The River Nile is home to 'wonderful things' ...

Day 313 - Thursday 20 November 2008

(Prize news in the 'Comments' section of the last post Swifty et al!)

When they call themselves Intrepid they really mean Intrepid. I'm sat back in Cairo and I can't believe how many adventures I've had in the days since I last posted. Consequently, this posthas to be a change of style. For after another overnight train journey alongside the Nile fromUpper to Lower Egypt (it's not north/south kids) I'm slightly jaded. I'm taking a deep breathtoday and I don't want to sit here and type for the entire afternoon (if only - it's now 16:30 having just finished). It's a good job I feel like I've been on 'top form tonight' with the SonyCybershot these last incredible days. And also my great group of fellow Intrepid travellers snapping the ones of me. I've got the fastest internet connection since Tokyo so it's a post of letting the 'captioned' photographs do the talking ...

The shot me and Dad didn't get. A bus ride behind the Pyramids of Giza leads you to the point where you can see and snap them all. You didn't miss all that much Dad. It's obviously incredible. But not the one I really wanted of them all in a straight line. You have to be knee deep in desert or in a helicopter for that shot. The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid shot shouts EGYPT a lot more!















The Temple of Isis on Agilkia Island (previously on Philae before they had to move it for the building of Aswan's High Dam. It happened to all the monuments nearby and they're now scattered around southern Egypt and the world. Some are now permanently underwater). My first foray deep into the heart of Nubia in Egypt around Aswan. (A place name George Lucas coined for the desert in Star Wars' Episode 1 as in 'I'm Nubian, Jedi mind tricks don't work on me'.)















These HUGE entrances to different sections of Pharonic temples are called pylons and are spectacularly cooler than pylons in England. The carvings on the face here must be at least 3-5M tall.










Mr Hadji. A famous face in Aswan and mentioned in Lonely Planet Egypt as THE man to take you on a tour of Elephantine Island in the middle of the River Nile and his home town. A beautifully eloquent Nubian gentleman and scholar.













a Rick O'Connell's got nothing on me. (I can't wait to see The Mummy again). Setting the sanddunes ablaze on the back of 'Banana' in the setting sun on the edge of the Sahara Desert offAswan's west bank. Strictly it's called the Western Desert. The ride's high, bumpy and like any strange creature you ride for the first time you have to boss it around a bit. They're docile, need lots of encouragement to break into their bum shaking trot and bloody great! This'll show that Wagstaff a thing or two!


















A crazy convoy ride away from Aswan is the Great Temple of Rameses II at Abu Simbel. A masterpiece in archaeology 'cos this one was moved 65M straight uphill in the 1960s into an artificial mountain backdrop. I've seen old photographs of the original and the water lapping at the colossal statues was awesome. But it's still hugely impressive and the 4 images of Rameses II towering over you make you marvel at the construction. I've now learned how the Egyptians moved the massive stones to these great heights. They built ramps of sand at a 45 degree angle and hauled them uphill before removing the sand again. Workshy fops they were not!















A new source of inspiration for me is 19th Century explorers. An age where seeing places like Abu Simbel involved the kind of adventure that must have hugely enhanced the end result. In modern times Bruce Fivesyth could comfortably come here. But I'm not sure he'd make it to Beng Melea in Angkor. My favourite places are the adventurey ones. Staring skywards at this is still wonderful. And so my thanks to those of you who told me 'you have to go to Abu Simbel'. You were right. The convoy of armed guards that guidebooks say 'don't take' was, for me, just another day at the office this year! I survived the speed and getting almost into Sudan. And I saw my first mirages. Sweeeet! My old friends liked their graffiti mind you. Naughty boys.
























Aswan is sublime. Peaceful, sunny, dominated by the Swiss owned Movenpick Hotel and all about floating along the River Nile on a lazy afternoon.















And it's Nubian Museum is a belter. Stunningly curated and with a very intact Rameses II statuefrom Abu Simbel's Great Hypostle Hall. The craftsmanship and artistic skill of Pharonic Egypt is making me question mankind's development. They were light years ahead of everyone else. Their stuff is just as good as most of what I've seen from the other civilisations I've been exploring. And yet that stuff is often 7 generations old. This stuff is 40 generations old. What happened in between?! My carefully devised theory (of the last few days!) is that life is more cyclical and less linear than we think. I mean. Is Damien Hirst as good as the artist who produced this. I don't think so. We're currently waiting for another golden age of art.
























A day on a felucca (traditional sail boat used on the River Nile) was a chance to kick back, relax, read a book, enjoy the company, tack east and west into the prevailing wind and wait for sunset photography. The River Nile's my fave in the world. It's so blue 'cos it reflects the constantly sunny sky and is striking against it's desert surrounds.



















