Egypt: 13 Dec - 23 Dec 06

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Am back from my 10 days vacation in Egypt. It was better than what I had imagined. I had a wonderful time there. Am sad that it's over - i haven't felt this way about any of my travels in a long time.

I hadn’t imagined that going with a group of strangers would be so much fun. It felt like one big family with people of all age groups and all of them so friendly and good to each other. It was an awesome experience.

Egypt is beautiful and so full of history. This tour was like a walk down the memory lane of ancient Egypt. What amazed me more than the monuments itself, (which were all larger than life and awe-inspiring) is the deep-seeded belief /faith that inspired people to build such magnificent structures. Some of them like Karnak temple took centuries to build. It’s amazing!

Egyptians are very friendly people. Very few people speak English and those who do are more than willing to teach you words/ phrases if you ask them.

Language wasn’t a problem for us as we had an English speaking Egyptian Tour Guide (Egyptologist – these people study for 4 years in college to become guides). He taught us some words/ phrases too…

BTW, the conclusions i drew from my research about dress code for tourists was wrong… Tourists can wear anything they want when visiting monuments that are generally located outside the city limits – I even saw some Europeans in shorts and short dresses. No one troubled them. But within the city it’s advisable to dress modestly. Form fitting clothes are ok. On the return flight I got talking to an American girl who is studying in Egypt. According to her, all women (including locals) get harassed in Cairo even if they are wearing hijab/ niqab. It’s common for men to stop cars and try to pick-up women.

My favorite memories of the trip are that of:
· Abu Simbel – Ramses II and Nefertari’s Temples by Lake Nasser. It showcases the great achievements of ancient and modern man. It’s a gigantic rock cut temple built in 1200 BC and it was rescued i.e., literally shifted to higher ground in 1960s when it got flooded by Lake Nasser
· Nile Cruise – the whole experience… especially playing Antakshari with all the ladies and chatting with them
· Galabiya night on the cruise – costume shopping, dressing up and the party… the atmosphere was so festive that it felt like a family get together
· Alexandria – what a beautiful city… loved shopping, walking by the Mediterranean at night...

Now for day-by-day account of the tour…

13 Dec, Wednesday
I reached Mumbai International Airport at 9AM – thanks to Altaf’s parents I had had good night’s sleep and a filling breakfast. SOTC’s representative was there to receive all the travelers. I met Amit and Sharmila there. Both of them are doctors. Amit teaches in a university in US and Sharmila is working for a hospital in Kolkata. My first impressions – Amit is extrovert and friendly. Sharmila seemed like a reserved person. By the end of the trip she became my friend and I like her very much

The flight (Egypt Air) to Cairo was on time and very comfortable. It was an empty flight. There were only 50 passengers, so we could sit anywhere we pleased and stretch out. The flight landed in Cairo at 4PM local time. I had expected the airport to be shabby and crowded like B’lore/ Mumbai airport. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that the airport was big, well maintained and not crowded. I was starting to like the place already.

I met the remaining group from India in the Airport. Few words about them…
· Mr & Mrs Goyal– from Bombay. Sumithra aunty is amazingly enthusiastic and full of life at 60. She believes in living life to the fullest. She does whatever she feels like. She even learnt swimming. Her jokes had me in splits. Bilas uncle is an incorrigible matchmaker :)
· Mr & Mrs Bansal – Like her aunt (Sumithra Goel), Prema aunty is enthu and fun. Mr Bansal best quote was about catatombs - 'us zamane ke kings ke paas bahut paise the aur karne ko koi kaam nahi tha. isliye logon se yeh sab ban wate the. rascals!'
· Tanju & Sudhakar – from Hyderabad. Sudhakar is an artist. His paintings have been exhibited in New York, London etc., Tanju is a typical aunty character – warm, eager to listen to you & help, fun
· Mr & Mrs Seth - from Mumbai. Pratima (junior) aunty recently released a dictionary of indian Art & Artists. It took her 12 years to write the book (wow!). She’s very sweet and very energetic. She’s an artist herself
· Moses and Pratima – from Hyderabad. Pratima (senior) aunty is sweet and cuddly
· Tanupriya and Arnab - newly married couple from Kolkata, on their honeymoon. Both of them work for HDFC bank. Tanupriya has the warmest smile. She’s a very warm person and she dances very gracefully. Arnab is a nice guy. Both of them are very easy to talk to
· Karthik and Deepa - newly married couple from Bangalore, on their honeymoon. Karthik works for Intel and Deepa is with American Express. I like Karthik’s sense of humor and his travel stories. Deepa towered over all women at 5’ 10” :). Another graceful dancer. She’s fun
· Dipankar Das – from Kolkata. Works for a software company. An avid trekker and a lone traveler
· Azeem – from Bombay. Another lone traveler. He has traveled to 21 countries. He was the funny guy of the group. Had people bellowing with laughter with his gibes
· Yuvraj – from Bombay. Quiet guy
· Santanu – from Bhopal. I don’t recall hearing a word from this guy throughout the trip

