| Submitted by: Patrick Tarnay, United States |
| Submission Date: 04 February 2005 |
|
 |
|
Steep decent underground leads us down into a narrow hallway into large room with a monster sarcophagus of the king. A French tour group crowds the room which allows me to blend into the photo takers. With no more photo tickets, I'm able to hide behind the sarcophagus and snap unbelievable photos of the fascinating ceiling. This ceiling has a sky blue painted background with the sun godess's arms stretched across the 'evening sky'.
The Valley of the Kings was simply mandatory in retrospect. The sense of human history and evolution is indescribable. Being so deep into the mountain's tombs was creepy, but witnessing all the detailed work was perhaps the greatest feeling of our trip.
Back to waiting Mohammed, we're bombarded with offers of dinner at his family's home. We feel guilty of course, but stand strong on our polite denials. Mohammed takes us by boat to the East Bank and writes his address for possible references. A friendly good-bye knowing we'll never see each other again (75LE for 5 hours of work and car).
Crash for a bit, then hit the 'night scene' at Luxor Temple. This Temple is basically in the middle of a crowded city. Although small, Luxor's population is growing despite their recent troubles.
Luxor temple is lit up at night which makes great photo opportunities. The temple is clearly visible, being in the middle of the city's hotels and main drags. However, at night the temple takes on a different attitude. The height and detail of this temple is gorgeous with lights from below, making the temple seem even larger. Great photos taken.
Absolutely incredible! Luxor Temple & Karnak are only 3 miles apart. The 2 temples of Luxor's East Bank accompanied by its West Bank treasures are supposedly 1/6 of the earth's ancient monuments. Fantastic day!!!!!
|
Good night sleep. Head to breakfast with plans to head to the 'Old Winter Palace' to view train schedule to the Edfu Temple. We run into the redhead Kirby & his wife Tina, which we had briefly met two days ago on the hotel's rooftop lounge.
Find out that Kirby writes for travel magazines, while Tina is in the jewelry business. Their homes are Bankok, Thailand, and Perth, Australia. Kirby is originally from Canada and his wife is from Taiwan. Linda quickly proclaims her jealousy of their lifestyle. Kirby eloquently explains how they themselves meet people that they're jealous of, so we need not worry.
We tell Kirby & Tina of our plans to check the train schedules. They then tell us that if we hurry we can catch the 9:00am 1st class train to Efdu. We're off to Luxor train station.
A 15 minute walk has us at confusion headquarters. Of course no posted prices. The guy at the ticket window tells us to buy our tickets on the train ('1st class = 16LE'). Find our way to the right track, then head to the furthest most train car. 1st class simply means padded seat. Ticket collector demands 19LE instead of the quoted 16LE. Little objection leads to no results (19LE). Find out later that tourists are not allowed to actually buy tickets at the ticket office. You should have a local buy your ticket which in turn gets you the local price. Takes 2 hours to reach Edfu.
Some confusion as to whether we can walk to the temple from the station. Amazingly not one employee understands English. Find the nearest taxi for 3LE after tip (pick-up truck with large shell and padded benches). The driver drops us off at tourist central. Every tourist was from Nile cruise ships, their docking port just 2 miles away. Tourist busses and horse carriages crowd this narrow, pothole filled street.
It soon became evident that this one day jaunt was well worth our time. Only 2,500 years old, the Temple Horus at Edfu was one of the last Ancient Egyptian style temples built. It was built by Ptolymes, the mother of Cleopatra. We took many photos of the elaborate interior and of each other with superb backgrounds.
We finish our 1 ½ hour tour with 3 hours to spare before our train departs back to Luxor. Kill some time at the temple's overpriced snack bar. Then decide to head to the train station, having to face the hawkers along the way to the taxi depot. One 'salesman' began to grab Linda's arm. My jump to the situation made all the locals nervous. A dirty look lets us walk freely the remainder of the block. Go figure.
Back at the train station we find that our train is 1 hour late. 2 ½ hour wait for a train that offers 3rd class only. We sit on chairs outside with the station manager, 2 of his employees, and appx. 5 policemen. The sun shined so bright on this February day that we preferred the shade.
In the meantime, we had conversation with the only the English speaker, the station manager. He spoke little English, but he knew what to say when he found out we were from the U.S. 'I would love to live in America', he immediately says. He mentioned 'freedom' when describing our homeland. However he was quick to mention his dissatisfaction with Israel's treatment of Palestine and the U.S.'s tolerance of this. They played music on a small radio while the manager told the story behind each song's plot. The manager also translated our stories to the policemen. They frequently laughed and were clearly interested in us. They all made the time pass quickly.
Say good-bye to our friends and hop on an Egyptian 3rd class train car. A wooden bench is our seat in a car that apparently doesn't need doors. The floor is littered with sugar cane with which the few locals in the train chew away. Later that night, Kirby would joke that perhaps we were on the dining car. One fellow on the train practices his English on us, he also loves 'America'.
