Valley of the Kings - December 2010

After breakfast with our tour group on the cruise ship we got on a bus and headed to the West Bank of the Nile and the Valley of the Kings.
 

The Valley of the Kings is home to 65 Egyptian tombs that belonged to Pharaohs.  The royal tombs were built into the side of the limestone hills of the mountains and carved out of sheer rock.  The tombs were built deep into the hills so they would discourage tomb robbers from stealing the possessions buried with the pharaohs.  Unfortunately all of the tombs were robbed except for two or three tombs.  One of the tombs left untouched was King Tutankhamun’s tomb which is why today we are able to see so many magnificent ancient artifacts from his reign.

 

Although the tombs were robbed and the treasure was stolen the tombs were still amazing discoveries.  The tombs were covered with ancient art.  The walls were carved with symbols that gave the account of the journey taken through the underworld.  The paintings on the wall were meant to help guide the pharaohs in the afterlife. 

 

As part of our tour we were able to see 3 tombs.  I don’t remember which tombs we saw but I remember the artwork on the walls and how impressive the paintings were in the tombs.  The thing I remember the most about this part of the tour was that we had a little trouble with the guards.

 

I file this incident under the category “boys will be boys”.  When we arrived for our tour in the Valley of the Kings they told us no pictures.  You were absolutely not allowed to take pictures.  Often when visiting historical sites they won’t let you take pictures or use flash photography because they say the flash can damage the artifact. The tombs were very dark inside and had never been exposed to bright light so I believe that was why they had the no picture rule.  Well one of the boys in the group tried to slyly take a few pictures without security noticing.  The bad news was that they had security guards inside dressed in normal clothes that were watching the whole time.  So our friend was busted. 

I don’t remember exactly how the situation ended.  I remember security guards threatened to keep the camera but I think our friend was able to delete the pictures he took and then pay a fine to get his camera back right there on the spot.  I remember thinking at the time that this situation reminded me of Mexico where you can negotiate a bit with authorities.  All in all everything turned out well but unfortunately  not one of us took a picture in the Valley ofthe Kings.

Temple of Karnak – December 2010

In the middle of Karnak lies the Temple of Amun dedicated to the king of the gods. Karnak consists of many temples, chapels and other buildings. It was built over 1500 years and almost every pharaoh added a modification. The site is an open-air temple.  Our guide told us it was the largest ancient religious site in the world. Not sure if that is true, our guide said a lot of things. (my last blog about the trip will be dedicated to the tour guides) 

The temple has avenues of goddesses and ram-headed sphinxes. While we were there we could see that the temple was still being excavated and renovated. 

The most impressive and unique aspect of the ancient site is the massive columns.  There 134 massive columns.  Every column was covered in art carved thousands of years ago. The temple is an engineering and design masterpiece.  It would be challenging to build the complex with modern technology so it is a very impressive feat that it was built with such perfection and detail.

The best sight of the day that made me smile was seeing the feral dog sleeping on the ram-headed sphinx statue.  There are several feral dogs that live at the temple.


This doggy just woke up



Since they are continuously excavating and restoring the Karnak complex it will be interesting to see how much it changes over my lifetime. I want to go back to Egypt someday, although I fear it will not be for another 30 years.

Restoration work being done at the Temple of Karnak

The guy in the middle is from our tour group.
He jumped into our picture.
I thought it was funny - I may have been the only one.

Luxor Temple, Egypt December 2010

On the evening of our arrival the tour guide took us to see the Luxor Temple.  Luxor sits on the east bank of the Nile in an area that was ancient Thebes.  Historically Thebes was recognized as the capital of the known world.

We arrived near sundown at the Luxor Temple.  Upon arriving we were greeted by an avenue of sphinxes. We learned that there are roughly 500 of these sphinxes that line a 1.2 mile stretch of road between the Luxor Temple and the Temple of Karnak.  The sphinxes were still being excavated but we could see many of them and they were really impressive.  As the sun went down the temple was lit up which made it even more beautiful and unique.  If you are ever in Luxor I highly recommend checking out the Luxor Temple in the evening when the sun is going down. It is a gorgeous temple and a truly special experience.

Sphinx Avenue

The temple was mostly created by the 18^th dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III. Later Ramses II added to the temple. Alexander the Great also modified the temple and we saw walls decorated with scenes about Alexander the Great making offerings to the Theban Triad (Amen, Mut and Khons, all Egyptian gods).

Alexander the Great

During medieval times people settled in and around the temple.  As time went by the city continued to grow and build on top and around the Luxor temple.  The city was built up approximately fifty feet above the temple.  In the 1880s the excavation process began and it continues today.  The city that grew up on top of the temple had to be relocated and the people had to be compensated for the land that covered the temple. It is a long process but they are constantly finding new pieces of history as they continue to excavate the temple and surrounding area. I can’t imagine how beautiful the site will be once it is completely excavated.    

