Egypt - The Nile Wrap-up

Kom Ombo Temple

Half a dozen men stood before me holding out their wares. They were all calling out: ‘Bob, Bob!’ and they joined with me as I laughed. I was walking out of the Valley of the Kings and it was a lesson; don’t give your name to a vendor. I did buy some things from them – their souk was only there for tourists, and although it was 11:30 am, our bus was the only one in the parking lot.

Many places won’t allow you to take photos inside; some won’t allow you to take your guide in with you (their voice may damage the plaster); the Valley of the Kings won’t even allow photos outside the tombs. Your price of admission gives you access to three tombs – most of them have a similar layout: a long sloping tunnel leading to a series of rooms and a main chamber, built almost 4,000 years ago. As you enter, the walls each side are carved and painted with hieroglyphics (pictorial writing) of spells from the Book of the Dead giving instruction on the journey through the afterlife. Deeper in the text gives way to illustrations of the occupant’s generally heroic life, then finally the illustrations depict the gods and their efforts to ensure the pharaoh’s eternal life. Weaved through this are evils spirits making an effort to undermine the journey and the gods battle.

Roman painting over hieroglyphs

Egypt has encouraged the study of Egyptology in universities and museums throughout the world and has donated pieces to these countries in return for their efforts in excavating these sites, although perhaps the finest collection is in The Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Temple of Philae - Christian
scratches on figure & Greek graffiti

Most of the tombs have been raided, often soon after they were built, defying the attempts of the pharaohs to hide their burial place, unlike the earlier, ostentatious, pyramids. And the tombs and the temples have been defaced over the years, by successive generations; Romans, who appropriated the temples and plastered over the Egyptian texts, Greeks with the earliest graffiti, then Napoleon’s French troops, Gordon’s British troops, sadly even modern graffiti. In the Temple of Philae, early Christians disfigured the pagan figures, but only on one side of the temple, allowing the followers of Isis to continue using the other side - religious tolerance we could all learn from...

Fishers - Life continues

But the West Bank tombs celebrate deceased pharaohs and the Egyptians mummified their pharaohs before burial, in large temples built exclusively for that purpose close-by. The most impressive one standing is the temple of Queen Hatshepsut (hat_ship_suit), used only for her 70-day mummification process, prior to her funeral ceremony. It seems they mummified everything – cats, birds, even crocodiles…

Of course, modern Egypt is 95% Muslim; modern funerals here are very different. We passed a funeral in Aswan as we drove between temples. Muslims are buried as soon as possible, generally before sunset or within 24 hours, in a simple grave. Hussein said: “We try to bury our dead 3 to 4 hours after death. The body is wrapped in three sheets and tied with ropes to hold in place – there’s no coffin. Then the body is buried on the right side, facing Mecca."

The 1957 Mausoleum of Aga Khan III, leader of the Naziri Ismaili Muslims and grandfather of the current Aga Khan, gleams in the sunset over the Nile in Aswan. Every day his wife placed a red rose on his tomb; she’s now buried beside him but she ensured that this tradition continues.

Aga Khan Mausoleum at sunset - Aswan

Egypt - Peace on the Nile

Karnak Sound & Light

There are more than 350 cruise boats on the Nile: less than 20% are operating. We took a cruise on one of these, on the most popular route – Luxor to Aswan, and it was at less than half capacity. We thought ourselves lucky to see such great sights with so few people around; only 12 of us attended the spectacular Karnak Sound & Light show.

Mosque at Dusk

Politics is everywhere in Egypt; our first two days saw the referendum vote on the new constitution; the streets were filled with truckloads of jubilant people; loudspeakers throughout Luxor urged the population to go out and vote. Most Egyptians we spoke to told us: ‘This is not a military coup; we’ve gotten our country back on track to stability,’ and they all wanted to talk about it. 

