Day 127: Luxor from Safaga, Egypt … The West Bank of the Nile

Saturday, 13 May 2017
At Sea — Red Sea

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:00p (GST) … UTC 6:00p (13 May)
Temp: 91.2F (32.9C)
Position: 26.44.79N / 33.56.90E

… adventures don’t come calling like unexpected cousins calling
from out of town.  You have to go looking for them.
~ Unknown ~

We are early birds, but even by our standards a 3:00a wake up call is a wee bit early.  It wasn’t that we wanted to get out of the cozy cocoon of the bedding.  Rather, we had to.  We had even set an alarm.  Why?  Because we had a hot air ballooning adventure awaiting us!

In the Air …

Frankly, I wasn’t aware that hot air ballooning was an option in Luxor.  The temples in and around Luxor were the unquestionable must-sees, so I had not done research on additional activities.  Anyway, when we heard from a couple of fellow-passengers yesterday that we could float in the air above the West Bank of the Nile, we asked Doma if it was possible to add this activity to our schedule today.  He made a few calls and five minutes later came back with an affirmative answer — USD $85/person in a 16-pax basket.  Having gone ballooning before — in Cappadocia, Turkey and Charlottesville, Virginia … and also at the North Pole (but that was tethered) — the price quoted was a bargain not to be missed.  Sign us up … getting up early for a 4:00a meet-up be damned!

Turns out the change in plans had an unexpected upside — we’d be getting started with our planned sightseeing earlier … before the worst of the heat hit the area.  Even still, the high for us today was 102F (39C).  I shouldn’t complain, though — the highs are expected to rise to 111F (44C) in a few days’ time!

So, we were up at 3:00a and down in the lobby an hour later to meet Doma.  He would be accompanying us to keep an eye on our luggage and daypacks while we went ballooning.  He already had the breakfast boxes the Steigenberger had agreed to provide us — big boxes, which turned out to have a lot of food in them!  Promptly at 4:00a, the transfer van from Sindbad Balloons arrived to pick us up.

The van made a few other pick-ups and then off we went to the Nile River.  Here we transferred to a dhow to cross to the West Bank where our ballooning adventure would be taking place.  The boat ride wasn’t just for show — it was a faster means of crossing the river than it would have been for the vans to drive to the bridge to cross over and then drive back up the shoreline to the launch site.  Though the crossing was short, there was coffee (Nescafe) and tea available for those who wished to partake … la shukhran [no thank you] on my part, but Mui did sip at some coffee.

Before we knew it we were off the dhow and in another van.  After speaking to the Sindbad guys, Doma explained to us that he would remain in the van with our bags and accompany the driver to the pick up point.  He’d also made arrangements for us to be dropped off at our first sightseeing spot after we landed.  We’d be able to have breakfast there while we waited for our driver to join us.  All very efficient … all designed to save us time.

When we arrived at the launch site around 4:45a, balloons were already glowing, their ‘silks’ being filled with the all-important hot air that would slowly raise them upright from where they had been carefully laid out on carpets spread on the desert floor.  As we watched, we were gathered together for a briefing by the pilot of our balloon — another Mohammed ;-)  He explained that the plan was to float over the desert and let the wind take us where it would — within reason, of course.  He cautioned us about touching any of the ropes on the balloon, and showed us the landing position we were to assume at the end of our adventure.

Then we were broken into small groups — one for each of the four passenger compartments of the basket; the fifth box in the middle being for the pilot.  We had 14 people, so we had two groups of four and two of three.  We were in a group of three, with a young man from Brazil … which was nice since this gave us room to switch around and operate cameras comfortably.

When our balloon was ready, we were escorted to it and shown how to climb into our compartment using the footholds built into the side of the basket.  Easier said than done.  Actually, it’s quite easy … if you have long legs!  My problem was lifting my leg high enough over the rim of the basket once I climbed to the top foothold.  Members of the balloon crew stood at the ready to help those in need of assistance, but I managed on my own.