SOTC representatives – Saveetha (tour manager. she was very nice. took good care of us) and Mamdouh (Egyptologist. did his job admirably. his experience and depth of knowledge clearly showed. we were lucky to have him as our guide. i have an idea how bad it could have been without him. he's a very nice person & funny too.) – met us outside the airport and brought us to Le Sofitel Hotel in Giza. The ‘happy’ feeling about the place which took root in the airport continued to grow coz I liked what I saw on the way – Good infrastructure – broad and well maintained roads, Clean air – motor vehicles didn’t leave a trail of smoke and dust in their wake

We passed by Heliopolis where the upper class people live and then there was the ‘City of the Dead’ – it’s a Muslim burial ground which spans across miles. It’s called city of the dead coz people actually live there. Govt is developing sub-urbs and urging these people to relocate but some of them still prefer to live there

When we got closer to Giza, we were greeted by an amazing view of the pyramids towering over the city. They were so big that they looked like mountains

Sunset at 5:30 itself and the evening was very cold. The temperature is around 21 Celsius during the day at 12 C at night.

We spent remainder of the evening checking into the hotel, converting currency (there was a bank in the hotel itself which was open 24X7), water shopping (tap water is not potable, so visitors are advised to drink bottled water. 1.5 ltr costs 2/ 2.5 LE in small shops and 8-10LE in hotels. We found couple of small shops outside the hotel from where we bought water)

About Le Sofitel – entrance was thru a narrow passage on the side of the building (apparently the main entrance was being renovated) and the building itself looked flat, unappealing and like a warehouse from outside. My spirits fell at the sorry sight and i started feeling better as soon as I walked into the hotel. The lobby was posh.

Way to the room was difficult. It was like a maze. However, the room itself was spacious and well equipped. It met my expectations. Most of the TV channels were Arabic and there were some English channels too – news, movies and also MTV

Buffet dinner was served in the hotel. The spread was continental and very wide. I particularly enjoyed the desserts. Main course didn’t appeal to me coz everything was very bland

Before dinner I met the Shah family from Nairobi, Kenya who were also in our group: Chandrarekha - another of my favorites. SShe’s a fun mom of three teenage daughters. Her lovely daughters – Jilna, Renal and Ashni

Shashi, Veena (Chandrarekha’s sister-in-law) and their daughter Haithvi

14 Dec, Thursday
Breakfast
Breakfast was continental. Loved it. There were all kinds of meats (which I didn’t eat), cornflakes, pastries, fruits, yogurts, pancakes (my favorites), tea, coffee… the whole works

Tour of Citadel and Coptic Churches
This was an optional tour (cost an additional $50). Actual tour was to start the next day as we were expecting more guests to join us that day. Some people went for the tour. Others chose to do explore the place on their own.

About the Citadel – it was built by Salah-Ed-Din in 10th Century. Main attractions were the two mosques within the citadel:
· Mamluq mosque (I forget it’s name) – Architecture is Mamluq. Very simple design. It has a courtyard with a surrounding corridor (exactly like ancient south Indian temples) and the sanctuary (facing Kabba). There’s the dome and minaret. People pray in the corridors

Mamluq means ‘Slave’. It refers to the Soldiers who rebelled against monarchy, overthrew them and formed their own dynasty which was called the Mamluq Dynasty. This mosque was built by the mamluq dynasty.

· Mohammed Ali mosque – Architecture is Turkish. It’s much bigger and more impressive than the mamluq mosque. It was built in 14th century. King Md. Ali’s tomb is in the main hall. Design is same as the mamluq mosque with couple of differences. In the center of the courtyard there’s a big dome shaped tank with taps where people cleanse themselves before the prayers and there’s a main hall where people pray. Sanctuary is in the main hall. This mosque is still functional. It’s closed for tourists for 2 hours every Friday for noon prayers

There’s a vantage point from where you can see the entire Cairo city. The entire city looks brown, old and somewhat gloomy. There are only buildings, mosques, houses as far as the eye can see. There’s hardly any greenery. There are minarets everywhere. Apparently, Cairo is called the ‘City of thousand minarets’, though there are more than 1000 mosques now.

