Our time in Aswan has ended, after a peaceful nights sleep, it’s time to take the train to Luxor where another adventure awaits us. In the early morning hours we again drug our luggage through the sand of Elephantine island on our way to the ferry We glided across the water and scrambled through the city streets to the train station in order to catch a 7:30 train.
We really debated if we should take the train for $10 for both of us or hire a car and guide for $130. The benefit of the car and guide is seeing the other two Egyptian sites of Edfu and Kom Ombo. We ultimately decide to skip the other two sites since we are becoming “monument wary”, the condition you get when you have seen too many archeological sites. Plus we had been advised to save ourselves for Luxor since there were more sites to see there. This is what we decided to do and boarded our train.
The train wasn’t without incident because we were alone with all Egyptian people and we didn’t see another foreigner on our train. This made Jeff worry that he was not on the right train. The train was very old and dirty and we felt a little uncomfortable with the situation. He asked several train employees if it was all right and they all assured him it was. We hadn’t even bought a ticket because the man at the ticket booth told us to just get on the train. Finally we asked a nicely dressed Egyptian man if it was right and he assured us we were going to Luxor.
After sitting in our seat for a few minutes we were asked to move because it was assigned seats and we were in the wrong seats, so we got up, moved our suitcases and paraphernalia and settled in new seats begrudgingly. After 10 more minutes we were asked to move again! Jeff is really starting to get peeved, he’s wondering why everyone has a ticket but us! Finally after much Egyptian discussion among the passengers and the nicely dressed young man we were sold our tickets (only $10 total) and we were being moved to first class. So we start to move as the train was moving, dragging our luggage from one train car to the next, past rows and rows of Egyptians looking sideways at us. We must have struggled through 5 cars and 5 sets of doors and that weird section where the train cars connect and the ground shifts beneath your feet at you struggle to get your luggage through another set of doors.
Finally we arrive at first class, it doesn’t look much better but we have at least found all of the other foreigners! So we settle into our seats for our three hour train ride from Aswan to Luxor following the Nile. The Nile keeps everything green and we see sugar fields and groves of date palms. There are donkeys pulling carts with the Egyptian farmer working his crops in his long beige dress and head wrapped in a scarf. Time flies as I write and sort through my digital pictures for my blog. Soon we are arriving in Luxor around 11:00.
This is always the stressful part for Jeff, now we stumble out to the city streets once again trailing our luggage trying to look like we know what we are doing and where we are going so we don’t look like targets. I have even taken to wearing my hat and covering my blonde hair with a scarf so as not to attract too much attention, but I can’t resist the urge to peer up through the rim of my hat at the people we are passing by. I smile at a young mom in her bright pink hajib with her young son on a motorcycle. We pass delicious looking fruit stands and stands selling spices. I see horse drawn carriages and donkeys pulling carts. I so badly want to take pictures but we are trying to make a direct route to our Airbnb without attracting too much attention.
We are also trying to contact our host for directions, he has suggested we meet him at his place of work at the Winter Palace. Finding that big hotel wasn’t a problem but we entered from the backside and amongst the confusion Jeff was getting very frustrated. I actually felt really good because we were walking through the grounds of a very nice high-end hotel. This may have made Jeff feel like he would just like this kind of trip instead, being whisked around by a driver or chartered bus and staying at 5 star hotels. But alas, he is married to the HomesteadTraveler and that’s just not the way we roll, not if we want to keep rolling that is!
Soon after a little jostling around we find the shop that is ran by the owner of our Airbnb on the property of the Winter Palace. He is not currently there but he has someone help us to his nearby private boat. The boat is operated by a young boy and girl in their young teens. They are very friendly and offer us to eat some sunflower seeds. Already the pressure is off and we feel more relaxed as we glide across the water under the care of our two child boat drivers.
We arrive to the other side and are immediately helped to the Airbnb called “In Luxor”. Mohamed (the owner) is on the rooftop enjoying his lunch, he waves us to come up. We enter our home for the next two night and it’s a very nice apartment complete with balcony facing the Nile, a kitchen, living groom, bedroom and bathroom. Very clean, modern and nicely decorated. I appreciate the decoration using local things like Egyptian rugs, alabaster vases and copper light fixtures dotted with holes that cast beautiful light.
We drop our luggage and head upstairs to meet with Mohamed. He welcomes us and explains different options he offers. I had chosen this place among the myriads of places offered by Airbnb because he had gotten such good reviews for his private chef (complete meals are $10 per person) and excursions with quality guides.
