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Published: September 13th 2008
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A pillar from the Hypostyle hall
Decorated in a truly hippopotamus-ish style in remembrance of the brave hippopotamii that died in the battle of Karnak - a truly awe-striking sight. What is most impressive is how well these hieroglyphs have been preserved - our guide assured us they have not been retouched/recarved. Day 1 in Egypt had been slightly traumatic, so we started Day 2 in high spirits knowing
that the probability of 2 days in a row of trauma was considerably low. An early morning
flight from Cairo got us to Luxor at 7am. Today, was to be a day of luxury. We had managed to
score a bungalow at the Sheraton for the incredible price of $60! After rolling around on the incredibly clean sheets, flicking through 100 TV channels, dissecting the room service menu, and essentially reveling at the welcome change from the previous nights' hostel accommodation, we finally grudgingly headed out to see the 'ancient wonders' that so many come to Luxor for.
First up was the Temple of Karnak. Okay - this was simply ... incredible. When Melenie and I first decided to come to Egypt, I warned Melenie not to expect too much, since I'm sure all those things we've seen a million times on TV or artificially touched up. I mean - as if hieroglyphics could last so many thousands of years and still be so crisp. Reneg, reneg, reneg. Karnak is fabulous. Those Egyptians were fabulous craftsmen, because the stuff here still looks so
Carving our names into history
I await the numerous comments/messages berating me for graffiti-ing this ancient wonder. And no - I did not carve anything into anything at all. amazingly great. Forget trying to figure out how they hoisted the large blocks to make the pyramids - what the heck were they putting in their paint to make it last so long. And what's in the sandstone or whatever they carved the hieroglyphs into, that makes them still so crisp today?
But enough gushing. As you can tell, we were suitably impressed. Karnak was one of the prime temples of Egypt as it was Amon Ra, the sun god, and their prime deity. So every Pharaoh and his cat wanted to have something to do with the place. Thus, it was continuously expanded, resulting in multiple walls around walls. The most amazing sight in Karnak is the room of pillars (call the The Hypostyle Hall as the big pillars were brought to the sight on the back of large hippopotamuses). These are so amazingly well preserved, that it deserves at least 2 paragraphs of gushing, which I will grudgingly, dear reader, spare you from. Our guide also told us the very interesting story of Hatshepsut, the first female Pharoah, who dressed like a man, claimed that she was a relative of Amon Ra (Sun God), and even wore
More intricacies of the Hypostyle hall
Note the paint - that colouring has lasted over 3000 years!! a fake beard to build up her importance. He gave us a riddle at the end regarding an obelisk that she had built, that if we solved, would earn us a free tour. Alas we were too stupid to solve it, even though the answer was incredibly simple. A hint to anybody visiting - pay the money and get a guide - its well worth it. Oh yeah, and if you want the answer to the riddle .... nah, I won't post it - can't steal the livelihood of that poor guide.
After Karnak, we headed back to the main strip of Luxor for lunch. We had a local specialty - okra stew. There are some vegetables that simply cannot taste good, no matter how well they are disguised. Okra is one of those - and okra stew does a particularly bad job of making okra taste good. On the plus side, the stew came with really tasty rice - kind of like Hainanese chicken rice. Oh, and lemon juice - which is a must have in Egypt - fabulously refreshing!
We then did the MOST touristy thing you can do in Luxor - reserved for the likes
The obelix of Hatshepsut
There is a riddle the guide asked us regarding this obelix. It was obscured from sight by a large wall to hide all references to Hatshepsut by her step son after he reclaimed the throne that she stole from him. All was obscured - except for the top - which for an unknown reason - was left uncovered. Why? Knowing the answer to this riddle gets you a free guided tour of Karnak. of the stereotypical squawking fat American package tourist. We did a boat ride on the Nile. They call boats here feluccas, but alas, these feluccas look nothing like real feluccas - so don't go expecting rustic wooden boats. Nevertheless, it was a great experience, as it allows you to really appreciate the beauty of the Nile. The west bank of the Nile near Luxor is completely different from the hotel-embalmed East bank. Picture long flowing reeds, ibises (ibiis?), banana trees, and green plains, all with a backdrop of large sand dunes. And those reeds - yeah, they are long - long enough to hide a baby in a basket (ie. the story of Moses from the Bible for you heathens out there). Our felucca captain was a Nubian. The first and only Nubian we had ever seen before that was that big lipped pirate in the Asterix comics - but alas, this guy looked nothing like him. Our Nubian friend tried to convince us at one point to stop at banana island - where they grow bananas and where you can eat bananas. I told him I can eat bananas at home. He tried later to take us further down
Hieroglpyhs on the wall
The prince hands back his long staff after a long day of threshing wheat with the peasants in order to remain in touch with his future subjects. His mother, the queen pats him on the back saying well done. Meanwhile, the peasant curses inwardly, because he knows that all the prince did that day was sunbake by the Nile. He contemplates telling the Queen but decides not to as he values his throat. the Nile to see the crocodiles. Now that sounded exciting - imaging sailing in the Nile with crocodiles all around. Alas, it seems there are no longer any crocodiles in the Nile - the ones he wanted to show us were safely confined in a water zoo.
After our Nile trip, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the comforts of the Sheraton. One of the highlights of the Luxor Sheraton is a gorgeous flat swimming pool that overflows onto the Nile - quite a sight - but alas, it was under repairs. Never mind, we still enjoyed the normal pool, which was great after the heat of the day.
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