Egypt – Valley of the Kings

Silver Wind spent three days hustling through the Gulf of Aden in convoy with a large number of freighters and oil tankers. Enhanced security measures included a two-day phone and Internet blackout, the appearance of two French snipers who patrolled the front of the ship, a directive to the passengers to stay off their balconies and the appearance of signs saying that certain areas were  off limits while we were in danger of a pirate attack.  I think the concern was real while the expectation of trouble was very low.

Piracy has become a business enterprise in the past ten years.  Most pirates are seeking easy prey (tanker ships, cargo ships) that can be captured and ransomed for millions of dollars.  Cruise ships are in little danger.  Ships like Silver Wind are difficult to board, they have too many crew and there is not enough money or other valuables aboard to make an attempt to take hundreds of passengers hostage worthwhile.  A consortium of nations supplies warships to escort the ship convoys. We occasionally saw military helicopters patrolling overhead. Passage through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea is relatively safe these days. Michael wrote an essay on the pirate precautions for his blog : http://cbu-march2015.blogspot.com  that details more of the efforts all ships are required to make when they traverse areas where pirates are active.  I think the required precautions spook passengers more than the danger of actual pirates.

Our next destination was the port of Safaga, Egypt.  Safaga is a small commercial port on the Red Sea in the South of Egypt.  Cruise ships stop there mainly to take tourists on a long drive overland to Luxor on the Nile River and to the Valley of the Kings just west of the Nile.  Most of the Silver Wind’s passengers chose this particular cruise in order to see the Ancient Egyptian monuments and later, the Christian sights in the Holy Land. Egypt gets most of its national income from fees on ships traversing the Suez Canal.  Tourism is in second place. Unfortunately for the Egyptian economy, we were the only cruise ship in the area.

The First Military/Police Checkpoint
We were Not even Outside Safaga Yet

I took the thirteen-hour bus trip to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings.  Michael stayed on the ship as he had taken this excursion twice before.  The bus ride from the port to the Nile takes three and a half hours.  We drove on a good two lane paved highway through mountains and desert, past regular army or police checkpoints until we saw the green of the irrigated land along the Nile River.  The green of the Nile valley always comes as a surprise after the barren desert.

Donkey Carts Still are used for Agriculture
Note that the Wheels are Truck Wheels

The area appeared more prosperous than the part of Egypt I saw in 2011 shortly after the Arab Spring revolution.  Then the area around Cairo had been knee deep in trash. The villages and towns along the southern Nile appeared to be cleaner.  Mud brick houses were intermixed with more modern structures.   All appeared to have satellite dishes on their roofs.  There were still a few donkey carts to be seen but  I noticed more motorbikes and even some tuk-tuks (three wheel vehicles with motorcycle engines). I did note that at every crossroad there were two or three men, at least one with an automatic rifle plainly visible.  Presumably, they were guarding their villages from strangers with evil intent.

Tuk-Tuks in a Local Town

Local Militia - Passing the Time or Keeping their Town Safe?

Our tour bus reached Luxor in late morning.  Luxor’s ancient ruins, dating from the New Kingdom (2000 BC- 1050 BC), are located in the middle of a medium sized city.  It was a stretch to imagine this imposing temple complex as it once looked.   A double line of sphinxes once lined a processional route between Luxor and Thebes, a distance of a little over a mile.  Most of it has been excavated but is crossed every so often by city streets.  Cecil B DeMille envisioned it in “The Ten Commandments” as a truly majestic sight.  Traces of that majesty remain.

Line of Sphinxes Once Ran a Mile from the Temple of Luxor to the Temple of Karnak

The Largest Statuary was Added by Ramses II
the Statues are all of Him

Typical View of the Temple of Luxor
The Temple to the Sun God Amun
was Built and Added to by Three Pharaohs

Our tour guide, an archaeologist at the Cairo Museum, led us on an informative walk through linked temples following which we had about fifteen minutes free time to explore on our own before reboarding the bus.  The columns were impressive, the statuary huge, the whole eerily beautiful.  Interestingly, Byzantine Era Coptic Christians had repurposed a section of an ancient temple as a church with Christian frescoes plastered over the hieroglyphics.  Later, Muslim conquerors built a mosque over part of the church and  a section of the New Kingdom temple of Amun.  Every conquering culture shows the superiority of its god or gods by putting its temple atop a conquered holy place.  I felt as if I was walking through history.  It was not a busy tourist day so only a hundred or so other voyagers to the past accompanied me, most of them school children with their chaperons.

