Egypt
Egypt
As a young child, my love for Egypt began when I watched "The Prince of Egypt” which quickly became my favorite movie. For those who have never seen it this movie is adapted from the Biblical book of Exodus. Produced by Dreamworks, The Prince of Egypt follows Moses, as a small baby, who was sent adrift in the Nile River. The songs were very catchy as a young child and they are still stuck in my head to this day. My memory feels like I would watch this movie everyday. I would annoy my family by singing and dancing to my favorite songs. I knew the songs by heart in both English and Spanish and never grew tired of watching it. Even at that young age, I knew that somehow, some way, I would one day visit Egypt.
On our recent trip to Egypt, we were able to visit the must see spots: Abu Simbel Temples, Aswan, Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple and the Valley of the Kings. However, no trip to Egypt is complete without of course visiting the original, first wonders of the world, the pyramids of Giza. I had dreamed of one day seeing the Pyramids of Giza and my expectations surpassed all my dreams. They are even more incredible in person. I was so happy that I was finally able to see them.
Our trip to Egypt began in Luxor. We spent our mornings drinking karkade tea by the Nile and exploring the temples of Karnak and Luxor. If you go early in the morning, you will have both temples all to yourself. Dain's favorite was the Hypostyle hall in the Karnak temple. The beautiful and ancient hieroglyphs were spectacular and can make for some great photos. We spent our afternoons exploring the Valley of the Kings and the temple of Hatshepsut. The tombs of the pharaohs were quite impressive and we feel they are an underrated experience. The ornate details of the interior of the tombs is truly incredible and provides insight into ancient Egyptian culture.
We continued south down the Nile to Aswan and made a stop at the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo. While not as beautiful as Karnak, the temple of Edfu still displayed it’s fantastic walls and massive hieroglyphs were impressive for their sheer size. Kom Ombo was fascinating in that it was dedicated to the god of the river and featured mummified crocodiles in the past. Though I was slightly disappointed to find fewer representations of Sobek than I expected, the views of the life-giving river Nile were well worth the effort. We were also the only tourists for our afternoon visits to both temples.
Our time in Aswan was spent watching the feluccas cruise around the Nile. Unlike most long car trips, it was a lot of fun to look out of the windows on both sides of our car. On one side of the highway was a barren, arid, rubble filled desert while the other side was the lush, tropical, fertile bank of the Nile. The contrast was incredible. Our driver was also exceptionally entertaining. Along the road, he played pop music and suggested a little song called Despacito. The driver laughed and we began singing while Dain rolled his eyes and tried to tune us out.
We stopped at Philae Temple which was our favorite temple aside from Karnak and Abu Simbel. We decided to go at the last minute and our driver helped arrange a boat to take us to the island where the temple is located. The vessel was hardly seaworthy and really didn't seem like it could reach the island in the middle of the Nile. Like all of the temples, we had the island all to ourselves. The temple is beautiful, surrounded by the waters of the Nile and adorned with lovely pink and yellow flowers that pop against the ancient sandstone of the temple.
Our final stop before flying back to Cairo, was in Abu Simbel. We stayed at a cheap but wonderful hotel located just half a mile down the road from the main temples. These temples are what put Abu Simbel on the map. This is, after all, the bottom of Egypt. Any further south from here and you're in Sudan.
The manager of our hotel was named Usama. He loved to make jokes about Obama killing Osama. He claimed that he either terrified or delighted his American guests by his name. We’re sure they weren’t terrified. Usama was a highlight of Abu Simbel. He was friendly and warm with a sense of humor both charming and silly. He had our meals prepared for us promptly and they were some of the best meals we had in Egypt. This isn't actually saying much. The food in Egypt was fairly lackluster but the sights more than made up for it. We also seemed to be Usamas' only guests. The town of Abu Simbel has a sleepy energy and it seemed as if business had been slow for some time. Our host, on the other hand, never lost his jovial energy.
Our morning at the temples of Ramesses and Nefertari were nothing short of fantastic despite all the day tourists coming out of the woodwork at once. The crowd was not nearly as bad as so many other large tourist attractions around the world but up to this point we had almost every temple almost entirely to ourselves. This small crowd felt like an invasion in contrast to the other sites we mentioned. In fact, the only other crowd we found in Egypt was inside the Egyptian museum.
After a few hours at the temple we left to catch our flight to Cairo. Upon arrival at the airport we discovered the flight had been delayed by three hours. Having nowhere else to go, we returned to our hotel and explained to Usama what had happened. With no hesitation, Usama grabbed a room key and gave us a room to nap in. I don't feel the need to return to Abu Simbel anytime soon but I would love to spend some more time with our Nubian friend Usama. I won’t forget him anytime soon.
Cairo is the second most populous city in Africa and the largest city in the Arab world. It absolutely feels like it. The city is sprawling and chaotic. Traffic is a nightmare. Merchants and guides are various shades of aggressive. Cairo is also an unimaginably layered city. The area of greater Cairo contains over 5000 years of human civilization. To think you could see it all is fool hardy. We spent our time seeing the various sights of the medieval quarters, the souks and even to a well (now inside a church) that was allegedly visited by baby Jesus. All of these sights and attractions were great diversions but simply did not compare to those beautiful mountains made by man. Pictures and words simply can't do the pyramids justice. They were my favorite site for our entire visit to Egypt and we had brilliantly saved them for last.
Before our visit, I'd wanted to see the land that captivated my imagination in The Prince of Egypt but the news media made it seem impossible and far too dangerous. I believe this is why so few other tourists had joined us in the temples and tombs. It seems we visited at the perfect time in history to avoid the crowds. I hope the country maintains the peace I witnessed. Unfortunately the economic effects from the lack of tourism are undoubtedly sinking in. I hope Egypt is able to rid itself of the stigma caused by the years of chaos and instability.
On our visit, we did not witness protests, violence or civil unrest. We never once felt in danger or as if we could be harmed. We even stopped in Tahrir Square and did not see a single protester. It seems for now that peace has temporarily come to this troubled city. I was happy to see my favorite Prince of Egypt song, "there can be miracles when you believe," coming true. Let's hope it sticks.