Safaga, Egypt

We docked in the Red Sea at Safaga, our first stop in Egypt. This used to be the capital of Egypt for about 14 centuries. We attended the port lecture where they informed us that since they had murdered a bus load of tourist here some years back, they now traveled in bus caravans – with armed vans in front and behind and an armed guard in each bus. That somehow wasn’t reassuring. After the lecture, I was trying to remember why we thought taking a 14 hour independent tour in this area was such a swell idea. Anyway, Safaga was our gateway to Luxor, Karnak and the Valley of the Kings. And, we wanted to see them all. The tour stated at 7:15 a.m. Our van was supposed to be joined by 3 other tourist vans to form our own little “mini caravan” – that lasted about one block and we never saw any of them again. We weren’t even out of the port area yet. The drive into Luxor was long. The first two hours we didn’t even see a town or a blade of grass. I am about to come to the conclusion that the whole Middle East is just a desert wasteland with a sprinkling of green oases they call cities. I took a picture of a tree about an hour into the drive just because it was the only green thing I had seen to break the monotony of sand dunes and dirt for as far as you could see. Well, there were some mountains but they too were barren and brown. It was a study in beige and brown. I thought the desolate pictures we see from the Middle East were war-scapes – but really it is just their landscape. Once you finally got to Luxor it was an amazingly interesting place to tour. Again, I am struck by the contrasts between the arid, uninviting desert and the lush green of the Nile Valley. Our first stop was the Temple of Karnak. (I know at least half of you are thinking about the Johnny Carson routine, right?) But, this is the place where you see the avenue of Ram-headed Sphinxes, leading to the Temple entrance. There are 134 richly decorated columns and the Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut. There is a lot to see – but that lovely temperate climate of yesterday had disappeared. It was h-o-t, even for a Texas girl. After wondering the Temple of Karnak, which is a huge complex of ruins, the guide took us to one of his favorite restaurants -“not where the tourist go”. All I could think of is we got a printed warning from the ship to be extremely careful about what you ate or drank while in Egypt. It was recommended that you only eat what was provided by Princess. I have a friend who said the sickest she ever was, was a stomach bug she got in Egypt. This dining facility was called “Africa” and was down a back alley and up three flights of stairs to less than clean roof top dining. We were their only customers. It was neat to overlook the Nile while you ate. I ate sparely, but by then we had all worked up quite an appetite. We all ordered beer hoping the alcohol might offset whatever germs we were ingesting. Then we hit the Valley of the Kings which has over 60 tombs that can be visited if you had enough time – and interest. They are surprisingly colorful drawings and reliefs on the walls with fancy ceilings. Almost all the tombs have been looted by grave robbers. In opening up a nearby tomb the debris blocked the entrance to “King Tut’s” Tomb. That was why the Tomb of Tutankhamen was only discovered in 1922. They found golden masks, jewelry, games, furniture, clothing, weapons – you name it. Most items are now in Egyptian museums. Currently they rotate which tombs they let tourist go inside and only open 4 or 5 at a time. That was okay with me. I felt we got a feel for the area and what a King’s tombs looked like. Did I mention it was h-o-t? Also, I have never experienced such aggressive hawkers, even in India. There are other tombs and temples in Luxor. They had lots of gods and goddesses – but Amom, the sun god was considered the most important. The Temple of Luxor, dedicated to him, is smack in the middle of downtown Luxor. The huge colonnades are probably the most impressive part of the temple. Only one of the granite obelisks remains today – strangely the other one was taken to Paris in 1831. Instead of seeing this, one guy in our van went to McDonald’s for a hamburger and coke while we took pictures across the street. Yes, even in Luxor, Egypt – a McDonald’s. The other impressive sight was the Colossi of Memnon, two 64 feet tall statues. We stopped there for a “photo op”. Not wanting to miss anything, we headed to a Felucca (old Egyptian wooden, sail boat) for a ride down the Nile. Believe me by that time no one would have mistaken me for Cleopatra. I was so tired, ragged and thought this last stop might just be a pain in the asp, but it turned out to be quite pleasant. There was a nice breeze on the Nile. Then, time to head home. After the intense heat, 7 hours in a van, and trudging through an assortment of temples, tombs and various antiquities all day we past exhaustion about two hours ago. You could have planted corn in the dirt between my toes by then. But with the exception of the pyramids, which is the next stop, I feel like I have covered Egypt. Well, at least covered it “tourist style” – hitting the well known highlights. One nice thing was being able to talk with an Egyptian on the long van ride. We asked lots of questions about local living and customs. One interesting thing is - you should see the lines to get gas. I am not talking a block; some must have been a mile long lines of taxis, cars and trucks. Here? No gas? What is that about? He didn’t seem to have much of an answer for that, something political – not releasing enough gas. I guess I would have had a hard time explaining our gas lines, in the US, in the 70’s too. On the drive home we were all bemoaning how worn out we were and someone said, “I don’t remember ever taking a tour where I was anymore worn out” when two people chimed in, “Except the Cairo and the Pyramid tour”. Wonderful, our next stop. At least we can rest up as we cruise the Suez Canal for Alexandria and the Pyramids.