So now he explains that we can have a driver and a guide today to see the East Bank of Luxor with Karnak and Luxor temples with a guide for $30, a driver and guide for West Bank tomorrow to see the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut mortuary temple. We decided to do the East Bank by ourselves because it is all walkable and to take him up on his offer for a guide tomorrow to see the West Bank since we need a driver anyway. We also express an interest in a hot air balloon ride so he makes those arrangements for us also.
With everything arranged we order lunch from his chef on the rooftop terrace and give him full control of what he will serve us. He says he needs an hour to prepare it so we go downstairs and unpack while we wait. The rooftop was absolutely gorgeous with plenty of furniture for lounging and dining. The views over the West Bank were incredible, we could see the tombs of the ancient Egyptian workers and the mountain beyond that hides the valley of the Kings. Jeff lays full out on the couches and even catches a little nap under the cool shade of the canapy and the gentle breeze blowing. The chef is busy finishing the preparations of our lunch and we feel like we can stay up here in the sanctuary of this rooftop all day.
Soon our lunch is set before us, first a pot of bubbling stewed beef in a clay pot arrives, then a pot of stewed vegetables followed by pot after pot of everything delicious! There was pita bread, humus, tahini, a salad and a dish that looks like cannolis or enchiladas. Jeff said it reminded him of when the Israelites complained that they missed their pots of meat when they were saved from Egypt. (Ex 16:3) Everything was delicious and we ate it all! The chef was very happy with our enthusiasm and we promised to return for another meal.
Now well fed, we were ready to face Egypt again, we are prepared to cross the Nile on the ferry and then walk to Karnak temple. We both agreed to have “Stone” faces and resist anything offered to us. So we set off walking the dirt path toward the ferry. We were not far into our resolution of sternness when we were offered a boat to take us all the way to Karnak along the water rather than walking. I was firm but Jeff was not, he faltered and showed interest, the next thing you know we were in fierce negotiations with the man for a boat ride.
I reasoned since we really didn’t want the ride anyway, we should say 50 egp (about $5) they guy said “no” but I could tell he would have taken it. He says “$50 US?” I say, “no, you are crazy, 50 Egyptian” he says “no, that’s too low, 50 egp each” ($10), I say “no, 50 total and that’s it” and turn to walk away, Jeff stops and says “50 total?!? That’s nothing! He can’t do it for that, it’s a boat ride!” Oh my gosh! Is my husband counter offering me?!? We are on the same side for crying out loud! I stand looking at him with hands on my hips and mouth gaping at him. But it’s too late, the Egyptian man knows he has divided and conquered, game over, we lost.
I look at my sweet husband and say “I can’t believe you, why did you counter me in his behalf?” He rubs his forehead and says “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t believe someone would give us a boat ride for $5”. I put my arm in his as we walk toward the boat and say “he would have done it for 50 total, don’t counter me next time, ok?” He agrees as we climb into the boat.
Even the boat driver can’t resist talking the entire boat trip about what other service he can offer us. “Do you want to go to the Valley of the Kings tomorrow? I can take you. Do you want me to wait while you visit Karnak and bring you back? Do you want me to take you to Luxor temple? Do you want a bbq lunch on the island?” And on and on….they really need to get a grip on their tourism etiquette here!
So finally we climb out of the boat at Karnak temple and make our way to the entrance. I’m really interested in this temple because on a south wall Pharoah Shishak brags about capturing the Jews and taking the valuables from Solomon’s temple. It’s one of the few places that mentions the Jews and provides Archeological evidence of the Bible account at 1 Kings 14:25.
I know I won’t be able to find it on my own but I was content with just being here. Then an older guide walked up and started offering us his guide services. I had heard that you should not hire guides lurking around in front of the sites because they may not be that good. But he hooked me on how much he knew and then he said “200 egp” Hmmmm, that’s only $10, it might be worth it to hire him if he can show me the Shishak wall. So I start to engage him, well, apparently I misunderstood him, he was offering 200 egp for EACH of us! So I said “no” and started to walk away. He offers it for 300, I still say no, then he offers 250 but I still refuse because I’m thinking “Mohamed had offered us $30 US for a guide to drive us from our hotel and take us to 2 sites, I better not end up paying more and struggling more!”
