Egypt Fri 8 – Zealand Publishing House

June 2005 · Middle East Trip

David & Noel Coory's Journey to Egypt

A travel diary documenting the first leg of an epic Middle East adventure — Israel and Jordan to Egypt

Israel

/

First Look

Overall Impressions of Egypt

Ancient wonders standing proudly through millennia.
Rich history visible in everyday surroundings.
Chaotic traffic but surprisingly organized movement.
Warm hospitality despite cultural differences.
Fascinating blend of old and new.
Deeply rooted traditions shape daily life.
Magnificent pyramids inspire awe and curiosity.
Vibrant street life full of energy.
Intense desert heat dominates experiences.
Strong religious and cultural identity.

Colorful markets and persistent local vendors.
Extraordinary archaeological treasures everywhere.
Contrasts between luxury and simplicity.
Nile River sustains life amid desert.
Friendly guides enhance cultural understanding.
Unique architecture reflects ancient civilization.
Memorable sights at every turn.
Tourist-focused economy visible throughout.
Authentic local experiences beyond attractions.
A captivating and unforgettable destination.

JOURNEY TO LUXOR

Following The Nile Into Ancient Egypt

Noel and I arise at 5.30 am for our 8.15 am flight to Luxor. We have not slept well in this hotel room. A combination of no fresh air and nylon blankets.

The city of Luxor is further up the Nile in central Egypt, south toward the equator. This is where the most spectacular temples and burial tombs are found. The population of Luxor is about 350,000. Never rains in Luxor.

Sunny, hazy morning here in Cairo, almost foggy. Nabil our tour organiser and a driver meet us on time as usual. Our drivers and guides have been very reliable.

It seems that we have to tip somebody nearly every hour. Noel who is handling the finances hates it. It also seems demeaning to the person being tipped. Nevertheless it does ensure excellent and polite service. In Egypt there are about three times as many people than really required for the jobs available. Quite a contrast to Western countries. Wages are about 25 NZ cents an hour, yet a tip of about NZ$1.25 is expected for any service rendered.

On the way to the airport we see the Nile river clearly for the first time, but are not able to get a photo. But from this point of our trip onward, the Nile is seldom out of our sight. In fact it dominates the landscape.

Nabil stops the van on the way to the airport to buy us all a large, freshly squeezed mango juice drink. Very nice. He pays for them all himself, probably to ensure a good tip at the end of our tour. We will be flying back here to Cairo after our flight to Luxor.

Our flight to Luxor takes 50 minutes. We are flying on an Egypt Air jet, an airline not noted for its high standards. The aircraft is rather grubby. As we descend to land in Luxor, we see an island in the midst of the Nile below us. Later we learn it is called Banana Island.

“From this point of our trip onward, the Nile is seldom out of our sight. In fact it dominates the landscape.”

ALONG THE NILE

First Impressions Of Luxor

Luxor it is considerably hotter than Cairo. Our driver here is yet again named Mohamed. He is of course a Moslem as one would expect from his name, but he looks very much like a Maori, though he is an Arab. Many of the women here have beautiful eyes, almost black, again like the Maori.

Luxor appears to be quite a clean city, with lots of trees, which is surprising for it never rains here. Everything in this part of Egypt relies on irrigation by the Nile, otherwise it reverts to pure desert.

This ancient city of Luxor is built on the eastern bank of the Nile River and is a major port for the numerous luxury river boats that cruise the Nile in the cooler months. The boats are moored here at present, up to three and four abreast.

There are also numerous horse-drawn elegant buggies trotting up and down the streets to give tourists rides.

“Everything in this part of Egypt relies on irrigation by the Nile, otherwise it reverts to pure desert.”

OUR HOTEL IN LUXOR

A Comfortable Stay With A View

We are driven to our hotel, located in the main tourist street. Our room is light and attractive with ivory tiles and clean furniture. Room 305 again, the same as in our Cairo hotel.

“We look out at a beautiful Mosque, with a tall elegant tower, from our hotel room third floor widow.”

MEETING OUR GUIDE

A Local Perspective On Luxor

We now go with our driver to pick up our tour guide. He turns out to be a handsome young Coptic Christian by the name of George Farah. He looks even more Maori than Mohamed our driver.

Some of the Luxor Egyptians appear very light boned and fine featured. George tells me they are Bedouin people.

