I am MAROON.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
New Yah!
Bobbing around on a boat on the Red Sea. Big bloody moray eel snorkelling a moment ago (I was snorkelling, not the eel. That would have been more impressive).
Yesterday was day of traditional touristing. We arrived at El Gouna at midday and then defected to the beach. Artificial, very touristy, but pleasant and relaxing. Chef took a shine to me (he was only human, and you can't fight science) and sent me over some wine. This resulted in me insighting the building of a sand-pyramid. This sparked competition, and Pete (engineer) helped me, while Alex build an obelisk, and Ian showed off with an entire pylon with engravings and 2 bloody statutes. Mike raised the bar with a frieze of Ra and Osiris, and talked us through the intricate story. My favourite was Mom's sphinx, it was regal, serene, and had the whole aloofness thing going on. But I was 4 sheets to the wind at this point. No-one took the goading to make me a 134-column hypostyle hall. Slack.
Last night we headed into 'town'. Not a fan of this place as it's soulless, glitzy and all brand new, with tons of super yachts and Ruskies. However, jealousy aside, we had marvellous dinner and I prawn-gluttoned. We had a tuk-tuk race home.
Tonight is plainly NYE, and nearly all of us are doing England proud by dressing up in trad Egyptian garb. This area is frequented by Germans and Russians, predominantly, and tonight the guests of 5 hotels are getting together for the United Nations of NYE partaays. I predict a riot. There's HUGE booze price-hikes going on, and a bottle of wine is cranked up to *gasp* £17. Hangover ahoy-hoy! WWIII.
Home manana. Not pleased about this. Need another ice-cream to cope.
Yesterday was day of traditional touristing. We arrived at El Gouna at midday and then defected to the beach. Artificial, very touristy, but pleasant and relaxing. Chef took a shine to me (he was only human, and you can't fight science) and sent me over some wine. This resulted in me insighting the building of a sand-pyramid. This sparked competition, and Pete (engineer) helped me, while Alex build an obelisk, and Ian showed off with an entire pylon with engravings and 2 bloody statutes. Mike raised the bar with a frieze of Ra and Osiris, and talked us through the intricate story. My favourite was Mom's sphinx, it was regal, serene, and had the whole aloofness thing going on. But I was 4 sheets to the wind at this point. No-one took the goading to make me a 134-column hypostyle hall. Slack.
Last night we headed into 'town'. Not a fan of this place as it's soulless, glitzy and all brand new, with tons of super yachts and Ruskies. However, jealousy aside, we had marvellous dinner and I prawn-gluttoned. We had a tuk-tuk race home.
Tonight is plainly NYE, and nearly all of us are doing England proud by dressing up in trad Egyptian garb. This area is frequented by Germans and Russians, predominantly, and tonight the guests of 5 hotels are getting together for the United Nations of NYE partaays. I predict a riot. There's HUGE booze price-hikes going on, and a bottle of wine is cranked up to *gasp* £17. Hangover ahoy-hoy! WWIII.
Home manana. Not pleased about this. Need another ice-cream to cope.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
So long, farewell...
On route to the Red Sea, travelling alongside a Nile tributary - well - technically an irrigation branch, watching the farms and donkeys and life going on...on the banks of the river Nile.
Yesterday I was up at 6am, and headed back to Karnak temples on a solo mission. Loads of good photo opportunities. I went off the beaten track to a pylon that is being excavated and repaired by workers, and baksheeshed a wiry, shifty looking man in traditional garb who kept on beckoning me towards the big NO ACCESS signs. He shifted a barricade, removed the rope from a sealed door and led me up a se-heriously old staircase and onto the pylon roof. After a reconnaissance mission to check for tourist police, he took me to the edge, which afforded an amazing view over the Karnak site, as well as into an area that is still under excavation. Happy days! He also took me to see some beautiful friezes, and an alabaster baboon statue, all things considered it was £1 well spent. There's a chance that may have half-inched a small piece of 4000 year old pot as a reminder of Karnak. Despite going every day for 3 days in a row, I'll be returning here.
in the evening we took a stroll around the souk, and with Val and Pete by my side I managed to talk a shopkeeper into reducing my New Years Eve gallebaya from 175 Egyptian Pounds to 50. Being a haggler with a conscience, I then paid the guy 60 for it. Weak-willed Atkinson...weak-willed.
GN, Andrew, Pete, Mel, Val, Jane, Alex, Mike and I then rendez-voused at a coffee shop to sit amongst the shisha-smokers doing dragon impressions, and take a break from the constant heckling. Next stop was the famous Luxor Winter Palace hotel for G&Ts before dinner - what a hotel! Absolutely beautiful - Ernest Hemmingway and Agatha Christie were both guests here, and it had the colonial style and high ceilings that instantly made me want to check in. I'll be back here, too, when I'm richer. The G&Ts were nearly a tenner each, so it's not for the faint-hearted.