But in the middle of my fierce negotiations I hear my husband accept 250! What?!? Did I not JUST tell him not to counter my offer? I look at him in disbelief, he quickly tells the guide “no, it’s up to her” the guide starts to laugh at my husband and I and says “he said yes!” Pointing at Jeff. I say “No, I will only accept 200” he says “but I am an Egyptologist, educated with my masters degree in Archeologogyl” I say “I am sure you are very good but I only want to see the wall that talks about Shishak” he says “I will show it to you”. Then he offers 220, I still say “no” but my husband says yes to 220! Again I can’t believe it, why is my husband doing this? While the guide is laughing I look at Jeff and say “ You are not very good at this”. Jeff rubs his forehead and says “I know…”
So we paid 220. Now we approach the entrance and we realize we have no tickets! Apparently in all of the negotiations we had neglected to buy the tickets! Oh my goodness! The ticket booth is WAY back there! Under the hot desert sun! Our guide starts to earn his worth and says “don’t worry, I will get us permission to enter and you can pay the guard”, and after a little shuffling around, he did.
So now we are inside Karnak Temple, our guide starts to explain everything to us. This site was started very early on and was added onto by every Pharoah. Once a Pharoah was coronated he had to start three building projects: his own tomb, his mortuary temple in the Valley of the Kings and a monument here at Karnak.
So every Pharaoh left their mark: Rameses, Hatshepsut, King Tut and on and on. Our guide would point out hieroglyphics and read them, point out drawings and bring them to life and point out the obelisks and who erected them.
But now we have come to the part I had been waiting for, the wall of Shishak! This is referred to as the Karnak List. It is on the Bubistite Gate, a large wall with a carving of a row of captured men with their hands tied behind backs. Each man has an inscription on him in hieroglyphics that describes a city that was captured. This same scene and “list” is repeated all over Karnak and at many other monuments because all of the Pharoahs wanted to show how mighty they were and how many other nations they had conquered. The Karnak list (also known as the Shishak Inscription) is significant because it describes the capture of “the King of Judah” in 925 BCE. This was translated in 1828 by Jean Francois Champollion, the translator of the Rosetta Stone.
Let me digress for a moment to tell you that the Rosetta Stone was a stone tablet found in Egypt in 1799 in Memphis, Egypt. It dated from 196 BC and was a decree in behalf of Pharoah Ptolemy V Epiphanes that went out to express the Kings orders. It was written in Egyptian hieroglyphics and Greek. It provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, that is why we are all familiar with Rosetta Stone, the books that help us learn other languages. Cool, huh?
This King of Judah was Rehoboam, son of Solomon. My guide (who is Muslim) said “you know it doesn’t say anywhere on these inscriptions about Israelites or Jews, right?” I said “but it does say that Shishak conquered the King of Judah, just like the Bible account.” “the Bible names the Pharaohs?” He asked. “Yes, look right here at 1 Kings 14:25 (I show him on the Electronic bible on my phone) it says ‘In the fifth year of King Re·ho·boʹam, King Shiʹshak of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took the treasures of the house of Jehovah and the treasures of the king’s house. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solʹo·mon had made”. The guide looked with disbelief and said “The Quran does not name the Pharoahs…” so he was interested in learning this new thing. He even asked to take a picture my information so he could include it on his next guided tour.
I was so excited to see it and so happy that my guide even knew how to read it. He worked diligently to search the wall, peering up at the Giant monument until he found the tiny inscription that I was looking for. When he found it, he pointed it out which his laser pointer and it matched my picture perfectly! He appreciated our enthusiasm and we enjoyed the rest of our tour.
After Karnak we said “good-bye” to our guide and made our way the mile or so to Luxor temple. The sun was starting to sink low in the sky and I really wanted to be at Luxor temple at the time of the sunset so I could see it in all light. We just barely got started on our walk when an Egyptian man on a horse-drawn carriage started offering us a ride, we tried to look down and not engage but then he said “I take you to Luxor temple, and you know how much? 20 Egyptian pounds”. Well, my ears perked up because that’s only $1 and it would save me a mile of walking! Plus I would get there faster and not miss my good light. I stop in my tracks and say “ok, but no tip!” He says “no, no, no tip” OK, we climb on the horse drawn carriage. Jeff and I both smile at each other and say “well, we haven’t taken a carriage ride yet…”
Of course we had to listen to his pitch about all of the other places he could take us, and “what are you doing tomorrow? I can take you! I will wait for you outside Luxor”. and so on. Jeff and I agreed it was like those high pressure sales pitches when they want you to buy a time share and they offer you free diving or a free dinner. In this case they offer you cheap transportation in hopes of landing the bigger sale.
