Day 92. Tuesday November 2nd. Luxor to Aswan on the M/S Hamees.

On the sun-deck and travelling south further into Egypt. The Hamees seems to be making about 10-15 knots going upstream against the Nile which is flowing quite fast against us. We will be at the first lock at Esna in time for afternoon tea. (All British on board). I am reading “Death on the Nile” and following Hercule Poirot’s antics as we travel.
We had a wake-up call at 5.30am today and were at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at 8.00am and then on to the Valley of the Kings. 63 tombs discovered there so far (including Tutankhamen’s) and they think another 17 or so remain hidden so the search continues. The ticket allows you to visit any three of ten tombs that are open at that moment. They rotate the ten to allow them to continue restoration or excavation on the others. It’s an amazing place. They stopped building the pyramids because they advertised their presence to all the tomb robbers and so they started to go underground in this valley with their individual tombs starting around 1300BC. We pay extra and actually visit four of the currently available ten. Down a ramp in each of the tombs and into a several hundred meter tunnel to the burial spot itself. The colors on the hieroglyphics are really vivid even after 3,300 years. We are beginning to learn the meanings of the various signs and the stories they tell about the King buried there. Then it’s back to the boat for lunch and a lazy afternoon. But it’s going to get busy. We are told that this area has about 1/3 of the world’s antiquities.

Day 91. Monday, November 1st. Egypt and Egyptians.

Our guide in Cairo is Sherif Hassan, 32 years old, single (lives with his Mum, which is normal before marriage) and is a super guy, we are very lucky to have him. Graduate in History from Cairo University and then a post grad in Egyptian Hieroglyphics. I spend a lot of time chatting with him. He is wonderfully enthusiastic and knowledgeable about ancient Egypt but I want to learn his thoughts about Cairo today and so I have several long conversations with him.
80m people living on 5% of the land. At least 30% illiteracy rate. 55% GDP is tourism, 25% toll fees from Suez. He tells us they have a 12% unemployment rate which I know is untrue. Many work for the government in dull meaningless and underpaid jobs that at least allow them to leave their desks during their work hours so they can drive their brother’s taxi and make a little more money. (There are 50,000 taxis in Cairo). All the men have to do national service in the Army but they are so low paid the soldiers at the tourist sites give directions and help but expect baksheesh in return. They are self-sustaining in oil (petrol is very cheap but double what it was 2 years ago) and have natural gas to export. The litter is terrible. They clean their houses and workplaces but just dump it into the streets. The Government doesn’t pick it up and so it’s just shoved into the canals that run to the Nile. (And from there it drifts to the Mediterranean beaches of Greece, Italy and France). When you ask them why they don’t push the Government to do something about it it’s clear that they do not have a personal sense of empowerment and responsibility. Mubarak was elected 30 odd years ago for the two 6 year terms then allowed as a maximum. They change the law every 6 years, now it looks like he will be replaced by his son.
Sherif is a Muslim and so I get him to chat about their relationship with Israel. They are glad that they signed a peace treaty and recognized Israel’s right to exist (“It brought us closer to the West and increased our tourism”) but he tells me that they do not like Israelis. “We want to vacation in Italy, France, England but you will never hear us say we want to visit Israel”. I notice that one of the new towns built on the outskirts of Cairo is called “October 6th”. That’s the 1973 date the Egyptians managed to break through the Israeli Sinai defenses and helped start the negotiations that led to the Sinai being returned to Egypt. He’s a moderate Muslim and is aware and concerned about the way the West thinks about Muslims and takes some time to explain the reason why a Muslim man is allowed to have 4 wives (“what will happen to my brother’s wife and child if my brother dies? I may already have a wife but also have a duty to my brother’s family but she cannot move in with me if she is not married to me”). But, he adds that perhaps only a few thousand Egyptians have more than one wife. There are mosques everywhere because, if you build one on your land, you don’t have to pay taxes.
Egypt is a moderate Muslim country. Sherif points out a street filed with nightclubs and tells us that is where all the Saudis go when they visit Egypt. They rent flats so they can take girls back-something they couldn’t do in an hotel.
Sherif complains about the young women of today’s Egypt. He explains that tradition dictates that the young man pays for everything: he has to buy or rent the flat; he has to buy all of the furniture; he has to pay for the wedding; and, after the wedding, he is expected to pay for the expenses of them and their children. All of those expectations came from the time before the women worked. However, now that most of them do work they still don’t want to contribute to those expenses and still expect the man to pay for everything. He tells us that they can get divorced and can do so without reason but, if there is no reason then the person petitioning for divorce does not get any share of the couple’s assets. He bemoans the fact that about 25% of University women are persuaded by their boyfriends to have an unofficial marriage (that is a civil marriage but without the families being informed) so that they can have sex. The boyfriend explains that, when they have enough money, then they will have a proper marriage with their family’s blessing. But, Sherif explains, that if the boyfriend changes his mind then he just tells the girls that they were never really married, that the civil paper is meaningless under Islam. That puts the girl into a very difficult situation since she (and really the men as well) are expected to be virgins when they get married and they are shamed if they are not. We see an equal number of women in Muslim dress and in Western dress but a small minority in the full Meliyya (fully covered with just a slit for the eyes).
The Egyptians are fun though and I like them and want to come back. They have a great sense of humor and like to joke, pull your leg and laugh a lot. They need a different economic and political system; to get individually empowered and to clean the place up.