Andrew had found and booked El Kababgy for dinner, and yet more booze. Very good restaurant skills. Yesterday was a slightly lushy day, as 3 glasses of wine at lunch set the bar quite high for the afternoon and evening. The restaurant had photos of Sarkozy and Carla Bruni desperately trying to get from their Nile boat to the Winter Palace hotel, which plainly involved trying to evade the grasp of El Kababgy's proprietor. Pictures of Mrs Sarkozy shielding her beautiful face in a "no photos!" manner while running the gauntlet of the hassle was a bizarre endorsement/advertisement. Despite this it was a splendid evening, and I shall even put El Kababgy on my 'Return To' list. Obeliske wine was much better tonight, though I still prefer Omar Khayyam.
I'm watching pied kingfishers skimming the glassy surface of the river next to me, the reflections are mirror-like in their clarity. It's peaceful and serene. It'll be sad when we turn towards the coast and away from the Nile. Next stop: Red Sea!
Yesterday I was up at 6am, and headed back to Karnak temples on a solo mission. Loads of good photo opportunities. I went off the beaten track to a pylon that is being excavated and repaired by workers, and baksheeshed a wiry, shifty looking man in traditional garb who kept on beckoning me towards the big NO ACCESS signs. He shifted a barricade, removed the rope from a sealed door and led me up a se-heriously old staircase and onto the pylon roof. After a reconnaissance mission to check for tourist police, he took me to the edge, which afforded an amazing view over the Karnak site, as well as into an area that is still under excavation. Happy days! He also took me to see some beautiful friezes, and an alabaster baboon statue, all things considered it was £1 well spent. There's a chance that may have half-inched a small piece of 4000 year old pot as a reminder of Karnak. Despite going every day for 3 days in a row, I'll be returning here.
in the evening we took a stroll around the souk, and with Val and Pete by my side I managed to talk a shopkeeper into reducing my New Years Eve gallebaya from 175 Egyptian Pounds to 50. Being a haggler with a conscience, I then paid the guy 60 for it. Weak-willed Atkinson...weak-willed.
GN, Andrew, Pete, Mel, Val, Jane, Alex, Mike and I then rendez-voused at a coffee shop to sit amongst the shisha-smokers doing dragon impressions, and take a break from the constant heckling. Next stop was the famous Luxor Winter Palace hotel for G&Ts before dinner - what a hotel! Absolutely beautiful - Ernest Hemmingway and Agatha Christie were both guests here, and it had the colonial style and high ceilings that instantly made me want to check in. I'll be back here, too, when I'm richer. The G&Ts were nearly a tenner each, so it's not for the faint-hearted.
Andrew had found and booked El Kababgy for dinner, and yet more booze. Very good restaurant skills. Yesterday was a slightly lushy day, as 3 glasses of wine at lunch set the bar quite high for the afternoon and evening. The restaurant had photos of Sarkozy and Carla Bruni desperately trying to get from their Nile boat to the Winter Palace hotel, which plainly involved trying to evade the grasp of El Kababgy's proprietor. Pictures of Mrs Sarkozy shielding her beautiful face in a "no photos!" manner while running the gauntlet of the hassle was a bizarre endorsement/advertisement. Despite this it was a splendid evening, and I shall even put El Kababgy on my 'Return To' list. Obeliske wine was much better tonight, though I still prefer Omar Khayyam.
I'm watching pied kingfishers skimming the glassy surface of the river next to me, the reflections are mirror-like in their clarity. It's peaceful and serene. It'll be sad when we turn towards the coast and away from the Nile. Next stop: Red Sea!
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Just another manic Monday...
(Bonus points for those that spot my 80s band links).
So so so, up at 5.30am to take hot air balloon from Luxor to Valley of the Kings. It was v v v good - highlights being flying really low over people's houses (no doubt really p-ing them off) and really seeing how they live (notso hotso). We did a very close pass by Hatshepsut's temple which must have been breath-taking in its day. She was the first Queen to pronounce herself King of Egypt - and sported a fake beard accordingly. She also got involved in some kind of marrying-her-father fandango in a DREAM (after telling her subjects that her father was a god), which resulted in her instantly becoming a god, too. What THE HELLA were the general populous of Egypt on? 1800-GULLIBLE. I would have made a splendid Queen. "And there shall be chocolate and beautiful handbags for all".
After returning to earth (with singe-d hair), we explored the Valley of the Kings on foot - I was wearing my hat and humming the theme tune for 4 hours straight. The tomb of Ramses IX and Tuthmosis III were unbelievable. I even did a comedy intake of breath when entering the cartouche-shaped burial chamber in the Tuthmosis tomb, as the colours and frescos were stunning. Vivid, symmetrical.
Came back to home-tel and did a bad thing: lunch was cheese'n'onion crisps and a bar of chocolate: BAD KATE! Then, even more shamefully, I may have napped.
Tonight GN and I hung out with Mel and Pete at the Karnak temples cheesey, touristy Sound and Light show. Mel's infectious enthusiasm made this top fun, and I was most impressed when she took revenge on group of incredibly obnoxious Italians (who were inches away from stubbing out their fags on 5000 year old sphinxes) by deliberately camera-flashing into their faces in a very dark area. Ok, so it sounds trivial and petty now, but I actually didn't stop laughing for about 10 mins watching Italian man clutching at his face, moaning "my eyes!". Nice!
