Granite Quarry, Aswan Dam, Isle of Philae, Essence and Felucca Cruise

Unfinished Obelisk
Me at Granite Quarry
Me at Aswan Dam overlooking Lake Nasser
Sign at Dam Site
Sign at Dam Site
Lake Nasser and Isle of Philae in background
On ferry, heading for the Isle of Philae
Still on Ferry
Temple on Isle of Philae
Approaching Temple on Isle of Philae
Temple on Isle of Philae

Greek influence in capitol
Looking out through Kiosk of Trajan
View from Isle of Philae
Engravings were destroyed
Temple in the background
In the courtyard
Sign on the Isle of Philae

Kiosk of Trajan as seen leaving the island
Felucca Ride
Had to pass thru two other ships to reach shore
Middle Kingdom ruins
Increasing water in the Nile ;-}
View from Felucca

Mausoleum of Agha Khan
Ship Oberoi Philates

14 March 2008

The ship pulled into Aswan this morning. I was able to sleep until about 7:00 AM. I went up to the fourth floor to watch as we came in. I was surprised that the ship tied into another ship, which was tied into another ship. To get to shore, we had to walk through two other ships. Apparently this is standard operating procedure.

The first stop of the day was the granite quarry where the Egyptians obtained their pink granite. I was surprised as the relatively large number of people there. The site to see was the unfinished Obelisk which Pharroh Hotchepsup intended to dedicate to her father. However when cracks were discovered in the granite, the project was abandoned. There was a second obelisk that had been abandoned in an earlier stage of the work.

The next stop was the Aswan Dam which is used to prevent flooding and to provide all the needs of electricity for the country. The project took eleven years to complete and the Russians insisted on being paid in cotton for their assistance. The dam created the largest man-made lake, called Lake Nasser. It extends south into the Sudan. To prevent silt from making the dam useless, they have built a side canal. I don’t know how effective it is.

The next stop was the Isle of Philae, where a temple which dates to the Greco Roman period is located. To get to the Isle of Philae it was necessary to take a ferry. Our guide attempted to find a relatively clean boat. The temple was in use from about 400 BCE to 400 CE. It definitely shows the Greek influence. There is a small temple there called the Kiosk of Trajan, which was not quite finished. One of the capitols of a column was not carved. A lot of the images had been defaced probably by the early Christians that used the temple as a church. You could still see where the Christian altar was and there was a Coptic inscription on one of the walls. Coptic is apparently written using the Greek alphabet.

The next stop, which was voluntary and only about six of us went, was a place where they made very pretty glass bottles and essential oils from various flowers and other entities. I had made up my mind that I wasn’t going to buy anything. I’ve already spent more than half of the cash I had brought with me and don’t want to get into trouble at the end of the trip.

We returned to the ship with barely enough time for lunch before the Felucca ride, which I enjoyed very much. Again I was surprised at the number of ships in the harbor. I don’t understand how they avoided running into each other. We saw the sites around the Aswan bay area which included the mausoleum of the Aga Khan and some middle kingdom ruins on a hill.

Dinner was served about an hour after we returned to the ship. As usual I found it a pleasant social event. Now I have to go back to my cabin and pack. My suitcase must be outside the door at 6:30 AM. We leave for the airport at 7:30 AM.

Sunset over the Nile at Kom Ombo


Entrance to Temple at Kom Ombo
Ceiling with vivid painting at Temple at Horus and Sobek
Me in front of Temple of Horus and Sobek
Unknow Roman Emperor
The room Stewards have a sense of humor!

Temple of Horus in Edfu and Kom Ombo Tour

13 March 2008

Today I had the pleasure of sleeping in until about 7:00 AM. Using the shuttle bus provided by the ship, we went to the Temple of Horus in Edfu. This is considered to be one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. It was built by the Greeks starting in 237 BCE and was completed about 57 BCE. Apparently it was built on the foundation of an earlier temple. The Greek rulers associated their G-ds with the Egyptian G-ds in order not to upset the local population. Some of the original paint is still there. The temple was three quarters covered by sand which preserved a lot of the engravings. The Coptic Christian population had defaced many of the engravings because they felt that this was paganism and had to be destroyed. Tea time followed and I had a cup of coffee. At about 6:00 PM, the ship pulled into Kom Ombo.