The ride was beautiful as we galloped along to the setting sun with Egyptian music playing on the radio and the little silver ornaments on our carriage making gentle tinkle noises as they bobbed along with the tassels on the roof. Ten minutes later we were pulling up to Luxor Temple. As we climbed down, Jeff paid but the man kept asking for extra so he could feed his horse. Jeff said “You promised you wouldn’t ask for a tip!” The man said “Its for the horse!” Then when he got no sympathy from Jeff he turned to me, I hadn’t heard this pitch before so didn’t understand that he was asking for more money and we both just walked away.
We approached Luxor in the beautiful warm light of the setting sun, we roamed the monument at our leisure taking pictures and enjoying the architecture. At the far end of the temple is a wall that was carved out by the early Christians who fled Rome to Egypt. The took over and plastered the walls, made paintings and even carved out a vestibule right on top of the Egyptian antiquities.
The evening was beautiful and I would like to say we strolled home in a leisurely walk along the Nile, but no, Egypt just doesn’t roll like that. Instead we tried to navigate the streets looking for an ATM, something to eat and beer! We found all three but not before being haggled by Egyptians that said “I am sorry for how bad tourists are haggled, it’s terrible” but then proceeded to haggle us. Actually, there is probably a way to work it to your advantage, or at least to keep the frustration and irritation down. I think my new method is to go ahead and let someone help you, they will be nice, walk you to the ATM and protect you from all of the other hagglers and then you pay them 20 Egyptian ($1)
This happened to me at one of the monuments. After you are finished touring around you have to walk through the merchants which means a constant barrage of solicitors. I really can’t resist looking sideways at things and Jeff hates it, so he left me in the dust and headed to the bus. I asked a guy how much a bag was and got it down to $5 but realized my money was with Jeff. So I told the man I had to go get money from my husband. He accompanied me ALL the way to the bus warding off all of the other solicitors as we traversed the market. A win-win! I got a cute bag for $5 and my own bodyguard!
Another time when someone was offering me every service I did not want, I asked him “where can I buy beer?” He led me through the street straight to the one place in town that sold it. He waited why we bought some to take back to our room and them wanted a tip, he had earlier offered me a carriage ride so I said if you take me to the ferry I will give you 20 ($1), so he did! I got an escort to purchase beer AND a carriage ride for $1. I guess it’s all in how you work it.
It’s time to retreat to our airbnb and the drive home is always enjoyable as we glide across the water under a black velvet sky and the glittering lights of the city reflecting off the water. The colors of blue, red, yellow, pink and white rippling on the water.
The next morning we went upstairs to enjoy a hardy breakfast of falafel, pita, hummus, a type of refried beans, eggs, yogurt and fruit on the rooftop terrace. Our guide for the day was waiting for us at 8:00 sharp and we joined him in his very comfortable air conditioned van. He was an excellent, enthusiastic, knowledgable guide. I especially loved all of the personal details he added to his tour. He is 27 and grew up here on the West Bank, he played soccer on top of the ancient ruins. His family owns land with ruins underneath.
Only 10 years ago the government came to know what the people knew for centuries, that tombs lie beneath their homes. So the goverment moved them to new housing and farms and started to excavate. Egypt is in his DNA. It has long been known about the tombs of the Pharoahs and queens but they did not know about the tombs of the workers. These were the tombs that Saber, our guides family lived on top of. The workers had good lives and enjoyed their trades. Saber explained that when the Pharoahs started to take this land for their tombs, the people there said “but what about us?” So it was agreed they could continue to live here and also have their own tombs here.
He says when he was a child they used a tomb as an outhouse and the farmers would sell pieces of the colored plaster to tourists. He said when he would use the outhouse he looked up and saw a blue sky covered in stars, this is the way the tomb ceilings are painted. In fact it was legal to buy and sell antiquities until 1980.
He explains that the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of Luxor was the ancient grave yard for the Pharoahs, their wives, the nobles and the workers. It has the tombs of 65 Pharoahs, 72 Queens, 450 Nobles, 83 tombs of workers and used to have 25 mortuary temples, but now there are only 5. The oldest part of the Valley of the Kings is 3550 years old.
