The murmuring sound of the elevator mechanism whose shaft is located next to my room. Imperceptible sounds of voices speaking in a language I don’t understand. A continuous background noise of horn and whistle blowing raising from Al-Tahrir square. Sporadically covered by the wailing sound of an emergency vehicle siren. Joined at regular intervals by the call prayer launched simultaneously from hundreds of mosques scattered around Cairo.

A fizzling neon light. A window that gives on nothing else than the sky since I am on the 10th floor. The reflexion of a poster “Egypt: More than Monuments” in the mirror facing my bed.

This has been my world today as I was recovering from a viral and bacterial attack. I started feeling so-so on Sunday as I was visiting the pyramids. And it turned worst yesterday kicking full gear yesterday evening. I had a rough night but I took it easy today and I am feeling better already.

Getting sick while traveling is quite usual and to tell the truth, the Inca was way better than the Pharaoh at it since it took him only 3 days to get me while I was in Peru (against 15 here).

On other news, I visited more of Cairo in the last 3 days including the pyramids at Saqara, Dhashur and Giza (my first time in a Pyramid), part of Islamic Cairo (my first time in a Mosque) and the tiny Coptic Cairo (my first time in an Orthodox Church, Coptic Church and Sinagogue). Yes, that was plenty of first times! What have I done for the last 29 years?

[4/29/2006: Added links to some pictures]
[5/17/2006: Added links to some more pictures]

Luxor is a huge tourist mecca. The city is quite small and is actually separated in two parts. The old Luxor is where people live and all the backpacker’s hotels are located. The other part of town is kind of lifeless with a bunch of luxury hotels, trendy restaurants and pubs and overpriced souvenirs shops.

In the 5 days I spent here, I managed to visit most of the main sites.

The Necropolis 

First, there is the West Shore of Luxor with the necropolis.I went there twice each time paying a cab for the whole day (5-6 hours actually). There are other ways to visit including horses, camels and donkeys but I did not feel like spending 5 hours on a donkey under the heavy heat. Maybe I am just getting old ;).

The Memnon Collossi are used as an unofficial entrance sign of the necropolis. They were actually marking the entrance of Amenophis III’s temple that has disappeared since. It is just a five minutes stop and is free.

The Valley of the kings and its 63 discovered tombs is an amazing site that was completely different than what I was expecting. I visited 3 tombs there and it was quite a sight. My favorite is Tuthmosis III’s tomb with its quilted style so different than the usual style of haut-reliefs and bas-reliefs.

 

My favorite and the favorite of many people I talked to, Ramses III’s temple at Madinet Habu is just astonishing. Some of the bas-reliefs still have their colors and this makes so much difference.

The Hatchepsut temple at Deir Al-Bahari is a great temple with an impressive architecture. It also has some great murals showing Hatchepsut leading a campaign against Ethiopia. But I was not that attracted after all. Maybe it was due to the high damage the temple endured.

The Valley of the Nobles is usually ignored by the tourists. It is a good and a bad thing because you will end up being the only tourist in the tombs but in exchange, you will have to fend off the constant hassling of the overzealous/overaggressive guards that don’t get many chances to get baksheesh. If you go to the necropolis for a second day, I would definitely advise to include this place in your schedule. I visited 5 of the main tombs and they are all great. They usually have more down to earth subjects represented on their walls and are actually very well preserved. I really liked it. Sadly, I do not have any pictures to show because they all present murals with great colors that would be deteriorated by flashes.

The Ramesseum is yet another of Ramses II’s temple showing its great achievement during the battle of Qadesh. Frankly, maybe it was that I was tired at the end of my second day on the West shore of Luxor but it is quite damaged and I did not find it that interesting and would definitely advise people to just pass on it. Especially if you visit other of Ramses II’s temples like Abu Simbel great temple.

I decided not visit the Valley of the Queens because Nefertari’s tomb is now closed. Other tombs are there and worthwhile though.

Karnak

Then, there is the Karnak temple three kilometers north of Luxor. The Karnak temple and Luxor temple used to be linked by a path demarcated by two rows of sphinxes. It seems like the government is trying to recreate this path by excavating and destroying wathever was built in its place. The Karnak temple is a great temple celebrating the main god of ancient Egypt: Amun. Every pharaoh wanting to be linked to Amun, the temple is actually a big mess that evolved for many centuries following the additions and reorganizations of said pharaohs. It was definitely worth a visit but you will have to walk a lot and venture out of the main path to see the most interesting (IMHO) things.

Luxor 

I decided not visit Luxor’s temple even if it could have been the easier to visit. It is just that there is nothing that impressive inside and I had a good view from outside.

Luxor has also two very interesting museums: The Luxor’s museum and the mummification’s museum. They are all open late so are great to visit in the evening when the rest of the sites are closed. I visited the Luxor’s museum on Tuesday. It is very well organized and has some great pieces including a reconstituted mural from the Amarna period. Great stuff. I visited the museum at the same time than a class of Egyptian guide students that showed to be more than friendly and eager to exercise their language skills on me. I ended up with a bunch of young adults around me speaking to me in French and English. One young woman was speaking perfect French and I am sure she will be a great guide. It was a good time that was interrupted by one of the museum guard that chased them away thinking they were bothering me.

Abydos and Dendara

Further away from Luxor and requiring some travel in a convoy under military protection are two impressive temples that I visited yesterday. You need to pay for a taxi or minivan that then joins the convoy. The convoy leaves around 8AM from Luxor and is going through 175 kilometers at crazy speed while the army is blocking all traffic at every intersection! As if this was not hairy enough, the cars in the convoy are playing a little game to see which one will arrive in first position at the sites and are continuously passing each other in cumbersome situations. Quite a sight in itself! And it might not be a good idea if you are car sick or tend to be frighten easily.