Day 91. Monday November 1st. Cairo’s Egyptian Museum.

One of the most important museums in the world and it is 100 years old, too small (a great deal of stuff cannot be displayed and some is sinking into the sand of the basement), badly managed and very crowded. But it is not to be missed. Of course the busiest room is for all of the treasure that Howard Carter found (he kept some for himself). The desk mask is solid gold and 11.5kg and the innermost sarcophagus is also solid gold and 150kg. Tutankhamen’s mummified body was put into that with his gold death mask on him. That was after his brain was sucked out through his nostrils and his other organs removed and stuffed into various jars to be buried with him. (We are shown the jars and the powdered remains in each). That sarcophagus was stuffed inside another larger one and so on until you get to the final outside one that was about the size of our bedroom. Each one gilded in gold. They are building a new museum in Giza, near the Giza plateau with all the Pyramids, and, one assumes, it will be one of the biggest and finest in the world. We will definitely come back for that when it’s done but so far they have just pushed sand around at the new site and after two years they are two years behind schedule. I cannot imagine Howard Carter’s feelings as he opened the last door of Tutankhamen’s tomb and realized that it had not been previously robbed. It took years to get it all out and he couldn’t even open the innermost casket until it was removed from the one around it and the largest wouldn’t fit back out the tunnel so it was a Chinese puzzle, I want to read about it.
The museum also has a room displaying the animals that they also mummified-crocodiles, birds, scarab beetles and a large bull that had to be given a massive enema of Juniper and Cedar Oil first. Ouch.
We fly to Luxor and board the M/S Hamees for a seven night Nile cruise upriver past the Valley of the Kings to Aswan and then a trip to Abu Simbel.

Day 90. Sunday October 31st. The Pyramids and the Sphinx-memories of school history lessons come alive.

