The Honeymoon - Part 4 - Lower Nile

Its quite difficult to write a post about Cairo, which is probably why it has taken me so long.

The problem is that for the most part cameras are off limits without a special permit or licence.

This is the part of Egypt where I would suggest you buy a stack of postcards. Not to send to anyone but to fill in the gaps in your photo album later.

I can only suggest you visit, Cairo, Giza and the rest of the Lower Nile are absolutely breathtaking.

One word of warning though. If you happen to be in Greece, Turkey, Cyprus or any of those places and are offered a "day trip" to Egypt, proceed with caution. There's nothing actually wrong with the trip, they are very well organised. But they are organised in such a way as to make you part with your cash as quickly as possible. You will be taken to Cairo Museum for about an hour.

It has been said that if you were allowed 1 minute to look at each artifact it would take over 9 months to see everything.

You'll then be ushered on to Auntie Betty's jewelery shop, Uncle Jim's papyrus shop and well you get the idea.

You'll see very little of Egypt on one of these tours and there is a lot to see...


We were there for one week and I would have been happier with a few months. This photo was taken from the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. While we were at the Mosque the Muezzin began calling and out of respect I didn't take any more than a few photographs facing away from the Mosque.

One thing I will say is that if you plan to visit any of the many mosques in Cairo, please cover up. It doesn't take a lot to show some respect and a pair of trousers and long sleeves aren't really going to do you any harm. One girl in our tour group was a bit put out by the fact that all the women entering the mosque were told that they would have to wear a heavy cloak except me. Bear in mind that this was the same girl who put her bloody shoes down on the ground beside the fountain so that she could get her camera ready. And the same girl who eventually had her camera confiscated because she couldn't switch off the flash. I swear there's always one.

Anyway, obviously the first thing you will want to see on arriving in Cairo are the pyramids.

Surprisingly enough you can't really see them from anywhere in Cairo. The city is so built up and more than a little polluted that you will have to get a bit closer to really appreciate them.

One other thing. People in general are a little jaded by the pyramids. You've seen them everywhere, TV, magazines, postcards and it does ruin it for you a little.

If you see them from a short distance, you get your typical holiday snap idea of what they look like.


Off in the desert, the middle of nowhere, these giants rise out of the sand.

Want to see them from the other side....


This was our hotel and yes that is a swimming pool and a golf course right at the foot of the Giza plateau. This view almost ruined it for me. I knew the hotel was close, but I never thought it was that close.


You will need to get right up close and personal to get a true idea of just how big these things really are.


Each stone was about five feet tall, although I think they are a bit smaller closer to the top.

There is a tour inside one of the pyramids, but as I've mentioned before we arrived in the middle of a heatwave and on this particular day the temperature reached 63C. The tour guides recommended to everyone that whilst the tour was still running nobody should take it. It is very cramped and claustrophobic inside the passageways and a few people had to be carried out while we were there.

Instead we headed over to see the Sphinx.


It was and probably still is undergoing a lot of restorative work.


Also on the Giza plateau is the Solar Boat Museum containing the oldest boat in history. The boat was used to transport Cheops body and then buried with him. Its in pretty good condition, don't you think?


We were also able to get to Memphis during our stay in Egypt. Memphis is now a city built over ruins. Of course, archaeologists would love nothing more than to flatten the city and start digging, but the people of Memphis are firmly standing their ground.

As it is today there are a few uncovered statues to be seen and a large alabaster sphinx.


There is also a Colossus of Ramses II in Memphis. It would stand over 14 meters high if it wasn't lying down, obviously.

Some of the other things we were able to visit, but unfortunately weren't able to or just wouldn't stop what we were doing to photograph...

The city of the dead is probably not what you imagine it to be. A huge graveyard now filled with life. In the 1960s due to a great housing shortage for lower income family and immigration from the country and outlying areas, the tombs and mausolea were transformed into homes. You'll see little children playing football and using headstones as goal posts. In fact many of the headstones have been used in the building process. Its a spectacular place to visit and spend some time and well worth the trip to Cairo on its own. Its a very strange experience to see so many living share space with the dead.

The Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar is an amazing place. Its actually a large group of separate bazaars which have grown and enveloped each other of the years. The poor husband couldn't get me to stand still love enough to take any photographs, but the colours and smells are breathtaking. Each bazaar sells vast quantities of a different item. Gold (sold by weight, silver and leather, carpets, copperware, spices, perfume, cloth and fabric, food, sheesha and street after street of belly dancers outfits. It can seem a little overwhelming and a bit scary when you first enter the bazaar. It covers a very large area and is extremely crowded in very cramped streets (no more than a few feet wide) but there is some method to the madness and its actually quite easy to find your way around once you've had a quick dash around the market. A word of warning, avoid the centre of the market, its the area where you will see a lot of tour buses parked and hawkers trying to sell "real essence of Chanel No:5" and some poor saps desperate to buy it. Also don't go into any shop with a hustler. They stand in the bazaar telling everyone they can get you local prices on everything. The store owners know them on sight and hike the prices to pay their compensation. Never pay more than a third of the first price you are given. Seriously, sellers actually look disappointed for a second if you don't haggle.

The Hanging Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary is the most beautiful in Egypt and well worth a visit. It is nicknamed the Hanging Church because it is built over the bastions of a roman gate. It is decorated inside with decorative cedar panels and a large marble pulpit supported by twelve columns. No matter what time of the day you visit the church is always filled with people but something about the place quietens the usual chatter and noise you will hear at other sights and you feel like you could very well be there alone.

I'm going to have to leave it at that because I'm very tempted to sell the car and book a couple of flights and that just wouldn't do at all.

The Honeymoon - Part 3 - The Valley of the Kings...and Queen

You can't spend any time in Luxor without visiting the Valley of the Kings

The first stop on the tour was at the Colossi of Memnon. They're 18 metres tall, although its difficult to tell that from the photogragh. They are all that is left of the Temple of Amenophis III (Amenhotep). The Temple itself was destroyed by earthquake and the Colossi cracked. We were told that after they cracked they would "sing" as the sun rose in the morning. Unfortunately Emporer Septimius Severus attempted to restore the Colossi to get brownie points with Memnon and now thy are silent.

Not a great job on the restoration either.


After the Colossi we were taken to the entrance of the Valley of the Kings.

That would be our guide pulling faces at some of the stupid questions people were asking about "slaves".


We only visited one tomb while we were in the valley. KV8 the tomb of Merenptah. He was the successor of Ramses II.

I think.


A sarcophagos...

This is a list contained within almost all of the tombs. It details who worked on the project, how long it took, all the consumables used during the time such as food and clothing and it gives details of how far people travelled to help with the build.

Again everything was protected by glass and no flash photography was allowed so it was quite difficult to get anything bar dodgy slightly blurry photos.

I mentioned a Queen didn't I?

Just the one mind you.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir al Bahri or Dejesr Dejesrn meaning Most Splendid of all.

It is a masterpiece to say the least.

Three levels carved into the face of the mountain. It isn't in the Valley of the Kings, its quite close to the Valley of the Nobels though.

She became ruler of Egypt after her husband, Thutmose II died.

There are very few images of Hatshepsut left intact at the temple. Her son, Thutmose III was made to wait 20 years before becoming ruler of Egypt because she refused to marry him (as you would)(bear in mind her husband was her half brother)). When he came to power he destroyed all of her cartouches and images so that she would be forgotten.


One of the intact images is in the Sanctuary of Hathor standing between statues of Hathor and Amun-Ra, although this room is closed to the public she can be seen faintly through the gates.

Unfortunately the top terrace was closed for restoration while we there but the view from the second terrace was hard to beat.

The second terrace was also undergoing a lot of restoration and probably will be for a long time to come.


One of the reliefs in the temple...