Went for fud at seafood place SANS booze. Made taxi-driver stop and buy me wine, and others beer. This resulted in table being moved from nice part of restaurant into dark corner, safely hiding us from Muslim clientele. I nearly required medical assistance after biting in a committed and enthusiastic manner into what I thought was a mild green peppery thing, only to discover the heat of Hades itself resounding from my tongue and roof of mouth through my body, manifesting in sweats, running nose, eyes, etc, while playing ye olde game of "no, no, I"m fine, it's not that hot". I've seldom had to use scalding hot curried lentil soup to douse the flames before. Cannot feel upper-half of own body now.
(Previous was slight exaggeration).
Wine here is NOT good. They have one called "Obelisk" which is made from imported French grape juice, which they 'turn' into wine. I think that involves just tipping in tons of medical-grade pure alcohol, mainly because that's exactly what it tastes like. Another is Omar Kha-something. It's better, but that still doesn't fall into the realm of a compliment. Gagging for an icy Sancerre.
In bed. Tireeeed. Tomorrow is 6-bloody-a-m wakeup call. Everyone else is going the the Valley of the Workers and Artists to see their tombs. I'm going back to Karnak - 3rd day in a row - in order to capture sunrise over 1500 years of history, all of which happened BC.
bonnes noches
So so so, up at 5.30am to take hot air balloon from Luxor to Valley of the Kings. It was v v v good - highlights being flying really low over people's houses (no doubt really p-ing them off) and really seeing how they live (notso hotso). We did a very close pass by Hatshepsut's temple which must have been breath-taking in its day. She was the first Queen to pronounce herself King of Egypt - and sported a fake beard accordingly. She also got involved in some kind of marrying-her-father fandango in a DREAM (after telling her subjects that her father was a god), which resulted in her instantly becoming a god, too. What THE HELLA were the general populous of Egypt on? 1800-GULLIBLE. I would have made a splendid Queen. "And there shall be chocolate and beautiful handbags for all".
After returning to earth (with singe-d hair), we explored the Valley of the Kings on foot - I was wearing my hat and humming the theme tune for 4 hours straight. The tomb of Ramses IX and Tuthmosis III were unbelievable. I even did a comedy intake of breath when entering the cartouche-shaped burial chamber in the Tuthmosis tomb, as the colours and frescos were stunning. Vivid, symmetrical.
Came back to home-tel and did a bad thing: lunch was cheese'n'onion crisps and a bar of chocolate: BAD KATE! Then, even more shamefully, I may have napped.
Tonight GN and I hung out with Mel and Pete at the Karnak temples cheesey, touristy Sound and Light show. Mel's infectious enthusiasm made this top fun, and I was most impressed when she took revenge on group of incredibly obnoxious Italians (who were inches away from stubbing out their fags on 5000 year old sphinxes) by deliberately camera-flashing into their faces in a very dark area. Ok, so it sounds trivial and petty now, but I actually didn't stop laughing for about 10 mins watching Italian man clutching at his face, moaning "my eyes!". Nice!
Went for fud at seafood place SANS booze. Made taxi-driver stop and buy me wine, and others beer. This resulted in table being moved from nice part of restaurant into dark corner, safely hiding us from Muslim clientele. I nearly required medical assistance after biting in a committed and enthusiastic manner into what I thought was a mild green peppery thing, only to discover the heat of Hades itself resounding from my tongue and roof of mouth through my body, manifesting in sweats, running nose, eyes, etc, while playing ye olde game of "no, no, I"m fine, it's not that hot". I've seldom had to use scalding hot curried lentil soup to douse the flames before. Cannot feel upper-half of own body now.
(Previous was slight exaggeration).
Wine here is NOT good. They have one called "Obelisk" which is made from imported French grape juice, which they 'turn' into wine. I think that involves just tipping in tons of medical-grade pure alcohol, mainly because that's exactly what it tastes like. Another is Omar Kha-something. It's better, but that still doesn't fall into the realm of a compliment. Gagging for an icy Sancerre.
In bed. Tireeeed. Tomorrow is 6-bloody-a-m wakeup call. Everyone else is going the the Valley of the Workers and Artists to see their tombs. I'm going back to Karnak - 3rd day in a row - in order to capture sunrise over 1500 years of history, all of which happened BC.
bonnes noches
Monday, 28 December 2009
Hey lady! You! Blonde-lady! Where you from? England? Lubberlley Jubberleeey!
Egypt is heckle-ville. Aswan had special "no hassle" shops, which resulted in the disturbing situation of walking down the main bazaar street being crowded and pestered incessantly by people promising emphatically not to hassle you under any circumstance. Hmmm. My 1000-yard stare is coming on...well, miles.
