|
 Were it not for
it's substantial ancient Egyptian monuments, Luxor (ancient
Thebes) would probably be little more than a small agricultural community, no
different than many others along the Nile Valley. That is not the case.
Indeed, Luxor contains some of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt,
and therefore it is swollen both with tourists and those people, in one form or
another, working in the tourism industry. Hence, most visitors to Luxor love the
the ancient sites, but are not particularly fond of the tourist experience in
Luxor.
In some respects, Luxor is not unlike an old gold rush town,
where Egyptians
come to pan for gold. Some of them have made fortunes here, but the stream is
crowded with prospectors, many  of whom are not all together familiar with how to
pan the gold. In the end, many tourists are chased from the streets by
overbearing merchants, and taxi and Hantoor (carriage) drivers.
Nevertheless, one must make a visit to Luxor
when in Egypt, as our small
group did, and for most, it's monuments will be a highlight of their tour. We
started off the afternoon of our fifth day in Egypt in a small bus from current
home base aboard the Movenpick operated
Radamis I while it was parked in
Esna.
The trip in was nice, taking only about forty-five minutes. That day we were
scheduled to tour both the Karnak and
Luxor Temple complexes, with the first
stop being Karnak. To me, if one had only time to visit three monuments in
Egypt, those would be the  Great Pyramids of
Giza, Karnak, and one of the better
tombs on the West Bank at Luxor because of their colorful decorations. I
personally believe that Karnak is more intriguing and interesting than the Great
Pyramids. After all, this great complex was built, not over a lifetime, but over
a millennium, mostly during Egypt's New Kingdom empire period, though there are
structures and decorations that date from the Middle Kingdom and into the
Greek Period. One cannot help but be impressed by this forest of stone and in
particular the Great Hypostyle Hall with its towering columns. Here, in this
largest religious complex ever constructed, the ancient Egyptians speak to us,
telling of their most glorious period, of great battles and heroic deeds, of the
gods they worshipped and how they worshipped them. Our tour of the facility took
only about an hour and a half, which was enough for most of this lay group, but
one more intrigued with the ancient Egyptians could certainly spend days here,
and more. By the time we left Karnak, it was growing dark.
 Afterwards, we moved on to
Luxor Temple
in the city proper, just around the
corner from the Old Winter
Palace. Temples such as Luxor
and Karnak take on a
different feeling and flavor at night, perhaps a little more mysterious, somehow
more ancient and in tune with their distant past. Luxor Temple was beautiful,
and beautifully lit, but for most of our aging party, the day's walk had been a
long one and too soon for at least myself, we returned to the bus for our brief
ride back to the Radamis I. I had intended on doing more documentary
photography at Luxor Temple, but that was not to be on this trip.
Back on the Radamis I, it was costume night, an evening event not uncommon on
many Nile Cruise boats. For this party, everyone dresses up in Egyptian
costumes, usually Gallabeyas, which are simple gowns most of the time
elaborately decorated. Though these costumes are  found throughout Egypt, many of
the passengers had purchased theirs at the ship store, which provided them at
very reasonable prices. However, while most of the ship participated, danced and frolicked
in the main bar, most of my tired crew sat it out in the foyer to the bar,
having a somewhat quieter time and enjoying a few drinks, satisfied to watch the
evening's entertainment from a short distance away. That night we would all pay
up any extra charges we had on our rooms and pack up, getting ready for our
transfer to the Movenpick Hotel in
Luxor at Crocodile Island the next day. Tips
were also collected for the boat crew, as all of the meals and most of the
services had been inclusive. That next morning, Misr Travel provided our
bus
right on schedule, and we retraced our route from the previous day back to
Luxor, heading for the West Bank
this time for a morning tour prior to checking
into the hotel. Along the way, Soha, our guide, provided us with an overview of
the West Bank, and gave us a choice of the tombs that we could visit. Our tour
included the possibility of visiting three, I believe, though most of the group
thought two would be plenty.
On the West Bank, we took in all the normal sites one must, such as the
Colossus
of Memnon, which is unavoidable on the road up to the Valley of the
Kings. We
stopped there, but mostly  viewed the other monuments, such as the
Ramesseum,
which was closed anyway, from the bus. After arriving at the Valley of the
Kings, Soha accompanied us into the Valley but these days guides are not allowed
in the tombs with their groups, probably so that the vast number of tourists
will not linger too long. Humidity caused by human breath is a major culprit in
tomb preservation.
We chose to visit the tombs of Ramesses III and
Ramesses I. In order to visit
these two tombs, located only a few yards from each other, one must walk up a
slight grade to the trams and then take a short ride before ascending another
short distance to the tombs. This time of year, I had expected prior to the tour
that the crowds would be fairly light, but we had already seen considerable
crowds at other monuments, and the Valley of the
Kings was no different. In
fact, we bypassed the closest tomb, that of Ramesses I, to give the line a
chance to thin out.
I remember my first visit to the Valley of the
Kings some years ago
during May. Having gone down into a few caves during my life, I expected the
temperature to be considerably cooler than on the surface. Of course, that was
not the case. During the summer months, the tombs can be sweltering. But even in
the middle of the winter, on a warm December day, they are still quite warm.
