The Sun King - The Cult

Luxor 1-18-07

That nice little hotel I mentioned on my last post is again called Ramses. It’s not like every hotel in Egypt is named that but my first choice was booked and they recommended this place. It’s down a dirt road alley filled with playing children and well lit at night. The hotel is a LOT nicer than the last place but that’s what you get for an extra $2 a night. Luxor proper seems a bit of a hassle but I’m staying across the Nile on the West Bank (I know, the name had me worried at first too) which is very laid back and quite enjoyable so far. After a leisurely afternoon I headed across the river to the go to the Karnak Temple complex, (Please standby for a brief history lesson interlude just so I remember this stuff when I’m older and grayer: Karnak is the biggest of all the Ancient Egyptian sites bar Giza. It covers over 100 acres, held three separate temples and was added to by many a different Pharisaic dynasty. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.).

And moving on . . the locals Nile ferry cost 1 pound (20 cents) but the cab ride to go 2 miles cost 20 pounds. To me that’s just wrong so I had to bargain the driver down 5 pounds. Egyptian cabbies are the thorn in my side of late and bargaining is just part of the life here in Egypt. So I get there early and am the first person they let on the temple grounds before the show starts. I’m standing at the entrance in the pitch black with dozens of sphinx rams lining the road to a huge wall. The only other person nearby was a local in full robes smoking and not really caring if I crossed the rope barrier he was guarding. Seriously, the temple is massive and being there at night by yourself is well, spooky. It was as if I could actually sense 4000 years of ghosts in the place. My lucky frightening lasted about 3 minutes before a busload of tourists showed up, but it was great while it lasted.

As for the old Sound and Light Show, the first 15 minutes were unbelievably great. The last 30, overkill but still okay. Seeing the temple for the first time bit by bit as they selectively light certain walls, statues or columns (there’s about 100 of the biggest darn columns you’ve ever seen) was extremely cool. Even the piped in narration worked. I swear they got James Earl Jones to boom a British accent for it. When they made us sit down at the stadium it got a bit hokey but I got a good idea for my novel from the story so I walked away thrilled on all accounts. I can’t wait to see it in the day time. Probably Saturday. Well that’s enough for now. If you haven’t noticed I tend to write this thing as a real journal, day by day or when I can, and then post several days at once. Hope it isn’t too much to swallow but no one says you have to read it all at once either.

See ya – Bill

Valley of the Kings and Luxor Temple at night 1-19-07

I’m standing in the tomb of one of the most famous Pharaohs tombs in history and all I can think about is Steve Martin and Bill Murray singing the King Tut song on Saturday Night Live 25 years ago. I still giggle when I think about it. The Valley of the Kings or Theban Necropolis as the experts call it is where a bunch of Pharaohs had secret tombs after they realized the big and grand pyramid type tombs were neon signs for grave robbers. I was in a couple of them by myself including Tutankhamen’s which was very cool and two more mobbed with tourists. I’ve decided I hate tour buses by the way. One minute you have the place to yourself, next second you’re being knocked about by a wave of cruise-by tourists who only want to snap a picture and move on. I know, I’m very self righteous now that I can take my sweet arse time about things, but still. Anyway, all the tombs have ‘security’ who are really just locals that will tell you some obvious comment like ‘look, this Ramses’ or turn the other way while you snap an illegal photo. Anything for a baksheesh. A tip. I swear, Egypt runs on the baksheesh. So I took a couple of shots in the tombs, without a flash to protect the still visible paint on the wall reliefs which is what the experts are worried about I think. I tended to picture that Ancient Egypt was all colored brown sandstone, but all of these amazing columns and wall carvings were all painted vivid colors and some of the paint is still there thousands of years later. Truly amazing stuff. I did have a cool Indiana Jones moment when I had to climb up steep stairs to a small crack in the rocks and then down a narrow tunnel to the tomb of Tuthmosis III.

So after the valley I headed to Hatshepsut Temple which was also out of this world. Built right into an amphitheater like canyon the Temple was sponsored by Queen Hatshepsut the only women to rule Upper Egypt (History break #2: Thebes was Upper, Memphis was lower because of the direction of the Nile, not North and South). Later on I went to see the Luxor temple at night. Just like the rest of Egypt, they’re both huge. The statues and pillars they created are just immense but the artistic carving is actually more impressive. You think about Egypt and assume Giza but to be honest all the real action happened down here in Thebes. The Pyramids still rock because well . . . they just do, but all the temples down here beat them hands down on the artistic scale. There are hieroglyphics everywhere. They inscribed every single wall they came across. It’s staggering how much work must of gone into the creation of all these tombs and temples. Anyway my words can’t really do justice to the Hatshepsut or Luxor Temple so take a look at the pics. There are a whole bunch of pics for this post so you might want to clear the calendar, get some shai (tea – not pronounced like Shea) and click away.