We went ashore to visit the Temple which differed in that it was dedicated to two G-ds; namely Sobek, the crocodile G-d and Horus the elder. This temple was in operation from about 200 BCE to about 200 CE. Some of the engravings were in excellent condition. There were engravings of medical instruments used during this period. There was a mummified crocodile and a statue of an unknown Roman Emperor. The place was very crowded and I couldn’t really see everything I would have liked, because we had to get back to the ship for dinner and the Galabiya party.

I showered and dressed in the galabiya that I had purchased today. By the time I finished dinner, all I wanted was to go to sleep. I made an appearance at the party and then came back to my cabin to go to sleep.

Cruising the Nile - Near the Sena Locks and Temple of Horus Video Clips

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Kom Ombo Video Clips




Sailing into Aswan Video Clips




Granite Quarry Video Clips




Lake Nasser Video Clip




Isle of Philae Video Clips

Valley of the Kings and Crusing on the Nile

View from my cabin on the ship


Leaving the Valley of the Kings

Leaving the Valley of the Kings

In front of tomb of Ramooz - Vizier to Amenhotep III and Achnaton
In front of Tomb of Ramses IV
Sign in front of Tomb of Ramooz
Trying to restore Colossi of Memnon
Colossi of Memnon
Sunset over the Nile
Front of Temple of Horus at Edfu
Doorway into Temple - Note remaining color near top
Note remaining color
Ceiling painting which still has come of the original color
In front of temple
In front of the entrance to courtyard

12 March 2008

I got to the dining room in time to have breakfast and make the 6:30AM start. Our guide was very anxious to have us arrive at the Valley of the King early to beat the crowds. Before I left my cabin, I took a shot of the view as I looked across the Nile. There were hot air balloons flying. Why? I have no idea.

I was hoping to get a nap as we drove to the Valley of the Kings, but we were closer than I realized. We were there in under half an hour. The buses parked outside and we went into a large reception area where they had a National Geographic video playing about the discovery of tomb of King Tut. I had to use the ladies room. It cost an Egyptian pound to get the toilet paper! As a rule, they have fifteen people doing the job that one person could do to insure that the other fourteen people have a job.

The land was reminiscent of the terrain around the Dead Sea and also around the Grand Canyon, although the mountains were nowhere near as high. The ticket entitled us to enter three tombs. It was recommended that we go to Ramses III, IV and IX. I elected to pay 80 Egyptian pounds to see the tomb of King Tut. King Tut’s tomb had a very nice drawing on the wall. It contained a sarcophagus , which I was told was an imitation of the real one which is in the Cairo museum. The actual mummy is still in the tomb. Based upon the mummy, it is possible to determine what he looked like in life.

As we were leaving, we were virtually attached by aggressive salespeople trying to sell us all sorts of things. I do want to buy some cotton things, but I want to be sure that I get decent quality.

Next I went to Ramsis IX’s tomb. I was surprised at how fresh some of the paint appeared. The further back in the tomb you went, the brighter the paint appeared. The best preserved tomb was Ramsis IV. Not only was it better preserved, but it seemed to employ a yellow ocher which to my eye appeared different than in the other tombs. Apparently the tomb was never finished and never used. It was started in the traditional fashion, but switched over to the innovations introduced by Achnaton, but was abandoned when Achnaton moved his capitol to a new city that he was having built. Here we were attached by aggressive children trying to sell us dolls. I felt badly, but I didn’t want to buy something that not only did I have no use for but didn’t want.