After the Citadel we visited two coptic churches:
· El-Mo'allaqa Church (The Hanging Church) – it's called so because of the fact that its eastern and western ends rest on the two south-western bastions of the Fortress of Babylon (Babylon is the old name for Old Cairo)·

· The church of St.Sergius – probably the most ancient church is Egypt. Its built over the site which was visited by the Holy Family during their stay in Egypt. This hallowed spot is located in small subterranean chapel beneath the actual church, at a depth of some ten meters below the street level

Egyptian Christians are called ‘Coptic Christians’. Coptic is the old name for Egypt. They are orthodox Christians. They have their own Papal Organization. In other words, they don’t follow the Vatican in Rome

According to Coptic traditions, Holy Faily is believed to have been in Egypt for 3 years when Jesus was an infant. Churches and monasteries have been built at places believed to have been visited by the Holy Family during that time

St.Marks brought Christianity to Egypt in first century. Monasticism is Coptic Egyptian’s contribution. St.Anthony is supposed to have been the first to retire to eastern desert of middle Egypt. From there it evolved into its current form of communal monasticism.

Lunch
We had Felafel lunch at a restaurant by the same name near Le Sofitel.

Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids of Giza
This show happens every evening at 6:30 (Arabic), 7:30 (English) and 8:30 (don’t know which language). We went for the 7:30 show.

There’s a café at the back of the arena, which is on higher ground. You get better view from there, but the catch is, if you sit there you must order something. Tea costs 12LE.

It was a very cold evening. So sitting in the café and drinking warm tea was the best part of the show. I wasn’t impressed with the show itself.

Three more families arrived that day
· Vipin Uncle and his Wife (am afraid I forget her name. She’s so simple, soft spoken and sweet. Loved her stories about Dubai)
· Sunitha (nice lady… we seem to have liking for same brands :) Our watches were exactly the same) , Suresh and their children Arvind and Aishwarya (she’s learning classical dance and she dance so well)
· 5 yrs old Alexandro (the kid who had clever questions and loved to kick sand :)... one of his questions to mamdouh - you keep saying before christ, what was after christ?) and his family from Boston

15 Dec, Friday
It was a very long and hectic day. We did a lot of sight seeing in and around Giza and took the train to Luxor that night.

Pyramids of Giza
There are 87 pyramids in Egypt. Most famous among them being the three pyramids of Giza belonging to the 4th royal family. They built pyramids because they considered the King to be divine and they believed in after life:
· Khufu’s Pyramid – built by King Khufu for himself. Took 23 years to build it. It’s 455 ft tall and spans across 13 acres. And 2.3 million limestones were used. Each weighing 2-2.5 tonnes. The structure is solid except for 3 chambers – lower (under ground), upper (above ground. This is where the king’s mummy was kept) and the central chamber, which is at the center and is believed to be a energy source. Stones were glued together using limestone powder. The pyramids were covered with plaster made of limestone powder, to give it a smooth exterior so the sun rays could reflect on it. This plaster has worn-off except for few feet at the tip of 2nd pyramid. Khufu's pyramid is the biggest of the three pyramids. Tour inside the Pyramid costs 100LE
· Khafre's Pyramid – Khufu’s son. This is smaller than the first one. We went inside this pyramid. Cost 25LE per head. There’s a tunnel about 3 feet tall. You literally walk in crouching position – it was claustrophobic. It takes you to the upper chamber (it’s about 20ft by 10ft) where you can see the stone coffin which once upon a time contained the king’s mummy
· Menkaure's Pyramid – Khufu’s grandson. Smallest of the three

Queens are buried in smaller pyramids in the shadow of the big pyramids. Ministers and members of the royal court are laid to rest in tombs around the pyramids. (Not sure who said it, ‘Chamche kahinke. Marke bhi chamcha giri nahi chodenge)

Sphinx
Sphinx stands in guard of the pyramids. It has the head of a man representing intelligence and knowledge and the body of a lion representing strength and courage. This means, the sphinx is guarding the pyramids with the strength of lion and intelligence of a man. It faces the east and the pyramids are in the west, right behind it. Meaning: it’s protecting the dead from the living

There’s an area called ‘Valley of the Dead’ close to the pyramids where mummification used to be done. Mummification is the process of preparing the body for burial. It used to take 70 days & it involved the following steps:
· Removal of brain via left nostril
· Make an incision on the left side of the torso & remove stomach, intestines and lungs
· Wrap the body in herbs and leave it there to drain all the fluids

Heart was left inside coz it was considered to be the seat of the soul. Bodies were preserved thru’ mummification coz they believed in resurrection. Just like sun sets and rises everyday. Just like Nile dries and floods periodically, they believed a person is reborn after death and he comes back in the same body. That is why they preserved the body.

