10.30am departure! 

The final night in Egypt is going to be spent in Cairo again, and as I always like to have at least one train trip I am taking the overnight sleeper train from Aswan arriving back in Cairo (well Giza actually) at around 9am which gives me another whole day to look round Cairo some more but there is an oddity here because although I can book the sleeper train on the Web, I cannot book the day train from Luxor to Aswan, but we will cross that bridge a little later.

And the last thing to do is hit Ebay for a second hand guide book with small maps of Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan. And to get an Egyptian Arabic phrasebbok and dictionary which turned out to be completely unnecessary!

So armed with my trusty Panama hat (a real one that you can roll up and put in your hand luggage), that everyone says make me look the part of the traditional English archaeologist, and bottle of insect repellent and a tube of sting cream, I am ready to go.

Well nearly because three days before I am due to leave I realise that my typhoid jab has expired, not time to get one now, but there is not that much risk if I avoid drinking Nile water and stick to bottles.

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!

Cairo.... A Day Off From Sightseeing, Fayoum Oasis, and A Police Escort...

Those of you who have been paying attention will remember that I arrived in Cairo a day late because of bad weather on Crete, and a snowbound Athens airport, this meant that I did not have my usual day of getting acclimatised before the adventures began. 

The other point of leaving a day spare, as any independent traveler knows, is to allow time for flight delays so there is the minimum of rebooking required!! See the system works!!

So by Thursday I am ready for a day off doing whatever I please and have a look around where I am staying, which is on Gezira Island looking east across the Nile. Very handy really because it is only a short walk across Kubri Qasr Al Nil Bridge and turn left to get to the Egyptian Museum and ''downtown'' Cairo, and not far from the Cairo Tower and Opera either. There is a metro station nearby but today I refer to walk.

Or I would do if the taxi drivers outside the hotel would let me! Ask the taxi driver how much it will be, and if you decide it is worth it then take a taxi.... In my case back to the souk for a bit of shopping to get one of these.

Well one of the things hanging up that is. It's a light fitting and it is not for me and I am not going to carry it around for the next two weeks, it is going in a box and being posted. After some serious bartering I got it for half the price the the man asked, (and don't ask me how much it was), and then I asked him if he could put it in a box because I had to send it by post. At this point three other people got involved, the end result was that I paid the price he asked in the first place and after that is was out of my hands because it was boxed, I addressed it and it disappeared on a scooter to be posted. Three weeks later it arrived at its destination in Florida.... Magic... Who needs a genie in a lamp? All you need is an Egyptian!

Needing to get back to my hotel I thought about getting trying on of these out. You see a lot of these buzzing around, this one is rather smart as mostly they seem to be very elderly Volkswagen camper vans, usually with the back engine flap open because they have an air cooled engine.

They seem to also be ''furnished'' with fringes, tassles, and brightly coloured ''rugs'' which I found out later are Bedouin made and cost a fortune if you want to buy one! But is was not to be because I got ensnared by a taxi driver, but with a difference. This one put the meter on with the result that the fare back to my hotel was about half what I had paid to get there. A lesson learnt there then!


Just around the corner from my hotel is the Cairo Tower.... There is also a gardens here but it was closed for some reason, and there are various government offices, heavily guarded I might add. I think the Cairo Tower is well worth the effort just to get a few photos if nothing else, and to meet people of course. Particularly people wanting to get a visa to go to the UK, but I will not dwell on that......

 Cairo is a bit hazy to say the least.. But you get the general idea, and meanwhile the horses are getting their lunch....


Tomorrow is another busy day as I am off to Fayoum Oasis.

The trip out to Fayoum Oasis is, I think, something that not many people do, although, all in all, it is worthwhile if you have the time! My day did not get off to a good start when the guide got into the car and promptly went to sleep.....

Passing through several villages we pick up a police escort on the way, the only occasion during my stay when I had a police escort but there had been some ''troubles'' in the Western Desert so we had to have one. Indeed you have to have permission to go out this way! A bit of confusion came into play when the permit we had said I was Australian when I am not which is probably why when we stopped to pick up a bit of breakfast, I apparently bought breakfast for the police escort as well! Welcome to Egypt! 