1-20-07 Karnak by Day

I thought Karnak at night was amazing. I didn’t see anything. Remember those columns I mentioned earlier? Yeah, there are 134 of them, each 43 meters high and 15 meters wide. The hall (called the Great Hypostle Hall) they’re in covers 6000 square meters. It’s like walking through the Redwoods in Muir Forest. Even in the blinding white of the midday desert the titans cast shadows that you don’t think will ever end. They pyramids overwhelm you with their massiveness, making you wonder if man really could build such a thing. But here at Karnak man’s fingerprints are all over the place and you can only bow your head in awe and respect. (History lesson #3: Karnak was the main temple of Amun-Re, the head honcho god for the Egyptians. Once a year they would float his big stone butt (a huge statue) down the river a few kilos to Luxor temple where he would commune with his goddess Mut during the Optet fertility festival. The two temples were also linked by the Avenue of the Sphinxes, a road lined with thousands of stone sphinx rams on each side). I noticed some French graffiti on a pillar called Champoleon and I wondered if it was related to Champollion who first translated Egyptian hieroglyphics with the Rosetta Stone. Of course there’s never a ‘baksheesh guide’ around when you need one.

Oh, people keep asking about the weather and food, which I keep ignoring so here’s the rundown. It’s winter here folks. Even in the desert that means it gets cold. It’s always sunny of course with daytime temps averaging about 70 F. The sun is definitely strong though. At night it’s cold. Two blanket, wish my cheap hotel had heat cold.

The food. Not bad actually. Lots of bread, soft rolls and a grainy pita. The fruit and juices are excellent but I still stick to the kind you have to peel. The coffee is Turkish which is very strong, thick and bitter. Good but it needs sugar, no milk. Every hotel restaurant has the same offering it seems. No menu just a choice of chicken or meat. with a salad (which I haven’t touched) rice (with a little pasta like ricearoni. The chicken is always good and usually a small roasted breast, but the beef is a little funky and probably water buffalo. I’ve also tried and liked kobiba, which are like long meatballs, shwarma (lamb) and makarona (yes, elbow macaroni but also with rice and spaghetti – forget Atkins in this place –covered in a tomatoish sauce with chick peas. Tonight I had lentil soup with no actual lentils. They were all pureed and I liked it better than at home. I’m still trying to taste molukhiyya (a leafy soup/stew), kebab and falafel but I can’t find them anywhere. I thought they were staples here for goodness sake.

What else? Oh, there is bottled water for sale everywhere, the big1.5 liter bottles mostly. Prices range for food. If you hit a locals restaurant you can have a nice dinner for 20 pounds, 4 bucks. If you hit a tourist spot, that buys you the water and a candy bar maybe.

1-21-07 Luxor West Bank – Valley of the Queens - Ramesseum

Well, I’m having such a good time here in Luxor that I decided to stay two extra days. Thus the freedom of a no reservation backpacker trip. After the earlier hectic travel schedule and having to get acclimatized to African society, I needed a few days just to chill without any hassles. The West Bank of Luxor fits the bill perfectly. I can’t describe the feeling of settling in to the idea of this trip as I have had here. For the first time I actually feel comfortable with what I’m doing and all that is ahead of me. It feels really good. Not sure what did it exactly. With all the preparations and loose end tying I had to do back home I don’t think I ever sat back and tried to prepare myself mentally for what was to come. Spain felt like just another vacation and Cairo, well I just wasn’t ready for Cairo. Aswan started to chisel away the travel perceptions I held and the West Bank here in Luxor tore them down all the way. Having more opportunity to speak to folks back home helped a lot. A friendly voice always feels good. I think I had my own little epiphany here though. I’ve come to terms with something a lot of people don’t get. It’s not about what country I’m from. Most people just don’t care about my religion or politics. I am just another visitor to the Egyptians and I really don’t have much to worry about other than basic precautions and common sense. Sure, the touts, taxi drivers and salesmen want anything they can wrench from my wallet but that’s true in most places. Here, they just go about it more strongly. I just have to say no (even if they sometimes still follow you around for a while) so it really is just an inconvenience to get used to. And that’s the key. As I travel I have to learn to get accustomed to all that is new to me and not get flustered or worried.

