Cairo is a busy city and is fairly easy to navigate on foot, hell if I can do it... The Egyptian History Museum is fascinating. I must admit I didn't think it was going to be as interesting as it was. There's just so much to see and learn. I decided not to have a guide as its a museum and I can read the notes for myself, however upon entry I realised that there aren't many notes and you can't take photos to research later... That being said, like all the big museums there is still an element of information overload, even without a guide explaining everything. In fact there was souch to see and learn about that I completely forgot to see Tutankhamun's burial mask and sarcophagi, which is like going to the Louvre and not seeing the Mona Lisa! This however was a good excuse to go back with my sketch book in hand on my return to Cairo after a trip to Luxor and Aswan. I've never sat in a museum and drawn before and did so with a little trepidation. Overall it was a fun experience, the only annoying part was people looking over my shoulder as I'm not that confident about my abilities yet.
My favourite part was learning about the animal mummification and worship. The museum has some amazing examples of mumified crocodiles and fish which are huge. One croc was easily twice my height (5"8'). It was also interesting to see the mummies of Rameses II and Hapshetmut among others, having heard about them on my trips in Luxor and Aswan. As there's no photography allowed inside, here's a picture of a cat on one of the monuments outside the museum.
After a few wrong turns I also found the Khan El Khalili market, which to my mind sells too much western tack (I did. warn you), like fake addidas hoodies, sparkly kids shoes, peace symbol necklaces, that sort of stuff. However there are sections that are amazing, full to the brim with interesting smells from spice stalls and vibrant colours of local clothing and materials which you can very literally get lost in. I picked up some scarab beads and bracelets, plus some material for a project I'm thinking of working on. The haggling was good fun and I think I did myself proud with the salespeople. I got my patter down and seemed to get a good price most of the time. The material I got for 30 Egyptian pounds and a salesman further down refused to match that price and said it was really good - I don't think he believed me to be honest. Being British I used to hate haggling, but now I quite enjoy it and I find the key is to laugh at the first price they say no matter how reasonable you think it might be. Plus have an upper limit going in, otherwise they'll push you up too easily.
Giza, Sakkara and Memphis
I booked my first expedition through a local agent and was ready to be wowed by the pyramids of Giza and Sakkara, where the oldest stepped pyramids are... I was not wowed. The pyramids were terribly maintained. This is a running theme in Egypt. Between Pharos destroying each other's monuments, other religions vandalising sacred buildings, archeologists stealing stuff the Egyptian government giving valuables away and plain old grave robbing, all of the monuments I saw were destroyed in some way. It's a shame that these places aren't better maintained and that additions like lighting, doorways, shops, aren't more in keeping and/or discreet, also they're covered in rubble and litter for the most part.
Anyway back to the pyramids, I went to the Pyramids of Giza on horseback with a guide. This was a rip off, but I was really tired and couldn't be bothered to argue so paid up. As those of you who know me IRL will testify, I'm not a lot of use when I'm tired. That being said, the locations are very impressive in their size, though as mentioned there was a lot of litter and the busy Cairo skyline looms over the site, stopping you getting lost in the history and bringing you back to modern day reality.
My guide was nice enough, but quite quickly started angling for tips. He claimed that he only got paid in tips. I heard this line a lot, if it's to be believed I estimate that there are only about three people who ever get paid in Egyptian tourism haha. Anyway like I say he was nice enough and took those obnoxious travel photos all tourists get by using forced perspective, oh look they're below, enjoy those haha. There isn't really much more to say about the pyramids, they are what they are really, tall, pyramid shaped and sandy colored. Climbing a little way up one was fun, though I'm pretty sure we weren't meant to do that...
We also went to Memphis and saw some smaller monuments. Again there was a corridor off rip of merchants, but I got through with my wallet intact.
