"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt"
- Mark Twain
(OK so that quote has nothing to do with this blog but it's one of my favourite old man sayings)
Ending our time in Oman we began our journey home to Canada. This trip will take us through Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel/Palestinian Territories and Turkey. It began fittingly with utter chaos at the Dubai airport. A line-up to bus to the next terminal turned unruly when a herd of US Army soldiers heading home from Iraq met up with the masses of regional travellers "queing" for the bus. Pushing, arguing and yelling proceeded and delayed the 10 minute exercise to a two hour ordeal. Perfect way to mark this weird time in our history.
On board the flight to Luxor we were immediately in Egypt. The red eye flight consisted of people yelling at eachother over seats that were already assigned, gentlemen playing their cell phone radios loudly on board and the predictable bumrush to the doors as soon as the flight touched the tarmac. Literally overhead bins were being opened as the brakes were still asserting themselves. This ensuing rush to the exits was combined with yelling and pushing. The fun begins. Tina trembled at what perhaps Egypt may have in store.
True Joel had been to Egypt six times previously. But these were all school trips filled with herding teenagers of varying maturity levels around the pyramids, falucca rides and trips to the Khan Al Khallily. Not exactly "Egypt". So it was with excited fresh eyes that we both entered Egypt for the first time.
(Luxor Temple and City Square)
Luxor is a marvel of tombs, temples and ruins meant to be the religious center of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. This time of year it bakes at 50 degrees and we struggled through our first day - Tina convinced of her own near death experience - while seeing a tourist buckle under the intense sun. In a combination of long walks, boats, and mini-buses we took in as much as the heat allowed. Although Luxor temple, Karnak temple and the Nile are all strikingly beautifuly in there own right it is the ancient sights of the West bank that are most memorable. Plunging the depths of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings the colourful, detailed walls and ceilings left you gasping for air - well that was actually the combination of thick sub-terrainian air and Joel's B.O. but let's stay with the inscriptions instead. Descending the nether world of Tuthmosis III's tomb and stumbling upon his giant mummy casing lieing as it did for 4000 years was worthy of the innapropriate swear words that fell from Joel's mouth. A sweat filled but exceptional start.
(Pictures: Karnak Temple and Hatshepsut's Temple)
Quickly we hopped a train and headed south to the southern most region of Egypt - Nubia. Nubia is the area from Khartoum, Sudan to Aswan in Eqypt. We based ourselves in Aswan and we were immediatley taken by its magical souk filled with the familiar sights and smells of our Arabian markets as well as the African wears we recalled from previous trips. Surely the gateway to Africa. The slow, hot, intoxicating feel of the town was perfect for us. But our motivation for entering this region were the temples of Abu Simbel.
(Pictures: Aswan Souk and Falucca on the Nile)
Abu Simbel is further south of Aswan (by 280km) and near the Sudanese border (about 40 km from the border). Due to the unstable state of the area we had to join a police convoy. All vehicles heading that direction meet at 4am at the police station and then travel together for 3 hours through the desert. Finally breaking from this convoy we arrived at the temples at the waters edge of Lake Nasser. Slowly walking around the backs of the hills we saw this absolutely breathtaking piece of architecture. Four massive statues of Ramses II cut into the walls of the hills towering over the water were surely meant to intimidate the peoples arriving from the south. The impressive outer walls were matched by the detailed, intimate interior. Aswan and Abu Simbel were definite highlights of Egypt thus far.
(Abu Simbel)
We trained through the night and arrived on the pulsating streets of Cairo in the early morning hours. For a city of 20 million inhabitants Cairo is an extremely enjoyable and safe place to spend a few days. The prevalance of Islam keeps the violent crime low despite poverty at every turn. Our single largest challenge was crossing the street. Black cabs acted as short range missles as we attempted to cross the street to catch a local bus (further complicated by the "bus stop" being located in the middle of an off ramp). A few tears later and we were on our way.
(Pictures: Khan Al Khalili and Coptic Cairo Church)
The Egyptian museum (surely the world's most famous dusty warehouse), Coptic Cairo and the deeply facinating old Islamic area were high points of the city. Of course the Pyramids set against the suburb of Giza "towered" above them all. It was so nice to sit there and just look at these wonders asking all the usual question - how, why and whom? Having answered our questions satisfactorily we headed back into the streets.
There were a few moments of note while traversing the streets of Cairo. Tina found us a Sufi (Muslim mystics) ceremony, which included some whirling dervishing, to watch in the old quarter. Beautifully dedicated followers made the area absolutely come alive with their drums, horns and chanting. Additionally, on our final day wandering the city we came across a huge Friday street market. Suddenly with the sighting of the police the whole market just vanished around us. Brilliantly chaotic. Joel was almost clobbered by coat rack weilded by a fleeing salesman. His lovely wife snickered to herself once she realised he was safe, reminded of the time he was assaulted by an unhappy cow in Jaipur, India.
From Cairo we set our sights across the Suez canal and into the geographical oddity of the Sinai. We relaxed for a few days on the Red Sea coast, soaking in the views of the Gulf of Aqaba and Saudi Arabia. Saving our energy before taking an all night hike up Mt Sinai to the sight where Moses recieved the 10 commandments. The only commandment that Joel recieved from Tina on this night was "don't puke like last time wimp". Noted.
Egypt has been a great time. The people are so friendly and engaging. It has allowed us to attempt to use as much Arabic as possible and have a few laughs along the way. From here it is transiting through Jordan via ferry and bus and onto Lebanon.
Pharaoh-well Egypt
Beirut awaits. As does the hummus.