So I think I’m finally getting that the world is a lot smaller than I thought and no matter where I am there’s always a welcome smile and a helping hand somewhere if I just let myself be open enough to see them. This little town across the Nile showed me that I think. So many people saying ‘Welcome to Egypt’, sincerely again and again. So many smiling little children yelling Hi-llo when they see me, so many people asking me to tell my friends in America that it is okay to visit here. No hassles they promise, and now I agree that there aren’t any here in Egypt and won’t be any hassles I can’t handle on the rest of this long, strange trip of mine.

Okay, enough personal philosophy for one blog eh? I agree. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum in the future. So what did I do today? Not much. I’m also learning to relax and ration my time as any good back/flashpacker should. So I rented an old Dorothy bike, basket and all, to go exploring after a late breakfast. Ah, the life of leisure. Pedaled my way a few kees (yes, I’m metric now) up to the Valley of the Queens (no, not Egypt’s version of San Fran) and saw a few more tombs. Nefetari’s (Ramses II wife) tomb was closed and she was the only one I’d heard of but it wasn’t bad anyway. One of Ramses II young sons (Amunhirkhpshef, yeah try saying that one three times fast) was buried there and his tomb had the best preserved painting I’ve seen yet. I also biked over to Deir el-Medina, the worker’s village where many of the artisans who worked on the Pharaoh’s projects built themselves cool little tombs with mini-pyramids and such. Of course I didn’t know you had to buy a ticket for them at the bottom of the hill I just biked up so I just enjoyed the proletariat’s resting places from above ground.

Next stop was the Ramesseum. Dude, this guy Ramses II sure did have an ego and a lot of workers to boss around. He built Abu Simbel, part of the Great Hypostle Hall at Karnak, his own huge tomb, god knows what else and then this monstrosity the Ramesseum. (He also fathered about 60 children but that’s a story for the adult hour blog) His mortuary temple probably rivaled Karnak and Luxor in grandeur but it’s hard to tell now because he built it on faulty ground and half of it came crashing down. His one lasting legacy was to be a statue of himself bigger than anything Egypt had ever seen. That’s now lying in pieces all over the complex, the only thing truly recognizable being his feet. The Bible says (historians disagree) that he was the Pharaoh that went toe to toe with Moses as well, so maybe the locusts got the statue. He must have been a bad ass though because on the entrance wall is a scene of him riding his chariot with hundreds of squirming/dying figures below his wheels. Probably the nastiest ancient depiction I’ve seen yet.

Next stop was the Colossus of Memnon, two tremendous (again) statues. They too fell apart but the Egyptologists put them back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Now they look like the Thing from the Fantastic 4 comics. Right down the road a bit was a full scale archaeological dig that was extremely cool. I tried to sneak my way in using the dumb tourist ploy (not really an act sometimes) but no go. I watched and took pictures from the road as they pulled up a huge red granite fragment from a deep pit below. Other pieces from the statue were being cleaned and such nearby. After witnessing all the end results of the Egyptologists’ hard work this past week, to see the actual discovery of a piece of ancient history was definitely a thrill.

Afterward I ran into the hotel manager Mahmoud and a German ex-pat named Brigitte who is staying at the hotel until her new apartment is remodeled. We had coffee in the local ahwa (tea house) and sheesha (smoke) pipes all around. Three Italians joined us and as I sipped hibiscus tea (karkaday) I felt quite cosmopolitan and completely out of my element. Seriously, it was very nice. After hearing that smoking the sheesha water bong (no, not hashish) was like a pack of cigarettes in one sitting I declined my own pipe. I still haven’t had a puff in six months I’m happy to say. (Keep your fingers crossed though. It’s still not easy.) After tea Brigitte invited us to see her apartment which was literally on the roof of a nearby building. Each room was domed and arched, being stand alone structures not inside an apartment floor, so it was all open air with incredible 360 degree views of the entire Nile valley. Stunning really. I’ve never seen anything like it and for someone to live down here in a place like that so she can paint and enjoy a carefree life is just wonderful to see. It was a great way to end my last full day in Luxor. Tomorrow I might sightsee a little and then just relax until I catch the sleeper train back to Cairo tomorrow night. My next post will probably be from Kenya or Tanzania and might not be for a week or so.

Shukran to all,

Bill B

*** Correction: At Abu Simbel the smaller monument I mention is named after Ramses II wife Nefetari, not Nefertiti as I stated in the blog and on all the pics. Sorry but I’ll get my own name wrong some days.