about this blog

this blog serves as pictorial and anecdotal narratives of egypt for cyberspace tourists based on stolen information from ‘the rough guide to egypt’, ‘lonely planet: egypt’ and ‘www.touregypt.net’, and what i went through. to capture egypt in its entirety is an impossible endeavour. i am merely historicising the kitsch and schlock, but i do intend to put across images and rants of egypt beyond the stereotypical glossy pages of national geographic’s production of depicting it as a mere land of pharaohs, mummies, temples and pyramids.

pardon me if at times, the entries seem random, meaningless, crass or entertaining. they are meant to be that way. or else refer to rough guide and lonely planet for a more sedate and organised text presentation. also, i took the easy way out by doing it on blogger and uploading the pictures using picasa. html is too difficult for me and time is not my friend. blogger and picasa are cool anyway.

you have the permission to steal whatever pictures or information if you like them. if you want to have a look at beautiful pictures of egypt, this bloke has a very good online collection. how he got into some of the sites with a camera, i do not have a clue. before i forget, big thanks to alvin and amy [psssst…no problem…baksheesh…as you like].

3 dec [ day 1 ]: singapore to doha to luxor

i took qatar airways because it was cheaper than the others, and the transit was at doha, qatar, before luxor, which is in the middle of egypt. the flight to doha was terrible because of the extreme dry cabin air. bigger plane, so more lungs to share the air with. nevertheless, the flight on a smaller airbus to luxor was more tolerable.

i overestimated my expectation after seeing doha’s small but immaculate airport. luxor on the other hand was third world. the new airport was under construction and the present one looked like a gigantic makeshift bedouin tent. i got out of the plane, took a ride on a bus to the airport and was greeted by apprehension. i saw egyptian passengers in long stone-washed like earthen-coloured garbs and cold stares from the custom officers. luckily, there was a tour group from singapore. the group’s egyptian representative signed something on my entry card, said a few words to the custom officer who a minute ago was heckling in arabic at me, and i got through.

i looked for the conveyor belt and saw the same egyptian passengers gathering around it. i did not remember them taking the same flight. i felt a tap and heard a voice. it was a custom officer, telling me to go to the other belt in another area. i found my backpack and shuffled towards the wrong exit. i made a quick decision, which was the right one, by asking using hand gestures and simple english the military policeman for a money changer. he gestured animatedly. i changed to a couple of hundred egyptian pounds and hurried to the correct exit. i smelled the desert air and was confronted by a mob of policemen and soldiers restraining taxi drivers from approaching tourists. bombings by radical groups hurt egypt’s tourism industry. it makes sense to deploy policemen and soldiers at airports, road junctions, main roads, hotels, temples, pyramids, bazaars, schools, universities, banks, and every other conceivable public place. the eye of ra is everywhere.

guidebooks told me to bargain hard, but the initial disorientation caused the taxi driver to get away with more money. US$10 dollars for a 2 km trip. go figure. i checked into a reasonably comfortable hotel and got a great view of the hills from the room. i had dinner and went to the mummification museum. the very well-preserved body of maserhati, a dynasty official, gave me the creeps.

luxor international airport

the new airport was still under construction

he got away with overcharging

journey was too short, so a stop at the petrol
station was a delay tactic

a deli next to the petrol station

the mummy of maserhati

view of the west bank from the balcony

4 dec [ day 2 ]: theban necropolis, valley of the kings and karnak

luxor is a themepark. tourists galore. took a taxi to the west side of the nile river and stopped and stared at the colossi of memnon. these 18-meter high enthroned statues used to front the now non-existent temple. two coaches made their way to the parking bay and tourists overflowed. and that was about eight in the morning. decided to move on and get the tickets to theban necropolis.

besides karnak temple, the gigantic mortuary temple of ramses III was one temple which captivated me, maybe because it is better preserved in its entirety. i was in awe by the grandeur and the details of this temple.

it was at this temple that i came across the infamous unofficial guides. these self-appointed guides hang around the temple sites and will zealously offer their services to tourists in return for some money. their hawkish approach detests many tourists and the word ‘baksheesh’ would cause tourists to grimace in revulsion. apparently, some tourist policemen caught on this fad by moonlighting as guides themselves at a couple of sites instead of doing their job of protecting the tourists' welfare. anyway, this dude stuck like a leech, showed a few rooms, told stories, hummed a supposedly occult note in all-seriousness and eyes closed, and, then, demanded baksheesh. read rolf pott’s account of baksheesh here. hilarious.

woke up to this wonderful view

colossi of memnon

ticket counter to theban necropolis

village at theban necropolis

the vivid details of the reliefs in the mortuary
temple of ramses III

colossi of ramses III

reliefs [winged goddess] on the roof

ramses and his collection of the enemies' penises

restorer doing restoration work outside the temple

beloved guide to the mortuary temple of ramses III

the monuments and temples would not be possible without workers, masons, painters, sculptors and their families. so, next on the tour was deir el-medina, the workers’ village. from this site, many aspects of everyday life were uncovered. for example, the sexual mores then were very different. children were assistants when their parents had sex, for instance.