Luxor and Aswan
I had the idea that I was going to plan and book all my excursions myself and take the train everywhere, however, after talking to a tour company and Ibrahim at my hotel (The BlueBird), I found it was immensely cheaper to get a tour, plus a lot less stressful. I booked to see Aswan and Luxor, including a felucca trip on the Nile.
My trip started with a 3am flight to Aswan. Now I'm no stranger to 3am myself. I have met that dark beauty on many a Friday and Saturday morning, but geez is 3am ugly when you're sober!
I arrived at Aswan very tired in the early morning and my guide picked me up from the airport in a Mercedes that had curtains in the windows (fancy). As it was too early to check in we went to the High dam and Lower dam before visiting the temple of Philae via a motorboat across the Nile, my first 'Niall on the Nile' experience.
We arrived at the High dam to find a large number of military personel on patrol, showing the importance of the dam to Egypt. It not only stops the annual flooding of the Nile, but more importantly provides Egypt with most of its electricity with enough left over to export to neighboring countries. The scale of the damn was very impressive and its curved shape seemed to disappear into the horizon at times.
After a few photos we jumped back into the car to see the Philae temple, which I had been looking forward to a lot. The temple is dedicated to Osiris the God of the underworld and his wife Isis. The legend goes that Osiris was the king of the gods, but his jealous brother killed him and cut his body into 14 pieces and hid one in each of the districts of Egypt at the time. Isis, then flew across the skies to collect all 14 pieces to bring her husband back to life before giving birth to their son Horus.
The temple also has a more recent history in that it had been moved when the High dam was built due to the latter's affect on the water level. Walking amongst the colossal columns that reached up into the sky. My guide told me about the temple, explaining that it had been extended by many Pharos, leading to an array of different designs, which can be observed on the columns, which depicted lotus patters and open and closed papyrus. As we went through the main building I learned that is has a slight mistake. To fit it on the new island the architects had slightly staggered the building to one side meaning that from the Holy of Holies, the main room of offering, you could no longer see directly out to the courtyard.
Exhausted by my travels I then had the rest of the day to myself. Unfortunately I thought that my hotel was in the middle of nowhere and so I didn't fancy venturing into town. I later found out that I just turned up at the wrong time and it's actually quite a busy area. However there was a gym downstairs so I slept and worked out. I know it's not the most culturally explorative thing to do, but I loved it and they played some amazing Egyptian metal which defies a proper description.
The next day I woke up early (3am) and joined a tour group to Abu Simbel. This temple was a lot more impressive than those I'd previously seen on impact. Just seeing the scale of the temples was impressive, though it was inside the tombs that was most impressive. The dark, bus spacious rooms were covered in heiroglyphs and I was able to put some of what I had learned the day before about Horus, Osiris and Isis to good use. Again the signage and lighting outside aren't exactly subtle, but inside the lighting is done really well and brings the heiroglyphs to life, unfortunately again there are no photos allowed inside, but I can see the wisdom in that - you'd never be able to move for Japanese tourists taking pictures! The scale of the heiroglyphs and statues is immense and shows the brilliant craftsmanship that went into this temple.
Now I've briefly touched on traders, they were everywhere, but nowhere more than in Abu Simbel and they do give you the sense of being hunted with their insistence that you purchase something. However if you follow the main tips, no eye contact, just keep walking, etc you'll be fine. I didn't buy anything in the shops as the traders would physically stand in the way of unsuspecting tourists to usher them into their stalls. I did however stand in when I saw a Japanese (I think) woman being harassed by a trader, she was literally cowering from him, it was not fair. He started asking what business it was of mine to get involved and I diplomatically said "look she clearly doesn't want this" when I should have more forcefully said "it's my business when a guy is harassing a woman", oh well I'll know for next time. I was really pleased with myself though it was I was on WWYD, my new favourite show. Seriously check it out on YT.
Luxor and Karnak
I then took the train to Luxor, which was really relaxing. Watching the scenery go zooming by in a rather spacious seat was relaxing and not too mentally taxing as yet again I was on an early commute.
