Salam 'alaykum and Wilkommen: On the fifth day, at dawn, look to the East (or fly South to Luxor for two nights)

Warning: Very long post that I wrote as we went along and then revised on the airplane. For those faint of heart, just look at the pictures.

Bonus points to those who got the reference by the way...

We woke up early to catch our flight to Luxor, which was departing at 8:45. Our cab that was supposed to pick us up apparently got a flat tire so we had wait for another one, which came a couple minutes later. Our new cab was one of the infamous black cabs. These are the older taxis and are rather ghetto compared to some of the newer ones. Nothing on the dashboard worked and the seatbelts were completely nonexistent. I am pretty sure the only parts of the car that worked were the engine and the horn. Quick fun fact: Lonely Planet estimates there to be 50,000 taxis in the Cairo area and I wish I knew how many there are in New York to compare. Anyways, since we rode to the airport in daylight, we could actually see the surrounding area this time. They had a huge panorama of the October war of 1973. This war surprisingly united Egypt. I say surprisingly because after winning the first battle they got absolutely crushed by Israel. Once we made it to the airport and past the six sleeping guards we had to go through security before checking in. The machine went off but they did not care, I guess they only wanted to check our bags for this first checkpoint. We got our tickets and went to our gate. Every two gates have their own security checkpoint and at this one the guards were more serious. They actually took my scissors, which was a huge bop.

We boarded the plane and went to our seats in rows 22 and 23. These rows were actually 5 and 6 on the plane as the numbering went 1,2,3,21,22,23. I did not have a window seat but could still make out some of the terrain. You know how when you fly over the Midwest you do not think a whole lot is out there? Well looking out over the desert takes that feeling to another level. The landscape is completely barren with no trace of human life. We landed after an hour at an airport with two other planes on the tarmac (and one was a private jet).

So began our time in Luxor, which is also known as the haggling capital of Egypt. We were prepared and I had spent the whole flight reading my Lonely Planet book about what to expect. (By the way, that book has proven to be worth way more than the $25 I paid for it) No buses or trains can take you from the airport to downtown so the first thing we had to do was haggle for a taxi. The official sign says 25 EGP, our hotel told us 40 EGP and Lonely Planet said expect to pay 75-100 EGP. Someone came up to us and led us to his car. His first price was 250 EGP. I laughed and said the sign said 25. He told an elaborate story about how that was the old price but that company went out of business because it was too cheap. I argued with him and eventually said 40. He proceeded to tell me that my hotel was crazy but he would expect 150. I told him I would find another driver. He said no and dropped it to 140. I said that was still crazy and would call my hotel. I raised mine, he lowered his. Eventually I said 100 and he said 120 so after already being there for 10 minutes I told him we would give his driver an extra 10 if we thought he was good. I was somewhat proud of myself for getting 10 over what the LP guys said and also the guy asked me if I was Egyptian because of how long I haggled.

Our hotel was the Susanna Hotel in downtown Egypt and we got one of the nicer rooms. Check out the pictures.

Bathroom behind me

The view from our window

On the Nile!!

After checking in, we decided we needed food. We found a western style place (at this point we had just recovered from our sickness the previous two days) and decided it was fine if we gave our stomachs something easy. After eating, we decided to go to the West Bank to see a couple of the temples and tombs. The local ferry that takes you over is one pound each but a man stopped us before we got there and said 5 pounds total for a private boat to take us across. We said sure and hopped on the boat. About half way across, he started to tell us how he had a driver who could take us around for the day. We said we wanted to walk and then spent the rest of the time haggling about prices. He kept saying 15 and I kept saying 10 just to get us to the Colossi of Memnon and from there we would walk. He asked if we had seen the show Deal or No Deal and described how 10 was “No Deal”. So I started walking away and he angrily told us that he would accept 10. The driver took us to where we wanted and when we were done there he told us he would drive us around for the day for 40 each. We told him no and kept walking to the ticket booth (about a 5 minute walk). He followed us in the car for 2 of those 5 minutes yelling lower and lower prices. We bought our tickets for all the monuments and then walked to Medinat Habu. Check out Medinat Habu. This was our first temple we had been to and the detail astonished us. So began the routine of either Jack or I asking the other person, “So how did they build this” and the other person responding, “I just have no idea”.

