Day 10. Mon 22nd September
Balloon ride. The Valley of the Queens.
Today we say goodbye to Chris, Beverley, Jenny, Ian and Isobel. They are
only doing the one week "Sinai Insight" module, and are flying off home.
We have a "lie in" until six o'clock, when we pick up a packed breakfast
and head off in yet another mini-bus. Today it is my turn to take a balloon
ride.
The balloon has already done one trip when we arrive, and the last
passengers are disembarking. The pilot is Egypt's answer to Brian Blessed,
and flirts outrageously with all the women on board. We are given detailed
instructions on what to do when we land. There are apparently various types
of landing depending on the wind strength. The one I remember from ballooning
in the Yorkshire Dales involves hanging on for dear life as the balloon
hits the ground, tips over on its side, and is dragged along the ground.
This is referred to darkly by our pilot as the "English Landing". The "Egyptian
landing", by contrast, allows the basket to land gently on its base.
Where we fly is obviously dictated largely by the wind, and we do not see
the Valley of the Kings, however we do fly over the house where Howard
Carter lived while excavating Tutankamen's tomb*.
We descend very slowly and hover a few feet above a field of sugar
cane. The pilot's control of the balloon is quite remarkable, and we drift
a few inches above the plants until suddenly we are over a tiny country
road, barely wider than the basket itself, where the balloon team are waiting
with the mini-bus. The "Egyptian Landing" is indeed so soft we are hardly
aware of having touched the ground. The team furl up the balloon and then
perform the landing dance, with which we are all encouraged to join in.
During this there is a rustling in the sugar cane and a funny little bloke
pops out and joins in the dance. I ask the pilot if he is the local farmer,
but he shakes his head and seems as amused and bemused as we are.
We reboard the mini-bus and head off to the "Valley of the Queens"
- a misnomer as this section of the Theban necroplis contains not only
the tombs of 19th and 20th dynasty queens, but also those of other members
of the royal families. Again the number of tombs we can visit is limited
to three, and, on advice, we select Kha-em-wase, a son of Rameses III,
Queen Titi, whose long-abandoned tomb was for a long time used as a astable
for donkeys, and Amon-Her-Khopshef, son of Rameses II and Nefertari. We
are not able to visit the tomb of the most beautiful and best loved of
Rameses II's five wives, Nefertari. This is supposed to be the finest tomb
in Egypt, but, as with all the tombs, cannot withstand the onslaught of
the mass of tourists who wish to visit them, and whose fingers, breath
and camera flashes cause mould to grow on the walls, and the paintings
to fade. A great deal of money has been spent restoring this and many other
tombs, but it seems it is a losing battle.
After the Valley of the Queens we drive to the magnificent temple complex
of Medinet Habu, situated to the west of the necropolis area, before returning
to Luxor, where we must check out of the Emilio Hotel by 12:00, and say
a temporary goodbye to Nigel and Anne, Irish Anne and Dave, who now embark
on their second module, the Nile Felucca Sailtrek. They will catch a train
south to Aswan and then spend the week living in Feluccas as they sail
down the river back to Luxor.
For myself, Jo, Lisa, Oisėn, Martin and Judy, the second week
is the Nile Cruise. We will motor up the Nile to Aswan, and then down again,
on a luxury cruise ship. After the rigours of Sinai we are all looking
forward to a bit of luxury!
Sadly we must also say goodbye to Maria, who has been an exceptional
tour guide, but who now returns to Ras Hurghada for a week of snorkelling
and diving with the last of the four Egypt modules, the Red Sea Extension.
(Coordinating these four modules in all their possible combinations must
be an administrative nightmare. One combination that is not available,
however, is to do all four). She accompanies us on our calesh ride to the
the M.S. Doma, which will be our home for the next week. The ship is on
permanent lease to Explore who have exclusive use of it.
We will be joined later by the rest of the Nile Cruise group, who have
spent a couple of days "doing" Cairo and the pyramids, and are currently
on a train to Luxor. Oisėn and I manage to gain access to the cabin
list and I discover, to my consternation, that I am not on it at all, while
Oisėn is down to share with one of the newcomers. We have a word
with the chief steward who goes to work with a pencil and a rubber, and,
hey presto, Oisėn are together again. The cabins are comfortable
but quite small, and Oisėn has a bit of a problem fitting into the
bed.
We fill the afternoon exploring the city, and end up in the jewellery
shop, where we are welcomed in and given tea. Judy buys two silver bracelets,
and Jo and Lisa order pendants of their names in hieroglyphs.
Back at the Doma the rest of the cruise group arrive about six. There are
eighteen of them, plus our new tour guide Geoff, so we have a lot of new
names to learn. They are: Ann and Amanda (Amanda is from Chester, and Ann,
by coincidence, lives in Macclesfield - small world!), Ruth (a doctor),
Dierdre (from Cork), Andrew and Louise (art dealer and restorer from
London), Judy and Aaron (mother and son from Australia), Polly and Amy
(mother and daughter also from Australia), Roger and Sarah (from Gloucestershire),
Sue (who works for Christian Aid, and turns out to know Nigel and Ann),
Terry, Keith, Tony and Matt.
The M. S. Doma is moored right opposite the Luxor Temple, and after
tea on board we walk round it. The temple is lit up at night and is very
impressive. Like many of these ancient monuments it was only discovered
relatively recently underneath the modern building of Luxor. The modern
Mosque still stands within its confines. Together with the temple of Karnak
it is all that currently remains of the ancient city of Thebes - but who
knows what else may be disinterred in the future. The wonder of Egypt is
that it is ancient, and yet is also an ongoing modern tale, as undiscovered
treasures are continually being unearthed.
I decide it is time to think about presents to take home, and Oisėn
and I pop into a little shop advertising custom embroidered T-shirts. The
touristy thing seems to be to have things with hieroglyphs on them, so
I order two T-shirts, one with Catherine and one with Jonathan, for my
nephew and niece, and also buy a tea-towel with the hieroglyphic alphabet.
I cannot help but think that, as with the papyruses, this direct transliteration
must be a modern invention for the amusement of tourists, as my understanding
of real hierglyphs is that they do not have anything like a one-to-one
correspondance with the modern alphabet - for one thing I don't think they
actually have any vowels at all.
* Erratum. I have since been contacted by Raymond Betz, a
member of the Groupe d'Études Égypte in Belgium, who informs me that
this is not in fact the Carter House, but the “Stopplaere House” from
the name of a Belgian chief restorer of the SCA, who built this house
after World War II, and that the Carter House is further to the east.
I'm afraid I was simply going on what I was told by the guides, but I
am happy to bow to the superior knowledge of an expert, especially if
he knows it well enought to be able to tell from this picture. Jan 2009.