After a short rest and some lunch at our hotel, we headed out to visit Animal Care Egypt. This is a charity organisation sponsored by Intrepid, that is trying to educate people about how to treat animals, and is providing care for overworked and underfed animals.
It was a very impressive place, as it had just been built. An old man named the organisation in his will, enabling them to build a bigger facility. When we arrived, a horse was being given an injection and was being held firmly by at least four men. Another horse was having a bath in the cleaning area.
Donkeys and horses are used for work in Egypt, so these are the main victims of overworking. People bring in animals who have been badly injured from overworking, or from collapsing and being hit by cars. Some have been worked despite having bad saddle sores, which then fester and become open wounds. Loren saw a donkey on the street that had severely overgrown hoofs, which if it is not corrected, will permanently cripple the animal.
We were shown around the stables, where the donkeys and horses are kept. There was a little baby donkey that was born a few days before. It was so cute and shaky on its legs. There was another baby foal that had no mother, and had to be fed by another horse there.
Loren got nipped by a horse with Equine Influenza, as she waited to have a photo taken! Thankfully it didn't draw blood, or we'd be worried about catching something!
There was a really cute dog at the place, who only had 3 legs. Instead of chopping off the leg halfway, they removed the whole leg, including the shoulder. It actually looked much more comfortable and normal, than other dogs we've seen with a partial leg. The dog was very happy and friendly.
Karnak Temple
After seeing the Animal Care Egypt facility, we went to visit the famous Karnak Temple. It is the biggest of all temples created by humans! The remains of the temple are overwhelming, it must have been breathtaking when it was in prime condition.
The area is divided into 3 sections of temples. The largest temple was dedicated to the god Amon. It is the largest temple supported by columns in the world. The area on which the temple is located is so huge, that it could cover half of Manhattan!
There are some amazing obelisks in this temple, one of which was built by Tutmose 1, is 23m high and 143 tonnes! One of the obelisks from this temple was taken to France, and is standing in the Place de la Concorde.
It was an amazing temple complex, and our guide really knew what she was talking about. She showed us amazing hieroglyphics on the wall, and explained to us what they meant. Some of them were just the names of the gods and pharoahs that the paintings were about.
The only downside to the tour, was the heat. We were told that the temperature was 60 degrees Celsius! We didn't even know that these temperatures were possible! We were dripping, or should I say pouring with sweat. Our poor tour guide, was in long black clothes and wasn't allowed to drink any water because of Ramadan! Every time we felt like we couldn't go on, we just looked at her.
Apparently there is a law that says people can skip work if the temperature goes above 50 degrees Celsius. The weather channels are instructed never tp report temperatures higher than 50 degrees, so people still have to work. If you own a thermometre in Egypt, you know the truth, but what's reported by the weather bureau is official.
Hot Air Balloon at Sunrise
The next morning, we got up at the ungodly hour of 3.45am, for a hot air balloon ride! This was the middle of the night for us, but we were keen to see the temples from the sky at sunrise. The price was pretty good too, only $80 dollars for a 45 minute ride!
We were transported to the river where we took the boat to the West side of the Nile. We were given some coffee and biscuits on the boat, and then taken to our balloon. It was really dark when we arrived, so we were transfixed by the flames filling the balloons with air. We could see flames and balloons all over the place. There were other companies launching in the distance, and many more right near us.
It was pretty exciting to get into the basket of the balloon, and to start slowly rising into the air. The only problem was that the burners were really low, and every time the drivers fired the flames, we thought we were going to be burnt. Our hair was getting singed, and our scalps were so hot with the flames. We took to ducking down every time the flames roared.
Despite the flames, the ride was really peaceful, and the scenery was amazing. There was a huge mountain not far from us, and lots of archaeological sites and temples beneath us. We went high above every thing, then our driver took us right down to the level of the temples. We were so low we were facing the walls of it!
