Cruising on the Nile

It was a long day of travelling, waiting for late flights, luggage to arrive, visas, customs and security before we arrived at the RA II our home for the next 7 nights (we were told then that we had with four others been upgraded as the RA I had been solidly booked by one non-English speaking group). This is our first cruise ... chosen because it was somewhere warm, and because we wouldn’t spend days looking out at the blue sea - we could sail and go ashore every day. But it was a cruise with a difference as we spent the first 2 days and nights in port – and sailed finally late on New Years Eve – at 12.00 everyone said 'we are sailing' and we forgot to sing Auld Lang Syne and wish everyone Happy New Year until 10 minutes later. Anyway, our boat was only one of 300 or so on the Nile - and at the docks we sometimes had to triple park the boat and walk through other cruise ships to the wharf (great to have a decko at other boats). RAII was built about 18 years ago, together with her sister ship the RA I. They are the only 2 out of all the cruise boats sailing on the Nile (all shapes and sizes) that were built in England (Hull). Before designing and building the RA's we think they watched the film ‘Death on the Nile’ as we could imagine the murder mystery taking part in the bar, lounge, dining room etc. We could also imagine Agatha Christie sitting at the window of the Cataract Hotel (now closed for 3 years for renovations) while penning her Hercule Poirot story. The boat was a bit tired, but comfortable and clean, quite dark with lots of dark wood panelling (typical of many an English mansion). Food was good, smorgasbord mainly, with lots of choices and different each night. I got hooked on the pickled lemons and goat cheese, while Harry liked his morning omelette and chocolate cake. We had our table allocated and sat with a couple from Glasgow, but soon met people from other parts of England eg Northampton where Mike and Barbara hail from. As we were upgraded our itinerary changed and it took us a few days to work out what we were going to see. We had an Egyptian evening one night and a bingo night another where unbelievably I came second and won a necklace with Queen Nephrodite on it and first prize in the raffle - a chess set (only wish they hadn't told me the white pieces were made from camel bones). Anyway, pretty good for me who never wins anything. In the evenings we went back to the cabin where we were greeted with animals made from pillows and blankets (we tried to make a kiwi one night but it turned out more like an elephant) - and a nice little touch for my birthday was a cake and 'Happy Birthday' sung to the accompanient of bongo drums. We mistakenly thought a cruise would mean leisurely wake ups, breakfast in the sun, and then a stroll to a place of interest. Wrong. Two lie in days, meant we could have breakfast before 9.00 other days we were up at 4.30, 6.30, 6.45 (yes, in the morning) for a bus, boat, plane ride to somewhere. Needless to say the two afternoons we spent on the boat meant most of us slept.

