Follow the Leader... in this case, Abdul.

Originally posted May 15, 2004

Ben and Galal, our Egyptologist

Sculpture of Ramses II

No rest for the weary they say. Or is it wicked? Well, either way, it’s true... oh so very true. Yesterday, which seems like three weeks ago, we visited historical Memphis and the archeological sites there, saw a gigantic statue of Ramses II. Then we moved on to the intricately decorated burial tomb of Mere Ruka, an Egyptian noble 4500 years ago, and his wife. Galal, a younger guide with a Masters in Egyptology and a degree in archeology took us through the rooms reading the hieroglyphics and interpreting things, pointing out the little details and explaining his theories to us. He still gets very excited over the things that he shows people and shares his passion for them with his groups, at least, he shared it with Ben and I, and in a very entertaining way. The noble’s tombs are floor to ceiling hieroglyphs with larger than life representations of the battles won or great achievements of the deceased to commemorate their spirit. The tombs are some of the best preserved and most intact in the world and are treasured for the accuracy and beauty of their decorations.

Stepped Pyramid of Sakkhara

Next we went over to the Stepped Pyramid of Sakkhara which is something anyone would recognize upon seeing a photo. It’s amazing to see because it existed 1000 years before the Great Pyramids, built during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The more famous pyramids at Giza didn’t exist until the Middle Kingdom. So this pyramid was already ancient and a model for those built later on, and good starting point because from there we went to the Great Pyramids. In between Sakkhara and Giza we stopped at a carpet making school. It was a big warehouse where the village kids learn how to make carpets because there is no other form of education for them. I was taught how to weave like them and did a few knots. Then we were quickly shown to a warehouse where this guy laid it on thick and Ben almost bought a carpet, and I almost bought a wall hanging which was gorgeous. In the end we didn’t buy anything because they were still too expensive for us and I don’t have a house to put it in. Maybe when I come back? * We drove over to the Great Pyramids afterwards and walked around the largest one, built by the pharaoh Cheops, the second biggest, built by Keffrin, and we went inside the smallest one which was so stuffy and narrow that I got a little claustrophobic, but to be inside one of the Great Pyramids and see the burial chambers and the inner architecture was worth it.

Me at the loom.

With no rest in sight, we pressed on to the Sphinx and saw her in all her Egyptian glory, in the foreground against the Pyramids at Giza. It was amazing to see it with my own eyes but we didn’t spend too long there. We were hungry and it was h-o-t hot. After our gigantic morning of sightseeing and almost-carpet buying, Galal took us to this fantastic restaurant where they made the classic pita bread in a brick oven right in front of you and roast fish on a huge fire and serve that to you fresh. The meal was fantastic and very simple. We didn’t even see a menu, Galal ordered everything for us and we never said a word. We just followed his lead and enjoyed the meal. He is a really good guy and we got to know him a little bit better during the lunch as well.

At the base of the Great Pyramid

Sphinx

We have really benefited from this being a private tour. When I was making the arrangements I assumed that it would be with a large group like all the rest of the tourists I see. Everyday we fight gigantic hoards of all different nationalities for good vantage points, boats, entrances to tombs, and breathing room. It’s so awesome to have a guide all to ourselves and to get to know them as people. One leader, while taking us to the train station, sat down and had tea and talked with us for an hour before our train came and just hung out. It was really cool and he invited us back to Egypt as his guests. We move much faster and the tour is completely personalized based on what we want to do. It’s been fantastic so far and I can only see it getting better. I just hope my body can hold up against the heat and exhaustion.

After lunch we went to go see a Papyrus-making demonstration and learned why the plant was so important for the Egyptian empire. Then we were given some warnings and thrown into the narrow, crowded streets of the Khaleed El Khalali bazaar. This is an exercise of evasion more than a chance to enjoy the eastern market culture experience. People come up to me, being so obviously American, and start saying “Hello, you are welcome in Egypt, please come look at my store, I have many beautiful things, beautiful things for you and your family” and then they follow me until I make it clear that I'm not interested. Most of the stuff is pretty cheap quality. I wanted to buy some jewelry but I was warned against it. Ben bought some cool stuff for some of his friends and I am glad we went, but it was hectic and you really have to be on your guard.

On the other hand, it is awesome to be able to bargain someone down 150 LE (Egyptian pounds, $.22 USD = 1 LE) and get the thing you wanted for half the price it was originally. Ben and I got the hang of it. A sample transaction goes like this: (We walk by and something in the window catches our eye. 3 nanoseconds later…) Store owner: “Hello! You are welcome in Egypt. Excuse me, where you from?”

Us: “The states.”
Store Owner: Yes, yes very nice zer, I know California, ovie stars, very nice. So what you want? You know I am very good at finding what you want so just tell me what you want and I get it.
Us: Well, we liked these alabaster teacups.
Store Owner: Yes yes, very beautiful, alabaster, good stone, pharaohs use zees in zer jars, you know? Yes, finest Egyptian alabaster, hand crafted, I geev you very good price. Zees ees not beesnes, zees ees friends, you know I like your face, I geev you very good price. 300 LE for all four.
Ben (looking at me): I don’t think so. We saw them somewhere else cheaper. Thanks though.
Store Owner: Okay okay, I geev you 250 LE for all of zem.
Karla: No, we saw another vendor earlier who had them for less. But thanks. (turns to walk out).
Store Owner: Look, ok how much you want pay for zees, you see finest quality Egyptian alabaster, handcrafted, very rare. Ees very special.
Ben: I can’t pay more than 100LE.
Store Owner: A HUNDRED?? Oh my friend, zees ees impossible oh I can never ever do zees price, ees too low, you rob me if I give you zees price. 200LE. I cannot go any lower zan zat.
Karla: I’m sorry but we really can’t afford any more than 100.
Store Owner: Okay 175.
Ben: Nope, thank you for your help but we really have to go. Our tour guide is waiting for us.
Store Owner: Okay okay 150 Euros, okay? How ees zes? You like them zees much I want you to have zem. Ees very special price for my friend here.
Ben: (150 was originally what we had planned on.) Deal.