Some of the temples that were beneath us were those from the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Hatshepsut's Temple, Valleyof the Nobles and the Collossi of Mnemoni.
The sunrise was amazingly beautiful, probably even more so because we rarely see it. All the other balloons around us were like globes in the sky. It was even prettier having them around us than being alone in the sky. It was magical, and we were reminded of where we were and what we were hanging from.
We had a safe and smooth landing in the middle of a field. Kids rode up on their donkeys to see us, and to show off their puppy which they were carrrying by one leg. Everyone was encouraged to join in and dance, as they played some music to celebrate our journey and our safe landing. We were all given t-shirts and certificates as souvenirs of our journey.
Colossi of Mnemon
Next we went to see the Colossi of Mnemon, which stand at the beginning of the monumental avenue which used to lead to the Temple of Amon. These enormous statues are 20 metres high and were built out of sandstone. They represent Pharoah seated on his throne.
After an earthquake, the statues started giving off strange eerie sounds in the morning. Many legends were created about what these sounds were, and who was making them. In reality, the sounds were made from vibrations produced as the first rays of the sun hit the cold broken cracks of the statue in the morning. After repairs were made to the statues, the sounds stopped.
Loren spotted some strange looking plants on the ground near the Colossi. They reminded her a lot of the kind of thorns that are always displayed in pictures of Jesus on the cross. This is the right area of the world, maybe these are the real thing?
Valley of the Kings
Our next stop was at the Valley of the Kings. This is a secret place that the Pharoahs started to use for their burial, because the pyramids were not safe from looters. The pyramid shape of the mountain, meant that this tradition was still observed, without drawing too much attention to the location.The location was kept secret by passing the knowledge only to the local people needed for construction.
Artur found this place the most impressive of all he'd seen so far in Egypt. He was also very thrilled by a 3D model of the tombs and the tunnels that lead to them. He was amazed by just how many of these tunnels were built here. It's like they made swiss cheese out of the rocky ground, building one tunnel after another.
Families were given guardianship of the tombs, and this responsibility, and it was passed down from generation to generation. However, this still did not stop the plundering and looting, so almost all of the tombs were emptied long before the Romans arrived.
We visited 3 tombs, which was pretty amazing, but exhausting, as the air inside is extremely humid and hot. The first one we visited was the tomb of Ramses IX. It was considerably damaged from exposure to the light, near the entrance. The entrance is open to the hot Egyptian sun, which seems hypocritical, as they don't let you use camera flashes, or even cameras without flashes. The scenes on the wall were from the Book of the Dead, which is very famous. It shows how the body of pharoahs are prepared for mummification and burial. The scenes that were preserved, were very beautiful too.
Next we saw the tomb of Amon-Osis. This tomb had a very long corridor, with extremely steep steeps leading to the Hypogeum chamber which opens up into a vast main hall whose roof is supported by 6 pillars. The corridor makes a sharp right angle turn, which was not part of the original building plan. They discovered as they were digging, that if they continued moving straight ahead, they would dig right into another tomb. The pictures on the wall are scenes from the 'The Book of Things Which Are In Duat'.
It was so hot in this tomb, and on the mountain outside, that one of the members of our group had a breakdown and couldn't walk. She was crying and sitting outside the tomb, until we managed to move her to a shady area with fans and some cold water.
The third tomb that we saw was the tomb of Tutmose III. It contains some of the most beautiful paintings in the Valley of the Kings, Tutmose III was the illegitimate son of Tutmose II. He was supposed to be the next King, but he was very young at the time of his father's death, so his aunt Hatshepsut took over the throne. After she died, he took over as King, but he was so unhappy at missing out on throne for so long, that he tried to erase her name from history. Every tomb or monument that was built by Hatshepsut, had her name erased, and his put in its place.
