Off to Jordan

One of the first things to learn when moving from Egypt to Jordan is that it is not just a change of countries but continents, too--Africa to Asia. Casey was excited about this as he can now add a 5th continent to his travels. Not bad for a 13 year old.

We left Luxor in late morning for the flight to Cairo where we connected to a flight to Amman, Jordan, arriving somewhere around 6 pm, a little early--nice. Bashar, our driver, soon found us; we stopped at an ATM to get Jordanian dinars--another currency for the collection. In Egypt the dollar was strong--not so in Jordan. The exchange was not in our favor--significantly. But, once you plunge into travel, you surely can't get hung up on exchange rates or you sacrifice enjoyment.

From Amman we had a 3 hour or so drive to our destination, the mysterious rose colored city of Petra. Is there anyone who has not been captivated by the quintessential picture of the ancient, capital city of the Nabataeans?

Petra was a key city along the ancient Silk Road trade route which connected Asia, Africa, the Mediterrean and Europe. The Nabatean people were brilliant, not only creating this magnificent city out of stone but carving an incredible water system through this same stone--parts of this can still be seen today. Considering that this culture was centuries before the Romans remarkable feats of engineering, their accomplishments are super impressive. Often when having the privilege of seeing what previous civilizations have left behind to awe us, it is impossible not to wonder what we are leaving for those who follow us 3 and 4 millenniums away. My hunch is that most of the 20th and 21st century will crumble but that Petra will stand.

We were staying at the Movenpick Hotel which is located right at the walkway leading to the entrance of Petra--a nice place to stay. Bashar met us in the morning and took us to meet Hamad, our guide through the wonders of Petra. Hamad was an excellent, knowledgeable guide plus a professional photographer. He used our cameras to take pictures throughout the day. He knew just where to take them, how to frame, where the light was etc. We ended up with photos we would never have had. For instance:

Love the perspective in this one

Right after the gate, we elected to ride horses down the path leading to the Sig. This seemed like a brilliantly fun thing to do; forgetting that I can't remember the last time I was on a horse--I am quite certain that I was somewhere in the dim and forgotten past. Things went very well and I loved sitting high and admiring the surroundings. What an impressive sight.

The problem came as I was to dismount. As I lifted my leg over the horn on the saddle, somehow my right foot caught in the stirrup and my left leg remained high on the horse--so I dangled momentarily--surely a graceful scene. Eventually I fell on my right buttock with left leg still pointing skyward and right foot still caught--can you picture this?. The guide (horse guide not Hamed, fortunately) tried to catch me at which time he was almost knocked off the cliff. I have no idea how many people witnessed but Ken didn't (thank you, God.) Casey did as did any number of other tourists and guides. Looking at no one, I hobbled up, dusted off and went on my way as if nothing unusual had happened. I suspect, though, that the horse guides still talk about the weird American woman.

Moving on, we walked through the ancient 1200 meter entrance way called As-Sig, which is a deep, winding narrow gorge with 80 meter walls soaring skyward. Along the way are incredible colors, water channels dug by the Nabateans, agricultural terraces and votive niches. It is really awesome. And then, as if what you have now seen hasn't awed enough, you get the first peak of the Treasury--which in reality was the tomb of an important Nabataean king. There is so little history of these people that the mystery of who this person was will remain a mystery throughout time but...he must have been a big man on campus, for sure.

Can you imagine the trade caravans coming through the gorge with camels laden with treasures from east and west and this was what greeted them? Do you think they were any less awed than we?

Once through the Sig there is a wide open piazza type area in front of the Treasury with the expected vendors and guides hawking for business. From there the wide dirt path wanders through the remains of the city that was--caves that were tombs and homes, a Roman theater, temples, magnificent buildings carved into the rock, donkeys, Bedouins, camels, tourists. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

Next: A donkey ride, Visiting a Bedouin camp, and the King's Highway

Christmas in Luxor

Well, we are coming to the close of the Egypt portion of our grand Christmas adventure. Soon we will be in Jordan. By now we have seen pyramids, tombs, palaces, museums and temples. We have traveled by plane, ship and camel--well, actually, maybe 200 meters by camel, to be honest. We've eaten well, laughed, explored, people watched, drank mint tea, listened to the call to worship uncountable times and just had fun. Oh, yeah--met lots of Mohammeds.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent on the banks of the Nile at the Luxor Sherator Resort, which was really quite nice--a great way to relax and enjoy these two days that are special to us. We loved seeing the large Christmas tree in the lobby and other decorations reminding us of our heritage and beliefs. We had wondered about Christmas in a Muslim country. Once when someone wished me "Merry Christmas" I ended up asking, as I caught myself saying Merry Christmas back,: "What should I say to you?"..."Just say Happy New Year." That worked.

