Egypt. Day 8: Cairo

Finally, we arrived at our final destination in Egypt: Cairo. After 6 hours by bus we got there from Hurghada. The bus trip had been tormenting and we could barely get any sleep... our seats were in the last row and there was a broken compartment from which the heat of the engine came into the cabin, and I was sitting just over that! and one guy was watching a movie at top volume... In Egyptian buses, each person choses the volume for the loudspeakers on top of your head. This guy chose to set them to the maximum volumen. Everybody complained but nothing changed...

Well, as I said, we were back to Cairo and the first thing we did was checking in our hotel. After that, we chilled down for an hour in the hotel lobby (sleeping, checking internet...) and headed for the Egyptian museum. Our hotel was in one of the main streets in Cairo, Talaat Harb street, and on our way to the museum we passed by Talaat Harb Square. This is a nice example of what Cairo looks like.



The Egyptian museum was crowded with people and artifacts! In fact, there were too many things exhibitted!! The most interesting things, Tuttankhamon's funerary chamber artifacts, including the burial masks and sarcophage! Or these two big statues in the main hall:



After some hours, we arrived to our endurance limit and decided to go to the hotel and sleep. From the hotel room, the Citadel, in Islamic Cairo could be easily seen. We wanted to visit it, but we needed to sleep. In the end, it closed very early and we could not visit it. Anyway, the mosques in Istanbul are supposed to be cooler!



When we woke up, we decided to go to Coptic Cairo. Coptic is the name given to Egyptian christians. Coptic christianity developed in the times of the Roman empire and it is very old. This part of Cairo was interesting, in the sense that churches can be found in a very islamic country!

This is the Church of St George:



The main site in Old Cairo (Coptic Cairo) was the Hanging Church. This was the entrance:



This is the church itself:



And this is the beautiful interior.



After a while, we moved to Islamic Cairo. There, it was extremely crowded with locals. We had dinner and moved to Khan Al-Khalili, a huge bazar.



Around the bazar, there were some mosques, some of which were very sacred for muslims. This one was called Al-Azhar and was one of the oldest in the city. It was built in AD 970!



Finally, we visited the Al-Ghouri complex and climbed to the top of the minaret there for a tip. This was the guy who brought us there ;-) This photo is inside that mosque.



Afterwards, we had dinner in a ship in the Nile river and went to sleep. Next morning, we went to the airport at 7 in the morning and took a plane back to Amsterdam. Like that, holidays arrived to an end! It had been 8 fantastic days and 10 fantastic nights in Egypt! Maybe this has been my coolest trip in a long time! possibly the coolest in my life!

Egypt. Day 7: Hurghada

Next morning, we woke up at 7.30 and tried to get swimming wear to go snorkelling. We did not consider that was too early for a tourist resort such as Hurghada... we were not in Luxor any more! Shops opened at 8 or a bit later and it was really stressful. Finally, the owner of the hostel lent me his friend's swimming wear and Naoko could buy a cheap bikini in a souvenir shop! What a mess! hehe

After that initial stress (we arrived to the pick-up spot and the van was already waiting for us... we had to run to catch it!), it was time to relax. The first time I notice the Red Sea was something special was when we got into our ferry. The blue of the sea was incredible!! I had never see such a transparent and clean sea! You could easily see the bottom of the sea even if it was several meters deep!



After a while going into the sea, coral reefs appear and they could be easily seen from far away. Check this photo for a proof ;-)



We stopped twice in different coral reefs and went snorkelling around 45 minutes in each. The sea life was amazing: thousands of tropical fish with very lively colours and strange shapes!



Finally, we arrived at one island in the middle of the Red Sea and it looked like paradise! not kidding!! There, we stayed for 2 hours lying on the sand and snorkelling in some nearby coral reefs.





And now, one question: Do you know why the Red Sea is called Red Sea? It is because the desert arrives at the sea shore and the contrast of colours makes it look even more reddish... and the sea is named after that. Have a look at the next photo, it looks red, doesn't it?



After that, we just came back. Some of the guides in the ferry organised some games and pranks and we had a great time coming back. Once back in town, we just drink some beer, eat sea food and played pool. After that, we went to the bus station and got the tickets for the bus. Only 4 foreigners can get into the national bus... so we had to go quite in advance to get our tickets! By the way, on our way there, we stopped by a bar and watched football with Egyptians... but we didn't know what teams were playing! hehe...

In the bus stop, we chilled out and learnt to play bakgammon. Some guys taught us and we could play until 12.30, when we got into the bus bound for Cairo!

This is Naoko, trying to understand how to play bakgammon.



And this is our bus to Cairo.

Could you tell me what time it is?

Seen in the metro in El Cairo.

Egypt. Day 6: Thebes (II)

The third day in Luxor came and we decided to take it easier. So we woke up a bit later (7.30) and had a proper breakfast in our hostel. After that, we checked out and moved to the West Bank again. On the way from the ferry harbour to the ticket office, we passed by the Colossi of Memnon, two huge statues of Ramses II. One was under restauration, so we did not stop to take a picture with us next to them.



