A mouthful?

So while we were away in Egypt we found a very surprising menu.

Mrs S didn’t really fancy it and I couldn’t persuade my sister-in-law to order it either.

(apologies about the quality of the pic – cameraphone of course) 

My Holiday (part 8)

The Valley of the Kings. (3 tombs)

The first was a relatively short tomb, when we went inside it was amazing, the colours were fresh and bright. The fact that it had been carved from SOLID ROCK over 3000 years ago was mind boggling and tribute to an amazing technological feat. The 2 engineers in our group were suitably impressed.

The 2nd tomb we entered was one of the longest open to the public and had a ‘dogleg’ about halfway down. This dogleg had actually recently led to the discovery of what was thought to be a new tomb but was more than likely a cachette of Roman origin given that there were 7 or 8 coffins in the tomb.

This tombs walls were protected from Wear and graffiti by large plexiglass panels which (sadly) distanced the viewer from the Chamber wall (and history)

It seemed like a competition as to who could point out the Gods and Goddesses that we had recently become so acquainted with. (there were some in the party who were a little too competitive I think.)

The final tomb was a downward sloping tomb again very long and very richly decorated. About halfway down the cavern was a huge red granite cover for something, we couldn’t quite come to a consensus about what it could be for and by the time we got out we forgot to push the matter with our guide. At the bottom of the cavern was an enormous room containing detailed carvings and painting of religious scenes as well as the lid of a great stone sarcophagus with the pharaohs body carved onto the lid.

My Holiday (part 7)

Today was another early start but only 6:00am today.

We got up and had breakfast as usual before catching the minibus with another (older) couple (from Scotland)

Our first stop was the Colossi of Memnon, 2 huge seated figures of an ancient pharaoh at the site of an Temple that had been destroyed by an earthquake thousands of years ago.

It was here that our guide really showed his worth, he told us he was a former archeologist and teacher who gave us a great overview of the history of Ancient Egypt.

He told us that the Colossi were named not after an Egyptian figure but a Roman Emperor. The Roman Emperor Memnon died and thereafter his mother began having strange dreams wherein a strange voice called the name of her son. These dreams continued for some time. She travelled led to Thebes and visited the site of the destroyed temple. The statues were still standing (seated) but had become somewhat derelict, wind and occasional rain having created fissures and holes and chambers in the great stone giants.

As she stood before the figures the warm desert winds blew across the chambers creating a sound which she was adamant was the voice from her dreams. In an effort to please the monther of the former emperor, the district commander had the statues renamed after Memnon. is this tale true? – who knows but it was a great story and well told.

Next – The Valley of the Kings

My Holiday (part 6)

Today was another early start. Up at 5am to breakfast and the down to the Temple at Karnak. We’d already been at night but now we were going in the day – early morning to be precise.

It’s HUGE site (250 acres or thereabouts) There are so many carvings and hieroglyphs on the site it difficult to comprehend.

The entrance to the site is a massive wall split by a gate. There is graffiti on the wall some of it put there by Romans and Greek travellers, there is even some put there by Napoleons soldiers 200 years ago.

The next part is the Hypostyle Hall, it contains 34 MASSIVE columns , all delicately carved and painted. Those hieroglyphs which have been shielded from the sun are still vividly coloured even today.

Mrs S had an incident with a local when she went to the bathroom. It involved toilet paper (or lack thereof) and demands for baksheesh (tip) – I’ll say no more.

Parts of the site are sadly in ruin but thankfully there are other areas which are still fantastically well preserved given their age.

 

On the way to the hotel it was back to haggling with a taxi-driver over prices before having a 2^nd round of breakfast (greedy – I know) and a nap before lunch.

The camel trip was both good and bad. It was fun (and a very literal pain in the ass) riding the camels and doing the touristy thing but I felt really humble when the camel trip went through some local villages , these were areas abject poverty. Seeing the half-built houses and the children walking around in clothing that had been handed down for several generations. I felt really awful having the equivalent of more than a few weeks wages in my pocket.

I knew I was being ‘hustled’ in a way to give more by way of a tip but I know I wasn’t being conned in any way as these people really did live in poverty.

 

My Holiday (part 5)

I was woken up by my alarm clock at 4:40am this morning – WTF! I remember that I’d set it so that I’d have time for a long shower before we left for the Balloon Ride.

F*ck that, I decided for more sleep. I eventually managed to drag myself out of bed and got dressed and ready. Mrs S seemed excessively happy considering it was 5am and, wait for it, -her 40th birthday.

I gave her the Silver Ankh that I had bought for her yesterday in secret. When we were ready we knocked for BiL and SiL and (tiredly) trooped down to the lobby.

We were ushered immediately out into 2 minibuses (although not before Mrs S got caught up with another group and was almost ushered off to places unknown.) The minibus meandered down to a ferry to take us lazily across the River Nile whilst we had coffee and cake for breakfast.

On the other side we trooped into more minibuses and then we rattled along to the Balloon take-off site.

We got to the take-off site which turned out to be a small patch of concrete surrounded on all sides by fields of crops, so not exactly inspiring me with confidence. When we arrived the balloons were already inflated and so we just had to undergo the usual safety talk before being shouldered into the (albeit large) basket.

WHOOSH!!!!!! Damn that flame that is LOUD and we were up, up and away.

We were up for an hour and I took lots and lots of pictures. The view was magnificent, we saw right across the Nile and over the Valley of the Queens and temples, as well as the Colossi of Memnon.

When we reached earth again the ground crew entertained us with a song and dancing with the ladies and then we hopped back on the minibus back to the hotel.

The rest of the day was spent working up a sweat flaked out by the pool.

My Holiday (part4)

We woke at a reasonable hour and Mrs S was feeling considerably better for which I was very grateful.

We decided that today would be a good opportunity to visit the Temple at Luxor (the only temple for which we didn’t have an organised tour) and the Museum at Luxor.

Walking down to the museum was an absolute f*cking nightmare. Try to imagine the essences of all the worst timeshare and Big Issue sellers wrapped up into one annoying whole, think of the annoying humour, the frustrating persistence and the pleading monotone.

Now multiply that by a factor of 1000 and that was the character of the person we had to endure approximately every 20 yards. It was like running the gauntlet of Caleche (carriage) rides, taxis, Felucca (sailboat) trips, guys selling cotton scarves, hats, knick-knacks and food to name a few.

I wore us all out just saying ‘No’ . We were courteous, and pleasant at first but that just became too difficult to sustain after the 200th time in a mile. I understand that the people have to make a living but following someone for 40 yards when they’ve been exceptionally clear that they’re not interested isn’t going to win any ’salesman of the week’ prizes. It just became easier to ignore them and do ones best not to catch their eye which i felt awful about – for the first 15 minutes and then I was quite ok to do it. If they were going to annoy me then I was quite happy to be rude and insolent.

We reached the Museum and I didn’t think I would ever say this about a museum but it was fantastic. It was cool, well lit and well documented, full of genuinely interesting artifacts and all well labelled. I was able to show off my (somewhat sketchy) knowledge of Ancient Egypt and impress Mrs S ( I hope)

After the musuem we went shopping and then for some lunch before returning to Luxor Temple. The Temple at Luxor is magnificent and it puts you in awe standing beneath huge stone monuments and columns. You have to keep reminding yourself that these edifices were being built 4000 years ago. That’s two thousand years before that guy Jesus was around. We have buildings today that won’t even be a memory in 4000 years time and yet they put these temples together with none of our modern conveniences. I think this counts as an argument against creationism because according to the Ussher Lightfoot Calendar that might be slightly before that ‘God’ fellow started.

My Holiday (part 3)

More lazing around today – Mrs S was still not well.

We all snoozed in the morning and after lunch Bil, Sil and I watched Extras whilst Mrs S slept.

In the evening we went to the Temple at Karnak. It is a magnificent place and anyone who visits Luxor must go to see it. sadly Mrs S was still not at her best and didn’t see most of the show, I didn’t get any decent pics because of this and because of the lighting.

I was very worried about my beloved and if she is still ill tomorrow I’m definitely calling a Dr.

My Holiday (part2)

Another restful day although Mrs S wasn’t very well sadly. We have the Sound and Light show at the Temple at Karnak and the West Bank trip on Thursday, Friday is the Balloon trip and Saturday is the Camel Ride.

Today was a day for lazing by the pool listening to my (at the moment) small music collection and watching the people round the pool. We missed lunch because of my tribute to South America (the siesta)

My Holiday (part1)

I decided that my musings from holiday would finally make it to the web.

Arrived in the airport and there was NOBODY in our queue (apart from my beloved and possibly her sister) who I wanted to see in a swimming costume. My stomach feels lousy and on reflection I probably shouldn’t have eaten a large breakfast (at home), a Big Plate Combo from Garfunkels (airport), another large breakfast (plane)and Beer. I bought an ipod at the airport and then realised on the plane that I didn’t have bring any damn music on my laptop (poor impulse control in buying the ipod)

Arrived at the hotel and a clever combination of food, cheap beer, local water and the flight resulted in me waking up at 1:30am (local time) and puking my guts (and the consequently the contents thereof) up into a pristine white bath – classy eh? I was a quite proud that I could reach the bath from a seated position on the toilet.

I was quite loud but not loud enough it seems as Mrs S didn’t wake or even stir from her peaceful angelic slumber.
I felt a lot better afterwards though so it wasn’t all bad.

BONUS – found a couple of albums on my laptop