17-18 November 2024

Late yesterday afternoon and evening, we had a chance to stick our feet into the Nile, and after the farewll dinner (to the yacht's crew) we danced to rhythmic drumming. 






I got up very early this morning to see the full moon. After an early breakfast, we disembarked from our yacht and took a 3.5-hour bus ride to Abu Simbel, the site of the most famous of all the temples. This is  the one dedicated to Ramses II and his senior wife Nefertari. It was cut up and moved, piece-by-piece, 200 feet higher in the sheer granite cliff to avoid rising waters of Lake Nasser as the Aswan Dam was being built. The process was painstakingly designed and engineered to avoid damage to the priceless and fragile statues and reliefs. About 25,000 persons worked on it for over three years. Inside, carved into the granite behind the colossal statues, is the Temple of Rameses II, and off to one side is the Temple of Nefertari. Many of the illustrations inside document the victory of Rameses II over the Hittites. 


















In the afternoon, we heard an interesting presentation about the history of Nubia--a lecture given by a Nubian man who had written several books on the subject. The lecture included a demonstration of ancient Nubian instruments, predecessors of the modern guitar.



Then, after dark, we attended a sound and light show at the temple we had visited that morning.









Our hotel for the night was spectacular but not as impressive as the one for 
tonight. Below are a few photos of last night's hotel in Abu Simbel.

















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 9 November 2024 This morning we boarded the bus for the 30-minute drive to Giza, just outside Cairo, where the Pyramids, Sphinx, and Grand Egyptian Museum (the new museum) are located. It is Saturday, so the whole area was flooded with buses and cars carrying tourists and school groups. All around the biggest pyramid were hoards of people, some of them drumming us for money--for example, wanting to hand us a "gift" (perhaps a Chinese-made trinket or a photo) and then expecting from us a "gift" (i.e., money) in return. Our guide, Hend, had prepared us well for such approaches, so we weren't much bothered by them.  Although I had seen many pictures of the Pyramids, getting the three-dimensional view up close was very special. And the same goes for the Sphinx. I climbed up a few courses of the huge limestone blocks used the build the Great Pyramid, peaked into the entry door, and climbed back down. I didn't go in, because Hend had said that I would have to do ...
Read more
Image
 12 November 2024 Just before getting aboard the Amunet, we visited the small but beautiful Temple of Khnum in Esna. It was built and decorated by Egyptians during the Greek and Roman occupations. Smaller than the others we have seen, this temple is striking for the colors--the original colors--still clearly visible on the columns, walls, and ceiling. Later in this, our first afternoon aboard the Amunet, we visited a rural village of about 5,000 people. Our hostess was a villager in her 30s who welcomed us to her courtyard and house, and served us tea while we asked questions about village life. The paintings on the side of her house included a plane and a mosque, which announced that a member of her family had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. When we learned she had studied sewing in college and asked to see her work, she proudly displayed several items she had made and showed us the logo for her business. One of our fellow travelers bought one of her creations and modeled it for us....
Read more
 1:20 am, Cairo time, on 8 November 2024 I have just finished unpacking. "Michael" and a driver met me at the airport and whisked me through visa purchase, passport control, and customs. They drove me, with commentary along the way (we passed by two palaces, the original, huge rail stations) to the Marriott Cairo, which is on the Nile. Michael showed me the ropes and left me in my palatial room, with barely enough energy left to thank him for all his help. Tomorrow morning, I meet the group at 8:30 am and must compose myself and eat breakfast at the hotel restaurant before that.  The flight, by the way, was not as pleasant as the transatlantic one. The plane was smaller and was not divided into classes--just one long aisle with three seats on each side, all crunched up together without much leg room. But the attendants were very helpful and nice, and they fed us well.  More tomorrow. 
Read more