All templed out with nowhere left to run
After larding up at lunch (veal'n' creme caramel) we headed out. Karnak temple(s). In a word: wow. Karnak temple(s) was built over 1500 years, and is a consortium/amalgamation of tons'o'gods AND pharaohs. Hence it's really one BIG site (2km square) with tons of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks. The hypostyle hall houses 130+ mahussive and intricately engraved columns - I cannot do it any justice - but it's like standing in a forest of them, coated in hyroglyphs and endless intricate decoration. In the words of Amelia Edwards, the 19th century writer and artist:
"It is a place that has been much written about and often painted; but of which no writing and no art can convey more than a dwarfed and pallid impression... The scale is too vast; the effect too tremendous; the sense of one's own dumbness, and littleness, and incapacity, too complete and crushing."
Let's gloss over the world's biggest inferiority complex, and penchant for the 3rd person and semi-colon. What she was trying to say was deffo that you gotta see it to believe it. 3 hours was not long enough, and the afternoon light wasn't picture-perfect, so I'm ducking out of a team excursion day-after-tomoz to go back and give it all another going-over, and snippy-snapping with camera. On the Official Kate-scale of Egypt Ratings, this gets position number 2 to Zoser's stepped pyramid.
After this mind-blowingness, we headed to Luxor temple, where the sponge of my mind was already at temple-saturation-point. I will attempt to sum up Luxor temple in one word, for the sake of brevity after my Karnak waxings. That word shall be: "meh".
Back on the boatington, and I'm not dressing for dinner as am too tired and dusty, and needing a glass of *gak* Obelisk wine. It's p-utrid, but my hands are tied here, people. Needs must. Etc.
Tomorrow morning is a 5.30am start, to jump on a balloon to fly from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings. Transport in Egypt thus far: plane, train, automobile, bus, cab-from-hell, and balloon. Have passed up malnourished-horse, skanky-donkey and bitey-looking-camel. What's left?
Very happy and chipper.
Over and oot.
"It is a place that has been much written about and often painted; but of which no writing and no art can convey more than a dwarfed and pallid impression... The scale is too vast; the effect too tremendous; the sense of one's own dumbness, and littleness, and incapacity, too complete and crushing."
Let's gloss over the world's biggest inferiority complex, and penchant for the 3rd person and semi-colon. What she was trying to say was deffo that you gotta see it to believe it. 3 hours was not long enough, and the afternoon light wasn't picture-perfect, so I'm ducking out of a team excursion day-after-tomoz to go back and give it all another going-over, and snippy-snapping with camera. On the Official Kate-scale of Egypt Ratings, this gets position number 2 to Zoser's stepped pyramid.
After this mind-blowingness, we headed to Luxor temple, where the sponge of my mind was already at temple-saturation-point. I will attempt to sum up Luxor temple in one word, for the sake of brevity after my Karnak waxings. That word shall be: "meh".
Back on the boatington, and I'm not dressing for dinner as am too tired and dusty, and needing a glass of *gak* Obelisk wine. It's p-utrid, but my hands are tied here, people. Needs must. Etc.
Tomorrow morning is a 5.30am start, to jump on a balloon to fly from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings. Transport in Egypt thus far: plane, train, automobile, bus, cab-from-hell, and balloon. Have passed up malnourished-horse, skanky-donkey and bitey-looking-camel. What's left?
Very happy and chipper.
Over and oot.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Boxing Day in Denial
Today was Greek Day. I plainly don't mean souvlaki, ouzo, plate-smashing and dolmades, though that holds it's own appeal. We visited 2 Greek temples - Kom Ombo before lunch, and then Edfu after the sun sunk.
Kom Ombo appealed to me a LOT, as it was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. He looked suspiciously like Schnappi, but less cute, and more bitey. They found a wodge of mummified crocodiles and in their endless entrepreneurial ways have built a crocodile museum to show them off, which we didn't visit, unfortunately. They mummified vast quantities of ibis birds for someone else's tomb (recall: low) - literally 100s of thousands - THAT must have been quite a find for Indiana Jones. In The Mind of Kate, the finder of all things is Indy. Sorry Mr Carter, but Dr Jones gets the credit.
Back on the boat, I went to do more Ronsealing of myself, only to discover that my mother was MIA. I went to look for her, only to hear enthusiastic and familiar laughter emanating from the tiny ship's clothes shop. I peeked in to see her dressed in a galabiyya (technically a man's full-length robe) with an equally as enthusiastic egyptian draping a scarf fringed with tinkling gold disks around her head and waist. She looked as guilty as if I'd found her opening her Xmas presents early. I logic-ed her out of the robe and back into the sunshine. When would she ever wear it? 125 Egyptian pounds? Shapeless mass of a dress? We were having an Egyptian soiree later, but STILL!
At 6pm-ish we moored at Edfu, and avoided the skeletal-and manged-horse-drawn-carriages and jumped into a stable-smelling minibus to Edfu temple: also Greek-styley. It was built around 200 BC, but in the style of 2000 years earlier, and built in the honour of Horus, the falcon-headed God, son of Osiris. It was b-looody impressive. Again, the priests had taken exception to loads of things and scratched them out, so there were tons of yeti-like characters. Ahmed, our guide, again felt the need to go off-piste in his lectures, and explained Hyroglyphs for the n-th time, while all stood and listened patiently despite being ITCHING to explore in peace and quiet. Seeing a temple in the dark - though impossible to photograph without a tripod - is a very different experience. Again I spent my time humming the Raiders of the Lost Ark muzak and pretending to have a whip. Nice!