Once in the ticket office, we decided that day we would visit some tombs of nobles, the valley of the Queens and the temple of Medina Habu. Besides, we planned to pass by Der-Al Medina on our way between the tombs of the nobles and the valley of the queens. Like that, we would have visited all the sites in the West Bank!!

After buying the tickets, we headed back to Qurna, where the tombs of nobles are. Of course, once there, many kids and adults tried to become our guide. Normally, these people can't speak much English, make you rush and ask for a baksheesh (a tip) before you leave. So, as we were pretty tired of that, we decided to scape from them every time they came near us ;-)

The first nice tomb was that of Ramose, a scribe of a pharaoh. It looked like this:



The tombs of the nobles were pretty interesting, because they were really different from the tombs we had seen in the Valley of the Kings the day before. There, the drawings in the walls were carved in the stone and talked about pharaohs and gods, the afterlife, etc. Here, the shapes of the tombs were quite heterogeneous and the drawings were simply painted on the wall. Besides, those drawings described the normal life of normal people, the work in the fields, the construction of buildings, trading...

Another example of a cool tomb was that of Sennefer. It was discovered quite recently and therefore, it was very colourful and well-preserved. A nice visit!



After visiting 5 tombs, we headed for the Valley of the Queens, the place where the family of the Pharaohs were buried. Its main attraction, Queen Nefertari's tomb, was closed, but still I wanted to visit the valley. On our way there, as I told you before, we passed by Der-Al Medina, the town were normal people lived. This is what it looks like:



Finally, we arrived at the Valley of the Queens. The ticket was valid for 3 tombs, but actually, only three tombs were open at that time! This is the view of the valley:



And this is the interior of one of the tombs we visited.



It was really really hot there and all the staff were sleeping or in the shade. The number of tourists was also limited, as it was lunch time when we went there ---> That made the visit even nicer! ;-)

Finally, we went to Medina Habu, the last place missing in the West Bank. Medina Habu was the mortuary temple of Ramses III and was really big. Actually, it was the second biggest temple in Ancient Egypt, just behind Karnak Temple. The temple was quite damaged but many columns and pictures maintained their original colour, which makes the visit quite nice! These are some pictures we took there:





Finally, we came back to Luxor at around 6.30. In one hour, we were taking a bus to Hurghada! So we came back to the ticket office, got our tickets, came back to the hotel to pick up our backpacks and went for dinner in a fast food place: some lokanta. At 7.30, we took the bus and arrived at Hurghada at 00.30. During the trip, we met an Austrian lady who helped us get a hostel at that time at night. Thanks to her, we got a better fare. Of course, before sleeping, we booked two tickets in a cruise to go snorkelling in the Red Sea the next day. However, we did not have any swimming wear!! It was 1.30 when we slept, and decided to wake up at 7.30 to buy some! Do you think we managed to get what we needed in only one hour next morning?

Egypt. Day 5: Thebes (I)

As I listen to some NOFX songs ("The desperation's gone" is playing now...), I would like to continue with my description of my trip to Egypt.

On the 5th day, we woke up before dawn, at 5.30am and set for Luxor West Bank, the ancient Thebes. The reason why we woke up so early was to buy tickets for Nefertari's tomb (only 150 people can visit it per day). The first public ferry was at 6am and we managed to take it. From Luxor, many balloons could be seen in the sky... The reason is that for around 80 dollars you can get into one of them and see the sun rising from the sky. Views of Thebes are fantastic from there (apparently...).



Once on the West Bank, we took a taxi to the ticket office, which was around 2km in-land. There we found out Nefertari's tomb, Queen's Vally most famous sight, was closed for restauration!! All our waking up early was fruitless... Anyway, we got the tickets for the Ramesseum (Ramses II's mortuary temple) and decided to visit the Valley of the Kings, Hatsephut's temple and Ramesseum during our first day in Thebes.

We decided to avoid any taxi and do some trekking in the beautiful and rocky Egyptian mountains. We did not know how to go to places but with the help of our guidebooks and our sense of orientation we managed to go everywhere. The first thing we saw was the town of Old Qurna. We were just walking and could mix up with some locals. Of course, local people are nice but try not to talk too much to foreigners, as opposed to guys living off tourism.



Walking, walking, we arrived to Hapsephut's temple carved in the mountain and found the track to go to the Valley of the Kings through the mountains. As we climbed the mountain next to the temple, the view got better and better! It was amazing!



In the mountains, it was difficult to keep the right track and we got lost. One guy in a military post told us how to go to the Valley of the Kings. He could speak just a few words in English and we communicated basically using our hands. Universal language... he told us we were too high in the mountains and we should go round the next one and get down into the valley... you can imagine it took a while to get that explanation and quite a lot of faith... hehe... The trekking tracks outstand in the mountain in white colour, so we could find the right one after some effort.