Oooops! My lack of fitness is starting to tell as the campfire atmosphere gives way to beer and sheesha (water pipe). Apple flavoured tobacco is really very neat. I mean it'll still kill you if you do it a lot. But at least you'll smell sweetly when they mummify you for the afterlife! Just drag hard, see the bubbles kick in and blow it out through your nose. Now you're in the Middle East.















The ancient city of Thebes. Now called Luxor. I thought it would be one of my favourite places on earth. But I don't think so. The monuments are amazing. But it's too huge and city-ish for my formula. I think. I may have to get back to you on that one. Thebes was Egypt's religious and political capital during the New Kingdom years of 1550-1069BC (that many say were the civilisation's best and included all the Pharohs whose names you'll know). This is the Karnak Temple complex. It claims to be the largest in the world. But then so did Angkor Watt!


















Bond fans amongst you may recognise the Great Hypostle Hall from the Amun Temple Enclosure at Karnak. This was where Jaws chased our very British hero around in The Spy Who Loved Me and inevitably came out second best. It's very tall, incredibly carved (like all of Ancient Egypt's buildings both inside and out) and stunning in the late afternoon sunlight.













As were the Avenue of Ram Headed Sphinxes that lined the walkway to Karnak from the adjacent River Nile. See, a sphinx isn't always a lion. The paganists of ancient Egypt worshiped most animals that moved.










As if Karnak wasn't enough Indy-ing for me just a few hours later I visited the Luxor Temple built by Amenhotep III and Rameses II. Luxor Temple is 3KM south of Karnak and the two were joined by an Avenue of Sphinxes in Pharonic times. Some still remain and create one hell of an entrance. Especially at night!!! For this was one of the best experiences of my whole year. The first time I've visited a temple that's open until 9pm. It was quiet, immensely atmospheric, moody, beautifully lit, strange, vast and shadowy. The shadows played off the carved walls making you turn around. Did that image of a god come to life and really move or am I seeing things? Maybe I should stop reading The Book of the Dead out loud. To cap it all off bats flew around and chirped in the evening's warm glow. Wow!


















Night time Pharohs and lotus columns. A straight beard means it was built in the Pharoh's lifetime. The curved one once they were dead.


















The Pharoh being welcomed by the lioness goddess Sekhmet. I love the way they just touch their elbow. The Pharoh holds the crook and the whisk. The two symbols of a ruler. Not that type of ruler Old Man ...










Look how small us human beings are compared to the Colonnade of Amenhotep III ...



















If the French would give Luxor Temple back the obelisk standing at the end of the Place de la Concorde maybe this shot would be even better! 'Just stick it up on the base on the right there lads'.
























I If ever there's a reason to keep pushing the boundaries of life I learned it yesterday. I'd always backed off hot air ballooning because I didn't like the idea of all that air between me and our planet. But I had the opportunity in this year of discovery to put that to rest and really find out if was kidding myself. I was. It was a fraction 'OK...' at our greatest height but I'd be no Phileas Fogg if I hadn't given it a go. In my new 'adventurer' persona it was ace. I may not quite have had the money for the ride but that's another point. Mum and Dad. I think I just spent my birthday present a few weeks early! If you get the chance I'd recommend it. It's not bone shakingly awesome. But it's very, very cool. And very early. Shortly after lift off (that's what I'll call it!) around 5:30AM ...




















We flew calmly, hotly (my new lustrous hair style was worryingly close to the burners!) and highly over the west bank of Ancient Thebes and those famous places where the Pharohs of Ancient Egypt's most illustrious rulers came to rest. The Valley of the Queens (on the far left) and the Valley of the Kings (on the middle right). The Nile is behind me in this shot and I think you can just about make out where the irrigation stops and the mountainous desert begins ...






Now that's what I call a carabina. 'Keep a steady hand on the tiller lads'.










The beany soon became less of a barrier against the cold, early morning air and more a barrier against the slightly singed, slowly burning hair. I'm roasting hot but just look at that landscape from 1000M up ...











The highlight of which was a birds eye view of Queen Hatshepsut's Memorial Temple carved out of the side of the mountain and a major draw on the west bank of Luxor. Enlarge this shot and look right in the middle of it. In the foregroud are the Tombs of the Nobles where royalty wasn't buried but Pharonic Egypt's high society came to rest.