Our next stop was where the Collissi of Memnon is located. There had been a temple behind the two statues, but the temple was destroyed in an earthquake. The statues used to whistle in the morning, which was thought to be Aurora calling the Sun. However once the cracks in the statues were fixed the whistling stopped.

After a nice nap, I attempted to access the internet, but it was extremely slow. Apparently the connection is via a mobile phone. I headed up to the fourth floor where there is a sort of patio. I watched the shore passing by. On one side, it probably looked the same when the Pharohs ruled Egypt. Eventually we reached the lock where we were attached by a flotilla of small boats manned by very persistent salesmen. They would throw merchandise up to the fourth level. When I threw it done, they caught it. The idea was that if you liked the merchandise, you put the money in the plastic bag. I felt sorry for the men. That’s got to be a rough way to make a living.

There was a cocktail party in honor of the tour leader Bill since Intrav is effectively closing and this is his last trip. Dinner came next followed by sleep.

Video Clips



Video Clip of Store selling Alabaster, etc

Temple of Karnak, Temple of Luxor and Papryus

Plane to Luxor
Arrival at Karnak
Entrance to Karnak
Me at Entrance to Karnak
Sphinx leading into Karnak -Note Ram's Head, Lion's body, Ramses II in front
Statue of Ramses II
Statue leading to side space
Ramses II with favorite wife Nefitari
Note color remaining on ceiling
Other side of ceiling
Note the two obelisks - one for Pharoh Hotchepsut - female ruler of Egypt for about 14 years
Outside wall in which color remains after several thousand years
Obelisk seen on leaving Temple (or was it tomb) of Pharoh Hotchepsut
Reconstruction in progress
Note Obelisk in background
Note obelisks in background
Temple "pepsi cola"
Figures of Pharohs
Crowds leaving on a relatively uncrowded day.
Me in Front of Ramses II at Temple of Luxor
Roman Fresco in Temple of Luxor

11 March 2008

Today has been such an exciting day that I’m confused about what I saw and did. We had to have luggage outside the room at the Mena House by 5:00 AM, which I did by putting in a wake-up call for 4:45 AM. After breakfast, we got on the bus which took us to the Cairo airport in relatively record time. I had some trouble at the airport. We had to go through two sets of detectors. There was no problem with the first, but at the second, the guard insisted on pulling out my batteries and duct tape. He told me that I couldn’t take it. I stood there a while and after he ignored me for a while, I just put the stuff back into my back pack and sat down with others from the tour.

It was about a two hour flight to Luxor. We got on the bus and were driven to the Temple of Karnak, which is a very large complex. As you enter the complex, you see the latest additions to the temple. It is amazing that some of the paintings still have color. Originally everything was painted in very bright colors. There originally was a road between the temple of Karnak and Luxor lined on each side by a sphinxes. The ones at Karnak had the head of a ram, the body of a lion and a small statue of Ramses II in front of the Lion. The front courtyard where we entered was not quite finished. There was still a mud brick ramp which was used in construction and two of the columns hadn’t been smoothed down. As we went back into the site, we were going back in time. The courtyard was followed by the hypostyle, which is a room filled with columns. Each column was engraved with various hieroglyphics. One place, where the ceiling remained, had painted images on the ceiling. The next thing that we saw was two obelisks. One was from Pharoh Hotchepsut, which had been hidden by a wall of stones, which effectively protected it. Some of the exterior walls still had the color from the paint put on them thousands of years ago. There was a room involving Pharoh Hotchepsut, who was a woman. She ruled for 21 years and was succeeded by her nephew (?) who tried to erase her name. There is still restoration going on at the site.

While at Karnak, I thought I was at the temple of Luxor since the Temple of Karnak is in Luxor; consequently some of pictures mention Temple of Luxor when it is the Temple of Karnak.

We also saw the sacred lake where the priests performed their ablutions before doing the sacrifices. There were steps that you could walk down to enter the lake.

We went to the ship. We had lunch first because the cabins weren’t quite ready. While the cabin is smaller than the room at Mena House, it is very nice. I found out that the ship offers free internet access; consequently I spent some time checking back e-mail and sent a fairly long e-mail to Marla. First of course I took a nap.