Panorama
At some distance from the Pyramid there’s a place from where you get a view of the pyramids. It’s perfect for taking pictures. There are souvenir shops and you can go on camel ride (20LE) too. Camel ride was fun.

Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Entry fee is 50LE. As usual it had remnants of the past. Highlights:
· Oldest mummy of the world – it looks like a sack of wet sand. It’s supposed to be 7000 yrs old
· Tut Ankh Amon’s treasures – this includes his gold coffin weighing 110 Kgs. His face mask, also made of gold, was found on his mummy
· Royal Mummies – you have to pay an additional 100LE to see these. Its an eerie experience. The bodies are wrapped in bandages. Body looks like skeleton covered with thin layer of ‘blackened skin’. Eyes closed. Teeth are intact. Couple of women’s hair were also intact. Many of the 11 Ramses mummies are there. There are around 20 mummies in all. Along with one of the princess, there’s a mummy of her favorite baboon. It just looks like a bag of wet sand. All these mummies are from New Kingdom i.e., 1500BC onwards. Mummies from the old kingdom were not well preserved. That’s why pyramids of Giza were not here.

Souvenir shopping
We went to a souvenir shop. Main attractions: Cartouches and Papyrus
· Cartouch – pronounced as ‘car-toosh’ are rectangle shaped pendants with rounded edges. It represents (a) eternal life as it has rounded edges (b) it’s a symbol of Egyptian kingdom. These are available in silver, gold and white gold. You can get you name in hieroglyphic alphabets/ English cut-out or superimposed on these pendants. I bought one in white gold with my name cut-out in gold. Looks very cool. I paid 765LE. I think I paid too much. I’am very poor at bargaining. You can get a Silver one for 60LE.
· Papyrus – oldest paper known to mankind. It’s made from stalks of Papyrus plant. We saw a demo of making of papyrus paper. Papyrus paintings are made with vibrant colors. These paintings are about various things that are very ancient Egyptian like the calendar, stories from Egyptian mythology, symbols like bettle, jackal and so on. Prices start from 70LE. Some paintings come with one or two pictures of blank cartouches in which you can have names written. That costs an extra 10LE per name

Khan-Al-Khalili
Khan means Market. Al-Khalili is the name of the Egyptian King in whose reign this market started

It’s mainly a souvenir market, very crowded, bustling with activity. There are small coffee shops and eateries where you can enjoy Egyptian food, beverages and hookah. I spent the time there in getting a henna tattoo at a coffee shop. Each tattoo costs 10LE. It was worth it. Tattoo is drawn with a cone. You can wash off the henna once it dries. It leaves black color (it’s not red/ maroon like u get from Indian henna) which stays for about a week. The henna doesn’t have any fragrance, so I guess it’s not made from leaves of henna plant, but something else.

When you want down in this market or any market in Egypt, shop keepers ask ‘Indian?’. If your reply is yes, they say ‘Amitabh Bachchan’ with a big smile. Very sweet

Train to Luxor
We took overnight train to Luxor. Cabins were very comfortable and well equipped with soft mattress, blanket, pillow, wash basin, towels, hangers for clothes… very neat. It was 10 hrs journey. They served dinner and breakfast. Dinner was very very sad. Breakfast was alright.

16 Dec, Saturday

Breakfast in Luxor
We reached Luxor I think at around 8AM. We had a second and proper breakfast in a nice restaurant. It was very good. After that we started our excursion

Karnak Temple
This is the biggest and first of the many temples we were to see on this trip. It was built from 2000BC – 300BC. All the rulers during that time period contributed to its design. Its dedicated to Amon-Ra. Some common principles used in the construction of temples:
· Its built along an axis. That is, the entrance and sanctuary are in a straight line. Entrance is at the lowest level and the sanctuary is at the highest level so that the god can see everyone
· Sanctuary is the darkest part of the temple representing mystery, unknown. You go from light to dark. That is, from known to unknown
· It has the pylon/ façade which is usually decorated with (gigantic) statues of the king who built the temple on both sides of the entrance

Temple of Luxor
Built in 1300BC by Ramses II and one other king (I forget the name). It is also dedicated to Amon-Ra

What’s unique about this temple?
· It was used as Pagan temple (original), as Greek temple (during Alexander’s regime), then as Church and later as Mosque. There’s proof of this in the carvings on the walls & the minaret and entrance of the mosque which can still be seen in one section of the temple
· There were two obelisks at the entrance. One of them still stands. The other one was gifted to France by King Md. Ali in exchange for a clock which can be seen in Md. Ali’s mosque. That clock never worked. The obelisk can still be seen in Paris

Check into Cruise in Isna
We checked into the cruise in Isna, in the afternoon. Had INDIAN food J

It was a small cruise ship. Besides the 40 of us, there were few French guests. The cabin was very nice and well equipped. The only inconvenience – you had to go to the reception to charge phones & other electronic devices… since train cabins had power outlets I don’t understand why this ship couldn’t have them

Since this was my first cruise, I didn’t have any particular expectations. So, I found the whole experience very enjoyable. In fact, I think that was the best part of the entire tour.