So, why did they stop building pyramids? It started with Thotmes, the father of Hatshepsut (Hatshepsut was the female Pharoah who said she was a man). Thotmes reasoned that already it had been 1000 years of pyramid building and rather than carrying the Pharoah safety to the afterlife, it was a big neon sign pointing tomb raiders to his grave and riches. So he determined to dig deep into the earth instead. At that time Luxor was the capitol, so from the East Bank he could see the large mountain on the other side of the Nile. He asked his advisors to explore that side and find a suitable site for an underground tomb. They explored and found the rock to be sandstone, that meant it was easy for carving and hidden discreetly behind a mountain.
From this time on, every Pharoah would be buried here at the Valley of the Kings. They would start the tomb as soon as the Pharoah began ruling and would not stop digging until he died. So the deeper the tomb, the better. Each Pharoah would have to consult the chief engineer at the Valley of the Kings to find a suitable site that wouldn’t dig into another Pharoahs grave. Inside these tombs were treasures and everyday objects, even boats. The walls are still brightly colored from over 3000 years ago. King Tuts tomb was also found here completely intact with all of his treasures.
Our guide tells us the story of Hatshepsut, the female Pharoah, she was very ambitious and strong and built a huge mortuary temple and had her tomb dug very deep. But because of the tomb raiders, priests from the time of he Pharoahs had moved all of the mummies out of the tombs into one safe storage place.
One day a shepard was in the field and one of his sheep fell into a hole, he went to retrieve it and found a tomb full of treasures. He had four brothers so he told only his brothers and they all made a pact not to tell anyone. But whenever they needed some money, they would go to the tomb, find a precious item and sell it. One day one of the brothers sold a papyrus with hieroglyphics to an Egyptologist in 187who could read the hieroglyphics.
The writing told the Egyptologist that there were many mummies in the tomb. So he went back to the shepard and asked him to show him the tomb. The shepard refused and the man told the police. The Police arrested the five brothers but they still wouldn’t tell. Finally, one caved in and revealed the location, it was full of treasures and mummies. One of the mummies was female, but they thought it must be the nurse or helper to the Pharoah so she was considered unimportant so they placed her in storage in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo until 2007 when someone had the idea to X-ray the mummies. They found that the female mummy had a molar missing. He knew that one of the Pharoahs has a jar that housed a single molar in it, could this be one of the missing Pharoahs mummy? When they tested the DNA they found the female mummy to be in the royal line of Rameses, Tut and all of the royal family, the female mummy was Hatshepsut, the famous missing Pharoah, one of the greatest modern discoveries.
We climbed down into the underground tombs of two of the Pharoahs, one tomb was over 100 steps down. All along the corridors was carved and painted walls with the color still intact. Amazing that thousands of years did not erase the colors.
We also visited the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, it was interesting that she was the first Pharoah to lead commercial expeditions rather than military. Along the walls of her temple, instead of images of war and slaughtering were depictions of trade. She shows the beautiful trees and wealth that she acquired commercially. Her temple was planted with incense trees and lotus flowers.
Finally the young heir of the throne decided Hatshepsut had ruled as king long enough and he wanted his throne back (he was her nephew and stepson, his father and her husband had died. That’s how she got away with usurping the throne while she sent the young heir off to get military training) So he took over ruling and took over her temple. He had her name and inscriptions scratched off wherever he could but history has uncovered enough to know the truth. The nephew also turned out to be a strong and good Pharoah and accomplished much good during his reign according to our young guide.
This was the last of the Egyptian monuments we toured. We returned to our room and rested and regrouped. The next morning we woke up early to catch our hot air balloon ride. This had not been part of our original plan but had come highly recommended. At 5:00 am we had a knock on the door picking us up for our next adventure.
We had our bags all packed and everything ready to go because we would go straight from the ballon ride to the bus station to catch an 8:00 am bus to Hurghada. So we slugged down our last sip of coffee and ran down to our waiting bus.