The sites out this way are clearly not visited by many as at Karanis the guide has to call the curator to come and open up for us, and at Qasr Qarun, the ancient city of Dionysis there was no curator at all, the settlements here are mainly Roman and it would appear that most of the reason for their existence is that they were on the caravan route. 

Meanwhile the desert has reclaimed some of the excavations that were done in the past and little has been done in the way of restoration or preservation.

Interestingly the Temple of Sobek-Ra at Qasr Qarun is just about the only remaining temple with the roof still intact.

The nearby lake, which is below sea level is far smaller that is was in ancient times and has become so salty that marine shellfish can be farmed in it.

 One day I will learn how to put photos in the right place on Blogger....

Above Karanis and right the Temple of Sobek Ra 

Finally we reach the waterfalls at Fayoum, this is the place where people from Cairo come to have a splash about do a bit of sailing, sand boarding, and canoodling, which is frowned upon!! People have been arrested it seems and while we are wandering around I seem to have collected a ''minder''....

There is a large ''coffee house'' here and it is that time of day, and my guide is getting more and more fidgety by the minute because there is a small mosque here, and it is Friday... Before he has a chance to even say anything, I just say ''Go'' because I can already tell that he is one of the more devout and it the Holy Day of the week.

 An ideal place for beach volleyball, after all there is plenty of sand....

 We are on the eastern edge of the Sahara Desert here, and if you were expecting rolling sand dunes with windblown furrows and Omar Sharif to come riding bareback over the dunes then forget it. It might be like that further west but here the dunes have ruts from 4WDs, and a lot of rocks...

But we have one more stop to make before returning to Cairo. Fayoum is famous for its waterwheels, (which were invented by the Greeks), and we are going to see some of them. Well actually
we are not because the ones you normally see are being ''restored''.

So we are going to look at this one instead, in spite of the rubbish, (mainly plastic carrier bags I am sorry to say), everybody seems to be enjoying the fun of diving off into the canal.....

Above is one of the crops you see frequently here, it is a fast growing grass especially for feeding animals, so to the left is a donkey who has been to the supermarket and is carrying his dinner home with him.

Arriving back in Cairo we go to eat, and this time I insist the driver comes too.... After all he was a lot more responsive than the guide.....

Cairo to Luxor and on to Dendera and Abydos

My original plan was to take the train from Cairo to Luxor where I am picking up my Nile cruise ship, but a friend was telling me about Dendera and Abydos, and when I looked at it I thought ''Yes. Why not''. But taking the train was going to take up too much time, and flying was cheaper anyway...

Cairo airport departures is a seething mass of humanity, you and your baggage are X rayed and scanned before you even get to the check in desk, and add the fact that I have to go to the Egyptair desk to get my ticket it all makes for good fun. There are people that will walk up to you and tell you that they have special permission to take you the back way through to save you time. 

Don't believe them, they will take your money and your luggage but they will not take you as well. Just ask them where their official ID tag is and they disappear like a puff of smoke.

I lost one trainer in the X ray machine... They proudly presented me with a trainer except it wasn't mine, so at some stage somebody had given up and continued on with only one trainer. I got mine eventually....

Beyond the security and check in the departure gates there is not a soul in sight. Where has everybody gone? The lavatory attendant will let you have a cigarette in the toilet for a small consideration, unnecessary in my case, but there is a smoking lounge anyway that costs nothing.

Arriving at Luxor I don't seem to have any luggage but it finally appears and I walk outside looking for a taxi. My luggage is heaved up on to one shoulder of a total stranger who trots off into the car park with me following. (You get used to this after a while in Egypt, so far the only time I have had to deal with my own luggage is from the taxi into the departure hall at Cairo airport) and I am introduced to Ali my taxi driver who is one of the funniest men I have ever met, certainly the funniest taxi driver for sure. 

Ali is no youngster, speaks excellent English, laughs a lot, and has only one tooth that I can see, which is not difficult because he spends most of the time looking at me not the road. 

''First time in Luxor?''

''Yes''

''I will take you on a tour''

I thought it was going to cost me a fortune but it was about the same amount of money that you have to pay just to get into a taxi in Brighton, without even going anywhere. You don't want his life history and neither did I but I got it anyway.