The Abu al-Haggag Mosque in Luxor Temple

I’m on a Boat – Nile River Cruise

After breakfast we headed to the airport and boarded a plane to Luxor.  While sitting in the airport I saw on Facebook that UNR beat Idaho in the biggest football game of the season in Reno. I told my friends and no one believed me so I had to pass my phone around. Nothing like getting good news from home when you’re on the other side of the world!

Once we arrived in Luxor we traveled by bus to the pier to get on a Nile cruise ship. The ship was called Tamr Henna.  The Nile cruise ship was nicely decorated.  The rooms were comfy and the furnishings were elegant. The cruise ship was nicer than I had expected.

The cruise staff was friendly and the boat had a lot of nice sitting areas.  The view from the top of the cruise ship was fantastic.  As we floated down the Nile we could see people fishing and a lot of agriculture areas. The first night on the boat was a unique experience because the ship was surrounded by men in little boats trying to sell goods like t-shirts and other touristy things. They would yell and do anything they could to get your attention. It was really a sight to see.

Sometimes things happen when you travel internationally and you realize how “American” you are. As we settled in on the boat we looked out the windows and saw large plastic bottles floating in the water. We realized they were the same bottles of water they were serving us on the ship. We were pissed because we thought our cruise ship was a big litter bug. We were all chatting about how trashy it was to throw the bottles into the water. All of the sudden a few fisher men rowed up in small boats and pulled the bottles out of the water. They were tied to nets used for fishing. These guys were some of the best recyclers we saw in Egypt. I felt bad that I jumped to the conclusion so fast about the bottles in the water but I really don’t like litter and after the experiences at the Cairo Zoo it seemed totally plausible that they could be throwing all their trash overboard.    

After checking into our cabins we were taken to the dining room.  Due to flight delays we were a few hours late for lunch and check-in.  Unfortunately the crew on the boat had lunch ready a few hours before we arrived and it was still sitting there waiting for us when we entered the dining room for lunch.  Eww…food that has been sitting out in warm temperatures for hours-yuck!

All of the tour guide books have warnings about foodborne illness and the potential for local water sources to cause stomach upsets.  The books also give tips on avoiding food hazards by advising people to avoid raw veggies and unpeeled fruit. The tourist books inform visitors that drinking bottle water is mandatory. Within 24 hours of our first meal on the cruise ship people in our party began to get sick because they didn't take the warnings seriously.  When tour guide books give advice about foodborne illness and bad water take notes. My friends and I were lucky because none of us suffered from foodborne illness.

On the cruise ship I had an interesting lesson about dirty water which inspired me to do a science experiment while on vacation. The main reason for not drinking the water is because it is tainted with bacteria. The first night on the boat I decided to take a shower before bed.  I used Dial antibacterial soap body wash, just like I use at home. After lathering up I looked down and my skin was turning gray and had a greasy film. It completely freaked me out. So I rinsed and jumped out of the shower quickly. The cabin was stocked with white towels so I used my towel to dry off and I could see the greasy film rubbing off my skin. I realized that the antibacterial soap was causing this reaction when it was introduced to the bacteria in the water. To test my theory I took a shower the next day, I did not use the Dial antibacterial soap and there was no greasy film. I showered again the following day and used the Dial body wash again, and guess what happened.  You guessed it! I turned gray and greasy again.  Isn’t science fun? The good news is the water did not cause me to get sick during this vacation.

This is my towel after the first Dial antibacterial shower.

During this part of the trip I developed a horrible respiratory infection which made staying on the boat my least favorite part of the trip.  We stayed on the boat four nights total.  I was so happy when that part of the trip was over because we were back to the Ramses Hilton in Cairo - Diamond Club Yeah!     

Cairo Zoo – Oh my gosh!

After the Pyramid & Sphinx part of the tour we were taken to lunch. Then we had the chance to go back to Cairo and explore more or see some other sites. As we drove by the Cairo Zoo our tour guide said it was an option. The zoo sits on the west bank of the Nile in Giza.  She said it was nice and that people like to spend the day at the zoo. At a stop light Ron and I jumped off the bus so we could go to the zoo. It was a little like Frogger when we got off the bus because we had to dodge cars to get across the street, but we made it in one piece. 
 

Kids feeding the animals

The Cairo Zoo costs $3 American to enter--what a deal! Upon entering the zoo we realized we were the only tourists to stop there. We could feel all the people looking at us, almost like we were a side show at the zoo since we were Caucasian Americans. Kids started following us around asking us to teach them words in English. The only word we taught them that day was ball. 

Going to the zoo in Cairo was interesting. It was unlike any zoo I had ever seen. First, the obviously most painful part of the experience was to see the animals were not treated well and taken care of as well as we would have expected. The animal enclosures were small and often dirty. There was trash everywhere. At one point we saw a sign that said what behaviors weren’t allowed at the zoo, I swear we saw all of the behaviors occur at the zoo except maybe one or two. 

 

Many of the animals looked old, malnourished, and sad. It was heartbreaking to see them in these horrible conditions. They had many magnificent animals like lions, bears, and elephants but they looked malnourished, it was awful to see them there. I was most upset when we saw the bears. There was one bear in particular that broke my heart. They were giving them baths and one bear was covered with soap. He had it in his eyes and he looked miserable. It was horrific to see animals in these conditions. 