We’ve mentioned traffic and transport quite a bit in our travels so far, but there are some differences in Egypt that we haven’t come across before. Night time means 'no lights' – or maybe parking lights if you are lucky (we did think this could be because the lights may scare the horses and donkeys – but we were wrong as drivers ‘honk their horn’ almost to a tune and the horses didn’t appear to bat an eyelid). Driving on the wrong side of the road (high probability while you are sat in a 1970’s Peugeot 504 – with the original engine and no seatbelts), going through red lights and trying to squeeze between pedestrians, cyclists, horse and cart, donkeys or buses is fairly mandatory. We had one taxi driver who put on a cassette for us and then clapped while we grimaced in the back as the car veered to the wrong side of the road. However, stopping for the armed police at every police point (probably about every 1-2 kilometres) is essential – I guess no one wants to fight with those pointing rifles at you (there are even privately employed security wandering the streets, guarding the crops of alfalfa, cabbage and corn from anyone keen to help themselves). Luxor is quite a pretty little city – with its natural harbour on the Nile, lights (on the temple and many of the plants along the roadside – including little 12 inch high flax bushes) and flowering bougainvilla (yellow, while, red, orange, pink). The boat was parked away from the more affluent and tourist areas, and to get to it we passed fields with donkeys and cows, a second hand dealer (which would have given Steptoe and Son some fierce competition), and many a little child and adult with their hand out for money. We stopped at a temple and Barbara took a packet of winegums from her pocket and she was surrounded by Egyptian men wanting to sample. We saw this a lot during the week – it isn’t quite begging as the people all look well fed and clothed but our tourist guide, Omar, said it is a way of life. You give money to people driving you somewhere, showing you directions, pointing out a place of interest, taking your photo – or having their photo taken, because you pass them on the street, lifting your luggage out of the bus, handing the loo paper to you when it is already in a dispenser, saying hello to children on a boat etc. Bartering and hassling is also a way of life particularly at the markets (lots of fruit and veg, spices - we've already made a curry - indigo, unrefrigerated meat which we didn’t look to closely at but unfortunately couldn't miss the goats head, scarves, clothing, ornaments, jewellery etc etc). Our guide took us to a market where we could look without people following us or trying to put scarves on our heads or bracelets on our arms and then accusing us of stealing. On our horse and cart ride one evening little children (as young as 5 or 6) ran alongside the cart trying to give us a bougainvilla flower they had picked in return for money (we were thinking that if we go again we will take lots of plastic kiwis or tikis to give – not sure if they would be appreciated!!). Our tour guide (Omar) was rather special. Very well learned, passionate about Egyptian history (university graduate in Egyptology) and with a sense of humour he spent three days instilling in us some of what he had learnt in five years - all about the Gods (Hathor, Horus are the two we can remember) and lots of Kings and Queens (Ramesus II the great builder of many of the temples – I still think he told others to do it rather than design or build them himself and he also relabelled some temples as his own and other kings such as Thotmosus I, II, III etc). He'd point to a carving with a lion or falcon's head, sheep horns, or a birdlike creature and when we couldn't name it would say 'were you not listening yesterday' and start all over again! He would take off from the bus – walking stick in the air saying ‘Ha be bes follow me’ (my dear friends) and then as our minds and eyes wandered ‘look at me’, ‘attention’, ‘what did I say’ but his lectures did give us a good grounding for understanding the hieroglyphics and the pictures that we saw later by ourselves. At one point we did some play acting, Harry was pretending to be Seth stabbing his brother Osirus (Nick) because he loved Isis (can’t remember her name but she lives in Reading) while another of our group stood with his finger in his mouth pretending to be the young son of Osirus – Horus the God. We remembered that story. We saw a rather a lot of temples – and at one point we were ‘templed out’ and so went for a walk (we missed seeing mummified crocodiles - real ones live happily and protected in Lake Nassar and in the south Nile) but we were happy to take photos from outside and make our way through the barrage of stall owners in the markets. Each temple did have a little unique factor:

• Abu Simbil – built on the shores of Lake Nassar – moved before the lake was created by the dam to avoid flooding forever (the move was quite an engineering feat) and a 30 minute flight to get to – it is the only temple built within a natural mountain so they had to move the little mountain as well. We worked out it took us 8 bus rides and 2 plane rides to get there and back.
• Dandara temple – one of the oldest at 3,000 years - where we learnt about the God’s Hathor and Horus – and saw a pool which was fed by the Nile to wash before going into the presence of the God’s.
• Karnak – huge - 136 pillars and 3 temples, all built from the inside out (like the others) – it took 1700 years to build.
• Luxor – in the centre of the town, grandly lit at night, and with a soon to be reconstructed 3 kilometre road between it and Karnak lined by huge sphinxes just like it was 2-3000 years ago. It was here we first saw engravings of wheels and thought we saw our first bicycle – but came to realise later it was a chariot.
• Al-Deir Al-Bahari temple for Queen Hathsepsut – not a lot to see here but a lovely view across the dessert towards Luxor.
• Edfu – which was my favourite – with a perfumery that still had the recipes written on the wall (Chanel Number 5 was 3rd from the right), and where rolls and rolls of papyrus had been found in a little room, documenting much of the history of the times.
• Philae – the only one built on an island – but not the island we stood on - it also had been moved to stop it being permanently flooded. It took a while to flatten the new island before moving the temple.

Then onto the tombs. At the time of the coronation of the new king the site was selected and the tomb building began. It took years (I imagine a rushed job if the king didn’t live long!!). We were told the workers weren’t slaves, but had priveleges and went on strike for more wages and better conditions - the first trade union?). We managed to fit in the Valley's of the Kings, Queens and the Workers and while visiting the tombs found some very colourful and skilled paintings, embossed carvings (granite, sand stone) and engravings as well as heaps of hieroglyphics. No photography or videoing inside and Mike, one of the men from our group went through the tomb door holding his camera and was told to leave, then marched over to the police because they though he was going to take a photo. Not so, but he didn’t argue. In one tomb we saw the mummy of a 6 month old foetus (a prince) perfectly formed but so little. We saw a couple of adult mummies also at Luxor museum and I did feel that to see them exposed when they were so lovingly cared for took away their dignity in death. All the tombs showed the same images, the gods being given gifts, the dead spirit going through the 12 hours of darkness – where you proved you had not sinned greatly and were allowed to go the inner sanctum where your spirit rested with little models of servants, riches and food for you to enjoy in your after life. No wonder Tutenkahum’s tomb, found in the 1960’s was considered such a find( found complete –it hadn't been ransacked by thieves) it provided so much information about how the early Egyptian lived and worshipped. Restoring these temples and tombs are a key part of Egyptian history, but also provide the country with a key to the tourist industry. We watched as we saw Egyptians restoring their temples with hand mixed concrete, chipping and engraving stone, and digging for more treasures - and when found I hope they will be kept in the country rather than spread throughout the world.

Intermingled between the visits to temples and tombs we stopped off at a Papyrus factory – that makes the most ancient form of paper. The plant was rediscovered in 1960’s after an Egyptian was challenged by a Chinese (who had rice paper and its plant to prove it) to find the plant (considered extinct) which he did somewhere north of Aswan. It looks a bit like an agapantha flower – very long stem which the paper comes from and lots of little grass like leaves at the top which could be a flower in a different season. We went to the Alabaster factory (these factories hand make alabaster ornaments and are the only industry allowed on the West Bank where the archaeological excavations are occurring). We also wandered through a perfume factory (they didn’t know that one of our group was in the perfume business – has a nose for pure perfumes and not mixes and so she wasn’t amused when told a perfume was a pure lotus flower when it wasn’t). We did buy some lavender (to help me sleep) and camphor and sandal wood for those aches and pains.

Although Egypt is steeped in history the highlight for Harry and I was a boat trip around the islands (one of them included a visit to the Botanical gardens – on the island given to Lord Kitchener in exchange for not making the Nubian people join armed forces against the Sudanese – the Nubians and Sudanese are related). Lots of birdlife (we saw a bird so like a pukekohe and with the same cheeky personality, osprey and lots of others we can’t remember the name of). We didn’t see a godwit but it is rather special because it flies between Egypt from NZ - that's a long way by plane let along wing power. We stopped on the shores of the Nile, and wandered up the first sand dunes of the Sahara Desert – great to feel the sand through our toes, and then camels took our party for a 20 minute ride into the desert (and I don't particularly enjoy riding a horse). My camel was called Monica - do they watch 'Friends' over here?

So, we saw nature at its best, great sunsets, great rock formations and the islands created by the dam. The Nile prior to the building of the dam flooded regularly. The rains start two months earlier in Uganda and Ethiopa then came the floods covering land and temples in silt (some completely) but at least the silt fertilised the land. Now there are no longer floods chemical fertilisers are used causing a raft of additional problems. The high dam is 1 kilometre wide at its base and 3.8 kilometres long. It was funded by the Russians and no videos or telephoto lenses allowed as it is considered a strategic military target. Together with the low dam (built in 1902 by the English) supplies Egypt with a lot of its power, together with solar and nuclear is beginning to also find its place. It is incredible to think that this nation – based on subsistence farming for many - used to be one of the advanced races in the world. In the museum we saw set squares and plumb bobs used to build temples 3000 years ago, chariots of wood with leather for tyres, chairs and beds – all very similar to the designs of the day, and a model of a whaka – the difference is this one had a sail. Today, the housing is nothing like the temples – in fact some towns looked as though a bomb had hit. The houses appear to be mainly mud or concrete brick, most not finished (due to lack of funds we are told but if we were given £10 for every satellite dish we saw we'd be millionaires), and many roofless though I guess with no rain and little wind the need to put a roof over your head isn't as important. Our guide took us to the mosque (some are called tourist mosques and open to the public) and told us about the moslem faith, based on peace, following God and the prophets, fasting during ramaden (to identify with the poor and hungry), praying five times a day, giving 2.5% of savings to those poorer than you (family first, then distant rellies, then neighbours and then others in need), washing and cleansing oneself before praying. After hearing five calls to prayer a day it helped to put it all in perspective.

And then another long trip back to -2 degrees and a freezer that was no longer freezing our food. After throwing away our Christmas left overs I was told by the freezer fixer that fridges do not operate in cold conditions – apparently the fridge has a mind of its own – deciding that at about 5 degrees it is really cold enough hence turning itself off (there is a more technical explanation about air conditioning units etc - but you get the picture) – we had turned the heating off when we left for our holiday – but just might not do that again!!