Soon we were pulling up to the hot air balloon flight area on the West Bank, we were joined by other riders from all parts of the world. We had people from China, India, Argentina and Italy. I’m sure there were people from other locations also but not that who I personally met or saw. At first all was quiet as we waited in the car for our pilot to arrive. I think he arrived late because all other buses had already pulled away and we were already starting to see first light. Finally he arrived, opened our van door and said “Hello, I am pleased to be your pilot today, I am sorry I am late, please, let’s go”
From that moment it got a little crazy as we were whisked off to our hot air balloon. It was still dark although the first orange glow was looming on the horizon. It was a crazy rush as we left our van and ran after our pilot. It’s very loud as the pilot turns on the valve and a rush of gas ignites and fills the balloon. No one told me that I would have to hurl myself over a four foot wall that was the basket of our balloon. Hmmm, maybe it wasn’t the best day to wear a dress! I manage to throw myself over the basket and land inside along with another twenty five other passengers. Wow! That’s a lot of other passengers! The basket is actually a large rectangle, we all fit inside with a good view, no one is in front of you, you all have a basket-side view. It’s very logical, but why is it I pictured just Jeff and I in a round basket with our pilot flying high in the sky? That doesn’t really make any since but I guess it’s how my romanticized mind views things.
The realty work well also but boy was it a crazy scramble getting in the basket. To add to the craziness as we were walking rapidly in the dark with flames igniting balloons all around us and crowds of people scrambling to their prospective balloons, Jeff can’t find his iPhone!
So we start digging in the dark in all of our pockets and bags and we can’t find it. He is convinced it is in the van. So we tell our pilot who alerts ground control and a mad search insued as we boarded our balloon. In the middle of the chaos we get firm instructions at what to do upon landing. Intensely our co-pilot shouts at us above the loud noise that we should grab the rope loops that are installed on the interior of the basket, halfway down the depth of the basket. “Grab hold of the rope loops and squat down with your backs to the landing, facing inside the basket, do it NOW!” Yikes! Ok! We grab hold of the ropes with our backs away from landing and squat like we never squated before. “Good!” Shouts the pilot, upon landing I will say “take your landing positions and you will do it IMMEDIATELY!” Ok! Wow! This is serious business, that wasn’t in the brochure.
As soon as we stand up from this little practice drill, ground control returns to us and says “the cell phone is not in the van, please check your pockets again” We do, but can’t find it. Seconds later we are in take-off, cell phone or not.
Ourvhearts are fluttering as we feel our basket lift off the ground, the loud gush of the propane and the rush of the flames that ignite the balloon. Up and up we go and it takes our breath away, we are in flight. Beneath us we see other balloons preparing for take off and the flame ignites and their balloon is illuminated in all of its color in the dim morning light. Soon the crops and fields of Egypt appear below us and we are floating.
We push away the feeling of dread in our stomachs over the lost cell phone that not only is very expensive but is our only communication with a SIM card for Egypt. We try not to think of the cost of replacement or the hassles of getting a new one. We resolve to be in the moment, this moment in a hot air balloon over Egypt.
Wow, it’s not hard to be in this moment, it’s so beautiful. I see the green sugar cane fields and beige dessert underneath us dotted with palm trees. There is the mountain that hides the tombs of the Pharoahs and to the right black openings of the caves of the tombs of the nobles against the mountain.
My gaze follows the horizon which is cast in an orange glow with the sun laying just beneath the surface of the horizon. I see all of our fellow hot air balloons floating in the sky all around us and I marvel at the sense of peace I feel as I see them floating and rising. Why is it we love hot air balloons so much? We love to see them from the ground and I really love to see them floating around me as I too am floating effortless among them. I stare at them as they bob in the sky, rising like champagne bubbles, effervescently rising. Hope, it feels like hope rising. I want to capture this moment and remember it always. I want to close my eyes and picture this moment again and again.
Our pilot says he is going to rotate the balloon and provide us with a panorama, we poise our cameras as he slowly rotates the balloon and we see 360 degrees around us as the sun peaks over the horizon and we capture the precise moment when another day starts.
Our pilot is an excellent tour guide as he points out the various Egyptian monuments we float over, we can see all of them beneath us. We can see the homes of Egyptians and they look positively biblical. The adobe walls and flat rooftops with palm canopies. We see the crops that have been harvested drying on the rooftops.
I can picture the festival of booths celebrated by the Israelites from their rooftops as described at Deuteronomy 16:13 “You should celebrate the Festival of Booths for seven days when you make an ingathering from your threshing floor and from your press for oil and wine. Rejoice during your festival, you and your son…”
We look down and can see our passenger vans following us on long dusty roads across the desert to our landing spot. Jeff figures out how to use my phone to track his phone, he can see it, it’s following us! Ok, so it is in one of the vans following us, it’s safe. We no longer have to picture the scene in our head of the cell phone having dropped to the ground when we got out of the van and being stepped on, our worse, being picked up by someone would never be giving it back. It’s here, following us. We breath a sigh of relief.