Back on boat for fud, and they'd snuck wheat into something so I was Man Down and skipped the Egyptian soiree in favour of a cracking headache. Mom went along, and returned at around 11pmish, sticking only her head around the bedroom door. Instantly suspicious. When the rest of her rounded the corner, it was swathed in a navy blue, embroidered galabiyya. Can I not leave this woman unattended for one minute without her frittering away my inheritance?! DisGRACE! She looked fabulous and I have instant galabiyya-envy, as now out of out 20 of us, only 3 have not succumbed. There's a pact for everyone to wear theirs on New Year's Eve, so guess who is going shopping later...
Today is the 27th, and thus far has been spent snoozing in the sun, moored at Luxor. We sailed through Esna Lock last night, with tannoy announcements, crashing into other boats and the lock not working...all of which I slept through.
Thanks for emails, and also the odd comment - which of the anonymous commenters told me that my new perfume was Smell'o'Dead People? Thaaaaanks for that!
Musty focus on generating my melanoma. Also, must not lie next to Dr Andrew when sun-bathing.
X
Kom Ombo appealed to me a LOT, as it was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. He looked suspiciously like Schnappi, but less cute, and more bitey. They found a wodge of mummified crocodiles and in their endless entrepreneurial ways have built a crocodile museum to show them off, which we didn't visit, unfortunately. They mummified vast quantities of ibis birds for someone else's tomb (recall: low) - literally 100s of thousands - THAT must have been quite a find for Indiana Jones. In The Mind of Kate, the finder of all things is Indy. Sorry Mr Carter, but Dr Jones gets the credit.
Back on the boat, I went to do more Ronsealing of myself, only to discover that my mother was MIA. I went to look for her, only to hear enthusiastic and familiar laughter emanating from the tiny ship's clothes shop. I peeked in to see her dressed in a galabiyya (technically a man's full-length robe) with an equally as enthusiastic egyptian draping a scarf fringed with tinkling gold disks around her head and waist. She looked as guilty as if I'd found her opening her Xmas presents early. I logic-ed her out of the robe and back into the sunshine. When would she ever wear it? 125 Egyptian pounds? Shapeless mass of a dress? We were having an Egyptian soiree later, but STILL!
At 6pm-ish we moored at Edfu, and avoided the skeletal-and manged-horse-drawn-carriages and jumped into a stable-smelling minibus to Edfu temple: also Greek-styley. It was built around 200 BC, but in the style of 2000 years earlier, and built in the honour of Horus, the falcon-headed God, son of Osiris. It was b-looody impressive. Again, the priests had taken exception to loads of things and scratched them out, so there were tons of yeti-like characters. Ahmed, our guide, again felt the need to go off-piste in his lectures, and explained Hyroglyphs for the n-th time, while all stood and listened patiently despite being ITCHING to explore in peace and quiet. Seeing a temple in the dark - though impossible to photograph without a tripod - is a very different experience. Again I spent my time humming the Raiders of the Lost Ark muzak and pretending to have a whip. Nice!
Back on boat for fud, and they'd snuck wheat into something so I was Man Down and skipped the Egyptian soiree in favour of a cracking headache. Mom went along, and returned at around 11pmish, sticking only her head around the bedroom door. Instantly suspicious. When the rest of her rounded the corner, it was swathed in a navy blue, embroidered galabiyya. Can I not leave this woman unattended for one minute without her frittering away my inheritance?! DisGRACE! She looked fabulous and I have instant galabiyya-envy, as now out of out 20 of us, only 3 have not succumbed. There's a pact for everyone to wear theirs on New Year's Eve, so guess who is going shopping later...
Today is the 27th, and thus far has been spent snoozing in the sun, moored at Luxor. We sailed through Esna Lock last night, with tannoy announcements, crashing into other boats and the lock not working...all of which I slept through.
Thanks for emails, and also the odd comment - which of the anonymous commenters told me that my new perfume was Smell'o'Dead People? Thaaaaanks for that!
Musty focus on generating my melanoma. Also, must not lie next to Dr Andrew when sun-bathing.
X
Friday, 25 December 2009
Christmas sur Nile
Happy Christmas! Well, well, well, life isn't too shabby today. I'm sitting on the top deck of the boat, drinking G+T, watching the feluccas have an impromptu regatta on the Nile. It doesn't feel like Christmas day, but damnit these heathens have it good!
Last few days have been a blur of Egyptyness. Aswan is famous for it's pinkish granite, so yesterday we visited a quarry. These Pharaoh-people didn't do much by halves. For example, the red pyramid (in Cairo, about a zillion miles from here) is made from Aswan granite. Talk about making life hard for yourself. When a Pharaoh wanted to get a whopping great obelisk created as a testament to why they should be allowed into the afterlife: Aswan granite. Now these big obelisks literally weigh up to 1000 tons and needed to be ported all the way up the Nile. Queen Hatshepsut decided she wanted an uber-obelisk, so set loads of minions to work bashing one out of the quarry. So far, I'm liking her work. They get it 75% carved - and I'm guessing 6 months of mincing around has gone into thus - and disaster strikes: crack. So it was left abandoned in the quarry. Given this this is the length of a jumbo (jet, not elephant!), it's quite something. It's also a very pretty shade. I could see it blending in beautifully in Dollywood.