That evening was free for us to do our own thing. I went shopping with Shahs that evening. And then we had group introduction session followed by dinner.

17 Dec, Sunday
Valley of the Kings
It’s located in the limestone mountains. It’s a beautiful place.

Tombs of 62 kings from New Kingdom (1500BC – 300BC) were found here. Last discovery was the tomb of Tut Ankh Amon in 1922. They chose the valley of kings for their burial coz it was away from the city so it was considered to be safe from the thieves. However, the workers who built the tombs came back and stole the treasures. When these tombs were discovered, they didn’t contain any mummies and treasures. All mummies were found together in some other place

These tombs are dug into the mountains and are underground. They have a simple design – a straight tunnel with a chamber at the end where the body used to be laid to rest.

We saw 3 tombs – Ramses I, III and IX. There were 11 Ramses in all. Ramses II & III being the most popular. Visit to Tut Ankh Amon’s tomb costs an extra 80LE. We skipped it coz it’s empty anyway

Tomb of Ramses III is more elaborate with chambers/ corridor on either side of the tunnel. There are carvings on all the walls.

You will see ‘holes’ in the mountains around. Those are tombs of noblemen and other courtiers

Temple of Hatshepsut
She was the only woman who ruled Ancient Egypt. She came to power based on the claim that she’s an offspring of Amon-Ra himself. She ruled for 23 years

The temple design is unique as it has 3 terraces. The sanctuary is at the highest level

Alabaster Workshop
Egypt is well known for Alabaster stone. We went to an Alabaster workshop and saw how Alabaster statues are made

Alabaster Test – hold it in front of light and see if the light passes through it. If it does, then it’s genuine. Alabaster is translucent, that’s why it’s used for making lampshades in current days and for candle holders in ancient times

It comes in various colors – white, off-white, light brown

After the demo we did some shopping for souvenirs made of Albaster, Onyx, Basalt etc., The marked prices as usual were exorbitant. For e.g., I bought a statue of King Ramses II and two of his wives made of blue stone. Original price was 500LE. I got it for 100LE

You have to bargain everywhere and for everything (including bottled water) & a good rule of thumb is to start as low as possible. 1/5th of original price is reasonable enough in most cases

Sail to Edfu
We sailed to Edfu at 3:30PM.

We hung out on the deck that evening talking and playing antakshari… It was a lot of fun

We docked in Edfu at around 10:30 that night

18 Dec, Monday
We went sightseeing in Edfu and then sail to Kuo-ombo

Edfu Temple
We took the horse carriage to the temple. It’s the only temple that was in good condition. It’s very impressive. It’s construction was started in 300 BC by the last ancient king and it was completed in 57 AD (Note: Pagan religion was in practice till 400 AD)

This temple is dedicated to Falcon god Horus

Sail to Kuo-ombo & visit Kuo-ombo temple
We arrived in Kuo-ombo I think an hour or so before sunset. Its by the Nile so we walked to it. It’s a ruin. It was in worse condition than all other temples. The columns are broken, carvings are all disfigured. Sanctuary is all gone, there’s only a boulder left on which once the statue of the god used to stand

What’s unique about the temple?
· 2000 yrs old mummies of three crocodiles. These are kept in a small room adjoining the temple
· This temple is dedicated to two god – Horus Elder (uncle of Falcon God Horus) & Sobek (Crocodile god). So, you’ll see two sets of columns in the first hall
· There’s a well in the temple. Legends about the well:
o It’s a nile-o-meter used for measuring the water level in the nile for determining tax. If water level is high then it means good harvest so high tax rate. If the water level is low then it indicates low harvest so low tax rate
o People made offerings to crocodiles who visited here from Nile

Galabiya Night
There was Galabiya party on the cruise that night. All of us were supposed to dress up in Galabiya (Egyptian costume). Some of us bought the costume from Kou-ombo market. Some hired it from the souvenir shop on the cruise.