And we haven't even got to Cairo yet ;)

The Honeymoon - Part Two - Abydos and Dendera

While we were in Luxor we decided to take one of tours that was a bit more off the beaten track. It was supposed to be a group tour but the other two couples cancelled at the last minute so we were all alone with our tour guide on a lovely air conditioned bus.

All in told we were on the bus for about 12 or so hours that day. Some people actually did this tour in a taxi. The heat must have been unbearable. It was 56C that day.

First we stopped at the Abydos Temple. It was once the Holy City and everyone in Egypt had to make a pilgrimage there. It is one of the oldest cities in history.

Our guide was lovely, but you'll have to excuse me I can't pronounce his name very well, let alone figure out how to spell it. I still have his business card somewhere, he's a bit of a jack of all trades.

This is a view of the entrance to Abydos Temple.

Unfortunately quite a lot of it is still in pieces...

And underwater. There were even fish in the water.


Some of the frescos are still in fantastic condition. This is the Pharoah giving a feather zed to Isis. The feathered zed is representative of the backbone of Osiris.

See what a great tour guide can do for you.


And the engravings were just something else...


Is anyone else getting an idea for a movie, possibly with a follow up series. We could get MacGyvar for the lead and end the series with him and a few others fishing by a lake.

...

There is also a celestial ceiling in the Temple which was just stunning and the head of Bes, protector of women in labour, but they were virtually impossible to photograph.

Back on the bus for another five hours (we left the hotel at 4am) and we then stopped at Dendera. Its the only temple with a roof which you can stand on.

Oh, and its huge...

The roof means that quite a lot of the main building is enclosed and unfortunately, not very well lit. This definitely adds to the atmosphere while there and preserves the interior of the buildiing but it doesn't make for great photos.

I love this one though...

The columns (both above and below) are topped by Hathor capitals, although the faces have been removed.


A photo taken from the roof gives you some idea of the scale of the ruins.

And in the other direction, not very far away at all was the Libyan border. I've no idea who owns the bit of land in between the two fences.

Getting bored yet? Pity, because there's a lot more to come.

The Honeymoon - Part 1 (there could be a few of these)

So I was clearing some old things off the media player and came across some of our honeymoon photographs. 2002, a very good year. Egypt, I fell in love the second I stepped off the plane.

We spent a week in Luxor at the Old Winter Palace and a week in Cairo in the Mena House at the Foot of the Giza Plateau.

If money were no question I would go back tomorrow. I may not come home again.

The Hotel...

Have you ever been treated like royalty. I never had, until I arrived here. Everyone addressed me by name, remembered exactly which suite I was staying in without me having to remind them. The staff at the hotel literally couldn't do enough to make us feel more welcome, even packing picnics for us if we were to be on a tour over lunch.


The room...


The private roof top terrace... and the husband (back when that word still sounded strange) taking it easy...

Owls would land on the terrace at night. The sound was beautiful...


And the view...

I could watch that sunset forever.

I can't think of a single thing I didn't love about the country. Even the hustle and bustle didn't get me down and it can be hectic. I enjoyed every last second.

Our hotel was only a very short distance from the Luxor Temple and we made a point of walking past it almost every night. It was beautiful by day, but something about it lit up at night just drew me in. We didn't go in to the Temple at night, although twilight tours were available, with a warning to beware of snakes.

Um no thanks, we're just fine and dandy up here on the well lit main road...

The faces of these sphinxes were humanised...

And obviously we couldn't visit Luxor Temple without visiting the other end of the Avenue of the Sphinxes.

Karnak Temple...

Osiride Pillars...

The other end of the Avenue of the Sphinxes (the temples were once joined by a road lined with these). These are the ram headed sphinxes representing the God Amon.

Part of the Great Hypostyle Hall...

Those pillars are much, much taller in real life....


I don't even come close to doing the place justice. You recall, ME + CAMERA = BAD.

I'll have a few more of these posts at some stage for anyone interested.