We took a motorboat over to see Philae temple (that's pronounced "fillaaaaay", like how Americans order fillet steak) which again was v interesting. The Egyptians have been quite fickle with their gods, so as fashions change the uncool gods got scratched off temple-wall carvings. Philae temple was used as a Coptic (Christian) church, and some of the gods have been chiselled at so much they literally look like yeti! I was most amused at all the abominable snowmen and bigfoots. To get to the island we had to go past the British Dam, which - oddly enough - was built by (you got it) the British at the close of the 19th century. My great-great-etc-relative came over to work as a civil engineer on this project and then continued down to a life in South Africa, so I got to see a chunk of my history.
I got waylaid in a perfume shop, spent a bloody fortune on pure perfume oils - Ahmed plainly has a load of relatives that need supporting. I fell for Rose, Lotus, Lily of the Valley (obviously) and Myrrh. Please comment on my gentle veil of soft aroma next time you see me. Unless I'm having a myrrh-day, in which case you can make derogatory remarks re: Old Spice.
Today I was unceremoniously summoned my a tonal rendition of s0dding Greensleeves at 2.30am. I am not a fan of the early start but we had a 3 hour trip to Abu Simbel to commence at 3am. Ramses II knocked this temple up as a propaganda exercise to convince his subjects that he wasn't JUST pharaoh/king - he was god. Proper-god. P-retty impressive stuff. His favourite wife Nefertari (maybe, I'm almost finished the G+T now) had a temple next door which I think I preferred. Her favourite goddess had the face and body of a woman, and the ears of a cow. It's a sight to behold. Like some weird Scifi mutant. Cannot remember cow-woman-god's name.
GN trashed just about every rule in the world and bought me my Xmas present on Xmas day. 5 of us broke ranks and went to a jewellery store, and she bought me a tiny lapiz, turqoise and coral scarrab beetle with a miniture ankh on the underside - the very first charm for my new bracelet and believe it or not it's very pretty.
Sun is starting to set, and G+T is running low. Tomorrow we set sail.
X
Last few days have been a blur of Egyptyness. Aswan is famous for it's pinkish granite, so yesterday we visited a quarry. These Pharaoh-people didn't do much by halves. For example, the red pyramid (in Cairo, about a zillion miles from here) is made from Aswan granite. Talk about making life hard for yourself. When a Pharaoh wanted to get a whopping great obelisk created as a testament to why they should be allowed into the afterlife: Aswan granite. Now these big obelisks literally weigh up to 1000 tons and needed to be ported all the way up the Nile. Queen Hatshepsut decided she wanted an uber-obelisk, so set loads of minions to work bashing one out of the quarry. So far, I'm liking her work. They get it 75% carved - and I'm guessing 6 months of mincing around has gone into thus - and disaster strikes: crack. So it was left abandoned in the quarry. Given this this is the length of a jumbo (jet, not elephant!), it's quite something. It's also a very pretty shade. I could see it blending in beautifully in Dollywood.
We took a motorboat over to see Philae temple (that's pronounced "fillaaaaay", like how Americans order fillet steak) which again was v interesting. The Egyptians have been quite fickle with their gods, so as fashions change the uncool gods got scratched off temple-wall carvings. Philae temple was used as a Coptic (Christian) church, and some of the gods have been chiselled at so much they literally look like yeti! I was most amused at all the abominable snowmen and bigfoots. To get to the island we had to go past the British Dam, which - oddly enough - was built by (you got it) the British at the close of the 19th century. My great-great-etc-relative came over to work as a civil engineer on this project and then continued down to a life in South Africa, so I got to see a chunk of my history.
I got waylaid in a perfume shop, spent a bloody fortune on pure perfume oils - Ahmed plainly has a load of relatives that need supporting. I fell for Rose, Lotus, Lily of the Valley (obviously) and Myrrh. Please comment on my gentle veil of soft aroma next time you see me. Unless I'm having a myrrh-day, in which case you can make derogatory remarks re: Old Spice.
Today I was unceremoniously summoned my a tonal rendition of s0dding Greensleeves at 2.30am. I am not a fan of the early start but we had a 3 hour trip to Abu Simbel to commence at 3am. Ramses II knocked this temple up as a propaganda exercise to convince his subjects that he wasn't JUST pharaoh/king - he was god. Proper-god. P-retty impressive stuff. His favourite wife Nefertari (maybe, I'm almost finished the G+T now) had a temple next door which I think I preferred. Her favourite goddess had the face and body of a woman, and the ears of a cow. It's a sight to behold. Like some weird Scifi mutant. Cannot remember cow-woman-god's name.
