McQuaig in Egypt…
November 13, 2008
Ramses II Temple called Philae Temple
1. My 7 year old Gwen really wanted to visit all 7 continents on this sabbatical adventure- it may be within reach. Egypt being in Africa was eligible.
2. Alitalia threatening to go bankrupt in August which made tickets from London to Cairo really cheap. Luckily they didn’t go banko after we bought the tickets but we did sweat a little until the Italian government gave them a few billion Euros.
3. While in Lithuania we hit 86 Days in Schengen countries- you are allowed a maximum of 90 days without a visa which is really hard to get. What is a Schengen country? Look it up but basically in includes all the countries in Western Europe. The Schengen rules are what allow you to pass from one country to another without presenting your passport but they do have limits as well.
4. We found what seemed to be a great family trip in Egypt for 13 days…so why not.
Seems like the perfect convergence of fates to get us to Egypt…
We came from cold, rainy Scotland to dry hot, Egypt. Our suitcases are stuffed full of both winter and summer clothes causing us to get a lot of strange looks from porters and light travailing backpackers who probably have a pair of sandals, shorts and a couple of shirts.
Pigeon Dinner...Yes, that's the head still attached
Egypt is a fascinating country. According o the guidebook its primary source of income is tourism. There are definitely lots of tourists but Cairo is the most populous city in Africa with anywhere from 16- 20 million people depending on who is telling you.
How can 16 million people live off tourists? The answer is by getting every last Egyptian pound out of the tourists that come here. The “business people ” are everywhere; selling small models of King Tut masks, carrying your suitcase up the stairs as a friend then demanding a pound for the effort. They offer camel rides in the shadow of the sphinx. Just think camel rides for only one Egyptian Pound- the equivalent of $.20 US. The only catch is when you want to get down they demand up to $ 50 US to let you down. Camels are tall and at that point you would pay about anything to get down!
Egypt is 90 % desert. And by desert they mean desert- nothing but sand and sun. It makes the Southwestern US deserts in Arizona look like a tropical paradise. The desert has provided a natural protection to Egypt. No one had the ability to cross the western desert to attack the main population base which was concentrated along the Nile River.
The Nile is the longest river in the world and it flows north from the Sudan border to the Mediterranean Sea. The population base still follows the river and lives along it. The locals grow crops along the river.
The other 90% of the country is sparsely populated and probably always will be. When you see the vastness of the desert and the desolate nature of it you realize that this will not be like the Arizona- teeming with retired people looking for warm weather and a dry climate. The water is non existent and unless the desire is fed by some Dubai prince it will not happen.
When we travelled through the desert we did see some remains of 20th century block houses basically reclaimed by the desert- swamped with sand and debris.
The good news for Egypt is there are a lot of people that want to visit its many historic sights.
The sights in Egypt are well worth the trip and putting up with the hawkers. The pyramids are an unbelievable accomplishment. The great pyramid outside of Cairo is the only remaining wonder of the ancient world. It was built about 5000 years ago and looking at it is impossible to imagine how it was built with out a whole lot of modern construction equipment, cranes, dozers, etc. Somehow these people knew how to harness the power of nature, water and gravity to accomplish herculean construction projects. There is truly nothing like it in the world.
The Egyptian museum. This one hundred year old museum has a collection of over 120,000 artifacts most of which are at least 4000 years old. They include the riches of King Tut and Ramses II. The day we visit the cavernous museum feels like Disneyland at Christmas break- teeming with people. At times it seems like a cheap souvenir shop rows upon rows of almost identical statues of kings behind dusty glass cases. The only difference is these were not made in China last month. They are priceless artifacts made 4500 years ago by some artisan bent on pleasing a king who was convinced he was a not only a king but also a deity.
Speaking of King Tut. His grave was obscured by rock and debris from a nearby grave so it was not discovered until 1922 by an Englishman who is a local hero. As a result his grave was untouched by the grave robbers over the centuries. The many, many rich artifacts were left intact right down to the many solid gold coffins and the 17 kilo solid gold mask which is a an easily recognized icon of Egyptian history.
Now for the mummies. The Museum has two separate climate controlled sections that have in them mummies of kings and queens that were removed from various graves. It is stunning to look at a 5000 year old set of manicured nails, yes manicured nails. The kings and queens of that day definitely lived the high life. No wonder they took such care to try to return to it in the afterlife. Everything in the tombs seemed to be designed to be certain that the king was ready for the afterlife. Many even hired people to bring fresh food everyday so that when they were “woken “up for the afterlife they would have food to eat. I must say it is a relief to be a Christian and know that Jesus has prepared a home for me and I don’t have to worry about hiring someone to provide fresh food for my afterlife!
Update: It is 3:45 AM and we have awakened early to take the 300 km trip south on the Nile- actually Lake Nasser to visit the Abu Simbel Temple. Since the massacre of 50 German tourists in 1997 all tourists on the highways in Egypt are escorted in convoys by military escorts. We are waiting for the 4 AM departure of the convoy from Aswan for the three hour trip. We were surprised to see 15 full size tour buses pullout of the convoy collection point in the 3:45 AM convoy. We will be joined by an additional 20 full size buses and a dozen mid sized buses in our convoy. Who would have thought this many people would get up this early for a bus trip to see a temple.
The objective is a 4000 year old temple built by Ramses II. Unlike the other temples we have seen that were built out of stacked stone Ramses chose to carve his out of solid granite. Yes, a temple that is about 30 meters tall complete with huge statues all carved out of solid granite. Kind of a prehistoric Mt Rushmore. The temple was carved such that the sun only reached the inner inner sanctum on two days of the year: November 22 and February 22- thought to be the Kings Birthday and coronation date.
Update: The temple is unbelievable. Again one is left to wonder how this was built or should I say carved… The additional unusual trick to this place is that when the high dam across the Nile was built in 1964 it submerged the temple so UNESCO spent four years slicing it into pieces weighing up to 15 tons and moving them up the mountain 90 meters to a new location. WOW!
Life on the Nile has a frenetic pace to it for the locals and a laid back pace for the many tourists unless you are trying to beat 300 other people to the line to get into a 4400 year old tomb….