This bear has soap in his eyes. :-(

The unusual thing about the zoo was it was more of a place for families to hang out than it was a place of education and animal exploration. There were families everywhere. Many of them would set up their picnics in the walk way. The kids would play soccer in the zoo and many of them would feed the animals even though signs posted told them not to feed the animals. The people also threw their trash into the animal enclosures. It seemed perfectly normal for the people at the zoo to litter and to harass the animals. It was disappointing to see such disrespect for these beautiful creatures. 

Ron looking at trash at the zoo.

The most charming part of the experience at the Cairo Zoo was to see the feral cats. All over the zoo there were feral cats, and they were really cute. I found this so interesting because ancient Egyptians believe in a feline goddess named Bastet. She was thought to be the protector goddess of Lower Egypt.      

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The cats at the zoo ate the trash and scraps that people left around the park. Some of the cats even posed for pictures inside the animal enclosures. It was funny to see them with the Zebras and goats as if that were a perfectly normal setting for them. 

If you are ever in Cairo I would recommend you skip the zoo, unless you are curious about the cultural aspect of a day at the Cairo Zoo.  The managers of the zoo continue to say they are trying to improve conditions at the zoo but it seems like they have a long way to go.  With the revolution in Egypt and the unrest I imagine the goal of making the zoo a better place for the animals now sits on the backburner.  If you do decide to go to the zoo be prepared by knowing that the zoo and the condition of the animals are not at all like the zoos in the more developed parts of the world. They do not practice the same animal welfare and safety procedures.  In many countries there is a lack of regulations for keeping animals in captivity.        

World Famous Egyptian Museum

The famous Egyptian Museum opened in 1863 and was the first national museum in Egypt.  The museum has over 120,000 antiquities on display and it is believed there are another 140,000 in storage. 

The museum was interesting.  Upon entering the grounds we had to go through security and hand over our phones, cameras, weapons, and bags.  This meant I had to leave my camera and bag with them.  There was no way I was giving up my phone, which is my lifeline. 

After going through security we entered the garden in front of the museum.  There were several tour guide historians that approached us and asked if we wanted to hire them to be our tour guide.  Half our group hired a guide and the other half went through the museum on their own. 

I was glad we hired a tour guide. He guided us through the museum and showed us the highlights of Egyptian history.  There was also a sprinkling of Roman history in the museum.  The opportunity to see over 120,000 ancient artifacts is a little overwhelming.  We didn’t have that much time so we saw the most important displays.

The boy king Tutankhamun had a whole gallery. The collection was amazing with nearly 2,000 items.  The most impressive items were the life sized solid gold death mask and the two coffins on display.  They were buried with several coffins.  The first coffin we saw was wood, decorated with gems.  The second was cast with solid gold.  The attention to detail was very impressive.  In King Tuts gallery we also saw his throne and two life sized statues of him that were in his tomb.  It was interesting and surreal to see ancient artifacts that you had seen on TV and read about in books your whole life.  To see them in person was an unreal experience. 

The other highlight of the museum tour for me was the room dedicated to ancient Egyptian jewelry.  There were necklaces, earrings, face masks and other jewelry displayed.  Most pieces were made of gold and lapis.  Some of the pieces were so large all I could think is these Egyptians must have had huge neck muscles.

We skipped the Royal Mummy Rooms.  When we arrived there was a large line and an extra fee to enter the Royal Mummy Rooms part of the gallery.  We decided it wasn’t worth the time or money to stand in line.  The Mummy Rooms are filled with 22 mummies that lie in chronological order.  There are two rooms and out of respect for the deceased the rooms are always silent.  We only had a few hours to see the museum and I think we saw a pretty good amount of the collection.  If I were to go again I would set aside more time in the museum and hire a guide for several hours to show me around.  The museum felt like a warehouse and the collection of items was densely packed into the museum.  The museum also lacks a good label system so sometimes it was hard to know what you were looking at, or why it was so significant. The tour guide was worth the money to help guide you through the museum and make sure you saw the highlights. 

Egyptian Arab Spring Reflection

Protest in Tahrir Square-2011

The Arab Spring and protests erupted in Egypt in January 2011 which was a few weeks after I returned from my trip. The protests took stage in Tahrir Square, a few blocks from the hotel I stayed at in Cairo.  During the unrest several people broke into the museum.  They were trying to loot the museum which houses the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts.  According to news reports 9 men broke into the museum and damaged about 100 artifacts.  They also decapitated two mummies that were approximately 3,300 years old.  When the men were caught they were found with the skulls and a statue of Isis. 

This tragic loss of Egyptian history would have been worse had it not been for a few brave people that knew the history needed to be protected.  Several Cairo citizens stood together and pleaded with people not to loot the museum.  They built a human chain around the museum and stood guard until the military was able to put the museum under military guard. After this incident the museum was protected.  A lot of artifacts were damaged and other warehouses that housed ancient Egyptian artifacts were also looted. The event will mark a moment in history where the world lost some of its greatest ancient treasurers.