Transiting the only lock on the Nile. We were on our way from Aswan to Luxor.
“The stela of King Prismatic engraved with a text of hieroglyphic writing and two cartouches of King Prismatic, its upper part is decorated with the winged sun-disk.”
I don't remember where this was. Forgive me, Dr. Miano. This was the day we visited Kom Ombo. I may be out of order here. I didn't keep a copy of our agenda so I'm going by the Whatsapp instructions we got from Anyextee day by day. Next time I will keep a daily diary.
I'm definitely not sure where we are. I thought the lock was after this. OK. I'm lost.
One of our attendants on the dahabiya. Coffee was available any time. They would make it for us or we could belly up to the bar and run the espresso machine ourselves. Our choice. Nice.
No clue where this is. Someplace between Aswan and Luxor.
And this...
Ditto.
Anyextee, Youssef, and Dr. David. Always there to guide us.
Isis in her cow form as Hathor. It’s nice to have a goddess you can relate to as a companion in the fields.
Or on the river. Gods are great when they are present.
Now where am I… Oh! Excuse me! Can you let me out? What? But I don’t want to be an exhibition.
You got me. I don’t know where we are, either.
OK. I don't feel so bad now.
No clue.
I’ll just make something up. About Atlantis... In the desert... Of Egypt... Sure. They won’t know the difference.
Oh, OK. Here’s a sign. We’re saved.
Rachel is a very photogenic photographer.
Luxor temple at night, which brings up a story…
Part of this expedition were visits to two special sites not available to the general public. These were called “Nekkon” and “The Osireion.” They were described to us this way:
*Note on Special Permissions Private Visits*
While this “Egyptian Empire” tour (theme focused on Upper Egypt) doesn’t include general visits to Giza or private visits inside the pyramids or Sphinx enclosure, you’ll still get two exclusive VIP private visits during the official tour:
• *Nekkon*: An extremely rare site, closed to the general public and almost never discussed, yet vital to understanding Egypt’s earliest dynasties. Aside from university trips for aspiring Egyptologists and archaeologists, we’re the first group granted permission to visit this site —this is truly special!
• *Inside the Osireion*: Not open to the general public.
Like you would have to do for the special permissions permits for entering the closed Khafre pyramid, we invested significantly and secured these months in advance to provide you with exclusive access.
As you can imagine, we were all excited about this adventure.
We road our bus for about an hour to get to… a rest stop in the desert. There we waited for SUV vehicles to bring us the rest of the way, which would be about a three hour drive. No problem. Just get in the car and drive to where we needed to be. Easy peasy.
We had a little time to use the water closet, buy drinks and snacks, smoke smokes, and wait waits. For. How long now? Anyextee would tell us to, “Just wait by the… whatever.” Whatever you say, Habibi.
The cars arrived and we were assigned our vehicles. And waited some more. For. How long now? Just wait by the… whatever. Oh, get in the car. And wait. So we got in the car. And waited.
And we were told to get out of our cars. And just wait by the… Bus.
Apparently, the previous week or so, somebody on another such trip had wandered off the expedition and gotten lost. Shit happens. The local authorities were called in and had to find them. Shit happens some more. And sometimes it keeps happening.
Waiting for our desert transportation…
And rest area… with Egyptian cat.
As a result of all this waiting, they decided that our caravan needed a police escort… Just to make sure we stupid tourists were safe… Never mind how professional our team is and how many guides we have… Never mind all the permits with all the different agencies, police, army, and antiquities departments we have. Never mind all the bribes-er, fees paid. And it would take three hours for the police escort to arrive. Three hours, then another three hours in transit.
We were introduced to a term we would soon get quite used to,
“This is Egypt, after all.”
We curtseyed to the nice police officers. Thanked them for their concerns. Said a polite, “Thanks. But no, thanks!” climbed back into our bus, and headed back to the dahabiya. “Really. It’s not a problem.”
Anyextee said we would do something else. Waiting three hours so we could then spend three hours in SUV’s and then spend reduced time with Egyptian police following us around so we could get there with only a few hours of sunlight, and then drive back, etc., was not a good use of our time. They would arrange for us to come back here on Monday, police escort included. End of story.
Why did I mention this when viewing a stunning view of Luxor at night?
Because we never made it back to the desert ruins. Instead, Youssef managed to pull some strings, very powerful strings, and get us access to the Luxor temple a week later.
“What’s the big deal?” you ask? Well, it was at night. After hours. When the temple was closed. They ushered the regular tourists out. Turned off the lights. Yawned, and said, “Another day done, already?” and then as soon as all the regular tourists left, they turned the lights back on, unlocked the doors and turnstiles, and let us in.
We had a few hours by ourselves with the temple.
I hope they gave the temple staff some good backsheesh.
The courtyard before the temple is the end of on avenue of
sphinxes which extends all the way to the temple complex at Karnak several kilometers away.
Ramses II, Hatshepsut, and Tutankhamen. Three pharaohs that were important on our trip
I believe are at the temple of Horus at Edfu. I really should have kept better notes. Or any notes, even.
Definitive proof of Ancient Egyptian Wi-Fi.
The faces and the feet are obliterated by later vandals. The face to prevent them from interacting in the afterlife and the feet to keep them from getting around. These were done by Christians as they turned temples into churches. Though they weren’t that consistent.
I’ve seen this behavior elsewhere. In Ankor Wat in Cambodia the Hindu gods were either defaced or the face was re-carved into a Buddha. Destroying monuments to things you don’t like has been around for a long time.
Wow, now that I look at this photo, that shadow on the wall looks ominous.
Downtown, back ally in Egypt.
Dedication
…and what she was photographing.
We did quite a fair deal of looking up.
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