A Summary of the Sight We Saw on the Cruise or Before by Kayley

Our route in Egypt, sideways...

            This Egypt trip has been full of sightseeing, tourist stuff, and adventure. Mostly it has been a really fun adventure, but sometimes, it was tiring.

            On the second day in Cairo, we saw the great pyramids of Giza. Boy the pyramids were a sight when we saw the tops behind the dusty apartment building with laundry hanging out the windows. It was a sketchy walk from the dusty taxi to the pyramids. A guy trying to be our guide took us through a dusty ally way and through some horse smelling parking lots.  When we got to the ticket booth, daddy bought the tickets and we had to go to a different building to go through security. Security was a metal detector and for bags there was an x-ray machine. All the sight had some security, but I think some of the metal detectors weren’t even switched on. When we got through security, we were walking on the desert and the Sphinx was right in front of us. The Sphinx was missing its nose and the front part was very weathered and it looked kind of artsy. When we were beyond the Sphinx, the three Pyramids loomed over us. I felt like I had walked into a post card again because realty hadn’t really dawned on me yet. When we got closer to the Great Pyramid, there was a dusty old sign saying NO CLIMBING.  But a bunch of boys were already perched up a little ways. A security guard a ways off came over and said that we could climb and when we came back down, he asked for Baksheesh (tip)and daddy got kind of mad because the guard was asking for 50 Egyptian pounds (6 LE=1 USD). While we walked around, people kept asking if we wanted a camel, horse, or carriage ride. The hawkers were saying “good price for family”, and they seemed to assume that we really wanted to have a camel ride. Daddy was getting really annoyed with the hawkers, and so was everyone else. I think there might have been more hawkers than tourists. I think that the Pyramids of Giza might have been the most stressful of the tours in Egypt.

            After a 14 hour train ride from Cairo, we arrived in Aswan. Aswan is a somewhat warmer town than Cairo and the train station is about two blocks from the cruise ship dock. Mommy had a hotel that was right in between the dock and the train station booked for us. We had taken an overnight train, so we arrived in Aswan in the morning. When we secured our hotel (the Nuba Nile), we took a walk along the cruise ship dock to research cruise ships and feluccas.  When we saw a nice boat, daddy talked to the attendents for a price. Of course we got the Nile Ruby, but Mia and I were hoping for a bigger boat called the Nile Crown II. Daddy negotiated a good price for the cruise that also included a tour that started at 3:00 am the next day and ended in time for a late lunch. On the sightseeing day, we went to the Abu Simbel, the the High Dam, and the Philae temple. The High Dam was anticlimactic.  We didn’t go to the Philae temple because we thought that we didn’t have enough time, because we only had an hour. First of all we would have had to buy the tickets.  Then buy a ferry ride across the water and then see the temple. So we had to wait for the others to finish the touring temple and that took an hour extra.  The driver came with the van half an hour after he said he would, and then he told us to wait, and mommy and daddy got really mad. So my family and I and two others that had waited with us got into the van. Then mommy started honking the horn and yelling at the people who had just come and were asking us to move for them. The driver finally took us to the hotel.  We got our luggage and went to the cruise ship to check in. Miraculously, we saw the people that we had left behind walk into the cruise boat right when we were getting led to our rooms. That was certainly an adventurous day in Aswan.

            After fun and a somewhat eventful two day cruise, we arrived in Luxor. Mommy told us that Luxor was once one of the many capitals Egypt has had and that Luxor is home to many temples and tombs. The cruise ship planned a driver and a guide for us to go to the most important sight in Luxor or close by. In the morning, we went to the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut temple, an alabaster factory, lunch, then Karnack temple and the Luxor temple. There were about 64 tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but you’re only allowed to go inside three tombs per ticket. We went into Ramses IV’s tomb and two other tombs that I don’t remember. One of the tombs we went into had the best preserved panting on the walls, and one was really big but one part collapsed, so we only saw a little bit of that tomb. And another tomb had a really big stone sarcophagus with some really cool carvings on it. Since we were only allowed to go into three tombs, we only did the ones our guide recommended and those turned out to be pretty incredible. After the Valley of the Kings, we drove over to the other side of the mountain to see the Hatshepsut temple. The Hatshepsut temple turned out to be a much rebuilt temple that used to be a ruin.  Queen Hatshepsut built the temple only to be destroyed by her stepson. The story behind this whole business is Hatshepsut’s step son was king when he was about 5 or 10 year old and he couldn’t rule alone, so Queen Hatshepsut stepped in and booted her step son out and ruled alone. So Hatshepsut’s step son went off and grew up and when Queen Hatshepsut died, her step son ruled and destroyed her temple for revenge. Because of course, he didn’t like being booted off the throne. The rebuilt temple was a mummification temple that worshiped the jackal headed god of the afterlife and mummification. The temple had three levels built into the mountain. The first level wasn’t used and was just a hall way with a lot of columns on one side. The second level is much like the first level but has more of a view and more space. The third level has a courtyard with some ruins and some carvings of mummification in progress. After the Hatshepsut temple, we drove like 20 meters to a family alabaster factory. The alabaster factory tour was pretty much like the carpet tours in India, but it was a little more fun. Our tour guide was off praying, because it was Friday. So a member of the family that ran the factory showed us around. He showed us that the machine made alabaster pots are much thicker, shinier, and heavier that the man made products. The man made jugs and jars were so thin and light that they could be used as lamp shades. He also showed use a neon green stone (I don’t remember the name of the stone) that glowed in the dark. I think the neon stone might be made out of some sea oil, but I’m not sure.

After a yummy lunch on the Cruise ship, we went to the Karnack temple and the Luxor temple.  First we went to the Karnack temple.  The tour guide told us that all of the kings at the time when Luxor was the capital of Egypt had to build something in the Karnack temple to gain the favor of the people. The Karnack temple worships the ancient Egyptian king of the gods, Amun-Ra, and is the biggest temple in Egypt. Inside the temple, there’s a group of the second tallest columns in Egypt.  And some cool obelisks with some cool hieroglyphics on the sides. Also there was the “Holy of Holies” which is a dark room with a lot of hieroglyphics on the walls and no windows, a sanctuary.  Sphinx Avenue once connected Karnack Temple to Luxor Temple, but is now under excavation.  In Ancient Egypt, the people who wanted to pray in Karnack Temple had to get there by boat on a canal from the Nile River to the temple.  I thought that the Karnack and Luxor Temples were both really cool and huge.  I like the obelisks in the Karnack temple the best because they were simple and amazing.

Some interesting things have happened while we were sightseeing in Egypt, like when Mommy freaked out at the Philae Temple and when all the hawkers got really annoying at the Giza Pyramids; but mostly, it was all an educational adventure.  We just got back from Alexandria, but I’ve run out of time and space for it in this blog.  We did have some more “Happy Drivers!” (Someone else will have to explain that one!)


PS I WANT TO PUT MORE PICS ON BUT I CAN'T DUE TO THIS REALLY BAD INTERNET CONNECTION IN CAIRO.  I WILL TRY TO POST MORE PICS FROM ATHENS IN A FEW DAYS!!!