Temple figure - Edfu

Of course, we came to see ancient Egypt and there’s so much to see. Our guide Hussein was a local Egyptologist who weaved a tapestry of tales, laced with humour. Egyptian history mixes with mythology and coded language as it’s depicted on the walls of temples and tombs. Hussein: Osiris was killed by his brother Seth and cut into pieces, cast across Egypt but his faithful wife Isis collected the pieces and breathed life into him again; all but one piece – the most important piece of the man, …his wallet. Osiris became the judge of the dead.

Vendors in the wash

Egypt exists largely on a narrow strip of arable land straddling the Nile; historically the dead reside on the West Bank, with the setting sun; the living on the East bank. And the Nile was serene, clear blue skies and warm sun backlighting at dusk and dawn.

Felucca - Aswan

Tourism is a major source of income here so many are struggling; vendors would meet you as you left the ship; some would row out and attach themselves to our ship as we sailed, offering cotton products that they lobbed topside if you asked. As we took a short trip in a felucca four youngsters rowed out on surfboards, held on, and serenaded us. 

Surfboard Serenaders

After visiting the Luxor temples and the Valley of the Kings, we moved south to Aswan and learned the history of the High Dam, built by the Russians in the 1960’s after a split between Egypt and the West over the nationalization of the (previously French/British owned) Suez Canal. This impressive wall created Lake Nasser, several hundred kilometres long, affording control of the Nile floodplain, expanding the fertility and navigability of the area, and generating almost half of Egypt’s electrical power.

A crowd at Abu Simbel

Unfortunately, Lake Nasser flooded many ancient monuments and spurred the relocation of several to higher ground under a UNESCO program supported by many nations: the small but beautiful Temple of Philae on a small island close to the dam celebrates Isis the god of magic. Christians coexisted in this temple with followers of the cult of Isis for many years. Also cut into blocks and raised were the Temples of Abu Simbel and the mountains they were cut into. Huge temples carved out by Ramses II largely in his own image facing Sudan, less than 50 miles away.

The Sudan at moorings - Aswan

These temples are reached by a 3-hour bus drive through the Sahara; a mammoth feat of construction and so far from the centre of Ramses' power; it’s more than impressive .

The Sudan, whose sister ship starred in Death on the Nile, was moored in Aswan. ‘Does it still sail?’

“Yes, but only during high season,” said Hussein

‘When’s high season?’

“When people come…”

So if you’ve ever wanted to see Egypt, now’s the time!

To contact Hussein: husgaafar@yahoo.com

Dawn on the Nile - Luxor

Culture - What's Right?

To see men holding hands is a common sight in Abu Dhabi. But this is not Vancouver, or Brighton; here it’s strictly a sign of friendship. Not acceptable between men and women though: when we first arrived, Carol and I walked through Abu Dhabi, holding hands to be greeted with car horns and faint hissing noises…

All forms of intimacy in public are frowned upon; no kiss goodbye as you drop your spouse at the mall – in fact malls have signs at their entrance banning certain behaviour within, including inappropriate dress and public displays of intimacy. So, my patting Carol’s behind is a definite no-no. But, it’s hard getting out of the hand-holding habit.

You rarely see local couples together, except perhaps at the beach so, I guess the signs are aimed more at expats…

In fact men and women don’t interact that much. At social events for men and women, the men sit at one end and the women at the other…

Company event - men's end

And this is not the only trouble I’ve had with hands. Muslims don’t use their left hand to eat with, considering it to be unclean. Most often they eat with their right hand; in restaurants though they use a knife and fork except they reverse their utensils, knife in left hand, fork in right. I was brought up in the UK where we eat on the left side; North Americans cut their food up first then switch their fork to the right hand to eat. I’m trying to reverse but it’s hard, particularly because I’m left-handed – I’ve always eaten on the left, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The rules at the mall go beyond intimacy to define dress code. In fairness, all local men and women cover their hair, arms and legs; only exposing their face, hands and toes and sometimes not even that... So to not expose flesh seems reasonable – not everyone thinks so though but their transgressions are largely tolerated. Although, recently a friend tried to go and see the Emirates Palace with a visitor, a twenty something lad in shorts; Security wouldn’t allow them to even enter the grounds – “No shorts, ma’am.”

