Part 71: Red Sea Snorkeling and Bazaar Shopping April 5-6, 2013

Hurghada is an interesting town.  Apparently it is a very popular vacation spot for Russians- important enough for all the signs to Arabic, English, and Russian.  After completing the long check-in process, we got to our rooms where we frantically showered and got dressed for dinner.  We ate on a covered deck right by the sea.  It was our last night as a group, so we stayed up a long time, eating, dancing, attempting S’s poi balls, and talking to a very drunk Russian.

The next morning we boarded the Prince Mosleh and cruised out to snorkel in the Red Sea.  Every place we’d been in Egypt prior to this day was hot.  However, the day we were spending in the water was windy.  Very windy.  The wind made it a little chilly but the water was incredibly blue, as was the sky, and I was getting in regardless of the temperature. 

As we were cruising out to a reef, I could see little jelly fish in the water below.  I currently have a 60% sting rate for salt water body jelly fish stings.  I really started to worry once I saw those little guys floating along.  However, once we reached the reef, they seemed to be gone and we all jump in for a tour.  I saw parrot fish (which eat coral and poop sand) and angel fish and even clown fish.  It was really nice. 

We also jumped off the top deck and attempted to get pictures of us jumping off in sync.  J finally succeeded in making a time lapse photo series of all of us plunging into the water.  I then tried to get dry and warm(er) and we all ate lunch.  We visited one other snorkel site before heading back in. 

Then it was back on the bus to Cairo.  As we followed the coastline north, we saw Sinai in the distance, including a mountain sharing the name, if not the exact location, of the mountain Moses climbed.   We debriefed and said goodbye to those with early flights.  Those of us who did not need to sleep early stayed up and talked before another round of goodbyes.

Several of us had an afternoon flight, so we asked S where we could go shopping.  He recommended Khan el-Khalili Bazaar.  The next morning the hotel called us 2 cabs and after briefly commenting on their extremely sketchy un-cablike appearance, we were quoted a reasonable fare, so we got in and hoped we ended up in the right place.  The jalopy I rode in pulled up to the bazaar with the other car right behind us.  After surviving that adventure we began to shop.  I bought some embroidered tunics and several scarves (some were gifts, I swear!).

 After making it through the bazaar we needed to head back to catch the airport shuttle.  However, first we had to catch a cab.  That was a little nerve racking since we couldn’t call one and we were on our own.  We stood on the corner and flagged a decidedly more cab-like cab down, asked the price to get back to our hotel, and piled in.  We made it back with no problems.

We all boarded the airport bus and weaved our way through Cairo traffic for the last time.  It turned out that R from Australia, the first fellow Contikian I met upon arrival was on the same flight as me to Vienna.  We were seated together right across the aisle from a horrible child that cried and through temper tantrums for the entire 6 hours.  This child also refused to sit down when we were about to land and instead of making her (I mean really, she was like 3), once the flight attendants made their final check, her mom just let her stand back up.  She was standing on the floor when the plane landed.  Parenting fail. 

I said “goodbye” to R and proceeded up the stairs to catch my flight back to Sofia. By that time, I’d spent so much time in the Vienna airport, I barely had to look at the signs to know where I was going.  I successfully made it back to Sofia and had serious trip hang-over for about the next month.  It was probably the best trip I’ve ever been on.  The people were great, the sites were great, and the experience was once in a lifetime.  I’m so glad I got to go and I sincerely hope that Egypt stabilizes soon so others can have the same opportunities and the all the people who work in the tourist industry get their livelihoods back. 

Part 70: King Tut, Tomb Traps, and…. More Temples April 4, 2013

The next morning, there was a dust-tinge mist floating around as we wound our way through the mountains to the Valley of the Kings.  We stepped into the visitors’ center which had a very cool replica that was clear so you could see all the tombs through and underneath the mountains.  (top picture here) One place just had steps that went down and down and down.  Apparently, archeologists still haven’t found the bottom, which is kind of cool.

We then got on the standard golf cart tram that took us down the road to the valley entrance.  The Valley of the Kings was used to bury Egyptian royalty for over 500 years.  The tombs are amazing.  They are carved everywhere, just like the temples, but since they are protected from the weather, the brilliant paint is still present on the walls and it is amazing.  It was probably my favorite stop on the trip just because the tombs are like stepping through a warp hole back in time thousands of years.  Some of the paintings are so well preserved that they look like they were painted yesterday. 

Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in the Valley, but here is a panoramic view of it and here is one of the inside of Ramesses IX, which we got to go through (I think.  It looks familiar.  I didn’t take notes on exactly which ones we visited).   I’m also pretty sure I remember hauling myself up this giant walkway found in the tomb of Taousertet and Sethnakht, and if this wasn’t the one, it was an equally steep and long climb.  We were all feelin’ the burn. 

Interesting facts I remember (since I’ve taken far too long to write this post, most of the details are gone from my brain):  Ramesses IX’s tomb, like nearly every tomb in the Valley, was robbed in antiquity, so there is no gold or jewels inside.  However, it also means there is Coptic and Roman graffiti on the walls.  One was a picture of 2 priests. 

Some of the tombs actually did have traps.  Nothing like what’s seen in Indiana Jones or The Mummy, but traps nonetheless.  Basically, the entrances are loooong and some are incredibly steep.  On the steep entrance about half way down will be a pit cut into the rock.  So, the grave robbers enter, start to slide down the ramp and end up starving to death in a hole. 

The ancient Egyptians didn’t map out where everyone was buried and the entrances to tombs were hidden to try (unsuccessfully) to prevent robberies.  Therefore, when the new pharaoh started excavating his final resting place, the workers would sometimes run into someone else’s tomb.  Basically, they would say, “whoopsy,” fill in the hole, and change tunnel direction.  This haphazard digging and zero planning is what kept King Tut’s tomb hidden so well. 

King Tutankhamun’s tomb is world famous because it was found in tact.   It was not robbed because the tomb of Ramesses XI was basically built on top of it.  I paid the extra 10 Egyptian pounds to go into King Tut’s tomb, because “when in Rome,” as they say.  Plus, King Tut’s tomb is being permanently closed to the public this year because they are having trouble controlling the climate inside with visitor’s going in and out.  The plaster is basically falling off the walls.  My Contiki group was one of the last to get the chance to see the inside. 

King Tut’s tomb isn’t very impressive compared to the other tombs we saw.  It is small and less well preserved.  The walls are covered in plaster and painted rather than carved and it is only 2 rooms with a short entrance hall.  However, I got to see King Tut himself.   He was a tiny person.  Also, having seen the amount of treasure that came out of that tomb at the Egyptian Museum, I was amazed.  That tiny tomb must have been packed from floor to ceiling. 

After finishing up at the Valley of the Kings, we were back on the bus and off to the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.  This temple is pretty amazing and very different from all the temples we’d seen previously on the trip, and we’d seen a lot of temples.  The temple was built between 1478 and 1458 B.C.  It is very near the Valley of the Kings and there are even tombs in the surrounding cliffs.  On the way in, you pass two little frankincense tree stumps.  These were brought by the queen from Punt, an ancient land along the Red Sea, although historians still aren’t sure of its exact location. 

After leaving Hatshepsut’s Temple, we stopped briefly at the The Colossi of Memnon.  They are basically two giant statues of Amenhotep III that have been at their current location for 3400 years.  They aren’t really that exciting.  They used to stand at the entrance to Amenhotep’s temple, but that temple was on a floodplain (poor choice) and is now pretty much washed away.

Our last temple was Karnak, the granddaddy of them all.  Karnak is about 1.5 miles away from Luxor and was once fully connected by the Avenue of the Sphinxes.  It was added onto for two thousand years.   As you can imagine, that gave it plenty of time to grow to an enormous size.  My favorite part was the Hypostyle Hall in the Precinct of Amun-Re.  In this area there are 134 columns between 10 and 21 meters tall in 16 rows. 

Our last stop for the day was an art gallery that makes its own papyrus in the traditional manner.  We watched a demonstration on how it is grown, cut, soaked, and woven into paper.  Then we got to look at paintings done on papyrus.  Most were recreations of scenes from ancient temples or tombs.  I, of course, loved the bright colored mostly blue painting of Cairo that was 500 US dollars.  I talked them down to $300 and bought it.  I really perfected my haggling skills on this trip.  I hate it.  I much prefer just paying the price on the sticker, but if I have to do it, you better believe I’m not over paying.  The excessive amount of scarves I brought home on this trip attests to that. 

That evening we boarded the bus and drove through the desert to Hurghada on the Red Sea coast.