The Temple of Luxor was next on the agenda. We spent about an hour there. The front part was dedicated to Ramses II and the back to Amunhotep III. There were large statues of Ramses II. This temple had been used by the Greeks, then a church and most recently a Mosque. The door leading into the Mosque was about three stories above where we stood. The whole area had been filled in with sand. In one of the rooms, there was a Roman picture. In the last room, one wall had hieroglyphics about Alexander the Great dated about 300 BCE. On the wall facing it were hieroglyphics about Amonhotep III about 1250 BCE.

Our last stop for the day was at the Papyrus store. We were shown how papyrus is made and then there were pictures painted on the Papyrus for sale. I really hadn’t intended buying anything but I saw a picture that I thought would be perfect for a relative; consequently I bought it.

We returned to the ship where I showered and joined the cocktail reception, but first I discovered internet access and did some e-mail checking. After dinner I collapsed especially since we were scheduled to leave at 6:30 AM for Valley of the Kings.

Saqqara, Memphis, Coptic Cairo and Sound & Light Show at Sphinx

Me in front of Step Pyramid
Another view of the step pyramid
Worker's camp at Saqqara
In front of step pyramid
Memphis - me in front of calcity sphinx
Ben Ezra Synagogue
Doorway into Ben Ezra Synagogue

10 March 2008

We took off at 7:30 AM this morning and headed for Saqqara famed for the step pyramid. We were the first bus that arrived so that we were able to see everything without being crowded. Egypt has been catering to tourists for at least two thousand years.

Near the step pyramid in Saqqara is a field, where, after the Pharaoh was in office for thirty years, he had to chase a bull around the field five times and catch it by the tail. If he succeeded, then he could reign for another thirty years. There is a reconstruction of one of the first buildings built. It has walls coming out which at the end are shaped like a column with fluted edges. This was supposed to be the shape of the papyrus stalk. Apparently before stone was used, bundles of papyrus stalks were used as columns. My big complaint was that I got a low battery signal and I had neglected to bring extra batteries. I had 24 in my suitcase back at the hotel.

After spending some time examining the stepped pyramid and surrounding area, we went to the tomb of the “nobleman”. This tomb has pictures on the walls of the various rooms. It showed the “nobleman” doing various activities such as hunting, fishing, gambling, etc. He was shown with his wife and daughter. The wife was carved as the same size as the “nobleman”, but the daughter who was holding a lotus flower was about a quarter of the size of him. There was even some paint left on the paintings. Apparently after the rooms were carved out of rock, the artists came in to draw the scenes. The master artist followed and corrected any mistakes. Then the carvers came in and they were then followed by the master artist who added the color. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to take pictures.

Our next stop was Memphis. Well not actually Memphis because Memphis is buried under the existing village. We saw some statuary that had been dug up. There is a magnificent statue of Ramses II who was reputed to have had 200 children. It is cut off at about the knees. Currently it is housed a building and the statue is lying down. There is also a calcite sphinx on display as well. I picked up a few souvenirs in the open air museum.

We then headed back to Cairo. Traffic was horrendous and it took a while to get back to the hotel, where lunch was served. The meal was so large that I barely touched it. I ate the appetizer and when we were served a mixed grill, I barely touched it. I was very frustrated at the relatively slow service, because I needed to get back to my room to get batteries. I finally got the coffee that I had requested and raced to my room to get the batteries. I took all of them and threw them in my back pack.

2:00 PM was the scheduled time for the Coptic Cairo tour. We took off a bit after 2:00 PM. We saw the “hanging” church first. It is called that because it is built over the old Roman fort. There were a few places where the floor where the wood was replaced with either glass or plastic so you could look down and see the remains of the Roman fort underneath. We next headed for the Coptic museum, where we were rushed through because both the museum and the Ben Ezra Synagogue closed at 4:00 PM. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is quite small. I purchased four pictures and a booklet which gives some of the history of the synagogue. The little synagogue at Forest Hills is larger. Again we were asked not to take pictures inside the synagogue. I did get a picture of the outside. From there we went to another church which is supposed to be the Christian holy family hid from the Roman governor.