The train ' ticket man' soon sees us and asks whether or not we are students. I tell him no, then he begins to shake is head. The Giza feeling of 'out in the middle of nowhere' sets in. The ticket man is sad to tell us that our trip to Luxor will cost us 3LE ($1 US total, no student discount). 3 ¼ hours on the way back with about 20 stops. Nothing but poor farmers and a few school children getting on and off at each station.
We missed the sunset on the rooftop bar, but we head up to see whether or not the previous night's crowd is still there. Kirby, Tina, 2 stereotypical beer drinking Canadians, and the most traveled John & his new wife Dee are there once again.. We spend the next 4 hours having drinks, talking travel, and world politics with John, Kirby, & Tina. An absolutely unforgettable night, full of mutual enjoyment and education.
Kirby & Tina tell us of the South East Asian cultures and tourism, while John tells us of his travels to Morocco, Turkey, India, and Australia. Simply a wealth of knowledge that we tried to soak up during the night. Our waiter 'George' hovered over us trying to jump into conversations he could understand. A few photos and we're off to bed.
|
This morning the hotel was anxious to get us out, with a French tour group arriving today. Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30pm, so Kirby & Tina offer to hold our luggage in their room for the day after breakfast. We will meet them on the rooftop at 5:00pm for sunset.
We walk to the beautiful 'Winter Palace' on the Corniche. This hotel was home to Egypt's last king, King Farouk (1960's). A true 5 star hotel, it offers a spectacular garden in the back, a relaxing get away from its street front.
Next stop is the 'Brooke Hospital for Animals'. Ironically located on a horse carriage packed street. This small open aired hospital is now home to appx. a dozen injured horses and donkeys. The hospital puts life into perspective when you see some of their patients. A collage of recent surgery photos sends a French woman into tears. Linda, the cause of this detour, drops the 50LE donation bomb upon the hospital. The veterinarian tells Linda that he must give her a receipt according to the hospital rules. The hospital gave us a very informative pamphlet explaining their relief efforts throughout the Middle-East.
Feeling as though we've 'done' Luxor we head to the rooftop bar for Lunch and a few cokes. The Friday prayers are in full effect with the loudspeaker clan speaking their minds. It's difficult to tune them out while they clear their throats into the microphone and argue over which passage to read.
About 3:00pm an American Egyptology student joins us. Her name is Katie and has been separated from her husband for a 3 month study in Luxor. We talk of her separation difficulties, Egypt's history, and social problems. She also tells us that her favorite local bookstore is the only shop with price tags.
5:00pm rolls around and like clockwork Kirby arrives after a speedwalk from Karnak Temple. Tina was angry because she wanted to arrive earlier in case Linda & I wanted to shower. We reassured her that showers were not necessary. Apparently Kirby took too many photo opportunities on their walk from Karnak. Only one hour of conversation between the four of us before we must leave for the Luxor airport. Wonderful people to meet and share our time with in Luxor, sad to leave.
We negotiate a 20LE fare to the airport. Our driver tells us that he loves America, a place he could practice his Christian religion. He is clearly frustrated by the Egyptian government's treatment of the Copts. Standing room only in the few Christian churches of Luxor. I stupidly fuel his fire by telling him of the little tension between religions in the U.S. He raises his voice even more to agree with us, then suddenly becomes quiet for the rest of the drive.
Pulling up to the airport we park next to a few armed guards. Our driver turns to us and basically yells 'I don't want any problems!' Baffled by this outburst, we wonder whether he's talking about the armed guards or using an aggressive tip tactic. Giving him a very nervous look, he clarifies himself by reaffirming his anger with the Egyptian government. A sigh of relief and a 5LE tip settles him down and sends us on our way to a 3 ½ hour delay for a simple 1hour domestic flight.
With no explanation given, our flight won't depart until 12:00 midnight. At 10:00pm we're allowed to check in. We're told that we no longer have 1st class seats. Our seats are now the 49th row. I'm directed to the manager's office for refund after making a scene. The manager tells me that I'll receive a refund at the Cairo airport. With no energy to argue further, we sit in the waiting area. After another 1 ½ we're given our original 1st class tickets while waiting at the gate.
1st class is full of Egyptians which makes us wonder if preference might have played a factor in their attempt to downgrade our tickets. I sleep through the flight, not taking advantage of the perks, fortunately Linda did. Very unfortunate and aggravating 4 ½ hours.
Negotiate for 35LE ride to our newly scheduled hotel, the 'Berlin Hotel' in downtown Cairo. The hotel is located down an alley and up a sketchy elevator on the 4th floor. We wake a 16 year old boy in the lobby that tells us the hotel is full. We use the hotel phone to call a few hotels in our guide book. I negotiate with the Carlton Hotel to get a 90LE rate. Expensive, but it's now 1:30am. The boy has the nerve to charge us 3LE for use of his phones. An 'in the face' chuckle backs him off his ridiculous effort. In bed at 2:45am. |
|
| Copyright © - "Patrick Tarnay" |
|
 |
| Other travelogues by the same author: |
|
|
|