Colossi of Memnon

Medinat Habu, notice the detail

Through the desert

From Medinat Habu we planned to go to the Ramesseum. It was somewhat of a walk and we realized that in the heat it was going to be tough. A cab driver asked where we were going and we told him. He said 10 and I said 5 and started walking away. We got 5. You can read about the history of the Ramesseum here. One thing I found incredible was the giant 17.5 m tall statue he built for himself. It has now fallen down, but I can not imagine what it must have looked like when it was first built or even how they rose it.

Checking out some ruins at Ramesseum

Disapprove of the 1820 foreigners

The fallen statue

After the Ramesseum, the same cab driver from before ran into us. He told us he would drive us to the tombs we wanted to see and then back to the ferry for 20 EGP. We said sure and off we went to the Tombs of the Nobles. There we saw 4 tombs of aristocrats: Nakht, Menna, Sennofer and Rekhmire. The tomb of Sennofer had grapes covering the entire ceiling and part of the wall. I imagined that if Katie had a tomb, it would be very similar since she loves grapes so much. Unfortunately, you cannot take any pictures of the tombs from the inside but you can check out the outside as well as the view from the mountain.

A tomb

Looking down from the mountain, notice how it gets green near the Nile

Our ride took us back to the ferry and we got on a private boat again to take us to the hotel. After a brief break at the hotel, we went for food at the nearby Lotus restaurant. After Lotus, we went to Aladin tours to find a driver and a guide for the following day. There were other tour offices but Jack and I could not resist going on guide run by Aladin, which we pronounced like the Disney movie (we found out later that this pronunciation was wrong but did not care at that point). Basically, it enabled Jack to sing “I Can Show the World” for a while. We found out a guide and driver would cost 360 EGP for the day from Aladin tours and 200 from our hotel. Aladin seemed much more legit and Lonely Planet warned people about hotel tours. If you do them, there is a good chance the driver stops at every Papyrus and Alabaster shop on the West Bank. We decided on Aladin and went back to our room. We planned on napping for an hour until 7:45 so we could watch the sunset and then eat dinner. In a classic Patrick and Jack manner, we never got out of bed until 6:15 the next morning. As I have said before, you do not realize how drained you are until you lay down. And the amount of moisture the tombs suck out of you is incredible. We read that on average, you lose 2.8 grams of sweat per tomb. After 5 minutes down there, you are totally drenched. I have never felt anything like it. And the amazing part is, a guard sits down there all day. By the way, the temperatures while we were in Luxor were around 110. It was hot and the sun hat was critical.

One reason Luxor is known as the haggle capital is because you cannot walk more than 100 feet down a main street without someone asking you for a taxi or a carriage ride. The badgering is constant. They just hunt you down and follow you for half a block. It is rather annoying but the worst thing you can ever do is stop. Furthermore, if you do not respond to their calls then they start honking at you. Just smile, wave your hand, lie to them, and keep walking. (More on this subject later on in the post)

Raisin at sunrise

For our second day in Luxor we woke up at 6:20 so we could see the West Bank before it became too hot. When we looked out our window in the morning we saw many hot air balloons above Luxor. It was a rather pretty sight. Our breakfast was included in the bill and was just some tea and bread again. Jack ate an omelet but I did not since I can not eat eggs. Aladin tours picked us up and our driver was Ahmed and our guide was Hussan. Hussan was in his 30’s and had graduated from a university (Egypt has 22 for 83 million people) over 10 years ago. He spoke English pretty well and we found out he also spoke German fluently. I was curious how many languages he spoke but did not ask. I was a little hesitant of a guide but in the end, they turned out to be very helpful and there was no hassle all day. We drove to Hatshepsut’s temple first and on the way, I asked a number of questions (it is about a 40 minute drive). I found out that all the pictures around town were of president Mubarak and the Egyptians have a tradition to throw water on the street in front of their store each day. Mubarak has been president for a very long time and Hussan was under the impression it was time for him to pass the presidency on.