So the guy packs them up after we had threatened to walk out of the store about 4 times. That seemed to be the key. Just be ready to walk out.

After the bazaar, we went back to the hotel to get our stuff, wash the sand off our feet, and get ready for the trip to Aswan that night. We spent last night on a semi- comfortable sleeper train from Cairo in Northern Egypt at the base of the Nile Delta, to Aswan, in Southern Egypt, about 350km from the border of Sudan. We arrived this morning and went to our gorgeous hotel overlooking the Nile and Lake Aswan which is between the High Dam and the Low Dam.  This dam stopped the flooding of the Nile in 1960. Aswan is much more beautiful than Cairo and much smaller, though our first impressions were cut short as we were immediately whisked away to the Aswan airport to catch a flight to Abu Simbel to see an amazing temple that Ramses II constructed in his honor.

Aswan on the Nile

Lake Nasser, en route to Aswan

 Abu Simbel was originally 60 meters lower than it is today. When they built the Nile dams in Aswan they knew that it would flood the temple that was carved into the rock on the banks of the Nile. The temple itself was carved into a huge cliff itself, but they cut the entire thing out and moved it up, block by block, to save it. It was pretty incredible to see the technical engineering it took to move it and to see the temple itself. The hieroglyphics on the walls are beautiful. Ramses II built monuments like this all over Egypt to showcase his greatness. As our guides have told us, it was the size and quantity hat mattered, and not the quality. He just built stuff everywhere and made it huge so that everyone knew his name and his power.

Abu Simbel entrance

Heiroglyphs of Nefertiri's coronation

After Abu Simbel we were given the afternoon off and spent it resting and enjoying the pool at our plush desert oasis. Then we met our guide again for a trip to the Nubian museum that night. I knew absolutely nothing about Nubian culture so it was an informative visit. I guess the coolest part about it was going to the museum at night. It is set on a hill overlooking Aswan and the Nile (the same hill as our hotel in fact) and there is a huge winding garden in the back from which you get a great panorama of the city. We sat outside after our visit ended around 9pm and took in the city. I like it better than Cairo, in which I was totally disoriented and felt a little edgy about leaving even my hotel, here I don’t feel safe walking alone at all and people come up to you trying to sell you something every four feet, but it’s much less oppressive, dusty and overwhelming. Even though it’s 10 degrees hotter here, the Nile seems to cool everything off, with its sparkling blue in the midday sun it just feels cooler even though it’s 110. We took the hotel bus into town to find some water and we also stopped at a pastry store and bought some local sweets which were AMAZING. We were dead tired that night, not having had a good night’s rest on the train the night before so we went to bed early.

Just inside Abu Simbel

We started the next day at 6:30 am and went out to see the High Dam of Aswan and learn how it has helped Egypt and we also learned that Egypt’s electricity is all hydro-electric and 70% of it comes from the High Dam. Since the beginning of time this civilization has depended on the Nile, “the Nile is Life” you hear everyone say here. It’s true. The ankh symbol, which looks like a cross with a loop at the top, is the symbol for life in ancient Egyptian religion. It represents the beginning of the Nile, the two branches, and the Nile Delta, which if you look at a map, is accurate!


After the High Dam we went to Philae temple which was erected by Ptolemy and saw some of the remnants of the Greek Dynasty in Egyptian history. We took a boat ride to get out there and it was a madhouse to get on and off the boats. It’s all tourists and Egyptians coming at you from every direction either trying to follow a tour guide, trying to get on a boat, or trying to get you on their boat and drive you out to the island. It was crazy but once on the boat it calmed a bit. We arrived at a beautiful view of the dam and the Nile. I saw all these people that are so different from me and a little rest from people trying to sell you cheap souvenirs.

Boat boarding zoo. 

Philae temple

After the visit to the temple we went to a Perfume Palace because Aswan specializes in plant extracts and we were regaled with all the medicinal and special purposes of the plants they cultivate and process. Ben and I bought a few small bottles and were very pleased with our choices. Our guide told us that the bases for all the designer perfumes are bought from Egypt. They had a few at the palace that smelled just like D&G or Yves St. Laurent, Chanel, all the big French names. I bought three small bottles, but only local plant extracts which, in my opinion, were better than the imitations.

Abdul, our guide, who bade us follow him via his shirt.  

Then we went to the stone quarry to see the unfinished Obelisk. Aswan is famous for its pink granite quarries and the fruits of these are seen all over Egypt especially in the construction of the ancient temples and pyramids. We learned how the clever engineers erected the monuments and a little about Egyptian stones. After that we were dropped off at a traditional restaurant in the middle of town where we ate a veritable feast of fresh hummus, cucumber and tomato salad, grilled eggplant, stuffed pigeon, vegetable soup, barley broth, and sweet pastry for dessert, all for about 11 dollars for the two of us. Unbelievable. We then went to buy more water then go back to the hotel to get out of the heat and rest. We watched a little VH1 on the TV in the hotel, then I went down to the pool, then we had to check out and get on the train to Luxor. There was a stench that seemed to follow us, coming and going for three hours, and it was not a very pleasant train ride. Seeing all of Egypt has its ups and downs. We have to do a lot of intra-country travel to get everywhere. But it’s not bad. It’s spread out so that we don’t feel it too much.

Unfinished obelisk at Aswan

So that brings us up to Luxor. I better start a new entry.




*Oh, the optimism! Would that time, money, and life would permit such extravagance.