Thursday,
31 January 2013
An
ungodly start. We assembled at 5 for the 5.10 pick-up. We were going on a hot
air balloon over Luxor this morning. I wanted to see the Valley of the Kings
(and maybe the Valley of the Queens too if we were lucky) – even from the air
would suffice. We ended up having to wait for a couple of men staying at the
posh Winter Palace Hotel (it was previously the winter palace when Egypt still
had a monarch). We then took a boat across the Nile to the eastern side and
from there, rode another van to the take-off site.
We
took off and flew over the city. We didn’t fly that high (four of us had been
on hot air balloons before, in Turkey) and indeed we saw a few other balloons
flying higher and further than we did. We knew that it was dependent on wind
conditions and the direction of the wind; still we were disappointed that we
were not able to see as much as we thought. Look, the other balloons around
ours and those we rode in Turkey were also subject to the wind but don’t use it
as a convenient excuse. All in all, we rode for only 30 minutes. I know because
yes, I timed it all. We landed in a sugarcane farm (I still thought he was
joking when he told us to get ready to land and was quite surprised when we
really did because it was such a short ride and not at all worth the moolah we
paid).
We
stayed in the balloon basket in the sugarcane farm in the middle of nowhere
until the ground ‘crew’ came to deflate the balloon. We left feeling
dissatisfied and cheated. Back to the ship for breakfast and finish packing for
our cruise had ended.
We
left the ship at 9 and headed for Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el Bahari, a rather
modern-looking temple built into a cliff face and there are three layered
terraces. Most of Hatshepsut’s statues had been destroyed by her stepson
Thutmose III as revenge or resentment towards her reign.
After
Hatshepsut Temple, we stopped at the nearby Morssey Alabaster factory/showroom
for about half an hour before continuing on to Ramesseum, the temple for Ramses
II. The largest statue of the Pharaoh used to be here before it was destroyed
by an earthquake. We spent slightly more than half an hour here. It was quite
windy here.
We
had lunch next and performed prayers at the restaurant. There’s no proper
prayer room so we performed prayers in the open near the staircase.
After
lunch, we drove to Karnak Temple Complex, the largest ancient religious site in
Egypt (it comprises a mix of temples). Now, the complex may be huge but only
the main part is open to the public. You walk along the ram-headed sphinxes
avenue and enter the complex area. One famous thing here is the Hypostyle Hall
with its 134 gigantic columns (no, I didn’t count and would just take Ahmed’s
word for it), the twin obelisks of Hatshepsut (the unfinished obelisk which we
visited previously at Aswan would have been added as the third obelisk had it
not cracked), the sacred lake (dug by Thutmose III) and the monumental scarab
which was built to signify good luck. We spent close to an hour here.
The
last temple we visited today was the Luxor Temple with seated statues of Ramses
and one of the two remaining obelisk (the other is at Place de la Concorde in
Paris) at the entrance. There’s also a mosque (Mosque of Abu Haggag) built on
top of the rubble that accumulated over the centuries above the court of Ramses
II, the colonnade and the Court of Amenhotep. You can still see the faint
traces of the Roman mural on an inner chamber. We spent close to an hour here.
After
that, Ahmed led us to the nearby souk and we spent close to three hours
browsing the souk (with most shopkeepers asking if I was from China, Hong Kong,
Taiwan (that’s a new one!), Japan, Korea, even Singapore), stopping for a cup
of chai when we were knackered while waiting for the van to bring us to dinner.
We even performed prayers at a small mosque at the edge of the souk. After
dinner, we went to the train station for our 2230 train back to Cairo. Fortunately
the train arrived early at 2210 and we boarded and made our way to our
couchettes, eager to rest our weary selves.
Friday,
1 February 2013
We
were scheduled to arrive at Cairo at 0830 but only pulled up at the station
after 11 am! There were delays and the train stopped a few times before
continuing its journey. After getting our luggage, we set off for the Museum of
Egyptian Antiquities aka Egyptian Museum. It’s home to a massive collection of
Egyptian antiquities. Unfortunately, we had to leave our cameras behind so I
couldn’t capture anything (and there were guards in there so I didn’t dare use
my phone either).
We
left at 1330 and drove to the restaurant where we had lunch on the second day.
After lunch, we drove to Imam Shafie Mosque, driving through Imam Souk on the
way. The sellers set up their stalls by the road (some even set theirs in the
road!) and buyers jostled with vehicles like ours. There were used clothes
(denim trousers, jackets, sweaters, t-shirts), carpets, dried fish, fruits and vegetables
on sale. It was a fantastic sight to behold indeed, seeing buyers and sellers
both determined to buy and sell even while submerged in flood water and mud. We
finally reached the mosque after some wrong turns and spent about 15 minutes
there.