Hot air balloons!

Drinking tea overlooking the Nile

We arrived at Hatshepsut’s temple relatively before everyone else and heard her story. She was one of the most famous Ancient Egyptian females because she was one of the few to be a pharaoh. When her husband died, she took over the throne and Egypt prospered under her. Unfortunately, her step son (Tuthmosis III) hated that she was ruling. Eventually he became old enough and began his rule but after a while, Hatshepsut sent him off to a war for a very long time. (This part of the story was a little blurry) He used the term pirates to describe what happened to Tuthmosis III, but that did not seem right. To better illustrate the story, I was Tuthmosis III and Jack was one of Hatshepsut’s boyfriends who wanted to rule Egypt through her. This became funny later when we found out that Jack had “relations” with Hatshepsut and one of her daughters. When I (Tuthmosis III) returned, I kicked Hatshepsut off the throne and eliminated all traces of her. For instance, every carving at her temple I chipped away and tried to replace with something of myself. The only things I could not erase were her monuments/statues that also had inscriptions for the Gods. One other thing we learned about Hatshepsut was that she was the first Egyptian to absolutely clown on the Africans to her south. After her trip down there, she painted them as fat and hunchbacks at her temple. She thought that the southern Africans were not even comparable to the Egyptians. Needless to say, Egyptians liked this. Eventually, Hatshepsut’s temple became a monastery and you can learn more about it here.

Entrance

She used to be in the middle before she was erased. The rigure on the right is Amun-Ra, king of the gods

After Hatshepsut’s temple we went to the Valley of the Kings. No cameras are even allowed on the grounds here so we did not end up with any pictures. We saw three tombs: Ramses III, Tuthmosis III and the tomb of Tawosret/Sethnakht. My favorite was Tuthmosis III since it was such an adventure to get to it and also had a quartzite sarcophagus still in it. By adventure I mean you walk up a staircase into the mountain, then go 60 steps down into the mountain and have to cross a ravine before entering the chamber. He was so concerned about robbers that he actually changed direction of his cave a couple times as well. We opted not to see King Tut’s tomb because we read it was empty and not worth the very high price. Throughout the day, we started recognizing more and more of the Gods, which was cool. If you are wondering why the Valley of the Kings exists, let me explain. Ever since the pyramid of Saqqara, Egyptian pharaohs wanted and built special tombs (that’s why they started building them the second they came into power and why if you had a longer reign then your tomb looked way better). After Saqqara came the Pyramids of Giza and after those pyramids pharaohs opted for the Valley of the Kings. The newer pharaohs that building pyramids rising out of the desert was just asking people to come rob your tomb. Therefore, they started hiding the tombs away in the hills. The mountain that the Valley of the Kings is built into actually does have the shape of a pyramid, which is how they chose that location. The tombs are located near Luxor because it was the capital for the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th dynasties. If you want to see the general layout, see some pictures and know more history click here.

After the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Seti I. It is remote and smaller than the other temples we saw, but still very interesting. It was also nice to be almost completely by ourselves for once. We learned one of the explanations for the gods and Hussan pointed out some of the hieroglyphics to us. Every inch of every wall at every temple is covered with the name of the builder, followed by some inscriptions for the gods, surrounded by protective engravings. Imagine just writing your name on the wall of your house over and over again until every inch was covered.

Temple of Seti

We then drove back to the hotel, tipped our driver and guide and headed to a Egyptian fast food joint named Abu Ashraf. Here, the food was not very good and they charge foreigners five times more. Huge bop. We also saw them refuse to serve some other Westerners something on the menu. This is the second time we have witnessed this phenomenon.

We went back to the hotel and then rested till four when we left to see the Luxor Temple. This is the temple we could see from our hotel. We walked around it for an hour and saw some paintings done by non-Egyptians as well as a engraving that was augmented in a way that I will not put up. One guide here was very persistent and we laughed and joked with him as tried to convince we needed a guide. I told him he was free to walk with us but would get no money and wished him the best of luck in the future. We saw him again as we left and smiled and again wished him the best.

