Feb. 10 and 11, 2009 - We just have enough time to catch our breath this evening before we travel overland to Luxor. Our boat arrives at the port of Safaga to begin our 3 to 4 hour drive across the desert to the fertile Nile Valley. For the first hour we pass nothing…..sand, dirt, a few cars and trucks and through barren mountain passes. It’s a wilderness that I wouldn’t want to be stuck in. One of the things that I am disappointed about is the amount of trash strewed along the roadside. From a distance, I can see three or four plastic bags that have taken flight up to the mountain tops. Some of us decide this is Egypt’s national bird. How sad. Finally we start to see small patches of green. All of a sudden it becomes farmland. We see one farm after another driving along one of the tributaries of the Nile. With the building of the Aswan Dam, irrigation is controlled. The Nile no longer floods this region so people have settled in one area without the fear of floods. However, no longer does this region have the fertile silt left from the River Nile after the floods. It is “stuck” near Aswan Dam. There is discussion about dredging the area and bringing it back to the farmlands but that will take decades. This is tomato season and every truck, wagon and donkey cart is full of them. Sugar cane is also a huge crop. Most fields have recently been harvested and the cane is spread on top of the roofs to dry. The Nile separates east side of Luxor (which was for the living and where the temples were built) to the west side of Luxor (which is for the dead and where the tombs were built). So this afternoon we start at the Karnak Temple – dedicated to the God Amun. It covers over 100 acres and is about 4000 yrs young. As each generation of Pharaohs added their own design and architecture with pylons, obelisks and smaller temples within the temple, Karnak became more important, not only as a place to worship but also as a cultural center to the region. It could take one week to see everything just in this temple – we have two hours. Late afternoon we checked into our hotel, Sheraton, St George. Overlooking the River Nile, our rooms are the newly renovated ones on the 7th floor. WOW – the rooms have a balcony to view the Nile. The bathroom is the state of the art in bathrooms. There are no flush handles on the toilet. It senses a “seating” and all of a sudden in flushes…or sprays first and then flushes…or sprays, dries and flushes…and of course the seat is warm. The shower is also high tech…three different kinds of sprays coming at all angles – not including the jets in the tub. Two different showers and especially nice is the optional disco lights. We all had great fun to see who could figure out the operation of everything. We couldn’t get too comfortable as our evening program included a visit to the Luxor Temple and then to the Sound and Light Show back at the Karnak Temple. By the time we arrived the Luxor Temple, it was beautifully lit with hundreds of flood lights. There was once a wide avenue that connected the Karnak Temple to the Luxor Temple. Human-headed sphinxes lined this avenue for over 5 miles and portions of this can be seen at Luxor Temple. Not only do tourists like to visit these temples but a great deal of Egyptians were visiting. As our group walked out of the Temple, I noticed a young woman dressed in the traditional black with only her eyes showing. I suspected she was in her early 30’s. I smiled to her and she seemed to return the smile. I then asked if I could take her picture. She asked why? And I wonder – yes – why? Perhaps she represents how most of us perceive Egypt. Mysterious with an elegance and charm that only Egypt has. She seemed to be praying. Which by the way 5 times a day Muslims are called to prayer – we no longer need a wake up call from the hotel desk – the 5:00AM (sunrise) call to prayer works just fine. This lady spoke beautiful English and we talked about our homes and the weather. She asked me to meet her husband who was having coffee a few yards away. Egyptians are very serious about their coffee – but only men go to the coffee houses while women shop or take walks in the park and visit with other families. 10 minutes of visting and her husband agreed we could stand together in front of the entrance to the Temple for the photo. She took my arm and we were clasped as her husband took the picture. Men and women do not even hold hands in public. All public display of affection between a man and woman is considered taboo in Egypt. Yet most women will hold hands or lock arms as will men will with other men. Because of her black dress, she pointed out that it was difficult to be seen so we moved in front of the well-lit souvenir shop. A little more conversation and I learn they are from Cairo. I asked about her wearing black and completely covering her face rather than how most women wore just a head covering and exposed their face. I got a brief explanation that pretty much summed up that it’s a personal preference and how “orthodox” the family is. She preferred to be covered when going out by herself because she is married and does not want to appear available. In general, men consider women much more alluring and desirable when covered. There is still that mystery. Maybe we can learn something? The Light and Sound Show in Karnak was long and cold. Except for a great view of the full moon coming over the pillars – there was nothing worth taking up space in this blog. Tomorrow – the Valley!!!

Valley of the Kings – There are 65 tombs officially discovered in the Valley. Years previously the Kings used Pyramids as their tombs (which we will see in Cairo). But in the Nile Valley, this natural valley rises up to a plateau which looks remarkably like a huge pyramid. It was thought that they decided to rest here because of the grave robbers going into Pyramids. They claim few people knew of the site and entrances were concealed to hide these lavish tombs. But from the looks of things, it took an enormous army of men to work on the King's tomb. Once someone became King, they started work on their tomb for the afterlife as this was much more important than any earthly existence. Beautiful paintings flanked the entrances (many still in original colors), telling stories of the great Pharaoh and asking their many gods for help to get to the after life. Once the Pharaoh died, all work stopped and the king was buried regardless of how close to completion the tomb was. One of the largest tombs is of Ramsey II as he reigned for 80 years. There are chambers below chambers below more chambers – many built for his 100+ children, as well as a few for his favorite wives for when they died. The wives weren't buried with their husbands when he died. Of course a trip to the Valley of the Kings would not be complete if we didn’t go into King Tutankhamun’s. Because of his short reign, his tomb is really quite small and not much decoration compared to others. What made this so special was what was in it and that looters hadn’t gotten to the “good stuff”. Many of the items are now displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which we will see in a few days. Today there were 8 tombs open to the public and I managed to visit 5. Our next stop is the Temple of Hatshepsut (pronounced Hat Cheap Suit). She married her half-brother who died young and therefore had no direct successor to the throne. She proclaimed herself pharaoh and is depicted wearing men’s clothes and a beard. Her body was recently found in the Valley of the Kings which shows how important and respected she was. The Temple has some well-preserved paintings and is one of the largest in the valley. Later that afternoon we checked out of the hotel to begin our journey back to our boat, Monet. It’s been a very busy two days and tomorrow we have a full day sailing the Red Sea.
The staff on our ship are from the Czech Republic. Three waiters, three stewardesses, a receptionist, bartender, cruise director, chef, doctor and a few officers including the Captain and you have the entire crew. There is an open invitation to visit the Bridge which most of us do at least once. There is always coffee and tea available in the lounge. There is a hot tub on the sundeck. The boat is quite small and everything is within walking distance or never more than one stairway away. It will be good to sleep in tomorrow.