We had used Starwood points to stay here and I guess because Ken has residual status after having been top tier many times in his working years, we were upgraded to an incredibly large and lovely suite over looking the Nile with a balcony that stretched around two sides. It made Christmas that much nicer not to be cramped in a regular hotel room cramped with a bed for Casey.

Nice Welcome Gift from Manager

And...the commode was a masterpiece which Casey still talks about. I had heard of these Japanese innovations but hadn't seen let alone used one before. It took a manual to know what to do. Hot air/cool air/warm water/cool water/for him/ for her.... Never did get it all figured out but sure replaces the bidet.

By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were rather beat from the day's activities--see last post--and wanted to do nothing more than kick back, relax, enjoy late lunch and walk the grounds along the Nile--which we did. That night we enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner at La Mamma--one of the hotel's restaurants. It was such a good time with the three of us and we laughed at Casey's arrabiata made appropriately spicy with jalapeños.

The hotel had a large Christmas banquet type dinner that night with multiple courses and fancy dress which didn't appeal to us for many reasons, chief among which being who wants to spend an evening with people you don't know, eating more food than you want and dressing up (which we could not have done anyway.) Our way we had the entire Italian restaurant to ourselves, totally enjoying interacting with our waiter and listening to Dean Martin singing That's Amore. Who would have thought in Egypt?

That night, Santa, amazingly, found us so many miles from home, even bringing Casey's stocking and wrapped gifts. Thank goodness for reindeer who can travel so quickly. Casey was surprised in the morning and enjoyed the small gifts and candies that had nestled safely in our suitcases.

That afternoon we hired a boatman to take us across the Nile to deposit Casey to where we had arranged a horseback riding session and then on down the Nile to where Ken and I went to the quite enjoyable Luxor Museum. (This should not be confused with the less well thought of mummy museum in Luxor.) We thoroughly enjoyed this museum as it has some wonderful antiquities and yet is not so large as to overwhelm. Even then we hurried through faster than we would have preferred as we needed to get back to our little boat to return to the other side of the river to retrieve Casey. There was such a fairy tale quality to the day,

That night we opted for dinner in the every day type dining room of the hotel where there was a pretty bad buffet. We should have returned to La Mamma, I think. Maybe Dean would have been singing White Christmas with Bing.

The next day we repacked, after buying a new satchel to carry new treasures, and were whisked off to the Luxor airport for a flight to Cairo and from Cairo to Jordan and mysterious rose- colored Petra, a place I had dreamed of seeing but never thought I would. As you will see, it was wonderful and held a whole new set of adventures for us. Bedouin encampments, more horse rides donkey rides, Roman ruins and Mexican food.

Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut and Medinet Habu

Mohamed, our wonderful guide throughout the cruise, picked us up around 8 a.m., loaded our luggage into the van, and off we drove to the Valley of the Kings, final resting place of pharaohs, queens, consorts and lesser nobility.

Mohamed

The Valley of the Kings is barren, dry desert. There is nothing remotely beautiful about it if one is looking for trees, greens, water, color. It is beige, beige, beige. If you look at it as another example of earth's diversity and geological wonders, then you can find beauty--as in all things.

From Travels in Paradise.Com

It is a short drive out of Luxor, through dune colored hills and then the parking lot with little shuttle trains that take visitors to the tomb area. The downer is the huge number of men and young boys selling books, postcards and trinkets. It is so obvious that the need for money is great and the opportunity for making anything approaching a livable income is non-existent. In the best of times, it would be hard, in these times of few tourists it is impossible. 

We bought a ticket which allowed access to three tombs of our choosing. There is an extra ticket to go into Tutankhamun's which we did  not get as we had read and were told there really is nothing to see in it. It is not painted and colorful as others are and nothing remains except a large plain sarcophagus. Maybe I wish we had gone but too late now. 