The hot air ballon ride lasts about an hour, or at least that’s how it felt, the perfect amount of time. Now it was time to descend and land. As we listen carefully and obediently when our pilot shouts “take your landing positions, NOW!” We all squat and grab our ropes like our life depends on it. After all, who wants to tumble out of a hot air balloon upon arrival?
With a light thumb our pilot says “we have achieved landing” and we all stand up to see our pilot smiling triumphantly at us. Little local Egyptian boys are all around the balloon with bright smiles and clapping at our arrival. We know they will just want money but still it’s nice to be welcomed so cheerfully. We are also cheerful that we have landed safely. We climb out of our giant basket as the land crew is rapidly deflating our balloon. We take a group picture and stand around watching the balloon deflate, marveling at the experience we have just had.
Soon we are climbing into our van and are anxious to find our cell phone, we search the van and don’t find it. We can see on tracking that it is right here among us and we eye everyone around us suspiciously, is some one holding on to it and not telling us? Finally one of the ground staff calls the phone at Jeff’s request. We hear it ringing! Where is it?!? Oh, the sound is come from here, Jeff’s bag. Yes, we had it all along in a pocket of the bag slung around Jeff’s shoulders. No wonder it was following us, it was with us all along! Sheepishly and humbled we climb into the van relieved that we didn’t loose it but embarrassed that we are such idiots.
This is the way travel goes, the highs and lows, all you can do is laugh in relief. Next it’s time to face the next trial, catching our bus at 8:00 am to Hurghada! It’s 7:10 and we still have a van full of people we need to drop off and to catch a taxi to the ferry, cross the Nile and catch a taxi on the other side to the bus station and buy our ticket. There is no way we will make it. We are already thinking of our other options. Do we just go back to the apartment and chill out until the next bus at 3:30? I don’t want to do that because I am excited to get to our next location on the Red Sea. We are booked at an all inclusive hotel on the beach and I don’t want to miss out!
Jeff is really skeptical that we will make it, and frankly I agree with him. As we drive down the long desert road contemplating our options, I turn to Jeff and say “I think we should go for it, if we don’t make it, we will buy our train ticket for the next bus and wait at our rooftop until it’s time”. He shrugs and reluctantly agrees to try. He hates the high anxiety of rushing like crazy people. “plus”, I say “Mohamed has arranged transport for us, so we should try”.
Boy oh boy did Mohamed arrange transport for us. It was already 7:20 by the time our van pulled up to let the passengers out. We started to get out of the van but we’re told “You! Wait!” Oh, that was a little abrupt, but we did get out first last time since we are in the front row, maybe it’s nice to let the back passengers out first this time. Everyone gets out but us, the ground person closes our van door and we leave. Oh! This is OUR transport, it quickly zips us to the ferry where one of Mohamed’s crew opens our van door and helps us with our luggage to the private boat and glides us across to the East Bank. In minutes we arrive at the other side and Mohameds staff grabs our luggage and hails a taxi and puts us in the taxi and climbs aboard with us. The taxi driver zips us to the Gobus bus station in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Mohamed’s employee jumps out of the taxi grabs our luggage and plants us firmly in from of the bus station. All of this happens within minutes and we are at the bus station with time to spare.
Wow! Thats service! I have all new respect for Mohamed, his Airbnb rental and respect for someone who knows how to navigate this town. There is a way through all of the chaos and Mohamed has the key!
We buy our tickets and get on the bus. This is a four hour bus ride through the desert from Luxor to Hurghada a resort town on the Red Sea. It flys by for me as pour out my feelings and adventures into this blog. It’s my therapy.
Calmly we arrive at our Red Sea resort, how relieved we are to be here. As we walk into the grand lobby with large crystal chandeliers we look around in amazement. It appears we have landed back at civilization, we sit down on a plush couch and are greeted with a glass of cold refreshing hibiscus tea. They process our reservations and direct us to our hotel room. I guess all of Egypt could have been like this if we had chosen a high-end pre-arranged package. It would have to have been really high-end though!