Almost all women dressed up. And among men Arnab was the only one who dressed up. Arnab & Tanupriya looked adorable together in their costumes.

There was very festive environment that night with women helping each other with make-ups and all that. We played games (Tanupriya won both) and danced that night (my first time everJ)

I won the prize for best costume.

Saveetha danced to the ‘Beedi…’ tune with Mamdouh. They were good

It was a fun evening… Absolutely loved it!

19 Dec, Tuesday
We arrived in Aswan sometime during the night…

Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel tour was an aptional tour which cost an extra 100USD. It was absolutely worth it.

Abu Simbel is located on the southern border of Egypt. It’s 280 kms from Aswan and 60 kms from Sudan. It’s reknowned for its two rock-cut temples. It’s the second most popular tourist attraction after Pyramids of Giza

Couple of years ago tourists were attacked there. Since then it has become high security area and tourists are escorted there in a convoy. Daily two convoys go from Aswan. One at 4:00AM and the other at 4:30AM

We reached the meeting point of the convoy at 4:15AM. There were already 40-50 tourist buses/ mini vans/ cars there.

The convoy started at 4:30AM and a security guard carrying a machine gun traveled with us in our bus. We reached Abu Simbel at 7:15AM. The drive through the desert and sunrise was amazing

We had a very filling breakfast on the bus. For the first time on the trip we were served free water (LOL). On the way we passed by an area where desert land is being reclaimed. The objective is to de-congest the nile region by relocating people to this reclaimed land

The scene of temples facing Lake Nasser is so very picturesque in the morning light that it’s simply breathtaking.

About Lake Nasser – It’s the largest man-mad lake. Its 500Kms (diameter?). It was formed when High Dam was built in 1971. Excess water from Nile is stored here

About the Temples –
· There are two temples. Big temple dedicated to Ramses II and the smaller one to his chief wife Nefertari (he had 40 wives and 200 children)
· The big temple is built at an angle to allow sun rays to shine on the statues in the sanctuary on sunrise twice a year - 22 Oct and 22 Feb. What’s amazing about this is, the sanctuary is 60 meters inside
· Only temples we saw that had statues in the sanctuaries
· There are four statues in the sanctuary of the big temple – Ptah, Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakthy and Ramses II – yes, our man exalted himself to the status of a god
· The temple is very well preserved even though it was built in 1250 BC during Ramses II’s regime
· This temple had to be relocated to higher ground as it was at risk of sub-merging in Lake Nasser when High Dam was built. The relocation cost 41 million USD. Relocation took 5 yrs (1963-68). The temples were cut into 1500 blocks (1050 – big temple, 450 – small temple) and moved
· There are four statues of Ramses II at the entrance of the Big Temple. Each statue is 40 meters high. One of them got damaged in an earthquake after the relocation
· The small temple is dedicated Nefertari an Hathor (cow goddess)

Return journey took 3 hrs

Felooka Ride & Nubian Village Tour
This was an optional tour costing 30 USD. Worth it,

Felooka (sail boat) has been the mode of transport on the Nile since ancient times. We sailed for 30 minutes. Souvenirs were available for purchase on the felooka – yup! They never miss an opportunity to sell and I didn’t buy anything for a change J The ride was fun and the icing on the cake was the Nubian song which the boatman sang for us. We sang along too.

On the way we saw Agha Khan’s tomb and his summer palace. Aga Khan is considered to be the 49th Imam and worshipped by Khoja sect of Shia community. The tomb is no longer open to public. Apparently, it was closed after a visitor behaved disrespectfully in the tomb. Azeem managed to get entry to the tomb

We switched from felooka to a motor boat along the way. The motor boat took us to the Nubian village. I was expecting to experience an authentic village. The village was authentic alright but it is commercialized – the mud-roads are lined with souvenir stores, a house has been converted into a coffee shop/ souvenir shop both in one (so we saw a village home but with a commercial twist to it)… I got another henna tattoo here… not good. The house also had a little tank with lot of baby crocodiles. You can lift them, take pictures etc., I didn’t do either

We visited a village school where a teacher taught us Arabic alphabets and numerals. That was fun!

Camel rides were also available… I don’t think any of us tried it

Sun had already set by the time we headed back. View of Aswan and 6th dynasty tombs along the way was very pretty

Nubian Dance Program
The day ended with Nubian Dance Program on the cruise. It was alright. Best part was some of us were included in the dance.

It was a very long day. A day well spent!

20 Dec, Wednesday
Our last day on the cruise… and in Aswan

Temple of Philae
This temple is dedicated to goddess Isis. It’s located on an island in Nile, so we had to take a motor boat to get there. The design is same as all other temples.