The three we went into were recommended by Mohamed as being the most interesting and colorful. We were astounded by the remaining wall drawings and incredibly bright, vibrant colors. Unfortunately, it is prohibited to take pictures in the tombs so I have none. This link has some good examples but even they don't do justice to the awesome walls. Culture Focus.com. There are long entrance walls covered with many scenes and stories referring both to the life of the entombed pharaoh and the hoped for benefits of the anticipated afterlife. Gods and goddesses in myriad strange forms decorate the rooms, ceilings and walls. The workmanship boggles.

I found this on the web. Isn't it amazing?

There is nothing on the surface of the valley to indicate what lies below making it clear why finding these tombs is such a painstaking process; there are thought to be many not yet discovered.

Typical Entrance into Tomb

From here we went onto the temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is quite impressive, particularly from a distance. Much of it was destroyed by her stepson who followed her and who wasn't very fond of step-mom. He had many of her statues broken and her face defaced where ever he found it. Consequently there are just a couple physical representation of how she may have looked. It is also not clear how she died or where she was buried, not surprising leading to ideas that she may have been murdered by her stepson. Recently her mummy was found in a cache of royal mummies but where it had previously been buried seems to still be unknown.

Queen Hatshepsut, "the woman who would be pharaoh", was truly remarkable, succesfully leading Egypt for somewhere around 23 years. She often wore men's clothing-including the fake beard, successfully fought wars and had an impressive building program. Pretty impressive woman! Would have led a Fortune 500 today.

From here we had three more ancient sites before the end of our Egypt tour and being taken to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day kickback time. I have to admit that at this point we looked forward to this as we were approaching the point of overload after a week of "seeing and experiencing."  Casey was holding up better than Ken and I--youth does have advantages.

Next stop was Medinet Habu--the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III. The pharaohs may have been buried in obscurity but they sure didn't want to be forgotten so they built beautiful, above ground testimonials to themselves. Medinet Habu is impressive in size and decoration. By now we had seen many places with colors remaining after centuries of exposure to elements; however, here the colors were particularly vibrant. It was also interesting to see the depth in the carving of figures and hieroglyphics--much deeper than any other place. You can see it in the pictures.

Our last two stops were the Tombs of the Nobles which are in a rather isolated area with very little there. We were able to enter two of them but photos were not allowed. One of them was fairly deep underground and had retained full walls of murals and drawings--quite impressive.

The last stop was at the Colossi of Memnon. These huge, gigantic statues originally stood at the entrance to the mortuary temple of Amenophis III which is no longer. The fact that they still stand is amazing. They are called Memnon because for many years (long ago) one of them emitted a strange whistling sound each morning. The Greeks, always prolific at ascribing reasons to anything unexplained, decided that it was the statue of Memnon, a warrior said to have been turned into a statue in Thebes after being killed by Achilles. The sound was his lamenting his mother, the sun, as she rose each morning. As the statue deteriorated, so did the sound. We listened--but nothing.

This was the end of our guided portion of Egypt. From here we were delivered to our hotel in Luxor--the Sheraton Resort--which was lovely. Since it was Christmas Eve, we were pleased to find a large green tree in the lobby, decorated in red and gold. It was a nice touch. We said goodbye to Mohamed and started our private Christmas time. More on that next time.

Magnificent Karnac and Colorful Luxor Temples

A Painting from an ancient Christian Church inside the

walls of the more ancient Luxor Temple

When exploring within ancient temples, there are always surprises. As in the less ancient Greek and Roman buildings which often transformed and morphed into many permutations over the centuries, so too the temples of pharaohs. 

Other than the halo you can't really see this, but it is a painting of the Virgin Mary 

on a pillar in Karnac.

Our last two cruise nights were spent docked at Luxor, the site of the very large ancient city of Thebes. It does seem strange but as the ship docked in such a way that our cabin faced the Nile, we had more time to enjoy its serenity and peace-particularly as there were not gaggles of other cruise ships parading by. We enjoyed leaving in the morning, visiting the huge Karnac temple complex and Luxor Temple, which is right in the city of Luxor, and then returning to the ship for a late lunch, relaxing on the sundeck with new friends and enjoying the galaibya party and dinner.