Emirates Palace Entrance, or not!

One thing that is not tolerated, and this is something to remember, is the use of gestures. The trading of finger-signs between friendly combatants on the road, we’re so used to in the West, is an arrestable offence here. There are many instances of expats sentenced to jail time for the use of a digit or two in response to the aggressive driving here and there’s no shortage of opportunity...

In fact, pointing at any time is considered ill mannered (the words of my mother, when I was small: ‘Don’t point Robert,’ ring in my ears as I write this). Often you’ll see men standing beside the road looking for a lift; they give you a hopeful look and occasionally make a vague sweeping motion with their hand in the general direction they desire; but no fingers or thumbs.

Rosebowl - Qasr Al Sarab lobby

Finally, a social rule that initially catches all of us, the polite order of precedence, most noticeable when entering or leaving a building; I was new in town and in an elevator with a naval officer who was standing on my left. The doors opened: ‘After you,’ I said.

“No, after you.”

‘No, please.’ But he wouldn’t move, so I exited. As I passed him he spoke, almost under his breath: “In our culture, the person on the right always goes first.”

It was then that I noticed people reposition themselves as they approached a door in order to demonstrate respect for the people to their right.

On the Move - Al Dhafra Festival - Madinat Zayed

Burj Khalifa - At the Top of the World

My legs turned to jelly. I thought they would. I have to admit I don’t like heights. And, as a mere mortal, you can’t get much higher than the top of the Burj Khalifa (Khalifa Tower); the world’s tallest building. www.burjkhalifa.ae

There are more than 160 floors but the public observation deck is 124 floors above the Dubai Mall. On a clear day you can see for miles across the Dubai landscape. The observation deck is half in and half out of the building, but oddly I felt more wobbly inside than out in the fresh air.

Carol tries her luck

The elevator whisks you from the Dubai Mall up to the Observation Deck in less than 60 seconds, and surprisingly, there is no sensation of movement at all – no acceleration, nor any side to side trembling. For me, the scariest part is actually getting out of the elevator; with legs like lead I crawled out with my hand against the wall; then, gradually you get used to being there… The top of the spire, at 828 meters (> half a mile), moves by more than 2 metres (> 6 ½ feet) in the wind, although the building’s ‘Y’ cross section, patterned on the Hymenocallis flower, is built to confuse the wind as it spirals skyward.

View: The Address Hotel & Dubai Fountain
Day & Night

And, there’s gold at the top of the world. One of the first gold bar vending machines was installed on the Observation Deck, Carol put her hand in the dispenser drawer, just in case…

Known as the Burj Dubai during construction, the building itself is part hotel, part residential and part corporate office space. And, the world’s highest restaurant (At.mosphere) sits at the 122^nd floor, if your stomach can take it.

But the views here are breathtaking – literally. Huge skyscrapers below you look like Lego models, the sail-shaped Burj Al-Arab sits in the distance like a toy yacht. That’s if you’re lucky enough to get a clear day – it’s often marred by sand and dust in the atmosphere. If you time it right, you can see the sunset twice – once at the bottom and again when you get to the top… And you can choose your time slot if you buy your tickets on-line; the line-ups to get in aren’t bad but if you are going, it pays to buy in advance; tickets are four times more expensive if you buy them on-site.

In the grounds of Dubai Mall below lies the illuminated Dubai Fountain, the world’s largest computer choreographed water feature; crowds come just to see it dance to music, which it does every evening. As large as it is, it looks the size of a postage stamp from the Observation Deck. www.wiki/Dubai_Fountain

Dubai Fountain from above

The building is record-breaking in so many ways: tallest structure, highest elevator, highest nightclub, but this week at the turning of the New Year (2013/2014) it added the highest and largest display of fireworks. www.youtube.Dubai Fireworks

So for all the torture of going up there, it was well worth the trip.

Dancing Dubai Fountain

For further info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa