LUXOR
I think one of the things that has helped me pass the time here is the fact that I started traveling. I decided a while back to go to Luxor with my friend Megan and her fam and it was what I was looking forward to during all of October. And it was well worth it. I had such a great time. At first I thought that only going down to Luxor for two days wasn’t going to be enough time to get everything out of it that I wanted. Little did I know that I would leave having seen everything that I wanted.
The last full week of October was the end of Ramadan and the Eid so I didn’t have to go to work. I ended leaving Alex Tuesday afternoon and hung out in Cairo til it was time to leave for Luxor. I barely made it to the train station on time but thankfully I made it there about 10 minutes before the train was taking off (the train system here is almost the only thing that runs on time here)
We took a sleeper train down to Luxor. We left at 8pm and arrived at 6am the next morning! Not my average ride between Alex and Cairo. Upon arrival we headed to our hotel which was so nice. I was actually surprised when I walked in. Tho’ all I really had to compare it with was the hotel I stayed at near the Red Sea during an AIESEC conference and the hotel was a military hotel.
After getting a somewhat late start, we headed off on a day of exploring. Megan’s parents had taken care of all the arrangement for the trip and had gotten us a mini bus to take us everywhere on the first day along with a tour guide. So here’s what we did Thursday and Friday (the pics are in order of where we went):
Thursday:
Colossi of Memnon – this was really cool to see. These are two statues that stand about 18m high and the remains of what was once the largest complex on the West Bank of Luxor.
Deir al-Medina/Temple of Hatshepsut – this was so amazing. I remember my roomie telling me about it and you can’t really know how awesome this place is til you visit it. It’s partly rock cut and partly free standing.
Valley of the Kings – man, there are so many people buried in this place tho’ I only got to visit 3 of the tombs. This place is considered to be the place of death because the nothing that grows on its cliffs. It was the final resting place for the royalty and the first to be buried was in 1504 BC. Talk about being someplace where some history has taken place.
Valley of the Queens – of course theres gotta be a place for queens and of course it’s not as nice. This is the place where queens, princes and princesses were buried and goes back to the 19th and 20th dynasties (still haven’t figured out when that is!)
Temples of Karnak – now I felt like I had been to places with historical significance with the other sights, but this place just blew me away. This landmark is soo huge that it can fit 10 cathedrals in it! And the art work and the architecture were so amazing. It was really great to see that something like this was able to survive centuries especially since it seemed that the Nile overtime destroyed a lot of the stuff that used to exist. The Temples of Karnak is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks dedicated to the Theban gods and the greater glory of the pharaohs. What I really liked was the Avenue of Ram-Headed Sphunxes. This walkway lead between these temples and the Luxor Temple a few miles away. Tho’ most of it is destroyed now.
Luxor Temple – this is smaller than the Temples of Karnak but are still breathe taking. We went as the sun was setting and omg it was the perfect time to go. The lights that illuminate the temple at night brought such a remarkable look to the whole structure. And those of you who are familiar with my camera knows that it doesn’t really like taking pics at night so hence the lack of pics of this temple!
After seeing all of this we all went back to the hotel and some of us (like me) crashed for awhile. Later, Megan, Simon and I headed out and explored the town a bit.
Friday:
Luxor Museum – I have to say that this is the best museum in Egypt that I’ve seen so far just because of the documentation that they had. I got to see some beautiful statues that are incredibly huge. Also got to the see two mummies that were unwrapped! Ramsis I and Ahmose I. It was really odd to see these mummies especially without the wrappings. Boy did Egyptian know how to preserve some bodies. It’s like looking at a starved body with charcoal paint all over their bodies. And these people were short….I liked that part!
The rest of the day I hung out with Megan’s parents and aunt while Megan and Simon went back to the Temples of Karnak to explore some more. We went shopping throughout the town. And then went on a boat ride to Banana Island, had some bananas and tea and then headed back to Luxor to watch the sun set.
It was such a great two days. I had so much fun. Plus it was cool to be with Megan’s parents who had only been in the country for less than a week and are unfamiliar with the customs in Egypt (and still used to converting pounds into USD to see how expensive it is!). I was able to use all the Arabic that I’ve learned thus far. And I was haggling with people and getting good prices on items. People kept thinking I was either Egyptian or Nubian. I swear I kept hearing “Hi cousin” “Hi sister” the entire time I was there. “Cousin, I’ll give you special discount. Only for you, because you are my cousin!” It was interesting yet weird at the same time.
This one guy kept trying to talk to me and I kept walking past his shop. The last time I did he was trying to get me to come in and then proceeded to say “Cousin, I just want to smell your money!” at which point Megan and I started laughing uncontrollably. That definitely was a new line…at least he was very upfront!
Later we went and ate all together as we waited for some time to pass before we had to head to the train station. It was a pretty good meal. I really like chicken shawarma. Tho’ the meal was a bit interrupted by the presence of some cat on cat orgy porn going on….
The ride home was fun, tho’ the train people change the sits into beds way too early. We ended up ordering two bottles of wine – red and white – with some beer and everyone got someone buzzed.
We leave Luxor at about 9pm on Friday and arrived at 8am the next morning. And yay, I arrived sick! The train did such a great job of keeping the compartments cool that I ended up getting sick from sleeping in air conditioning. A fever, some chills, congestion, and a messed up knee and poppin’ ears which messed with my balance. But I guess it was all worth it even tho’ I’m still a bit sick.