Well they are incredible. The Great Pyramid of King Cheops, about 2500BC, was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 4,300 years (until the Eifel Tower was built). About 450 feet high, 2,300,000 stones each weighing between 1 1/2 and ten tons. Originally all smoothed over with polished limestone and the top 30 feet covered in gold. (The top and the tomb were plundered thousands of years ago). 100,000 people built it in about 20 years. At first people thought that the workers were slaves but now it’s considered pretty certain that they were paid free men who did it during the summer months when the Nile floods and they couldn’t farm. Despite the dozens of touts trying to sell me a stuffed dancing camel (“La’ Shokran”-“no thank you!”) or a ride on a real one I have a lump in my throat looking at these incredible 4,500 year old beautiful tombs and tributes. There are three pyramids here (there are more than 100 so far discovered in Egypt) and then also the Sphinx. The Sphinx was buried in sand until about 200 years ago when it was re-discovered.
Egypt is now considered to have been a rich Savannah many thousands of years ago (in fact, in our tour of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo the next day we see many stone carvings of pictures of Ibis, Gazelles, Hippos, Antelopes and the Lions that chased them). Then a climate warming occurred and the encroaching desert pushed all of the different hunter gatherer tribes toward the narrow Nile basin where they had to develop the societies and civil structures that started the ancient Egyptian Civilizations.
We then visit a museum to see how Papyrus paper was made from the Papyrus plant that grows along the Nile. We see Papyrus scripts that are 4,000 years old and yet still in excellent condition today with all of their colours and script readable.
Next is a trip to the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis (nr today’s capital, Cairo) and we see the huge statues of Ramses II.
Last visit of the day is to Saqqara to see the step pyramid which is thought to be the oldest pyramid built. (2,650BC). The surrounding complex, including the palace, was covered in sand until it was discovered in the 19th century. Some people think that only a small % of the ancient sites have been discovered. (Both the Greeks and the Egyptians should be grateful to the Germans, they seem to have pioneered the excavations and preservations of the ancient sites over the last 200 years and they still visit and show a lot of interest in both Greece and Egypt). Tutankhamen came to the throne when he was nine and died at 18 not having achieved anything. All the treasure that was, nevertheless, made in tribute to him and buried with him is only available today because the tomb robbers didn’t find it before Howard Carter did in 1922. There were 170 Pharaohs so it’s tantalizing to think of what is still under the sand- I want to buy a spade and get going. There are lots of excavations taking place all over Egypt and we are shown a site near the pyramids that was uncovered for the first time four months ago.

Day 89. Saturday October 30th. Back across the Sinai to Cairo with a visit to Mt Sinai and the Monastery of St Katherine.

Up and out early for a 9 hour drive across the middle of the Sinai plus a two hour stop to visit St Katherine’s Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The site includes one of the oldest Christian Churches still existing today. The Roman Empress, Helena (Emperor Constantine’s Mum) had the Monastery built next to the site of the burning bush seen by Moses to protect the pilgrims already visiting the site. We see the new bush, believed to be descended from the original, which continues to grow inside the monastery grounds and seemingly without roots. A recommended visit would include sleeping up on Mt Sinai to see the sunrise. Apparently you might have several hundred others for company but- we are told- it is a unique experience.
Under the Suez once more and then on to our hotel for two nights. We are staying at the Movenpick, Giza just outside of Cairo.
It’s my birthday. Tomorrow we visit the three pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

Day 88. Friday October 29th. Back to Egypt and we can see four countries from our balcony.

Ferry from Aqaba to Neweiba and then bus to Taba, Egypt. From what we have seen of Jordan we are impressed and would like to come back for a longer visit. The people are friendly and efficient and the country seems well cared for and clean with little litter etc. The roads are well maintained, the cars are newer and there is plenty of road space for them. Unfortunately a sad reflection upon Egypt where, although the people are just as friendly, but, where 50% are illiterate (much skewed toward women), they care much less about their environment. As in Egypt we feel safe in walking around at night. The Guide Book Lonely Planet has a good explanation of why you correctly feel safe in Egypt. It seems that their families and social groups enforce a high moral standard with intolerance for infractions. The tour guide bribes us through the Egyptian customs so we by-pass the unfortunate many that are waiting to be processed by the officials and none of our suitcases are opened. I guess that baksheesh meets the moral standard.
We are in the Movenpick Taba and we can see four countries from our suite’s balcony-Egypt, Israel (we are right at the border here), and, across the gulf, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Day 87. Thursday October 28th. Dinner at Ali Baba, Aqaba

Appetizers: Shanklish (Lebanese goat cheese mixed with herbs and chopped vegetables). 2 Jordanian Dollars (JOD-about US$1.4= 1 JOD so about US$3 for the Shanklish); Cheese Fatair (Pastry stuffed with Lebanese goat cheese and parsley), 2 JOD; Arayes (grilled Arabic bread stuffed with minced lamb, parsley and onion), 1.5 JOD.
Entrees: Shish Tauok (boneless chicken grilled on skewers, 4 JOD; Spicy fish of the day, 8.5 JOD.
Local Beer (Petra), 4 JOD.