After a while, we arrived in the Valley of the Kings. Tourists there were all packed and followed the shepherd properly XD... and gave us strange looks when they saw two guys coming from the top of the mountains! hahaha! Some people's faces were priceless! at that moment, I felt not joining any tour was our best decision in Luxor!

This is what the Valley of the Kings looks like; an opening in the mountain with many tomb entrances. With the initial ticket you can get into three tombs. We decided to enter Tutankamon's as well.



And this is what tombs looked like; long corridors with some rooms and a sarcophage at the end. Mummies are now in Cairo, in the Egyptian museum.




Afterwards, we walked around 5-6 km under the merciless sun and some Egyptians invited us for lunch with them. We all sat together around the food and ate with our hands and some bread. It was delicious!! Then, we visited Hatsephut's temple and the Ramesseum.

In the Ramesseum, we got a guide inside the temple which explained everything to us. He even told us how to climb to the top of the frontal pylon of the temple and came with us there!! This first photo is the pylon we climbed and the second one is from the top of it!




The rest of the visit was really detailed and our guide showed to us a mummy which had just been found there! of course, he told us not to tell anybody... hehehe...



After all that, we paid a tip to our great guide and went out of the temple. We told one guy we were going to the ferry and he helped us get a public bus. We really did not want to pay for a taxi... we wanted it the local way!! People in the van were surprised, as well as in the public ferry. Tourists try to avoid mixing up with locals...

Back in the East Bank, the sunset and the landscape were superb!



That day, we had dinner and went to bed soon. We were exhausted... But before we took a great decision! We checked our original plan and we were one day ahead schedule! that was because we decided to go by bus from Aswan to Luxor instead of using a felucca (traditional Egyptian ship). That allowed us to have an extra day in Luxor and another one to go somewhere. Our decision was to go to Hurghada in the Red Sea! Some snorkelling and lying in the beach could not be that bad after one week in the desert!! So we bought two one-way bus tickets to Hurghada and came back to the hotel. The next day was also going to be intense!

Egypt. Day 4: Luxor Temple and Karnak

After finishing our visits to Kom Ombo and Edfu, we arrived at Luxor and checked in in our hotel: Sherief Hostel, Bob Marley's House. For a double room with private bathroom, we paid less than 5 euros per night!! And it wasn't that bad... and it included a nice breakfast!

After check-in, we went for lunch and visited the temples on the East Bank: the Temple of Luxor and Karnak. Both temples are around 3-4 km away and in ancient times there was a festival during which the images of some gods were brought from one temple to the other. The way between the two temples was a castaway with sphinxes on both sides. The temple of Karnak was the most important sanctuary in ancient Egypt. Kings lived in Karnak and Luxor and were brought to the West Bank when dead.

In the next photo, you can see the sphinxes in the way to the entrance of the Luxor Temple:



At the entrance of the temple, there were two giant Ramses II and two obelisques. Now there is only one, the other one is at Place de la Concorde, in Paris (France).



The temple was covered by sand and a town was built on top. Afterwards, the temple was discovered and the town dismantled. However, the town mosque was not knocked down and we can see it there. It is amazing the amount of sand which covered the temple! The mosque was at ground level and that means a height of 4-5 meters now!



And this is within the temple:



When we left, the temple was beautifully illuminated.



Later, we took a local bus (a real experience ;-) and went to Karnak, for the Light and Sound evening show. This is the appearance of the whole temple of Karnak.



And this is a detail of some statues at one of the innermost pylons.



Next day, we went to the West Bank, to see some tombs... that will be tomorrow!

Egypt. Day 4: Kom Ombo and Edfu

On Day 4, we woke up in Aswan at 7am and took a minibus towards Luxor, via the temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu. Kom Ombo is a beautiful greco-roman temple and Edfu is a temple devoted to Horus, the falcon god. The trip from Aswan to Luxor was a bit more than 3 hours and we thought it would be nice to visit some of the best Egyptian temples in the way there. And it really paid off!

Kom Ombo is a temple devoted to two egyptian deities, one with the shape of an eagle and one with the shape of a crocodile. The temple is very special in the sense that it is symetrical, having two front entrances and symmetric halls as you advance in the temple (one for each deity).

This is the entrance to the temple in Kom Ombo:



And this is a typical column there; greek style with egyptian motifs carved in the stone...



Edfu temple is maybe the best preserved temple in Egypt, due to the fact that it was buried in sand until some centuries ago! Therefore, the influence of the weather or people is negligible. It is devoted to Horus as I said before.

This is the entrance to the temple in Edfu.



And a nice statue of Horus at the entrance of the main sanctuary:



The distribution of the temple was kind of weird, with many lateral corridors and even an outer wall surrounding the sanctuary. Between them, this corridor in which a nice mythological story is writing using hieroglyphs.



After those visits, we continued our trip to Luxor in our van. The driver was kind of crazy and I don't understand how we did not see any traffic accident in Egypt... there should be thousands a day because of the way they drive!!!



Finally, we arrived at Luxor at around 1.30 pm. That will be the topic for the next post!