This temple was originally located on Philae island. It had to be relocated to another island nearby when Philae island flooded after High Dam was built in 1971. This temple had remained submerged in water for several years before it was rescued. The temple had to be cut into 40,000 pieces and rebuilt. Since the new island was smaller, it had to be extended to fit the temple. It took 2.5 years to relocate the temple

This temple was used as Church. You can see crosses carved on temple walls. There’s also a altar in one of the halls.

The sanctuary is empty except for the altar stone

High Dam
It was built from 1960-71 during Nasser’s regime for electricity, water for irrigation throughout the year and to prevent floods

With the help of this dam Egyptians now cultivate three crops a year, instead of one

Russia supplied the technology for building the dam and the project was funded by nationalizing Suez Canal and making it into revenue source. Ships have to be fees for use of the canal

Suez Canal was built in 1868. It connects Mediterranean and Red Sea. It was built by France and Britain on Egyptian land.

Nubian villages and many temples flooded as a result of the dam and they had to be relocated.

Unfinished Obelisk
Obelisk is a symbol of worship for God Ra. It has to be cut from a single stone. An unfinished obelisk weighing 110 tonnes was found in a granite quarry. It is supposed to have been discarded coz it developed cracks.

Essence of Life – Perfumery
This was our last stop in Aswan. Here, we saw how glass containers are made using glass, fire, air pressure and shopped for perfumes

Train to Cairo
We boarded the overnight train to Cairo. The cabin was very nice and food was bad exactly like the onward journey. So, no surprises there.

21 Dec, Thursday
We arrived in Cairo at 11 AM and headed directly to Alexandria by bus. On the way we stopped at a restaurant and picked up boxed lunch which was many many times worse that train food. The only edible items were yogurt, bread and potatoes. Everything else was either deep fried or floating in oil.

We reached Alexandria at 3PM. We immediately took off on a whirlwind tour of the attractions.

Museum of Alexandria
It was a baby compared to Egyptian Museum we saw in Cairo. It’s a embassy converted into museum. It has relics from Ancient Egypt, Greeko-Roman era, Coptic Christianity and Islamic times.

The only thing that caught my attention were the burial jars from Greeko-Roman era. I didn’t know they cremated bodies

Having seen the ancient Egyptian monuments and temples over the past 8 days, the sight of more mummies & sculptures from that era in the museum was repulsive. I was ready for a break from ancient Egypt.

Catatombs
These are from Greeko-Roman era. The architecture was very different from all the tombs we had seen down south. In the ‘tomb complex’ we visited, 300 people had been buried. The tombs are located 50/60 feet underground. In the main hall there were three tombs and remaining 297 people were buried in surrounding chambers in morgue style compartments. The artwork inside the tomb was a mix of ancient Egypt and greeko-roman. Walls were decorated with ancient Egyptian style drawings i.e., stories from ‘book of death’ and had pictures of god Horus and others. Sculptures at the entrance were in greeko-roman style.

Ptolemy’s Pillar
We reached there at 4:45 PM and the place was already closed. Amit & Sharmila managed to sneek in an take a picture. Others took pictures from ouside. I wasn’t paying attention to the story of the pillar. It looked like an obelisk minus the triangle tip. Sphinx like statue with greeko-roman style head, in front of the pillar looked interesting. I’d have liked to take a closer look at it

Citadel & Beach
We visited the citadel by the Mediterranean sea. The citadel looked gorgeous in twilight. Its walls were off-white and shiny. It seemed to be in good condition too. We didn’t go in though.

More souvenirs were being sold on the beach. These were different – they had porcelain show pieces which looked very quaint and classy. Prices were open for negotiation like everywhere else. Some people shopped.

When the bus started moving I thought we were finally done with sightseeing for the day and I could now get on with exploring the city and shopping. Unfortunately, we weren’t done yet. Our last stop was to be the Library

Library
Very contemporary and impressive building. Apparently it has the capacity for 9 million books. Amazing. We were given 10 minutes to take pictures which many people did.

Hotel Plaza
We checked into Hotel Plaza which is on Corniche street facing the sea. All Egyptian cities are located along the Nile, with the exception of Alexandria which is by the Mediterranean. Everywhere, the street facing the water is the main street and it’s called Corniche street.

I got a room with sea view. I went shopping at the mall close to the hotel. Best part of the day was yet to come… Walk along the sea with Saveetha and Haythem (he's the man who worked backstage taking care of the logistics). Alexandria looked so lovely at night. There are string of coffee shops & restaurants on Corniche street, most of them outdoors, where you can enjoy late dinner or just tea & hookah/ sheesha. The place for bustling with activity even after mid-night. I love Alexandria. It’s like a European city.

