Lucky to go to Luxor

This really is my favorite part of the world. For whatever reason, I’m comfortable in the Middle East, even if I get hassled a lot. Let’s face it, the food is wonderful.

Stereotypical Egyptian photo.
From the museum.

When we in Istanbul granted a second R&R (meaning taxpayer-funded flight), I had limited options for when to go. I’d previously booked a week off in March and bought a plane ticket to go with it, and taking a week off after that would run into the “get extra approval for” territory, because you’re supposed to use your R&Rs before you have six months remaining at post. I leave at the end of June, so I was already cutting it close.

After toying with other days and locations – I wanted to go somewhere with a flight that cost more than the usual $250 or so – I finally decided to do the cruise itinerary in Egypt, which is from Aswan from Luxor. Note I tacked on “itinerary” after that, as I did not take the cruise itself. I priced a few (they’re all the same) and they seem reasonable on the face but when you figure in the single supplement they were about $700.

I contacted ASTI travel (I think it’s American Star Travel Inc. or something like that) and got them to price me an itinerary that allowed me to see everything on the cruise itinerary, plus do a few things in Cairo that I wanted to do. (Museum, souk and Coptic Cairo – I went to the pyramids in 2009.)

And it worked out well. I got to Aswan, way in the south, around 7:30 in the morning and immediately headed to the dam with my guide and driver. Had no idea the Nile had a dam, but has since the 1960s. The Nile, as you might know, floods annually, which is about the only water Egypt ever gets. The dam allows it to be regulated.

The dam is the second largest in the world, behind one in China that apparently I missed the opportunity to see. Wiki blurb:

Greatest hotel sign.
Ever.

“The High Dam has resulted in protection from floods and droughts, an increase in agricultural production and employment, electricity production, and improved navigation that also benefits tourism.

“Periodic floods and droughts have affected Egypt since ancient times. The dam mitigated the effects of floods, such as those in 1964, 1973, and 1988. Navigation along the river has been improved, both upstream and downstream of the dam.”

Right on the lake created by the dam (Nasser), there’s a temple called Philae, so that was the next stop. It was moved from a couple kilometers away, something about the dam. (It’s a lot of history. I can only absorb so much, especially around 9 a.m.)

From Wiki:

“The most ancient was a temple for Isis, built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380-362 BC, which was approached from the river through a double colonnade. Nekhtnebef was his ancient Egyptian royal titulary and he became the founding pharaoh of the Thirtieth and last native dynasty when he deposed and killed Nepherites II.

“For the most part, the other ruins date from the Ptolemaic Kingdom, more especially with the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, and Ptolemy VI Philometor (282-145 BC), with many traces of Roman work in Philae dedicated to Ammon-Osiris.

Cool photo but I have no memory of what this was

“In front of the propyla were two colossal lions in granite, behind which stood a pair of obelisks, each 13 metres (43 ft) high. Beyond the entrance into the principal court are small temples, one of which, dedicated to Isis, Hathor, and a wide range of deities related to midwifery, is covered with sculptures representing the birth of Ptolemy Philometor, under the figure of the god Horus. The story of Osiris is everywhere represented on the walls of this temple.”

Also went to the “Unfinished Obelisk,” which was begun in some century BC but abandoned when they cracked it wrong.

The next day, I headed to more temples on the way to Luxor, and can I just say I’m really tired of Chinese tourists? Oh my gosh. There were just packs and packs of tourists everywhere, some land and some cruise-going. I was one of very few who were not with groups.

At the Luxor hotel

I took a ton of pictures over the six days I was gone but am not one of those Instagram fiends, so I’m only posting a few, including the greatest hotel “clean up room” sign ever. That it was from the Happi Hotel makes it all the more awesome.

The sights on the way to Luxor included a lot of speed bumps and Kom Ombo Temple Edfu Temple, then I got to Luxor to the Maritim Jolie hotel (off Expedia) that was utterly fabulous. No, it didn’t have aa “do me” sign, but it was quite a resort. I could have camped out there for a week, easily.

But the itinerary called and Luxor temple … oh, wow. Plus, the Valley of Kings – tombs of Tut, several Ramses kings, and so on. Just incredible. And Queen Hatshepsut’s temple, too. Man, just incredible.

On the drive, I noticed a couple of hot air balloons and asked the guide about them. I had no idea it was an option, but he said he could try to get me a spot and, around 6 p.m., he finally called to confirm.

I’d done one in Cappadocia and it was phenomenal, so I wasn’t freaked out or anything. The big difference between there and Luxor was that in Cappadocia, it’s a thing. There are scores of balloons up every morning, but in Luxor there were fewer than 10. I was lucky to get a seat!

Screaming mummy
(In case you hadn't guessed)

Sunrises are always beautiful, when you’re watching one come up over the Nile from a balloon, well, all that comes to mind is that God is awesome. Seeing the Valley of Kings and Queen H’s temple from the air was just incredible. I mean, those ancient Egyptians were amazing engineers, architects and scientists. And seeing the contrast where the Nile regularly flooded to the limestone was amazing – it was just a line with green on one since and brown on the other, just as far as you could see.

Cairo, too, was incredible. The traffic, for one. Man, Istanbul is bad, but I really think Cairo is worse. I went to three places and it took from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. But the museum was completely worth it. They’re opening a new one in a year or so (maybe this year, I don’t remember) and I will totally have to go back. From what I understood, they have something like 5000 more pieces in storage because there’s no room for them now.

I bought the extra ticket to see the mummy room. Although you couldn’t take pictures in there, they had one mummy in another room that was “screaming.” Here’s a link to a story on that: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/02/12/mystery-screaming-egyptian-mummy-which-has-baffled-archaeologists-for-years-finally-resolved.html. The mummies in the no-photo rooms were fascinating and nauseating at the same time. I mean, I really was queasy. Looking at 4,000-year-old toenails, teeth and hair can do that to you. Or at least it did it to me.

One of the dead had been buried with a small mummy, which had been assumed for years to be her child. Here’s that story, pasted from https://cowofgold.wikispaces.com/Animal+Mummies:

“In the early days of archaeology animal mummies were regarded as mere curiosities, often ignored or even thrown away after evacuation. Some were misidentified as the mummies of children. The most famous example of this is Queen Maatkare’s pet baboon. When her tomb was discovered, there was a small, mummified bundle present at her feet, which was initially believed to be her child. This puzzled archaeologists because Queen Makare was a high priestess who had taken a serious vow of celibacy. If this had been her child, it would have meant that she had, at some point, broken the oath she had taken as high priestess, raising a slew of other questions regarding her life. Whole stories, even a novel, have been woven around what seemed to imply an illicit relationship. Finally, in 1968, an X-ray was done on the small mummy, and it was determined to be her pet female baboon, not a child.

“The ancient Egyptians loved animals and preserved their beloved pets in hopes that they would accompany their owners into the afterlife. When a pet died before its owner, the animal was often mummified and placed into the owner's tomb to await them so that they could be buried together.”

You know, I really have nothing to add after that. There’s no easy segue from “mummified pet baboon,” so I will just call it a night.