Our Guide Pointing out the Byzantine Frescoes Over the Egyptian Hieroglyphics 

The Mosque Tops Everything Else

Here, French Graffiti from 1892 has been
Added to the Frescoes and Hieroglyphics

Our tour group had lunch at the Luxor Sheraton, a luxury hotel overlooking the Nile with views of the mountains on the western bank. We could see the Valley of the Kings in the distance.  As usual on these excursions, the food was mostly tailored to American and European tastes.  I prefer, whenever possible to try the local dishes.  I was able to have a dessert cake made with honey and dates and even an Egyptian beer.  The label was in Arabic.  I found it strange to be drinking local beer in a Muslim country. Apparently Egyptians have no difficulty selling alcoholic beverages to foreign tourists.  Michael had told me to expect a man playing a violin on his head during lunch.  Instead, we were entertained by a three-man group dressed in long robes, playing a drum, a strange stringed instrument and an even stranger wind instrument.  I guess the violinist has retired and has been replaced by a local group playing what I assume is local music.

Modern Luxor Street Scene

After lunch and photographs, we got on the bus for the trip across the Nile to the Valley of the Kings.  The Valley of the Kings is a vast tomb complex where Egyptian royalty were buried during the New Kingdom period 3500 - 3000 years ago, after the age of the pyramids.  The tomb entrances were skept secret to avoid despoliation by tomb robbers but over thousands of years, the only intact tomb discovered so far is the tomb of a relatively unimportant pharaoh, King Tutankhamen.  King Tut was discovered in 1922 buried in a relatively unimpressive tomb.  Travelling shows of the rich grave goods and the beautiful gold burial mask of King Tutankhamen have made him the most famous pharaoh known today.  One can only wonder what marvelous treasure once was in the tombs of the truly great pharaohs.

Crossing the Nile River

Entrance to Valley of the Kings Complex
No Cameras Were Allowed Beyond this Point

Our tour guide led us to the tombs of three different pharaohs, Ramses IX, Ramses VI and Merenptah. They were relatively important Pharaohs although no one besides Egyptologists care about them today. The tombs open for viewing vary. Tourism, air pollution and general neglect have degraded the wall paintings.  Only a few are open at any given time.  We climbed down ramps and wooden stairs to the inner chambers.  Our guide was not licensed to enter the tombs with us and the guard in each tomb appeared not to speak English so it was mostly a visual experience.  Nonetheless, the tombs were breathtaking.  Most of the paintings and hieroglyphs were faded or chipped but some were still vibrantly colored. The decorative schemes varied though there were hieroglyphics and allegorical pictures in all of the tombs. Ramses VI’s tomb had extensive passages from the Book of the Dead inscribed on the walls of the corridor leading to the sanctuary.  It was amazing to look at them and realize that these paintings and inscriptions were more than 3000 years old.

On the way out of the complex, I stopped along the street of trinket sellers and bargained, not very cannily, for some small statues for souvenirs.  I don’t often buy tourist merchandise but I was in a good mood and liked the statues.  I wanted the cat one in particular; I came away with four different statuettes at about twice the price I had been willing to pay for one.  I’m sure the seller thought he had driven a good bargain.  We both were satisfied – the definition of a fair trade.

Mortuary Temple of Hatchupset

Remains of Mortuary Temple of Ramses II

The Colossi of Memnon -
Actually the Remains of the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III

We stopped at the Temple of Hatchupset for photos; then drove to the Colossi of Memnon for more photos.  Hatchupset was a successful female pharaoh whose beautifully designed mortuary temple is carved into rock at the Valley of the Queens adjacent to the Valley of the Kings.  The Colossi are two huge statues, all that remain of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III another pharaoh of the New Kingdom period. Both are on the west side of the Nile. 

Our tour bus recrossed the Nile and returned us to the Sheraton Luxor for afternoon tea.  This was our last break before the three and a half hour return trip through the desert and across the mountains to Safaga and the waiting Silver Wind.  Two memories stand out on that return trip:  the sight of minarets lit up with colored LED strings in various Nile towns and the strikingly clear night sky in the mountains. I could see constellations and the Milky Way easily through the bus window.  

View From the Luxor Sheraton
The Mountains of the Valley of the Kings in the Distance

Michael and I ate a late dinner and turned in soon afterward as we had an hour time change and an early start for our tour to Wadi Rum in Jordan the next morning.  I enjoyed the trip to the Valley of the Kings. It was worth the seemingly endless time on the bus.  There were some other tourists at both Luxor and the Valley of the Kings but clearly tourism to Egypt is almost as bad as it was in 2011 right after the revolution. There appear to be a lot more military and police checkpoints and armed men standing around street intersections.  This cannot be good for the future of Egypt.