There were only ten of us who signed up for this tour (an extra $30). As we were running from sight to sight, the tenth person was missing. It turned out that he had been in the bathroom when we left and was locked into the bus. The tour people were searching for him everywhere. Finally one of the staff thought to go back to the bus.

As we were returning to the bus, I bought a few more souvenirs. As usual, I overpaid!

At 6:00 PM, we left for the sound and light show at the sphinx site. It makes use of the three main pyramids on the Giza Plateau and the Sphinx. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so cold. My guide book described it as kitsch worth seeing.

I checked my e-mail and then paid my bill, which should be about $50. Then I came back to my room to pack and get ready for bed.

Giza Plateau

I tried to upload some pictures last night, but the line isn’t fast enough; consequently pictures will probably have to wait until I get home.

Sunday, 9 March 2008

I woke at 5:00 AM local time. It was still dark. I looked at my clock and rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up at about 6:00 AM and in a very leisurely fashion I packed the things that I wanted to take with me for the day in the backpack, which I mostly left on the bus. I got dressed in my new SPF30 clothing and headed for breakfast. It was a buffet setting; however waitresses served coffee. The buffet was very similar to the type of buffet breakfast served in Israel. The principal difference was that sausages and other meat items were included. I really enjoyed the tahina and humus with what they labeled as Egyptian bread and we would call pita. After breakfast, I went back to my room to get my back pack and then we loaded onto the bus for the short ride to the pyramids. We were driven around the Pyramids and then we went into the museum built over where the Solar Boat was discovered a number of years ago. It is made of cedar wood which was obviously imported from Lebanon. When found, it was in pieces and it was put together by Egyptian archeologists. They were not sure what its purpose was. The two most likely possibilities are that it was used to transport the funeral goods across the Nile. The other possibility is that it was symbolic and its purpose was to provide transportation for the pharaohs to join the Sun G-d.

We were given the choice of wandering around or going into one of the pyramids. Our guide did not recommend going into the pyramid, but I chose to go, because I would not have forgiven myself if I hadn’t done it. Well she was right! It was hot and most of the way going down and then up, I had to walk in a crouching position. I started to get a touch of claustrophobia, but I survived. We got to a large room in which there was a sarcophagus. There was a sign on the wall with I guess the name of the archeologist who found the room as well as the date which I think was about 1816, but I’m not sure since they wouldn’t let us take cameras in.

The next stop was up on a plateau from which the pyramids were clearly in view. I was supposed to have my picture taken, but I asked my guide to take it. I have to remember to ask people in the group to take pictures. This was where we went for a camel ride. It consisted of getting up on the camel, the camel walked about 10 yards and then they turned around and went back. I should have remembered from my Israeli experience that I don’t enjoy camel rides. In addition, as I got off the camel, I got hit up for another $1 for a tip, which I had been told I shouldn’t have been asked for. Oh well, they have to make a living too. I wandered around for a short time and took some videos of the area. I’m sorry that I didn’t get some close shots of the pyramids.

The next stop was at the Sphinx. There was a lot of schtick for sale and it was necessary to keep walking and ignore or else I could have been stuck with a lot of junk. You can’t get close to the sphinx. There are gates around it. I walked to the side where I took some shots. Next time I have the chance I should pick up some of those items to take into the office.

Our last stop, which was optional, was at a jewelry store, where they sold Cartouches. The guide explained that the word “cartouche” is from the French and means cartridge. Napoleon’s soldiers thought that they looked like cartridges, which, to some degree, they do.

The rest of the afternoon is “at leisure”. Right now I do want to lie down and relax. At five there will be a lecture and tonight at seven is the welcome dinner.