What’s next? Sharm, Dahab,and hopefully the Black Desert and White Desert.
Only two months left…
The last full week of October was the end of Ramadan and the Eid so I didn’t have to go to work. I ended leaving Alex Tuesday afternoon and hung out in Cairo til it was time to leave for Luxor. I barely made it to the train station on time but thankfully I made it there about 10 minutes before the train was taking off (the train system here is almost the only thing that runs on time here)
We took a sleeper train down to Luxor. We left at 8pm and arrived at 6am the next morning! Not my average ride between Alex and Cairo. Upon arrival we headed to our hotel which was so nice. I was actually surprised when I walked in. Tho’ all I really had to compare it with was the hotel I stayed at near the Red Sea during an AIESEC conference and the hotel was a military hotel.
After getting a somewhat late start, we headed off on a day of exploring. Megan’s parents had taken care of all the arrangement for the trip and had gotten us a mini bus to take us everywhere on the first day along with a tour guide. So here’s what we did Thursday and Friday (the pics are in order of where we went):
Thursday:
Colossi of Memnon – this was really cool to see. These are two statues that stand about 18m high and the remains of what was once the largest complex on the West Bank of Luxor.
Deir al-Medina/Temple of Hatshepsut – this was so amazing. I remember my roomie telling me about it and you can’t really know how awesome this place is til you visit it. It’s partly rock cut and partly free standing.
Valley of the Kings – man, there are so many people buried in this place tho’ I only got to visit 3 of the tombs. This place is considered to be the place of death because the nothing that grows on its cliffs. It was the final resting place for the royalty and the first to be buried was in 1504 BC. Talk about being someplace where some history has taken place.
Valley of the Queens – of course theres gotta be a place for queens and of course it’s not as nice. This is the place where queens, princes and princesses were buried and goes back to the 19th and 20th dynasties (still haven’t figured out when that is!)
Temples of Karnak – now I felt like I had been to places with historical significance with the other sights, but this place just blew me away. This landmark is soo huge that it can fit 10 cathedrals in it! And the art work and the architecture were so amazing. It was really great to see that something like this was able to survive centuries especially since it seemed that the Nile overtime destroyed a lot of the stuff that used to exist. The Temples of Karnak is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks dedicated to the Theban gods and the greater glory of the pharaohs. What I really liked was the Avenue of Ram-Headed Sphunxes. This walkway lead between these temples and the Luxor Temple a few miles away. Tho’ most of it is destroyed now.
Luxor Temple – this is smaller than the Temples of Karnak but are still breathe taking. We went as the sun was setting and omg it was the perfect time to go. The lights that illuminate the temple at night brought such a remarkable look to the whole structure. And those of you who are familiar with my camera knows that it doesn’t really like taking pics at night so hence the lack of pics of this temple!
After seeing all of this we all went back to the hotel and some of us (like me) crashed for awhile. Later, Megan, Simon and I headed out and explored the town a bit.
Friday:
Luxor Museum – I have to say that this is the best museum in Egypt that I’ve seen so far just because of the documentation that they had. I got to see some beautiful statues that are incredibly huge. Also got to the see two mummies that were unwrapped! Ramsis I and Ahmose I. It was really odd to see these mummies especially without the wrappings. Boy did Egyptian know how to preserve some bodies. It’s like looking at a starved body with charcoal paint all over their bodies. And these people were short….I liked that part!
The rest of the day I hung out with Megan’s parents and aunt while Megan and Simon went back to the Temples of Karnak to explore some more. We went shopping throughout the town. And then went on a boat ride to Banana Island, had some bananas and tea and then headed back to Luxor to watch the sun set.
It was such a great two days. I had so much fun. Plus it was cool to be with Megan’s parents who had only been in the country for less than a week and are unfamiliar with the customs in Egypt (and still used to converting pounds into USD to see how expensive it is!). I was able to use all the Arabic that I’ve learned thus far. And I was haggling with people and getting good prices on items. People kept thinking I was either Egyptian or Nubian. I swear I kept hearing “Hi cousin” “Hi sister” the entire time I was there. “Cousin, I’ll give you special discount. Only for you, because you are my cousin!” It was interesting yet weird at the same time.
This one guy kept trying to talk to me and I kept walking past his shop. The last time I did he was trying to get me to come in and then proceeded to say “Cousin, I just want to smell your money!” at which point Megan and I started laughing uncontrollably. That definitely was a new line…at least he was very upfront!
Later we went and ate all together as we waited for some time to pass before we had to head to the train station. It was a pretty good meal. I really like chicken shawarma. Tho’ the meal was a bit interrupted by the presence of some cat on cat orgy porn going on….
The ride home was fun, tho’ the train people change the sits into beds way too early. We ended up ordering two bottles of wine – red and white – with some beer and everyone got someone buzzed.
We leave Luxor at about 9pm on Friday and arrived at 8am the next morning. And yay, I arrived sick! The train did such a great job of keeping the compartments cool that I ended up getting sick from sleeping in air conditioning. A fever, some chills, congestion, and a messed up knee and poppin’ ears which messed with my balance. But I guess it was all worth it even tho’ I’m still a bit sick.
What’s next? Sharm, Dahab,and hopefully the Black Desert and White Desert.
Only two months left…
posted by Nay-Nay at 5:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home