We
drove passed another section of the souk, this section selling live animals
instead. There were tortoises, rabbits, pigeons, canaries, fish, even cats and
dogs. After that, we drove to Asfour Crystal showroom and spent considerable
time there. Even I bought a few things! It was after 6 when we left and headed
back to our hotel, stopping en route to buy some nougat and then dinner.
Mohamed
asked us if we still wanted to go to Alexandria the next day. He had overheard
of increased riots in Cairo and feared the riots may spread to Alexandria. The
tour company was prepared to offer us a trip to Saqqara instead but we had
rather set our hearts upon going to Alex so we told him we wanted to stick to a
day trip to Alex.
Saturday,
2 February 2013
We
met up at the lobby at 0730 and set off for Alex, stopping at a rest area en
route. We reached the outskirts of Alex at almost 10 but it took some time to
get into the city proper. Our first stop was Abu Darda Mosque in the middle of
a street. It was closed so we didn’t spend long there. Then we went to a mosque
housing the tombs of Danial (not Nabi Danial) and Luqman al-Hakim. The mosque
is in a dilapidated state. Next, we drove to the Citadel of Qaitbay (or Fort of
Qaitbay), built on and from the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. I was
slightly dismayed that we were not going to enter the citadel but cheered up
when I saw the Mediterranean and the locals enjoying the sea and sun. There
were some anglers there too and cats. Lots of cats! We overstayed here but for
once Mohamed and the driver didn’t seem to mind.
We
left and drove to Morsi Abu El Abbas Mosque, a mosque named after a Sufi saint
who migrated and settled in Alex. Next was lunch (we performed prayers there)
at a fine restaurant where we managed to get WiFi access. Next, we went to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern replacement to the Ancient Library of Alexandria, one of
the largest libraries in the ancient world before it was burnt down by Julius
Caesar. It was an impressive modern building of ten levels (according to
Mohamed) with modern facilities. We spent quite some time here.
The
next stop was Montazah palace and gardens where King Farouk’s palace is (the
last monarch of Egypt). We strolled in the garden near the palace for a brief
while before driving closer to the sea. We left the van and strolled along the
waterfront, enjoying the sun and beautiful scenery. We left after 40 minutes
and drove back to Cairo. Goodbye Alex ;’(
The
driver drove like a lunatic on speed and that together with the horrible road
conditions gave me a headache all the way. I was comforting myself and counting
down time throughout. We stopped at a rest area and I was thankful to escape
the vehicle. But we had to resume our journey so we reluctantly piled back into
the vehicle to endure the remains of the journey.
Dinner
was had at Caviar Restaurant near our hotel.
Sunday,
3 February 2013
It Ain’t Over ‘Til
It’s Over
We
went for a late breakfast, then went to the jewellery shop at the hotel to buy
bracelets for ourselves before returning to our room to finish packing. The
porter came to collect our bags before 1.30 pm and we gathered at the lobby at
1.45 pm for our trip to Dandy Megamall about 7 km away. We stayed until 5.45 pm
and joined the crazy rush hour. It took us double the time to travel back to
the hotel. We reached the hotel at 6.30 pm and Mohamed came just after 7 to bring
us to the airport (well, actually, he bade farewell to us midway; Roben, the
tour company’s airport liaison replaced him then). We suffered another
puke-worthy mad ride to the airport. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, folks.
We
reached the airport in one piece somehow and went in immediately to check in.
Roben told us the airport should be busier than it was (just like the Egyptian
Museum should have been full with visitors) but the riots may have put the
visitors off. Busy or not, our flight must have been full because we were
assigned to rows 50 and 51. Outrageous! Having checked in, we thanked Roben and
parted ways. We decided to go in immediately.
I
was knackered and for the first time ever, slept even before take-off and only
woke up for late dinner. The Thais in front of us seemed capable of talking
non-stop and I drifted in and out of sleep to their drone of conversation.
Monday,
4 February 2013
We
landed at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and transited there before continuing on to KL.
The plane was noticeably emptier and the minute the door closed, I got up and
walked to the front. We landed at KLIA at 5.50 pm and I rushed to the main
building. Our bags didn’t take long to come out as they did in Cairo and I ran
for the train with four minutes to spare and just about made it.
Reached
home at 8 and done with unpacking within half an hour.
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