After visiting the first tomb, most of our group actually elected to sit out the
second in the shade of a nearby rest area, while others of us braved another
descent into the lives of the Pharaohs. This was the group's first encounter with
vivid colors from more than three millennium past, and while they were properly
impressed and awed by these displays, no one wished to visit a third tomb,
winding their way through the narrow corridors lined with tourists. We soon
departed the Valley of the Kings. I should note at this point that many of our
members had caught a bad cold, probably on the airline coming over, and so there
was a good reason many were taking it easy. In fact, we also elected not to make
the climb up to visit Hatshepsut's
temple, elected rather to view it and have
Soha deliver an orientation as we viewed it from
our bus. I had no
objections to this, having visited the temple on numerous occasions in the past,
and on this occasion, the newly renovated sections of the temple were closed
anyway.
However, since we were running ahead of schedule, I also asked to visit the
cemetery of Deir
el-Medina, so that they could see a sample of non-royal
pyramids, which posed no problem to our Misr Travel
staff. In fact, most of our
group was impressed enough to wander about in the area on the West Bank
for a
brief period.
We then moved on to the Movenpick Hotel
on Crocodile
Island, where the check in was once again assisted by the
local manager of Misr Travel. I have always liked this hotel,
even though I normally prefer my accommodations to be within
walking distance from local shops. However, everything is
within a short taxi ride in Luxor, and I don't care to shop
about here much anyway because of the aggressive merchants and
other distractions along the street. Again, we will do a  complete
update of this hotel's review, as we have reviewed it once
before. However, since then it has been nicely remodeled. Much of the group spent
the afternoon resting up due to their colds, while others made
a trip into Luxor to have tea at the
Old Winter
Palace. That
is usually a nice, relaxing break that most people enjoy, and
I have on several occasions visited the Winter Palace, but not
this time. This time, I wandered about the Movenpick, saying
hello to my old friend Sobek (the crocodile) in the "petting zoo".
Unfortunately, one of our members, Johnny, the brother of
Rhonda Oates, had to return home early so he and Soha, who we
would no longer need as a guide until we returned to Cairo,
flew north that evening.
 The rest of us all mostly spent a relaxing evening,
enjoying the warm pool with a knowing smile, not envying our
friends back home weathering the frigid December temperatures
of northern Texas. Also, the next morning would be an early
one, leading to one of the highlights of mine and several
other's visit to Egypt.
That next morning began at about four a.m., I believe, as we
met the people from Flats in Luxor at the
Movenpick
dock for a
brisk morning boat ride over to the West Bank. Our small group
included Rhonda and Billy Oates, Billy's brother James and his
wife Kathy, as well as myself. Flats in Luxor had
arranged the balloon ride, and along with everyone else, it
was my first ride on one. Initially I had decided to
photograph everyone else from the ground. However, we had 
arranged for five people, but one of them could not make the
early hour, so I went up in his place.
We had early on planned to take one of the balloon rides,
but sometime prior to the tour, the Egyptian government had
halted all flights. Though no tourist had ever been hurt while
doing the balloon ride, they had safety issues that needed to
be worked out. Then, only a few days before leaving, the
problems were worked out. As a result, we were given a
comprehensive safety orientation prior to take off.
Admittedly, I was a bit nervous about going up in a balloon,
not to mention my concern for how cold it might  be. As it
turns out, none of this was a problem.
We arrived in time to watch the balloon being filled with
hot air, and soon we boarded the craft with about twenty or so
other people. The metal basket was divided, I believe, into
six compartments, with rope handles all around for support
during landing. As the sun rose in the East, so too did our
balloon from the West Bank. These crafts take off in the early
hours to avoid the winds that become more common as the day
wears on. We were not alone. Several balloons were up before
ours, and I think at one point there were as many as four
balloons drifting over the mortuary temples, tombs and
villages of the West  Bank.
Our balloon, along with the others that brisk December day,
ascended and descended almost to the ground a number of times
during the hour and a half ride, providing spectacular views
of the West Bank,
Luxor and the Temples on the East Bank,
the
Nile and the mountains that were sacred to the ancient
Egyptians. Really, the view was spectacular, as we reached a
maximum height of some 4,000 feet. The cold was never much of
a problem because the heat from the flame used to control the
balloon's elevation kept us warm. At one point I thought we
were going to land, but it was after almost touching the
ground that we made our highest ascent. Finally however, we
made our way down. It seemed we would land in an open field of
sugar cane as we brushed the top of the plants, but  just
then
a turn row appeared along with our chase grew. As we prepared
ourselves for a bumpy landing, none took place. Prior to
touching down, a number of men from the ground crew grabbed
hold of the basket and we settled to the ground with no more
impact than a feather.
However, the show was not completely over at this point.
The crew and tourists all gathered round for a victory dance
and we were then given T-shirts and a certificate, nice little
treats to show the folks back home. Most of the rest of the
day was spent around the hotel, though some members of the
tour did do a little shopping in Luxor, That evening we were
to board our flight for Sharm el-Sheikh and a completely
different dimension of Egypt. However, I will save that next
adventure for now. We would leave Luxor with some memories
that would surely last us a lifetime.
See Also:
Archives
|