Because we had a private guide and were continuing on in Luxor for a few days, we had a more leisurely day than others who followed the cruise schedule. They did both temples in the morning, came back to the ship for lunch and then went to the Valley of the Kings in the afternoon. This would have been an exhausting itinerary, and, in fact, folks were dragging a little bit.

Anyone who has ever perused the National Geographic or watched the Discovery Channel or Planet Green knows of Karnac--the huge complex of three temples dedicated to the god Amun-Ra, the goddess Mut and the god Montu. Amun was the main divinity of Thebes. Through several dynasties, 13 centuries, this monumental complex was added to with small side temples, mortuary temples, statues, pillars, living areas and rooms and buildings of unknown purpose. Today we see it in bits and pieces, some parts more complete than others but nothing is whole. The massive pillars are impressively awesome in their rows and columns with colors, usually muted but occasionally bright, still showing in places; I found myself wondering what it was like when priests and royalty walked through their shadows.

Although both Mut and Montu have their own temples and precincts within the complex, visitors only see the "precinct of Amun-Ra" which is what we mostly think of when we reference Karnac and what most visuals show. The other two temple areas are still being uncovered and restored. You can see them but not go to them--disappointing. They are much older and go back to even more ancient gods of Thebes.

From Karnac, after buying an Anubis (the two headed jackel god of afterlife and mummification) statue for son Jeff--his one request of us. Of course, as with anything in Egypt, bargaining is the expectation so we needed to go through that exercise--which is not one of my favorite cultural experiences--anywhere, we moved on.

Our next and last stop for the day was Luxor Temple which sits among the streets and shops of Luxor. This temple and Karnac were connected via a two mile "parade route" which was used for ceremonial processions. It was lined on both sides with sphinx which are now being dug up and replaced along the ancient road. This is a slow process as existing buildings are needing to be torn down to do this.

It is thought that Luxor Temple was mostly a sanctuary dedicated to the celebration of the royal "ka" soul of the ruler which was passed from father to son. If so there would have been ceremonies to confirm the hereditary transfer of the king's sacred powers-Ka-to his son; however, much of this is still conjecture. There are many colossal statues here, including the greatly egotistical Ramses II and his favorite Nefertari who were the subjects at Abu Simbel. Like Karnac, it was constructed over a period of several dynasties. In time, the Romans converted chapels into servicing Roman gods, then Christians had churches within the walls and finally Islam entered the area.  At the entrance is a structure with triple religious heritage--ancient Egyptian temple, Christian church and finally, on top, a mosque in use today.

          
The bottom is ancient Egypt. If you look half way up, you will see reddish doors which were the Christian church (at the time it was built the Egyptian portion was underground) and on top you can see the mosque with a part of the minaret.

There is so much to tell about these temples and complexes but if you are interested, it will be much easier to click on the links which I have provided as the information is far more complete and intelligible than I can provide.

(Remember you can enlarge this to full screen)

And now....the final night and the galaibya party.  From what I gather these parties are traditional to Nile cruises. A galaibya is an Egyptian garment of a certain style; it should be full length but some people simply choose a shirt---while other people don't dress up at all. It really is a very casual, do whatever you want event.

When in Cairo, we decided that we would do it all, so Casey and I bought our galaibya there and got really nice ones. Ken bought a cheapie on board which was just as well as I can't imagine that we will wear them again. Well, maybe Casey will have a reason at some point. He looked very impressive in his.

And this is the charming, beautiful couple from Hong Kong that were part of our table, Wayne and Iris

....this was the end of the cruise. The next morning we were packed and out of there by 9. Next stop: the famous, mystical Valley of the Kings and Christmas in Luxor. And then....PETRA

Kom Ombo and Edfu Temples (& belly dancers)

OK--I must admit, one might think that if you've seen one temple, you've seen them all. And even more--at times it almost seemed that way. But...and there are always buts...it just isn't true. Each is different in its awe inspiring grandiose existence; each further underscores the admiration for the architects, builders, lowly laborers, dreamers, artists, carvers, technicians and scientists who so long ago created such megalithic  beauty. And yes, I do leave out the pharaohs and their consorts who commissioned such memorials to their time on earth and hoped for passage to the next. They are not the ones who left us these testimonials to the past. Well, actually, that isn't true, as if it were not for desires for immortality, none of this would have been done. So, yes, do include them, it is only right. Plus, they did build rather remarkable civilizations.