Arriving at my hotel, The Winter Palace, we have to stop 300 metres away from the entrance because the entire front of the hotel and the road is full of motorbikes. The Egyptian Motorcycling Club are having there annual get together. Ali shouts and whistles, (how can you whistle with only one tooth?), and a ''bellboy'' appears to take my bags. Bags scanned and me too I approach the reception desk to be told that they have suspended the normal dress code, (smart casual), which is not a surprise with the amount of denim, T shirts, and leather floating around. They seem to know who I am and the necessary paperwork is done, my bags have disappeared already, I know not where, and I am guided to my room...... 

Time for a wander around the area before something to eat and then an early night because it is another early start....

And this is one trip that I think is essential if you are doing a Nile cruise then you must find time to do the trip to Dendera and Abydos. It is a shortish journey and the road is not too good in places, but my guide is entertaining, and the driver is excellent especially when we drove through the middle of what appreared to be the local rubbish tip! Again I am surprised that I am the only passenger but it seems this is normal unless you are actually travelling as part of a party. I never mind sharing transport especially doing things like this because it gives you somebody to discuss what you have seen.

If you confine yourself to just going from your 5 star Cairo hotel to Giza and back again, and the sights that you see along the Nile, you are restricting yourself to a very narrow view of Egypt so I make no apologies for the length of this post, nor for the number of photos of the journey where you see things that have been happening for thousands of years such as the making of ''mud'' bricks..

Arriving at Abydos be prepared to see,
and hear many things. Not least of all the story of Dorothy Eady, of which you can believe as much or as little as you like. The best part of this side trip is that although it is a popular place to visit, it is not so crowded as the sites along the Nile, so both at Abydos and Dendera you can see more because you are not being jostled by other groups of visitors.....

The guides also have more time to explain what is going on.


Tim's Tip of The Day: You will only get
as much from your guide as you put in.
If you are interested in what you see and show it, you will get a lot more from your guide.....

At Abydos is not only the Temple of Seti I,  but also the Temple of Ramesses II, and you are going to hear those names again during your further adventures in Egypt. Here you can see the famous hieroglyph said to depict modern technology including the helicopter, a result of the original carving from the time of Set I being plastered over and re-carved in the time of Ramsses II, his son. And the carving depicting Seti I wearing the crown of Lower Egypt roping the sacred bull with his son, then only Prince Ramesses.

Nearby is a cafe, typical of many in Egypt, where you can get a coffee after walking through the site, again my guide is fascinated by my desire for coffee at regular intervals!

 Leaving Abydos we get a police escort through the lunchtime traffic on our way to Dendera.

 

 Dendera is a large complex, parts of which do get crowded because they are not very large, but on the day I visited there were very few visitors.

Like many monuments worldwide it has suffered with the ravages of time, (don't we all?), but here something has happened over time that has given us the chance to see what it was really like. Hundreds of years of soot, presumably from oil lamps and fires within the temple, had been deposited
on the ceiling, preservingnwhat lay beneath, (although as it is a ceilling I suppose that should read ''What lay above''), this soot has been carefully removed to reveal the original painting giving us a view of what it was like when first built.

 Some of the carving at Dendera is quite clearly not Pharoanic, and the columns are more Corinthian than Doric as at Abydos. There are excellent examples of Ptolemaic art including the carving of THE Cleopatra, (overheard in the background, ''You mean she really existed? I thought she was just a part played by Elizabeth Taylor), with her son one of the last Ptolemy's who was fathered by Julius Caesar!

The Romans might have thought their occupation of Egypt was a good thing,
whether the Egytpians did is a different

 matter!

Also at Dendera you can see the famous Zodiac ceiling, well actually you can't because what you are looking at is a copy. Napoleon's army took it and it is now in The Louvre, as are many other
artifacts.
I will not dwell on the political side of this because I live in Greece and there are ongoing demands for the return of The Marbles....

 Meanwhile in The Louvre the Venus de Milo,and the statue of Winged Victory are still to be found....

Enjoy the rest of the pictures because we are heading back to Luxor for something to eat!

Part of the revealed ceiling to the right.
A wonderful shade of blue....