ramesseum next. ramessuem or mortuary temple of ramses II was one of the temples built by arguably, the greatest megalomaniac pharaoh of them all, ramses II. if you are visiting egypt, do read more about this warrior pharoah. he left his mark at almost every corner of egypt. this temple was not well-preserved though because it was near the nile river and water is not a very good preserving agent.

after the ramesseum, it was time to pay respect to the only female pharaoh, queen hatshepsut at temple of deir el-bahri. set among the towering and massive rock outcrop, its minimalist façade from afar was indeed spectacular. power is masculine and because of that she was depicted wearing the pharoah's kilt and false beard to legitimise her position. silly woman.

with the intention of not having the same fate as the previous pharaohs of the old kingdom who erected such great tombs like the pyramids, the new kingdom pharaohs like ramses II and tutankhamen had their tombs built in seclusion among the theban hills to prevent looting and to preserve their mummies and treasure for eternity. in the valley of the kings, the falcon is flown to heaven and (his successor) is arisen in his place. i realise i do not have any pictures of this site as cameras were prohibited, and many of the tombs were not open to the public, although i was tempted to take some when a caretaker allowed me for baksheesh.

a modern day worker's metal horse

the ancient workers village

hot air ramesseum

ramesseum colonnades in the temple's hypostyle hall

falcon statue and the mortuary temple of hatshepsut

colonnade ruins at hatshepsut

after the temples and monuments in the west bank, it was time to explore the eastside temples. the greatest of all temples, karnak temple was next although at this time, i was almost doused in the petrol flames of temple overdose. it was a temple dedicated to the supreme god of the new kingdom, amun, and was built and added on by a succession of pharaohs, including the great one, ramses II. the massive ground and gigantic colonnades were too overwhelming. karnak temple is big enough to contain ten great cathedrals. mind-blowing stuff.

less mind–blowing was the fact that the taxi driver busted his ancient peugeot. waited for him to repair the fault but ended up having to take another taxi to luxor temple. the peugeot taxis in egypt, i believe, can also be subsumed under the governmental department in-charge of antiquities.

according to marie parsons, luxor temple was the power base of the living divine king, and the foremost national shrine of the king’s cult. whatever. by this time i was on the verge of experiencing temple overdose syndrome. luckily the tour was done at night, so it was not too bad. the temple did look different at night. a very different visual experience. after luxor, went for dinner and back to the hotel for some sleep before the next day. more temples beckoned.

the grand entrance of karnak temple

deified rams cast in stones

the giant colussus of ramses II

row of ramses II colossi

gigantic colonnades in the hypostyle hall

lady was staring at the colonnades for
a good five minutes

the equally huge bases

girl playing with a dog

a modern machine to carry these huge
and heavy stones

tuthmosis obelisk through a wall

shops outside karnak temple

maradona and his antique peugeot

obelisk, colossi of ramses II and pylon

entrance to court of ramses II

the towering colonnades at night

5 dec [ day 3 ]: abydos and dendera

tourists must travel in a convoy to abydos and dendera. coaches, mini-buses, vans and taxis lined up at about eight in the morning to be escorted by the police.

abydos is 150 km north of luxor and where the temple of seti I is located. seti I was the father of ramses II and, lo and behold, it was the latter who completed it. the temple was a political necessity to legitimise the dynasty as seti’s ancestors were mere delta warriors. in this temple, seti elevated himself to the same platform of deities such as osiris, isis, amun and horus. it was also at this temple that the crackpot, dorothy eady, believed that she was the reincarnation of the temple’s mistress and lover of seti. but i must say that the reliefs in this temple were very vivid.

the convoy started at this road

the temple of seti I

camel near the temple's entrance

seti giving offerings on a temple wall

statue heads of i don't know who

inside the hypostyle hall of the temple

relief of seti presenting offerings to horus

seti holding his wood

houses near the temple

two men on a bicycle

next on the menu was the temple of hathor, goddess of love, music and beauty, at dendera, 60 km north of luxor. this temple is a greco-roman creation, built with the same reason as the temple of seti I, which was to provide political legitimacy to their rule. the reliefs here clearly showed the greco-roman fascination with erotic art and busty women. and the musty ammonia smell permeating throughout the temple hurt my nose. and dinner was at mcdonald's. beat that!


temple of hathor's facade

the hypostyle hall of the temple

corridor leading to the rooms upstairs

hathor is busty here

cute eh?

dogs playing in the temple ground

i love mcdonald's

mc'arabia or is it grilled chicken foldover?