GN trashed just about every rule in the world and bought me my Xmas present on Xmas day. 5 of us broke ranks and went to a jewellery store, and she bought me a tiny lapiz, turqoise and coral scarrab beetle with a miniture ankh on the underside - the very first charm for my new bracelet and believe it or not it's very pretty.
Sun is starting to set, and G+T is running low. Tomorrow we set sail.
X
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Notso hotso...
So I'm tucked up in bed and have been for a few hours as feeling decidedly ropey. The rest of the posse are at a Nubian restaurant having f-u-n without me, and I'm incredibly unamused to be missing the carousing. Spellcheck wanted to change that to "arousing", which I shall also be devastated not to participate in.
Yesterday was a very acceptable day. I am officially a big fan of the Step pyramid of Sakkhara (Saqqara) so was v excited by it IRL. King Zoser started the whole pyramid fandango with this puppy. In the olden days (ie: even OLDER than 3000BC, Pharaohs were buried in a tomb in the ground (all mummified etc) and a big bench thing was built on top. By bench I mean rectangloid. Err like a brick. A big, big lego-brick thing, made of loads of chunks of limestone, called mastabas. Anyhoo, Zoser had his mastaba built to be bigger than all others (men!), and then decided, huh: I can top that, let's shove a slightly littler mastaba on top. So now it's starting to resemble the aftermath of my kitchen after I've had curry delivered. Box on a box. Then Zoser tells his architect (Imhotep) "I mustaba nuther" (i'm ad-libbing, cut me some slack) and gets a few more layers put on, totalling 6/7. So there it is! Something that looks like a 6-tier rectangular wedding cake, sans columns. It's really, really striking and beautiful, and has been the highlight of my Egypt thus far. So - then Zoser kicks the bucket, his son tries to out-do him a couple of times (the not-so-famous "fell down into pile'o'rubbish" pyramid, and the more famous "bent" pyramid, and then things start chugging along nicely.
We took a trip inside 2 pyramids, and all I have to say is this :stiiiiiinnnky. And eerie. Now I'm not ordinarily one for bad ju-ju, however the entire purpose of the place is to preserve the body (and therefore soul) of the pharaoh until the day of judgement. So we're tramping (some more than others) around this most sacred of places, whining about how much it hones, peering into robbed sarcophaguses (sp?), and arguing with Italian tourists about how the hieroglyphs scattering the ceiling resemble starfish more than stars. Well, they DID! I found some totally empty chambers to reflect, immerse myself, and generally stare in slack-jawed and dumbass-looking awe, and felt...unwanted. Like I wasn't welcome to hang out and be all touristy and mentally wax lyrical as I was standing in a defiled tomb, looking at evidence of robbed graves, celebrating in the evidence that this soul won't make it to the afterlife. If we fast forward 5000 years, if someone was poking around in my family tomb (errr if I had one) and if I believed fervently that my physical body in life was my vessel for the afterlife, I'd be MAJOR-league cheesed.
Then went to the usual Giza plateau and stared at the big 2 and the sphinx. Meh. Step-pyramid wins any day.
We boarded the sleeper train from Giza to Aswan, and after splitting a bottle of 'wine' with Normski, I hit the hay with a vengeance. Egyptian sleeper trains: rocking. IAGW.
Arrived in Aswan, boarded felucca and cruised around checking out Nubian bits'n'pieces - botanical gardens, Elephantine island generally got the feel of Aswan etc. That all ended abruptly with me feeling hideous, and therefore should explain this uninspired and lacklustre piece of blog. I shall be back on form tomorrow (please please please) and might have to actually mention my travelling companions, or better still S0DDING Ahmed, our Egyptologist guide who, if that wasn't clear, I'm not McLovin'.
Here's hoping GN doesn't roll in at midnight, tanked to the gills, or I'm totally doing the "what-time-do-you-call-THIS-young-lady" routine.
Slaters.
Yesterday was a very acceptable day. I am officially a big fan of the Step pyramid of Sakkhara (Saqqara) so was v excited by it IRL. King Zoser started the whole pyramid fandango with this puppy. In the olden days (ie: even OLDER than 3000BC, Pharaohs were buried in a tomb in the ground (all mummified etc) and a big bench thing was built on top. By bench I mean rectangloid. Err like a brick. A big, big lego-brick thing, made of loads of chunks of limestone, called mastabas. Anyhoo, Zoser had his mastaba built to be bigger than all others (men!), and then decided, huh: I can top that, let's shove a slightly littler mastaba on top. So now it's starting to resemble the aftermath of my kitchen after I've had curry delivered. Box on a box. Then Zoser tells his architect (Imhotep) "I mustaba nuther" (i'm ad-libbing, cut me some slack) and gets a few more layers put on, totalling 6/7. So there it is! Something that looks like a 6-tier rectangular wedding cake, sans columns. It's really, really striking and beautiful, and has been the highlight of my Egypt thus far. So - then Zoser kicks the bucket, his son tries to out-do him a couple of times (the not-so-famous "fell down into pile'o'rubbish" pyramid, and the more famous "bent" pyramid, and then things start chugging along nicely.