“Some of the Luxor Egyptians appear very light boned and fine featured.”

THE MAGNIFICENCE OF KARNAK

Exploring Egypt’s Greatest Temple Complex

George takes us first to the huge Karnak Temple complex which is right in the heart of Luxor. This temple complex is in amazingly good condition. Even the paint colours on the ancient stones are still showing in sheltered parts.

The temple complex is very hot. There are many statues, mostly intact, and hieroglyphics engraved into the stone and plastered walls everywhere. Some of the columns are huge.

Our guide explains some of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. A god always has two feathers above his or her head. Many of the columns are fluted and look more elegant than the Roman ones we saw in Lebanon. Evidently plastered concrete is used to create the effect.

The hard granite obelisks, or tall pillars, have been smoothed with harder stone, we are told.

A very impressive temple complex. We spend several hours being taken around, George explaining everything as we go. The inscriptions in hieroglyphics generally tell of the reigns of different Pharaohs in the past, and who they married, and the heroic things that happened in the wars, etc.

“A very impressive temple complex.”

HOW THE TEMPLES WERE BUILT

Ancient Construction Techniques Revealed

One of the huge temple walls can still be seen in the process of being built, as it was never finished. It is interesting to see how they did it. The walls first of all have a platform, made of crude little mud bricks, built up alongside them for the workers to stand on as they build the main wall with large, cut stones. As the wall gets higher, so they build the mud brick bank up higher. When they reach the top and complete the wall, they then remove the mud brick platform.

The walls are a bit uneven at first, but they smooth them off afterwards.

You can also see two of the temple columns in their incomplete state in the picture below. A round column is actually built first using rectangular cut stones, just like the walls, but as you can see from the finished columns next to them, the stones are then rounded off and plastered with a limestone cement to look smooth and round.

“When they reach the top and complete the wall, they then remove the mud brick platform.”

ART OF THE PHARAOHS

Statues, Colours And Timeless Craftsmanship

Some of the statues display exquisite workmanship, such as the lion-bodied Pharaoh below.

In areas sheltered from the sun we can still see remains of the bright yellow, red and blue paint that once decorated the Hieroglyphics. This same paint preserved in some of the underground tombs across the river we will visit tomorrow, looks as vividly bright as modern acrylic paint.

“This same paint preserved in some of the underground tombs across the river we will visit tomorrow, looks as vividly bright as modern acrylic paint.”

LIFE IN THE TEMPLE GROUNDS

An Unexpected Oasis In The Desert Heat

There is a lagoon in this hot complex full of rather stagnant water, yet almost unbelievably, has fish life. The water must be pumped up from the Nile somehow.

“There is a lagoon in this hot complex full of rather stagnant water, yet almost unbelievably, has fish life.”

AN UNFORGETTABLE LUNCH

Unexpected Surprises At The Hotel Restaurant

After our long tour of the Karnak Temple, we are then taken back to our hotel about 1 pm. We have lunch at our hotel. There is a little restaurant in a mall underneath. We sip our water and try and be patient as we wait a whole hour for our food to come.

Noel is not impressed with his Lasagne. Lasagne is normally layers of pasta with sauce, cheese, meat and vegetables. Noel’s is just a thick soup. My order was a tuna sandwich. I receive canned tuna, chips, tomatoes and cucumber with two huge buns, each bun a meal in itself.

I also ordered a chocolate milkshake but got a hot chocolate drink made with milk powder. I suppose it was amusing in one way

“I suppose it was amusing in one way.”

ESCAPING THE MIDDAY HEAT

A Quiet Afternoon Indoors

After our lunch we return to our air conditioned room to have a nap in the heat of the day. The mid-summer heat outdoors now is so hot it’s like the interior of a car sitting in the NZ summer sun with all the windows closed.

We receive a text from Marie asking me to phone her. But it costs NZ$6 a minute, so I decide to email her instead.

“The mid-summer heat outdoors now is so hot it’s like the interior of a car sitting in the NZ summer sun with all the windows closed.”

AN EVENING BY THE NILE

Exploring Luxor In The Desert Heat

About 4.30 in the afternoon we decide to go for a walk along the River Nile. We think it may have cooled down a little, but as we walk out of our hotel room, the heat hits us like the opening of an oven door. Nevertheless we soon become reasonably accustomed to it. It is dry heat and we don’t feel sweaty and clammy, as sweat evaporates instantly due to low humidity. The heat makes us constantly thirsty however and need to carry a bottle of water all of the time.