Hours pass by and now we arrive at the Gobus Station in Hurghada. It’s time to face the taxi onslaught but we are happy that Hurghada, like Cairo, uses Uber. We call our car and much to the chagrin of the taxi drivers we wait for our Uber. Why do we love Uber so much more than taxi service? Because, the taxi drivers attack you upon arrival and you feel hapless and out of control, who knows if they are offering you a good price and who knows how they will treat you. But with Uber you are in control, you call the car, you see your driver and his car in advance. The feeling is completely different. Within seconds our driver pulls up and we climb inside.
Actually, all of our accommodations on this trip were between $30-$60 a night compared to $300 a night if you wanted luxury. Even here, on the Red Sea in this all-inclusive luxury hotel it is only $70 a night, that’s $35 for each of us, food and drinks included. Pretty amazing. As we move about this hotel it is evident that we are the only Americans here. The guests are not Egyptian guests either, they are from the cold countries of Europe: England, Denmark, Sweden and Norway to name a few. We see a few guests that may be from the Middle East, they wear head scarfs but not full hajib. This is where Europe comes for their all-inclusive holidays much like we would go to Hawaii or Mexico. It’s full of high-end resorts and all-inclusive.
We put down our things and head down for lunch, it’s only served until 3:00 and it is currently 2:00 when we arrive. We settle into a buffet lunch and drinks and feel like we can rest. After lunch we head to the beach and soak in the last few hours of sunlight. We are approached by the spa salesperson at the hotel while we are lounging around on our cabana, offering us spa packages.
I really can’t believe I’m being haggled again and I just want to rest but again, we show interest. This time it is Jeff, (It’s always one of us, isn’t it?) he never wants to pass up an opportunity of a massage. I try to be firm that I don’t want it but a “couples massage” package with sauna, steam rooms and coconut scrub is the item being offered and I resist as much as I can and the price comes down to $60 for both of us and Jeff just can’t refuse. I weaken and give into the luxurious sound of it. We were booked for 5:00 at the spa.
Actually it was really nice, we had our time in the sauna, then a shower, then our time in the steam room followed by our scrub down then 50 minute massage. Turkey is famous for the Hamman, that’s the famous steam bath from time long ago. Part of it is being scrubbed down. My scrub down is with a salt rub on the back and coconut scrub on the front. Thankfully we wear bathing suits for this!
I enjoy my scrub down and after our attendants finish tending to us Jeff calls out from beside me from on his marble slab table “Hey, look at me!” I open my eyes and crane my neck towards him. I start laughing when I see him covered in bubbles! I mean absolutely covered in foam! From head to toe and several feet thick! It was hysterical! The attendant was using what looked like a pillowcase that he dipped into a soapy bath, then waving his arms in a sweeping motion he caught air in the pillow case and filled it with air like a balloon, then he emptied the contents of the balloon in the form of foam all over Jeff!
After belly laughing (probably disrespectfully because we were supposed to be relaxing) we calmed down and closed our eyes and rested in our dimly lit room while our attends left us for a while. Jeff said “the bubbles are quite relaxing, I can feel them gently popping”. Next things I knew I looked back over at Jeff and all of his bubbles had popped, and he was laying on his marble slab with bubbles dripping off. I said “ohhhh, all your bubbles have fallen off”. He opens his eyes and and starts scooping the bubbles back over his body, trying to grasp at the deflating phenomenon while I laughed. Our attendants come back in the room at this point and scolded us for not resting but are also laughing at us acting like school kids playing with bubbles. How can you be serious when you are covered in bubbles?
Next we shower and have our fifty minute massage, we felt like it was our turn to be Pharoah and queen for the day, getting massaged and pampered. It was a well spent $60. We returned back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner and then we dined under the stars. We feel like honeymooners as we stroll back to our room in these relaxed and decadent surroundings.
We have arrived at today, Jeff has left for a diving trip he had scheduled. He is very excited to dive in the Red Sea as it is known as one of the best places in the world to dive. Jeff can add it to his repertoire of diving experiences. He has been diving in Belize and Australia at the worlds largest barrier reefs as well as Mexico, Hawaii and Thailand. I hope he has a nice dive as I sit on my sun lounger sandwiched between the pool and the beach facing the Red Sea.
I spend the morning on the lounger pouring my feeling and heart out in writing. I want to thank you for listening as I tell you my tale, you are a good listener and I needed to get all of this off my chest. Travel can be so inconvenient, with its highs and lows but these are the moments in life we remember, this is the human experience.