I do need to back up for a moment to last night--the great Belly Dancer/Whirling Dervish Show. I had been teasing Casey that he would not be allowed to see such depravity--much too young for witnessing the gyrating, sweaty female form shaking tassels and whatever. And..I was only half teasing as I remembered what Ken and I had seen in Istanbul. In my sometimes puritanical mind, it just wasn't kosher to take a child--yes, he is 13 but definitely a child--to a "girlie" show.

But, since this was a more-or-less family cruise, I figured it would be "va bene" (as we say in Italy.) As it was, I need not to have worried as this belly dancer was no more than could be seen at any middle school dance--which, now that I think about it, can be pretty raunchy sometimes. There was no belly on display and the shakes and shimmies were pretty pathetic. The kids, who were all sitting together acting grown up throwing peanut shells on the carpet, actually got pretty bored.


After the aged woman (I forgot to mention the age) came the whirling dervish who was quite entertaining and spectacular. He gave a good show with a costume that lit up with multi-colored lights as he twirled and whirled non-stop for 15-20 minutes. I am quite certain that the real dervishes in Turkey do not use colored lights--but then, they are not on cruise ships, either. We all enjoyed him--adults and kids. I am sorry, though, having just scoured all three cameras, it seems we took no pictures of these two. I would have loved to share this with you. Oops--here is the non-belly dancing belly dancer--or, actually, she did have a belly.

Back to two more amazing temples...Kom Ombo and Edfu-Temple of Horus.

The Temple of Kom Ombo was dedicated to two deitites--Sobek, the feared crocodile god and Horus, god of victory and war; he was also a doctor and healer. Sobek's wife was Hathor, usually depicted as a revered cow. She was the goddess of fertility and childbirth and the protector of female royalty along with many other things in Egyptian mythology. She was later equated with Venus and Aphrodite. It seems that the gods were very versatile in their benevolence and influence.

Kom Ombo is the only temple we visited which sits squarely on the banks of the Nile. It is a pretty impressive site as it magically materializes when you round a bend in the river--there it is just waiting to be explored.

View of Kom Ombo from the Ship

If you look closely, you will see important carvings  

of the medical tools used by physicians in Egypt .

Our next stop, after docking overnight at Edfu, was a buggy ride to the Temple of Horus at Edfu. As with all the temples, this one has something special that distinguishes it from the others. It is almost wholly intact--with roof, ceiling, complete walls and interior rooms. For the most part temples are skeletons of what they once were so it is is fascinating to see more completely what was.

Horus was the son of Isis and Osiris after Isis was able to revive Osiris who had been killed by his evil brother Set. Horus eventually was able to avenge his father's death and destroy Set. Osiris became the god of afterlife. (The truth is that these stories are very convoluted and complex with confusing twists and turns and so what I offer is super simplified.)

We were driven to Edfu in rather delipated, much used carriages..

but they got us there and back. Riding the streets was interesting.

Another reminder as to just how enormous these places are.

And, the people of Egypt were small people.

Temple of Horus at Edfu Facade

The Sanctuary of Horus and barge. Inside Edfu Temple

Horus and Us

I must give credit to Casey at this point as he is my guru in recognizing all these gods and creatures and their interconnectedness. He studied this in 6th grade and I am in awe of what he remembers and learned. 

He had a good teacher. Thank you, Mrs. Maier.

This was a good day--well, they all were--and we haven't even been to Karnac, Luxor and Petra, yet. So much in so little time.

Things were more or less quiet on-board this night. There was to be an "elegant" attire party with the ship's captain and other staff; however, elegant was not very elegant which was fortunate as I had no elegance with me. We had a quiet dinner with our table mates whom we had enjoyed--particularly Casey as Camille was at our table. She and her parents were from Singapore and then we also had a beautiful young couple from Hong Kong. It is so nice when you like the people you eat your meals with as there were assigned tables.

(If you can, enlarge to full screen.)

While sleeping we sailed onto Luxor where we awoke the next morning.

Next: Karnac, Luxor Temple, Hatshpsut, Valley of the Kings, and Christmas on the Nile.