We took a trip inside 2 pyramids, and all I have to say is this :stiiiiiinnnky. And eerie. Now I'm not ordinarily one for bad ju-ju, however the entire purpose of the place is to preserve the body (and therefore soul) of the pharaoh until the day of judgement. So we're tramping (some more than others) around this most sacred of places, whining about how much it hones, peering into robbed sarcophaguses (sp?), and arguing with Italian tourists about how the hieroglyphs scattering the ceiling resemble starfish more than stars. Well, they DID! I found some totally empty chambers to reflect, immerse myself, and generally stare in slack-jawed and dumbass-looking awe, and felt...unwanted. Like I wasn't welcome to hang out and be all touristy and mentally wax lyrical as I was standing in a defiled tomb, looking at evidence of robbed graves, celebrating in the evidence that this soul won't make it to the afterlife. If we fast forward 5000 years, if someone was poking around in my family tomb (errr if I had one) and if I believed fervently that my physical body in life was my vessel for the afterlife, I'd be MAJOR-league cheesed.
Then went to the usual Giza plateau and stared at the big 2 and the sphinx. Meh. Step-pyramid wins any day.
We boarded the sleeper train from Giza to Aswan, and after splitting a bottle of 'wine' with Normski, I hit the hay with a vengeance. Egyptian sleeper trains: rocking. IAGW.
Arrived in Aswan, boarded felucca and cruised around checking out Nubian bits'n'pieces - botanical gardens, Elephantine island generally got the feel of Aswan etc. That all ended abruptly with me feeling hideous, and therefore should explain this uninspired and lacklustre piece of blog. I shall be back on form tomorrow (please please please) and might have to actually mention my travelling companions, or better still S0DDING Ahmed, our Egyptologist guide who, if that wasn't clear, I'm not McLovin'.
Here's hoping GN doesn't roll in at midnight, tanked to the gills, or I'm totally doing the "what-time-do-you-call-THIS-young-lady" routine.
Slaters.
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Float like a butterfly
Wotcha. Went to visit Mohammed Ali's mosque today. It's not knockout. Blue Mosque in Istanbul has it on the canvas etc. Then went for heckling at the bazaars (khan-el-khalilli) and it was amateur hour. On the scale of 1 to harangued, I wouldn't give them more than a 2.83. Now the Equator: that's where to go to get a Force 9 Badgering. I wasn't even hassled into an inlaid jewellery box, a camel, a fez OR a belly-dancing costume.
Rest of group are acceptable: low-to-no freak count thus far, but technically it's Day One - we have a couple more days til the old cabin fever Big Brother syndrome starts in earnest. Lots of people here are proper intrepid world-seer types, there's lots of Arctic and Kazakhstan and white water and Malawi talk going on.
Went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo this afternoon. P-retty awesome, though guide (Ahmed) was being most annoying and talked non bloody stop. He is flexible with his facts - not something I look for in an Egyptologist. Crappy museum, awesome contents. I coveted.
Tomorrow brings pyramids. Stepped, bent, red, Khufu, Khafre, and Ye Olde Sphinx. Quite excited about this as it's an opportunity to wear my Indiana Jones hat (made of gemsbok no less). Da-da-dah-DAH, da-da-dah etc.
Rest of group are acceptable: low-to-no freak count thus far, but technically it's Day One - we have a couple more days til the old cabin fever Big Brother syndrome starts in earnest. Lots of people here are proper intrepid world-seer types, there's lots of Arctic and Kazakhstan and white water and Malawi talk going on.
Went to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo this afternoon. P-retty awesome, though guide (Ahmed) was being most annoying and talked non bloody stop. He is flexible with his facts - not something I look for in an Egyptologist. Crappy museum, awesome contents. I coveted.
Tomorrow brings pyramids. Stepped, bent, red, Khufu, Khafre, and Ye Olde Sphinx. Quite excited about this as it's an opportunity to wear my Indiana Jones hat (made of gemsbok no less). Da-da-dah-DAH, da-da-dah etc.
Monday, 21 December 2009
In De Nile
Arrived unscathed. Work have RUINED me for economy class travel. Egyptian-time appears to run at 2-3 times longer than regular time (4 times Kate-time), good thing I have the patience of a saint. Bad thing that saint is Our Lady Of Immensely Short Fuse.
So. Egypt eh? Tomorrow features pyramids. And a shopping experience which I'm told will blow me away. They sell sponge cake, maraschino cherries, custard, brandy and whipped cream. All thing considered, it's a trifle bazaar. Ugh. Excuse me, I'm v tired.
Actually, I lie, tomorrow is Egyptian Museum - v famous. The day afterwards is Pyramids. Stellar.
Any Egypt recommendations, ping them over. As we say in Cairo..."Goodnight".
So. Egypt eh? Tomorrow features pyramids. And a shopping experience which I'm told will blow me away. They sell sponge cake, maraschino cherries, custard, brandy and whipped cream. All thing considered, it's a trifle bazaar. Ugh. Excuse me, I'm v tired.
Actually, I lie, tomorrow is Egyptian Museum - v famous. The day afterwards is Pyramids. Stellar.
Any Egypt recommendations, ping them over. As we say in Cairo..."Goodnight".
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