Our balloon began to gently rise shortly before 5:00a, leaving behind the invisible tethers that bound us to earth.  That’s when we noticed there were several groups of shipmates queued up to go ballooning as well.  As we rose ever so smoothly, the whoosh of the heaters warming up the air in the canopy was the only sound breaking the silence of our ascent.  It was peaceful … it was beautiful … colorful balloons dotted the sky — all well-spaced out.  Soon the beige landscape of the desert — broken by trees and bushes, and small settlement areas — was laid out beneath us.  Mohammed pointed out the Nile — hidden behind the heat haze and the dust in the air — as well as several of the monuments and ruins … Hatshepsut’s Temple, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Tombs of the Nobles … and even a Roman monastery.  He rotated the balloon so everyone had equal opportunity to see everything — including the sun rising on the East Bank of the Nile.

The wind, of course, was in charge and determined the direction we would take.  Mohammed was careful to help the air currents keep us away from the Nile … we didn’t need to risk a wet landing when the time came.  We overflew the Queen’s Valley and Hatshepsut’s Temple, and some of the smaller ruins.  We watched as some of the balloons rose high, high, high.  Mohammed announced our high point as 2,427 feet (740m) … not as high as some of the others went.  But in this instance higher wasn’t better anyway … we wanted to be able to make out what we were flying over.

Forty minutes into the flight, we were directed to practice landing procedures and we complied.  Pointing to a red toggle switch, Mohammed reminded us that if we couldn’t see it, we were facing the wrong direction.  Alrighty.  Next he called our attention to the top center of the canopy and said we should watch that point if we wanted to see the balloon start to deflate.  Then he pulled a cord and the tip of the balloon collapsed in on itself, allowing the hot air inside to rush out and aid our descent.  Five minutes later, Mohammed called out … “Landing positions!”  We immediately took up the proper stance as the balloon swiftly lost altitude.  Soon enough a cloud of dust and grit, and a few gentle bumps, signaled that we were on the ground … no dragging … and the balloon remained upright.

The balloon crew had been following us on the ground.  Vehicles screeching to a halt on a non-existent dirt road through the desert, a group of men rushed over and started gathering the canopy.  Another group laid down a carpet to protect the silk canopy.  Once things were under control, we were instructed to exit the balloon.  Doma was waiting for us, a big grin on his face, asking if we had enjoyed our flight.  You betcha!  Hand shakes all around, and we were handed certificates to commemorate our flight.  No champagne this time!  Moments later, the van we piled into was going bumpity-bump-bump over the uneven desert floor.  We were on our way to the drop off point Doma had arranged in advance.

On the Ground …

The distance to the Colossi of Memnon, our first sightseeing stop after our ballooning adventure, was a short one.  Soon, we were getting off in front of the café where we would eat our boxed breakfast.  Turns out that this is a popular place for those who plan to continue sightseeing after ballooning — we saw many fellow-passengers from Insignia.

Before sitting down to our morning meal, we dropped off our bags and crossed the street to check out the Colossi.  It was just after 6:00a and there were only one or two people taking pictures.  That was the side bonus to going ballooning.  Instead of starting out from the hotel at 7:00a as originally planned, we were way ahead of the game … and the crowds.

The Colossi has been attributed by ancient Greek visitors to Memnon … a hero of the Trojan War who was later slain by Achilles.  In fact, the mortuary complex was built for Amenhotep III.  Two massive stone statues of the pharaoh guard the entrance and have been standing at the Theban Necropolis since 1350 BC.  Such temple complexes were always considered to be sacred places.  But this one became even more so when a crying sound started emanating from one of the statues when the wind whistled through a crack.  The statues show the pharaoh in a seated position, facing east towards the river.  Alongside his legs are two smaller figures representing his wife and his mother.  On side panels, the Nile God Hapy is depicted … along with other symbolic carvings.  Yes, there is considerable damage to the limestone statues, but considering how old they are, I would say they withstood the ravages of time quite well.

After taking our photos of the Colossi, we returned to the café where we ordered beverages and sat down to partake of our boxed breakfast.  There was a lot of food — more than we could have eaten, so we combined what we didn’t eat into one box and left it behind to be given to the poor.