Entrance to Luxor Temple

Those do not look like Egyptians...

Doing the sun god for the sun god

Looking down the road of sphinxes

Then we had an interesting experience. As we walked to the Luxor Museum, we went by a papyrus shop. A man came out and asked us for help writing down an English sign and also an address for someone in France. We did and he gave us free bookmarks with hieroglyphs of our name he wrote in front of us. I looked around and figured I would get something nice since it is so cheap, and we would get a “special discount” for helping him. I kind of trusted him since he told us outright all his prices were way too high, and guides who brought people to his shop got paid commission, but was still hesitant. I bought something and Jack bought something, then he said he had a special painting, which does look really nice, that we wanted to sell that day so would bring the price down. I was again hesitant about this so cut his already “discounted” price down by over half. Other paintings that size were listed as 450-500, and he said that the work with our discount was worth 250. I told him 100. I ended up buying the piece and was decently happy with the whole exchange, but I have to wonder whether it was a all a scam to get us in his shop. He did offer Jack 5 EGP for his work making a sign, so if it was a ploy, it was extremely well done. We then went to the museum and saw some artifacts in displays and also saw some mummies! No pictures again, unfortunately.

We arrived back at the museum and rested until sunset which we watched from our roof. We ate dinner at a place nearby owned by the same man who runs Aladin tours. It was good Egyptian food, but mine was a little small. The mayor declared the food so good a while back that he actually renamed the street after the restaurant. We wandered around town afterwards looking for a place to get a drink and ended up at the Metropolitan Café and Restaurant. Nighttime is definitely the time to be outside for Egyptians. Families are in the park, couples are sitting on park benches, kids are playing soccer in the street etc. We tried ordering Stella at the café but they said they were out so instead we opted for some mint sheesha. We sat there and smoked for an hour on the Nile, which was quite the experience. It really did not do anything to us for those of you who were curious. By no means was it the super strong stuff by brother warned me about.

Luxor Temple at night

General notes:

We have not seen a single female tour guide anywhere we have been so far (except for Karnak temple which we went to the next morning).

I feel that I am getting better at haggling and learn more and more each day. It just takes time to adjust. The best thing to always do is smile while walking away and if you can, throw in a joke. I always like the “We are students and very very cheap” or to a guide at a temple “you are welcome to walk with us, we enjoy company, but we wont pay you anything”. As I stated before though, the constant call for stuff does get rather old and I cant imagine spending an extended period of time here. We met some people the other day from the states and asked them about Egypt, their response was “There is some cool stuff, but that’s about all they have going for them”. In some respects, this is true, but I disagree with the overall message and tone of this statement. For instance, Muhammed, the man who runs Aladin tours was extremely nice and friendly. His baby was born today and you would not believe how excited he was about it. Genuine people definitely exist here, you just have to find them and the only way to do so is to meet someone who does not view you as dollar signs with legs.

Being in Egypt and dealing with haggling constantly really can take the generosity out of you. You get in this mode where you think everyone is ripping you off or using you. Obviously, it is hard to compare to the United States (the average income in Egypt is $4200) but I doubt in the US I would turn down a clearly impoverished 8 year old who asked for 20 cents. Jack and I both knew that all of the young boys friends were watching and if we gave one kid a pound the rest would come. As Lonely Planet says, you are on a vacation and not a philanthropic mission. It is just hard not being generous and being hypercritical of what ultimately amounts to $1. We had a private guide who walked us around and sat in 100-degree heat for us for 5 hours. He received 45 EGP (about $9) from the tour office and, after a debate between Jack and I, $16 more from us. I would make twice that doing a private sailing lesson for an hour and half. I realize comparisons such as these do not amount to much, but they do make you feel slightly better about tipping. I guess we really are dollar signs with legs.

Nutrition:

After a hard couple days, we toned down the exotic food intake a little bit and decided to ease our way back into Egyptian food. Give us some amount of credit for doing so as quickly as we did. We have also avoided any restaurants not at least mentioned by Lonely Planet and all vegetables and fruits unless they were clearly cooked. So far so good, lets hope it continues!