Temple of Hatshepsut
Next we went to visit the Temple of Hatshepsut, which is a huge temple carved into the side of a mountian, not far from the Valley of the Kings. Tutmose III did his best to hide its ownership, but archaeologists are just too smart these days. Hatshepsut was a great Queen, but she wasn't very involved in military conquests, she was more of a patron of the arts.
The temple was for her and for her father, and it was very modern for its time. It consists of a series of vast terraces, connected by ramps that lead up to the main sanctuary. There was an avenue leading up to the temple, lined with sphinxes and obelisks.
It was an extremely hot and sunny day, and we were all struggling to maintain the energy for exploring this huge temple. The sun was so bright that Loren couldn't open her eyes for the majority of the time. She had forgotten her sunglasses, so she was hiding beneath her parasol and being led with her eyes closed, by Artur.
At the top level of the temple, we saw a sign with a Polish flag that said this area was being cared for by a Polish conservation committee. Maybe thats why we keep seeing so many groups of Polish people in Egypt.
There were some paintings left on the top level, but there were many more on the lower levels. These levels must have been better protected from the sun and the elements. Some of them were spectacular, and so well preserved. The temple is also quite well preserved because a group of Christians turned it into a convent for a while.
Lunch at a Local's House
After we finished our archaeological tour of the West side of the Nile, we headed back into town. Our guide for the last two days had invited us to her place for lunch, so we stopped there. She had prepared quite a feast actually, and she said she loves to cook. Everyone's favourite was the zucchinis stuffed with rice, and the other stuffed vegetables were great too.
After lunch, we all sat down to chat, and we found out about her life as a woman in Egypt. Now that she works for a living and knows much more about the world from tourists, she is a little more restless with her life. She wants to travel and see other countries, but she knows that she can never leave unless she marries someone who likes to travel, or a foreign muslim man. She is not even allowed to travel around Egypt on her own. She must be accompanied by one of her brothers or by her father. If she was to leave Egypt or travel alone, she would lose her family, as they wouldn't understand or forgive her.
This summer, she wanted to travel to the beaches at the Red Sea to escape from the heat for a while. However her brothers are both married now and can't take her at this time, so she is stuck in the heat of Luxor. She lives with her sister and her sister's family, including a beautiful little boy. He was very curious about us, and couldn't stop staring at Loren.
After our lunch, we headed back to the hotel. Everyone was so hot, so we recovered from the heat in the rooftop swimming pool. The water in the pool was warmish from the sun, but it was better than nothing. There was a nice breeze on the roof, so Loren took to jumping in the pool and then lying in the sun with the breeze cooling her down. It worked well, but she dried in about 10 minutes, so it was a repetitive process.
Evening in Luxor
In the evening, we visited the market, hoping to find a cheap scarf. The only way to get by in Egypt, is to have a wet cloth on your head, to cool you down. We went searching for something nice but basic to fulfil this purpose. We managed to find a shop wih marked prices, that weren't too bad! This was a bit of a shock for us, and it was a good deal, so we were out of the market again in about 5 minutes.
Soon we all met up in front of McDonalds, so we could decide on a place to eat. One of the hundreds of pesky horse and carriage drivers started hounding us for a ride. He offered 2 Egyptian pounds, and Wahid, our guide, told us we might as well. The two of us, and another guy called Thomas, hopped in. It was a great ride, but when we arrived, the driver demanded 2 pounds EACH. We argued with him and told him we'd agreed on 2 pounds. In the end we paid 5 pounds total. Not as good a deal as we thought.
The restaurant was really nice and was filled with beautiful Egyptian antique furniture. We were nicely surprised. Soon after, we finished dinner, we picked up our luggage from the hotel, and rushed off to the train station.
The ride on the train was pretty fun, as we all came up with creative ideas of how to entertain ourselves. Loren and Jen came up with as many different ways to wear a headscarf that they could find, and other girls stuck funny notes on sleeping members of our group, ie. 'Stay away, I haven't showered for a week'.
To see the photos from the post in slideshow mode, click on on the link below:
Luxor pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment