Egypt – Not just the Land of the Pharaohs
Who would have ever thought that I would go to Egypt in the middle of my 10th standard? Well, I wasn’t expecting it myself. My family - dad, mom, sister and me, like to travel and we had been talking about going to Egypt for a while but finally decided to go there only a fortnight before my half yearly exams. Packing in the middle of my half-yearly exams made me guilty about not studying but at the same time excitement gripped me. We were hoping that we would go on a Nile cruise but it was too late. We couldn’t get tickets as it was the peak season. We tried to make up for the cruise and went ahead and planned the rest of our journey.
It was finally D-day. Vacation at last ! We flew out of Cochin and reached Luxor via Sharjah at 2 in the morning. Our stay was at Iberotel, on the banks of Nile. It was the best hotel during our entire vacation.
In the morning, we started our tour with the Luxor temple. It was located at the heart of the city just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We were welcomed by the avenue of sphinxes. The many statues of Ramses, papyrus shaped pillars and the grand courts seemed to pose for the many pictures I took! Later, we made our way to the Luxor museum by horse carriages or caléches as they are called there. This was the best museum we saw during the entire tour. The exhibits were limited but well organised. I also saw two mummies in this museum which later turned out to be the only ones I saw in Egypt. My sister refused to see these mummies as she thought they were spooky! What is the point in coming all the way to Egypt if you are too scared to see a mummy? In the evening we took a walk on the ‘Corniche’ the marine drive on the Nile bank. Everywhere the locals greeted us “India! Amitabh Bachchan”. I think my mother’s ‘bindi’ identified us as from India. We bought some papyrus paintings that looked like it had indeed been done during the days of the pharaohs. All shops had signs which said “NO HASSLE”. But that’s what everyone did!
A one day cruise to Dandera was waiting for us the next day. We started early morning for a 4 hour sail. The temple at Dandera is dedicated to Goddess Hathor, the daughter of the sun God Ra. The best part of our whole cruise would undoubtedly be the journey from the boat to the temple in a bus with police convoys escorting us! The complete traffic was stopped for our bus to pass through. Now we knew how the VIP’s feel in India with their police escorts.
Next was Karnak temple in Luxor. This is much bigger than the Luxor temple. They say it is bigger than St.Peter’s at Vatican. There were huge columns, large courtyards, several obelisks and a sacred lake just like our own temple ‘theppakulams’. We then went to the west bank to see the Valley of Kings, Ramesseum, Medinat Habu and the Colossi of Memnon. The Valley of the Kings was where the Pharaohs were buried. Our ticket was to see three tombs – there were however scores of them in all, including the famous tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen. Each one was different and unique in its own way. The tomb walls were filled with paintings and cartouches. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside the tombs.
The Ramesseum temple was built by Ramses II who supposedly had 120 wives, some of them his own daughters and grand daughters. It was in ruins and was quite deserted. We saw an excavation site nearby and it looked just like the ones you see in Discovery channel. Medinat Habu was more than a temple and included a palace, etc.
Next we visited the famous Temple of Hatshepsut. It was built by Egypt’s first woman pharaoh, Hatshepsut. It was at this place a few years ago terrorists shot some tourists and ever since then, the heavy security for tourists everywhere in Egypt.
The Luxor market area was pretty interesting. Once again we were greeted by the locals everywhere “India, Amitabh Bachchan!” We sent some postcards to friends and relatives back home and to my amusement, we reached home before they did!
That night we went to Cairo by an overnight train that was exclusively for tourists.
I was at first dazzled by the chaotic traffic in Cairo. It was such a contrast compared to Luxor where there was very little traffic. Our hotel was located near the EgyptianMuseum and so we walked to the museum. Even for this short walk, crossing the streets was a nightmare. We followed the Lonely planet guide’s advice – cross the streets along with the locals. When we finally reached the museum, I found it a little disappointing. I thought it looked like an enormous warehouse. There were simply so many things to see. The ground floor had sarcophagus, statues of various pharaohs and their wives, priests, Gods and Goddesses, etc,. I found the first floor more interesting since it housed King Tutenkhamen’s tomb treasure. They were simply amazing and breath-taking. I was awestruck when I saw his gold head mask and his solid gold coffin. There were also scores of other things like his golden throne, his cots, his chariot, his weapons, jewels, etc. We then walked through a corridor full of coffins. I thought they were all empty and kept there for display. Later, back home, I saw in a show on the National Geographic channel about Egyptian queens and in it they opened up some of these coffins and took out mummies! So I had been walking near mummies all along. My sister still refuses to believe that she was so close to so many mummies there. We did not visit the special mummy room due to opposition from my family again. Moreover the tickets were an extra 100 Egyptian pounds each! After a few hours, I was suffering from ‘ancient Egypt overload’ and glad to get out of the museum.
That evening we went to the pyramids at Giza. We took the metro upto Giza station and then took a taxi to the pyramids. The taxi rides in Egypt were adventurous. The taxis are extremely old and were older than the oldest car I can find here. I wasn’t expecting to find the pyramids in the middle of Giza suburbs. The Light and Sound show in the evening was amazing but at the same time it was freezing cold. During the whole show, we could hear the loud speakers from a nearby mosque giving the prayer call. We came back to the pyramids the next morning. I felt the great sphinx was a little disappointing. I had imagined it to be bigger. As for the pyramids, only when I got closer to them I could see their enormous size. It looks like a hill when you stand at its base. I was looking forward to entering the pyramids that I hardly slept the previous night. We entered the pyramid of Khafre. I found myself climbing up and down bending all the time hoping that the tunnel will soon become taller so that I can stand erect but it didn’t happen. Finally, I reached a small room where the sarcophagus was kept. There was absolutely nothing else there except some graffiti on the walls! It was also very hot and humid down there. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend to anybody to enter the pyramids if they are claustrophobic. I think that it is just the suspense and imagination that keeps your spirits high throughout the little trek into the pyramid. In all there were two big pyramids and smaller one and some real small ones which do not look like pyramids any more.
We went to the bazaar ‘Khan-al-Khalili’ in the evening. This was similar to our own bazaars. We got souvenirs here with my parents doing the bargaining. I found the whole place very colourful and cheerful.
It was already time to leave for Alexandria, the Mediterranean port city. They call it ‘Al-iskandria’. It was a two and a half hour journey by train from Cairo. The first place we visited was Bibliotheca Alexandria. I had never seen my dad get so excited when we reached there. He was explaining to me about the great library during the Ptolemy period, how it got burnt down. The new one was built to replicate that ancient library. I was marveled by the architecture of the building. It is supposedly the largest sitting library in the world. Besides the library, there were only a handful of interesting places to visit in Alexandria. Most of the ancient ruins were buried down or under water in the sea. To my dad’s disappointment and to my relief, the Greco-Roman museum was under renovation at that time. However we had to visit the AlexandriaNationalMuseum to make up for that. After Luxor and Cairo museums, this was so ordinary! We also visited Pompey’s pillar, Fortress of Qaitbey which was built over one of the ancient wonders ‘the light house’ and then the Roman amphitheater.
All good things must come to an end. So did our vacation. On our way back we stopped at Dubai, but that was so boring compared to the excitement of Egypt. Initially, my parents had their own doubts about how safe Egypt will be especially as we were on our own and not with any package tour. My mother was worried about the food and thought it might be a problem for vegetarians. In the end, things turned out much better than expected! We felt so safe and welcome everywhere. Of all the places in Egypt, I liked Luxor the best because it is a small, simple and colourful city with very friendly people. From the authentic Egyptian falafels for breakfast to the yummy cheese cakes, fried ice-creams and chocolate volcano for dessert we had a wide choice of food to select from. I was a little sad that I had to leave Egypt but made up my mind that I will definitely come back when I grow up and visit Luxor once again and also go to Aswan and Abu Simbel which we missed.
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