The lecture which was supposed to start at 5:00PM started a bit late. I had trouble finding the room. Professor Rochelle Davis, an assistant professor at Georgetown University, spoke about Mosques and Islam in Egypt. I was surprised at the similarity between Islamic practices, at least in Egypt, and Judaism. All in all an interesting talk. She kept it light. She is knowledgeable since she has spent ten years living in different Arab countries. She is apparently fluent in the language. She indicated that it takes about five to six years to learn the language. For example, there are forty different forms of the plural.

After the lecture, I ran back to my room to change into my one skirt for the welcome banquet. I really enjoyed the dinner. There was good food and even better conversation. One of the women apparently is friendly with the prince who is most likely to become the next king of Saudi Arabia. She spoke of her experiences with him when they were in college together. HHHH Her husband seemed to like him as well. Apparently when he comes to the states, he invites them out to dinner. There was interesting talk about the mess in Iraq.

Cairo Arrival

I arrived here in Frankfurt at about 7:00 AM local time; however it is 2:30 AM according to my watch. They won’t let us into the gate area because there is another flight leaving before my flight. I did get some sleep on the plane, but not much and not well, which is normal. My boarding pass said that I was to go to gate B43. When I got there, I was told to go to gate B60. So now I’m waiting outside of the gate. I managed to get quite a lot of reading in my “Eyewitness Travel Egypt” book. Hopefully I will know enough so that when the guides start talking, I’ll understand what they are talking about.

As we left the plane (by bus), I asked someone to take a picture of me with the plane in the background. I neglected to get the starting picture from Newark.

I’m supposed to be in Cairo by about 3:00PM local time. My flight is supposed to leave here at about 10:00 AM local time. I think that there is only an hour difference between here and Cairo.

Well I was correct about the time difference between Cairo and Frankfurt. The flight was about four hours and I actually slept on the plane. I met one lady on the plane who is on the tour. It turns out that there are only 21 people on the tour. At the airport I met Susan Weiss, the lady who got in touch with me before the trip. She and her husband are very pleasant people, although I’m confident that all the people will be pleasant. Unpleasant people don’t usually take trips of this nature.

I was impressed and pleased with the way the arrival was handled. There was some one there BEFORE we had our passports stamped. I was directed to go through passport control, get my luggage and wait in the baggage area. The guide took out luggage and put it on a luggage cart and turned us over to another guide who took us to the mini-bus, where our luggage was placed in the back of the mini-bus. The guide, a young lady named Hanaa (pronounced Hannah), was on the bus and explained what we were seeing. The drivers in Cairo are insane! They make New York drivers appear sedate. One of the people in the bus pointed out that there were no stop lights or signs of any sort. The airport is on the eastern side of the city and the hotel where we are staying, which is Mena House, is on the western side of the city. We actually crossed the Nile. I am very impressed with Mena House. I have a room on the fourth floor WITH a balcony that faces towards the Pyramids, which we will be seeing tomorrow.

This evening was “at leisure”. I took a quick walk around the grounds of the hotel. They have a very nice pool area. I also investigated internet access. It costs 3.5 Egyptian pounds per minute. Since the $1 is about 5.5 Egyptian pounds, I estimate the cost at 60 cents a minute. However if you exceed forty minutes, you don’t pay any more. I went to the informal dining room where I ran into Susan Weiss and her husband. I had a pleasant meal after which I headed for my room to prepare for tomorrow.

On the Road to Cairo

I have my suitcase packed, my new purse is ready and I need to pack my backpack. I will be picked up by Super Shuttle at 1:45 pm to take me to Newark airport. I fly to Frankfurt where there is a two hour layover and then on to Cairo.

I hope my suitcase is under the weight limit. I think that it is about 40 pounds which leaves me room to buy souvenirs. I bought myself three blouses from LL Bean that are supposed to be SPF 30 and slacks that also are SPF 30. Marla deleted my Antartic pictures from my camera; consequently I'm ready for my new adventure!