Taking a ride version 2! To get to the Valley of the Kings we used Egypt's standard mode of transport in the rural areas. And a bit in Cairo. 'Donkey' did some braying but looked in good health. Even with me on his back and my legs dangling a short distance off the ground. Poor bugger. I almost hopped off once or twice but he seemed happy enough and I gave his owner some baksheesh to get him a sugar lump or two. Take that Wagstaff - again! That horse stuff is over-rated. I might introduce camel and donkey racing to the UK!










'This won't buy him many sugar lumps'!











The Valley of the Kings is superb, ace, hot, dry, dusty and evocative. It's a place I'd say everyone who ever sat through a History lesson should go and see. There's 63 tombs in all and they're numbered according to the order in which they were discovered. They're also mapped out nicely for you and a limited number open at any one time (it's human breath that's destroying the paintings inside more than anything).
























Getting out to the surprisingly compact site is easy enough. A little Disney-esque again but these 'trains' must be a god-send in the Summer's heat. The site is condensed and the ride takes about 30 seconds. How lazy are we in November mind you?! Pretty popular those Pharohs even today!















Here's the entrance to a typical tomb. They just cut straight into the rock and when a new Pharoh came to the throne of Egypt they'd immediately start working on their tomb. Not personally. The Pharohs believed in the afterlife and you better end up there in good shape and with all the right instructions, helpers and equipment. The bigger the tomb, the more instructions you can paint from the many Books, the more gold equipment you can build and the better your chance of a top-tastic eternal life!

For example =

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_dead



















I'm pretty sure if you look closely at this shot you'll see a film crew. Only joking. This is real life. How amazing. It made my time in the Valley of the Kings even more special. Indy-ing in action. I guess they were looking for another tomb. This was right outside the Tomb of Tutankhamun. The archaeologist leading the dig has the white hat and scarf on and is, needless to say, sitting in the shade while the Egyptians do the hard and hot work. If I read that they dug up the Ark of the Covenant today I'll be seriously disappointed it wasn't when I was there!


















It's not easy to get lost in the Valley of the Kings. But don't try. The desert'll kill you!










It's 10 quid, takes about 10 minutes but you wouldn't go to Peru and not go to Macchu Picchu. 'In we go. Wow! He's still in here'. Awesome and worth every penny. I bloody love British archaeologists! And I pretended to be one later in the day to make myself out as different to just another tourist. Only a white lie. And no-one got hurt!











For those who expanded the earlier balloon shot here's your bonus. A selection of shots from a lot closer to the Memorial Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The most powerful female Pharoh and mother of Tutankhamun. It's had 50% of it reconstructed and the work continues ...


















Here's a few images of her that, thankfully, aren't riddled with bullets. Over 60 tourists were killed here in 1997 when the Muslim Brotherhood (an extremist Islamic Egyptian group) decided to try and make a point. Safe and sound yesterday I'm pleased to report. And a contrast of three beauties and rugged beauty.













The decorations were still in great condition despite the fact that they're open to the elements.













Including my favourite of all the gods. The God of Mummification. The jackal-headed Anubis. 'So this is just the 3500 years old then?'.




















Trying not to melt in the Winter sunshine at Deir al-Behari (the name for the area where Queen Hatshepshut's Memorial Temple is nestled at the base of the mountain). The thermometer hit 35 degrees celsius (some say 38) and that's crazy for late November! OK. My only weather reference for years to come!


















It had reached 4PM and my adventuring had almost come to a conclusion. The Intrepiders were heading back to the Royal Palace Hotel but with a day off today I had a bit of adventuring left in me. And I'm so glad I did. It was a massive contrast to the other 'tourist' related activities of the day. That I loved I might add. But the Tombs of the Nobles showed some of the politics that have followed this part of Egypt since ancient times. The Tombs of the Nobles are history living and breathing alongside modern times. For a section of Egypt's population live right on top of them and have used them for years to make a living. The government have been trying to re-locate the people to a brand new village but some are difficult to budge. They get healthy baksheeh and employed work from showing visitors around the tombs. And in times gone by, before it became illegal, they made tidy sums from selling the antiques that they found in their 'basements'. For me. It was great to put myself out there again for a few hours. Adventuring in a strange land, on my own, in dark tombs by torchlight, alongside a local guy and using my best Arabic (a surprisingly easy language) to negotiate a safe passage back to the ferry dock across the Nile. How will I ever return to 'normal' life.















OK. That's it. That was all late yesterday and today's been internet day. I'm glad I took this chance to update the blog 'cos looking back at these photos it's been one of the best 'weeks' of the entire journey. It feels pure Indy and yet Petra's still to come. Excuse over-use of the word 'adventure' in this post but that's exactly what it's like. My shoes and bag are full of sand and my eyes are hurting from staring at the most ancient of all antiquities. Often underground. Throw in the River Nile at sunset and it's magical ...