22 Dec, Friday
Our last day in Egypt. People started leaving after breakfast. I felt sad saying good-bye to my new friends.

I skipped the excursion that morning and went to beauty salon with Savitha. It was called ‘Pussy Cat’ – name sounded corny, so we were a bit apprehensive. It was quite an experience. Great quality for best price

We left for Cairo at 5:30 PM. Reached Cairo at 9:00PM, had Indian dinner, bid good-bye to our friends and headed to the Airport.

The flight was delayed by an hour. We reached Mumbai at 12:00PM next day.

Some facts about Egypt
Cairo
· Population is 17 million. Additional 3 million people travel to the city everyday from surrounding areas for work.
· It’s the largest city in middle east and Africa
· It’s situated on the banks of Nile (actually, all the cities, villages, towns are situated along the Nile). It spans 30 kms by 60 kms
· Modes of transport within the city – mini buses, trams, train, taxis. Donkey drawn carts are a common sight. Even women ride these carts

Language
Arabic is the national language. Nowadays English is being taught is schools from first grade itself.

Religion
85% of the population is Sunni Muslims. Remaining are Shia Muslims and Coptic Christians

Geography and Industries
· 95% desert and 5% arable land along Nile
· Nile is the only source of water. Rains are very few
· Nile is 6000 kms long. It starts from Lake Victoria in Ethiopia (Africa) and ends in Mediterranean Sea
· Main Industries
o Tourism
o Suez Canal – connects Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea
o Oil & Natural Gas – most oil is used internally. Very little is exported
o Cotton
o Gold – workmanship is cheaper than in Saudi Arabia

Making Phone Calls to India
If you have a GSM connection with International Roaming enabled, nothing like it. If you don’t, following are the options in the order of economy:
· Airtel’s World Calling Card – you can buy these in India itself. They are available in Mumbai International Airport too. You can buy one for Rs.500. With this you pay Rs.23 per minute. And you can use these cards from any phone in Egypt
· Minatel Calling Card – these cards can be purchased for 10LE from any road side shop. You get 2 mins talk time and you can use these cards only from a Minatel phone booth which are sometimes hard to find depending on where you are

Begging
Begging is illegal and all tourist places are well guarded so you won’t be hassled by beggars. However, you can find beggars in very poor areas and outside mosques/ churches in small numbers

Military
Military service is mandatory for men. The term is determined based on educational qualification of a person. 3 yrs for uneducated, 2 yrs for high school graduates, 1 yr for university graduates

In cities, 1 yr community service is mandatory for women.

Education & Employment
Education is mandatory for children from 6-15 yrs age. There are public and private universities which offer 4 yr and professional degree courses. Private universities are expensive but graduates have better job opportunities than public university graduates. Unemployment is 10% as per official reports

Taxes
5-10% for salaried and low income groups
20% for business men and other high income groups like actors, belly dancers, football players etc.,

Marriage
South (Aswan etc.,) – most likely arranged marriage
North (Cairo, Alexandria etc.,) – most likely love marriage

Arranged marriage
· 1-2 yrs engagement period
· Groom buys the house/ flat and pays for the furnishing of all rooms except bedroom
· Bride pays for bedroom furnishing

Women can also seek divorce. Woman gets custody of child until the age of 12

Food
Poor eat Full and Felafel which is made of beans and is very filling. Takes 7-8 hrs for digesting. They also eat Koshari which is made of rice, noodles and macaroni. This was delicious. It was served with tomato based sauce

Kofta and Sheesh Kebab are mostly eaten by well to do people as meat is expensive. Beef & Lamb costs 40LE. Chicken costs 20LE
Shavarma, Maheshi – stuffed cabbage leaves… cabbages are big like water melons…

Drinks
Alcohol is taboo by Islam. However, it’s legal to drink at home and at licensed bars and restaurants. You are be arrested if found drunk on the road

Shai/ Tea – they drink black tea. Tea is imported from Kenya and other countries

Hibiscus drink – warm or cold. It tastes like grape juice. I liked this so much that I brought back dried hibiscus petals to make this drink.

Cars
Assembled in Egypt. They are not made here. We saw some Maruti 800 taxis in Alexandria J They also have Fiat 128, Russian, Korean and Toyota cars. 5% of Mercedes made in the world are imported by Egypt

Social Classes
5% - very rich
45% - middle class. They earn 10000 – 20000 LE per month
50% - poor. They earn less than $2 a day

I think now I know more about Egypt than I do about my own country J