Abydos

The temple of Seti I at Abydos is just mind-boggling. It is definitely one of my favorites. It is very well preserved. Like Edfu, it still has its original roof. But even better, most of its bas-reliefs are of a prodigious quality and have kept most of their original colors. There, 7 major gods were venered so it gives a good opportunity to put a face on known names like Isis, Osiris, Amun, Horus and Sekhmet. There is also the famous Abydos list in a side room that lists 76 pharaohs preceding Seti I.

Dendara

My last visit of the week but not the last was the temple of Hathor at Dendara. This temple is more recent. It was started by the Ptolemies (including the famous Cleopatra (VII actually)) and finished by the Romans. It hence has Greco-roman influences. The things I prefered were the ceiling of the first room representing astronomical knowledge of the period and the Zodiacal room where the 12 zodiacal signs are represented on the ceiling. The crypt is also quite impressive with fine bas-reliefs.

These two sites being more difficult to access, they are plagued with the same issue than in the Valley of the Nobles and you constantly have to fend away guards eager for baksheesh.

I actually visited these two sites with Jason and Jana, Australian and German newlyweds. And Jason being a student Egyptolog advised me to tell them I was a doctor. That kind of worked even if I think they did not really believed me with my guide book in hand ;). I don’t know… maybe I should just give up and distribute baksheesh at the beginning so that they leave me alone! But then I would just participate in reinforcing this bad habit.

Conclusion

It has been a great week here. If you come, I would advise to spend at least one day (maybe 2) in the necropolis visiting Valley of the Kings, Madinet Habu, Valley of the Nobles and Hatchepsut temple and another day visiting Abydos and Dendara. A third day could be used to visit Karnak and maybe Luxor.

I was actually a bit burned out of so much visiting and took it easy today. And as of not loosing a good habit, I chilled out again Club Med style ;). Their hotel is actually larger than in Aswan with a larger and even nicer swimming pool. But this has a higher cost of entry as well as many more people around the pool. I had a great time anyway and feel ready for my 8 hour train back to Cairo in second class.

[Edited on 4/29/2006 to add link to pictures]

[Edited on 5/17/2006 to add link to more pictures]

While the Nile does not flow only through Egypt (It goes through Ethiopia and Sudan), it is difficult to separate Egypt and the Nile because without it, life would be hard, if possible at all, down here.

The ancient Egyptians were even more dependant on it than today’s Egypt. The Nile would rise and drown its banks leaving sediments indispensable for agriculture when retiring. The highest the Nile, the highest the harvest and, of course, the highest the tax! Strange rooms named Nilometers were used at this effect and can be seen close to the temples located on the shores of the Nile like on Elephantine Island in Aswan or at Philae Temple.

Anyway, I am starting to sound like an history teacher here! The Nile was central to ancient Egypt and hence all the monuments and major cities of that period are close to its shores. So, while visiting, you will see the Nile often. And it would be incredible if you never end-up navigating on it. I actually got on it many times and the felucca is definitely the best experience.

A felucca is a nice wooden sail boat. It is mostly, if not only, used as a tourist attraction in Egypt. The feluccas are plenty in Aswan and Luxor and after having got in one at Aswan and Luxor, my favorite time was in Aswan where you are navigating amidst the many islands present there.

If you are really into sailing, you can easily hire a felucca complete with captain and crew (1 or 2) to take you from Aswan down the Nile to Kom Ombo (2 days), Edfu (3 days) or Esna (4 days). And then, you can hire a cab to take you to Luxor in a question of hours.

As I was leaving Aswan to Luxor, I evaluated the felucca as an option but I finally decided to go with the big boat cruise direct to Luxor in 2 days with stops in Kom Ombo and Edfu. I did not feel like being stuck on a 15 meters long boat with 6-7 other persons I just met for 2 days. I think it is a good option (way less expensive than the cruise) if you are a small group of friends.

Hence, for the reasonable price of $120, I ended up on a big cruise boat with swimming pool, restaurant and bar/disco leaving last Saturday 2PM. It was my first experience on a cruise boat. Since it was only two days, it was a perfect opportunity to try something I had been criticizing in the past as being too passive.

Well, the boat was OK, definitely not showing anymore the 5 stars of when it was constructed sometime in the mid 70’s but reasonable for a 2 day-cruise. Life on the boat revolved between the restaurant and the upper deck close to the small swimming pool. Food was good. Drinks were expensive so BYOB. I brought water and some Brits I met had brought beers so we were OK ;).

Luxor is so close from Aswan that we could have done it in a bit more than a day if not for the 7 hour wait for the lock at Esna.

I also had the opportunity to visit the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu. They are two very nice temples. Edfu is actually a very impressive temple that has been very well preserved with its original ceiling and a lot of murals that still have quite a lot of paint left. It is definitely on my top 5 list so far. The only issue is that it was the complete opposite than my experience at Abu Simbel. It seems like all the boats on the Nile are in Edfu at the same time so the temple was so crowded that you could not move close to the main chamber. Definitely not my favorite style of visit, more like a train station hall than a sanctuary :(. My advice would be to try to get there after 9-10AM when all the boats are gone. It must be quite an experience.

All in all, it was a good experience. I relaxed for 2 days, had some interesting conversations and enjoyed the view of the shores. I also had a bit too much sun but nothing really bad.

I am now in Luxor since yesterday and already enjoying the monuments around here. I will post about what I have seen so far tomorrow or the day after.

[Edited on 4/12/2006 to add links to related pictures]