Our next stop was the Valley of the Kings.  Before we left the car, Doma told us to leave our cameras behind as photography is not allowed in the tombs.  Phones were OK — but we couldn’t use them to take pictures either.  Walking through the shopping area outside the entrance, we noted that most of the kiosks were still closed — it wasn’t even 7:00a yet, so no surprise.  We hopped on the shuttle train, and headed to the tombs.  There was only one other couple on the shuttle with us … friends from the ship.

The valley into which the tombs have been cut is a dry gully that is presided over by a roughly pyramid-shaped hill.  The valley itself — known as Biban el-Muluk [gateway of the kings] consists of two branches … which explains its other name — Wadyein [the two valleys].  Most of the tombs have been cut into the eastern branch, which was known as “The Great Place.”

These mortuary temples are cut into the limestone and have a similar design that consists of (1) long hallways — the number varying with the depth to which the tomb descends; (2) an antechamber where the belongings the deified pharaoh would need in the afterlife were stockpiled, and (3) the actual burial chamber where the sarcophagus was located along with religious items.  The mummy — the word literally meaning black — and the canopic jars with the internal organs would be in the innermost of the nested coffins.

To date, 63 of an unknown number of tombs have been discovered.  Not all are open to the public on any given day.  Rather, they are rotated in an effort to preserve the wall paintings, which — as we were to see for ourselves — are in an amazing state of preservation.  Our ticket allowed entry into three tombs, excluding those belonging to pharaohs like Seti I and King Tut, which require additional admission charges.

We had already decided we were not going to visit the extra-admission tombs this time.  Since he was more familiar with the features of the tombs, we let Doma decide which ones we should go into today.  He suggested we start off with Ramses VII — the tomb that was the first one to be discovered and the one closest to the entrance gate.  Then we visited the tomb of Ramses IX and finally went into check out the tomb of Meremptah, son of Ramses II — who, by some accounts, may have been the son of Moses.  This last one was the deepest one we went into and the hallways were steeper than the previous two.  In the antechamber of this last one we saw the granite lid of the outer coffin.

The walls of each tomb were beautifully decorated with carved scenes from the Book of the Dead or the Book of the Gates, and on the ceilings were the two figures of the sky goddess representing the day sky and the night sky.  Much of the relief carvings still retained their original colors — really amazing.  I can understand why photography isn’t allowed.  Aside from the potential damage from camera flashes, it would take forever to get visitors to go through.  We bought a CD/DVD and postcard set that was being sold for USD $5 … well worth it to have the images that are included on the CD/DVD.  Doma also gave me some websites from which I can download additional images if I need more.

Our next stop was at the Temple of Al Deir al-Bahari — or more commonly, the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.  She was the second of the four women who ruled Egypt at one point or another … and the one to do so the longest … Doma said 20 years.  As such, she considered herself worthy of being buried in the Valley of the Kings rather than the Valley of the Queens.  She couldn’t build her temple in the former, however, so she did the next best thing … she built it into the slopes of the pyramid-like mountain that overlooks the Valley of the Kings.  In fact, her burial chamber was dug so that it slopes towards that valley.  And inside the tomb she is represented with the accoutrements of a male pharaoh — a beard and a short skirt — symbolizing her standing as a king.

Our driver took us up to the parking lot at the visitor center.  From there we took a shuttle train similar to the one at the Valley of the Kings to get to the bottom of the Avenue of the Sphinx — with a lone sphinx — leading up to the temple proper.  Along the way, Doma pointed out the various tombs being excavated in the hills, including one that is thought to have belonged to Queen Hatshepsut’s lover.  He said that the walls inside the tomb have carved frescoes that are accepted as being the first love scenes recorded in history.  Alas, the tomb is not open to the public, so I’ll have to research it further when I get home.

We’d seen the temple from the air as our balloon floated over it, but that did not prepare us for the reality of the temple close up.  The complex, which is being restored by a Polish team, looks and feels almost like it did back in the day … at least from a distance.  Built of pale sandstone, the temple is not only nestled into the golden yellow and beige-brown cliffs, but is partially dug into them.  It sits next to the now-ruined mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II … said to have been the inspiration for the design of this temple.  Later that temple was used as a quarry.  The three terraces are linked together with stairs and ramps, which divide the complex into two halves.  On either side of the ramps once stood gardens.  The front of each terrace consists of a colonnade that faces the Nile, the uppermost one featuring a series of statues of the standing pharaoh in the typical pose with arms crossed.