This turns out to be another very interesting walk. As mentioned earlier, in the tourist area of Luxor are many elegant horse carts. We notice that the horses have a catcher under their bottoms to catch their droppings so they don’t spread it on the road. Luxor is a very tourist conscious town. The carriage drivers are very persistent and pushy as they hustle for passengers.

The wide Nile river flows alongside the town’s main street. As we walk along the footpath here we are surprised at the sheer number of cruise ships moored, three or four abreast. There are about 40 of them. The present mid-summer is their quiet season, due to excessive heat.

“The heat hits us like the opening of an oven door.”

LIFE ON THE STREETS

The Hustle And Rhythm Of Everyday Luxor

As we walk, we are continually accosted by hawkers, horse carriage owners, Felucca sail boat owners and shopkeepers. Throughout our walk we probably have about a 100 approaches. Men are sitting everywhere in the shops in the shopping part of the town near our hotel. They all try and invite us in. There are about three men to every shop. No women.

Most of the men wear white or grey Kaftans. These are long sleeved plain garments, like a women’s dress almost down to the feet. Noel wonders if they wear under-garments. We observe the next man that comes along more closely and can see a coarse singlet under his Kaftan, and we think, underpants also.

Most Moslem men appear very modest and usually cover all their arms, and their legs, no matter how hot it is. There are lots of 1970’s Peugeot 504 station wagons here as taxis, and also many vans used as taxis. Like in Cairo, some of the vans have their side doors tied open permanently. And of course there are the horses and carriages everywhere also.

We come across a water dispenser by the side of the road. This seems very popular with men who continually come and fill containers.

“Throughout our walk we probably have about a 100 approaches.”

ALONG THE WATERFRONT

Historic Buildings Beside The Nile

There are some quite attractive buildings in this main waterfront street including the winter palace of the Egyptian President.

“There are some quite attractive buildings in this main waterfront street.”

BARGAINS AT SUNSET

An Unexpected Deal On Papyrus Paintings

We walk back to the hotel at sunset. A persistent hawker aged about 25 follows us down the road trying to sell us papyrus paintings. We keep telling him we are not interested. But he keeps following us and the price keeps dropping, and dropping. Eventually it drops 75%.

Yesterday we saw good papyrus paintings such as this hawker has, for about US$45 each. Tonight we are offered them for just US$1 each. So we buy ten. They are beautifully done, and the ink can rub off with water which is a sign they are hand painted rather than machine printed.

Noel and I do not really feel like a cooked evening meal, so we just have some fruit, apples and watermelon which we buy locally.

“But he keeps following us and the price keeps dropping, and dropping.”

THE MUMMY MUSEUM

A Brief Glimpse Into Ancient Egypt

We are picked up a little later tonight at the hotel by our driver, to visit a small mummy museum. It is not all that good, although quite interesting in parts.

“It is not all that good, although quite interesting in parts.”

A WALK THROUGH LUXOR BY NIGHT

Street Vendors, Shoe Shines And Evening Heat

Instead of being driven back to the hotel, we told our driver earlier that we would walk. So off we go, walking the night streets of Luxor. Again we are continually accosted by hawkers. Perhaps we should wear Kaftans so that we look like natives.

I give in to some endless pestering by some young boys to have my shoes polished. One of them, aged about 12, agrees to do it for one Egyptian pound, about 25 cents. He is quite thorough and takes the shoe laces out, but uses a brush only. Half way through he asks me if I want ‘creama’ (polish). I say, “Yes of course.”

So he applies a tiny bit of polish from a jar and then tells me it will be additional English pound, which is about twelve Egyptian pounds. I firmly object and say, “No, I expect ‘creama’ (which is only a few cents) as part of the job.” However he makes a good job and to save a long wearying argument we pay him two Egyptian pounds.

Getting my shoes polished at night. When we get back to our hotel and I send an email to Marie. Costs twenty Egyptian pounds NZ$5. Still hot, even though it’s about 10 o’clock at night.

“Still hot, even though it’s about 10 o’clock at night.”

David & Noel Coory · Middle East Trip

June 2005 · Tauranga, New Zealand to Singapore and beyond Redesigned with care · Original travel diary preserved

Zealand Publishing House

Health, self improvement and do-it-yourself books