I was met on the platform by a representative from the tour group and taken to the hotel to check in and relax before heading to Karnak and Luxor temple. I walked into Karnak and was blown away by the scale, I had been impressed before but now I was mind blown. The hot sun and blue sky created the perfect atmosphere to loseyself in the many columns and the almost infite array of heiroglyphs. The sandy columns casting an army of shadows across each other. The obelisks crowned the forest of columns standing out like giant oaks amongst saplings. Id learned about the obelisks in school, but seeing them really puts into perspective how amazing it is that these were carved and erected out of single pieces of stone.
I then had to draw myself away to get to Luxor temple, which is a smaller affair, but makes up for its size in diversity. The temple has five different influences including a mosque, Grecian tableau (built by Alexander the Great in an Egyptian style) and a Christian alter. It's a reminder of the influence of other nations, particularly the Romans on the Egyptian culture.
The 4:30am wake up call from the hotel the next morning was a shocker. I practically jumped out of the bed, I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash. Though this was probably a good thing. After staggering into a shuttle bus and a short boat trip across the Nile, which thankfully included a much needed coffee I was on a hot air balloon for sunrise, with a few other bleary eyed tourists. This was another highlight I had been looking forward to. It was amazing and very tranquil silently soaring above the landscape, looking down at the Valley of the Kings. I was stunned by the scale of the Valley of the Kings and the temple of Hapshetsu, It's an amazing way to see the city. I was also surprised by how quickly the balloon moved without being jerky or shakey - like the way ghosts move in movies, but not creepy obviously. I also realised I have no idea how these things work, they were firing up what assume is called the engine as we were going down, surely more fire equals more height right?! Anyways riding a hot air balloon is another thing off the bucket list and added to the date idea list, it is very romantic and those of you who know me know how much of a true romantic I am.
After that I was ready to just float around all day, but instead I headed off to the West Bank to see the Valley of the Kings and the temple of Hatshepsut on the ground.
You could quite easily get spend days in the Valley of the Kings with its vast array of catacombs cut into the cliffs. I went into three tombs in the valley and was immersed in the detail and remaining colour of the highly decorated walls and ceilings. It really is impressive how the colours have survived, you can almost imagine the hundreds of people working on them chiselling and painting by the blinding midday sun.
I would have happily visited more tombs, but sadly due to a lack of tourists, only a few are open. This is a running theme for me. Everyone I speak to tells me how the recent revolutions have killed the tourist trade, which the cities rely on so heavily. They are desperate to host people again and everyone tells me that I must tell people how good and safe Egypt is. I have to say that I don't have anything bad to say about it. Yes you have to watch your things, but if you weren't doing that anyway then I don't think you should visit any city, or even leave the house.
We then went to the temple of Hatshepsut one of the most influential and important female Pharos, who assumed the throne after her husband died and left their young son as heir.
Following my tour I got back to Cairo for a few days of travel planning and r&r. There was an issue with my hotel shuttle and I again had to get a taxi (120 EP this time). To apologize the hotel put me on a dinner cruise on the Nile. I hadn't been interested in the cruise as I thought it would be very touristy and it is, but it was actually a lot of fun. I was also surprised by how much it was like sailing down the Thames looking at the lit up banks and bridges. The entertainment were indicative of various areas of Egypt but had been spruced up for us tourists, such as a guy who was covered in lights while he performed some impressive twirling .
was also able to spend some more time exploring and found some amazing street art some of which captures the mood of the revolution, as well as some signs of the damage done in that time.
So that's pretty much my experience of Egypt. I have to say Luxor has been my favourite place or, to be more precise, The Karnak Temple. The scale of the buildings, statues and monuments is just staggering and something that has really made my trip.
As always, please do comment and watch the vid and stuff. It's always nice to hear what people have to say about the blog, even if it's just to point out typos!! It's so hard to catch them when you're typing with auto correct and reading it back on an iPhone!