The reliefs tell the story of the birth of a female pharaoh and the expedition to the Land of Punt … now Ethiopia.  In fact, outside the Avenue of the Sphinx are the roots of two trees said to have been brought back by that expedition.  Much of the ornamentation and statues have long since been destroyed, including many of the ones featuring Hatshepsut herself … these on the order of her stepson Thutmose III, who was mad at her for continuing to rule when he felt she should have stepped aside to let him rule instead.

We slowly wandered around the temple, studying the reliefs carved into the walls.  In the upper court, we walked around and looked at the details of more reliefs.  Then we went into the Chapel of Anubis.  Here a guard encouraged us to step up to an opening that was covered with mesh — in return for a baksheesh, of course.  He told us that we could take a photo of the shrine inside by putting our phones up to the mesh.  I doubted him … but he was right.  The image we got of the far wall of the shrine had a representation of Tuthmosis I with what would have been an image of Hatshepsut … had her stepson not ordered it erased.

It was only 9:45a when we left the temple.  Still plenty of time to sightsee before lunch at 11:00a and our subsequent drive back to Safaga.  But the heat was on — and getting unbearable where there was no shade.  I know the official high for the day was 102F … I wonder how hot it really was in the sun.  Had there been a museum nearby, we could have gone there.  But the Luxor Museum is on the east bank of the Nile and it would have taken too long for us to go there.  Not to mention that security was tighter today on that side of the river because President Sisi was visiting.  When we told him we were done for the day, Doma suggested going to the restaurant even though it was still early to have some cold beverages and enjoy the Nile views … sounded good to us.

The restaurant we went to was Al Mina.  The place is obviously the go-to place for tours.  The staff was still setting up the buffet as it was only 10:00a when we arrived.  So, we went out to the terrace overlooking the river, sat under the shade canopy, and enjoyed an hour of R&R in view of the Nile … with the Temple of Luxor almost directly across the river from us.  Unlike yesterday’s food at a restaurant frequented by the locals, today’s lunch was so-so.  Just a typical tourist buffet.  I suppose we could have asked Doma to take us somewhere in town, but drained from the heat, we weren't very hungry anyway, so we went with the flow.

By noon we were on the road, beginning the long trek back to Safaga.  At first I watched the streetscape we were passing by, but once we crossed the Nile again to connect to the Agricultural Road, I pulled out my book to help pass the time.  Our stop on the Desert Highway was a purpose-built tourist bus stop — quite a big facility.  Doma said we would have stopped here yesterday as well, but the route of the convoy — as directed by the Egyptian authorities — did not allow it.

We were back at the port by 3:30p.  Getting inside the port was another story.  First we went to gate 2, which is apparently the usual entrance into the port.  The guard there told us to go to gate 1.  So we drove the short distance to that gate, only to be told that Doma and Mohammed’s port passes had to be stamped and signed at gate 2.  Back we went to the same guard who then directed the two of them to a hidden niche where the official responsible for signing the passes was at his afternoon prayer.  Luckily, it was a short prayer and soon we were going through gate 1.

Heading to the terminal, we repeated the process of going through one door and out the other one to get back on the van.  This time the X-ray machines in the terminal were operational.  And the official insisted we put through the bags we’d left behind in the van.  He had a point — after all, how can you go on an overnight trip without any bags!  By then, the van had already gone around to the terminal’s exit door.  So Doma called Mohammed and asked him to come back around.  Mui went out and came back with our two daypacks, so the actual overnight bag never did get scanned … not that the officials really cared, they just wanted some bags to go through.  It was 4:00p when we bid Mohammed “Doma" and Mohammed farewell and embarked Insignia for some quiet time until all the tours returned and the ship set sail at 8:00p.

We will be losing an hour overnight to put us on Israel Daylight time … which we wouldn’t have to do if Egypt had been observing DST this year.  Thankfully, tomorrow is a day at sea, so we can rest and acclimate to the time loss. 

© 2015-2017 — All rights reserved by Erin Erkun.