In the land of Pharaohs
Finally a relaxing holiday
Curti - Roma - Luxor - Edfu
This morning we wake up early at 4:15 is still dark outside. Today we start for Egypt with the cruise offered by Snaidero and Phone and go (http://www.phoneandgo.it). For the first time carry out the Curti-trip Rome with our machines ... we hope not to get traffic on the GRA. The flight part of Windjet to 10:45 a.m. and arrives four hours later at
Luxor, the Egyptian airport is very small (as imagined) and as in all tours organized types are out there on the accompanying boat, the Lady Mary. After a small briefing with our guide on board, Claude, we go into a rest room. The room is very large and welcoming, there is a huge glass wall overlooking the Nile and the sunset is fantastic. Let's make a quick tour of the ship is very beautiful has four floors and there are a bar, restaurant, two shops a reading room, a sun deck with bar attached and a small swimming pool, we discover that here in
Luxor, there are more ships that hotel about 400 obviously smaller berths may not contain all then have to file four navie and to enter the vessel must often pass through the reception of the other. Here in Egypt is the Egyptian pound, also known as 1 pound euro worth 7.5 pounds ... but I must say that I have never changed one cent ... of course the euro is widely accepted (many bring small change). Starting at 17:00 to visit the temple of
Luxor, we do know our guide Tarek (very prepared ... but "fiscalissimo"), is dark and the temple is lit there is a full moon really a magical. It appears here in
Luxor, there are simultaneously the largest temple in the world (Karnak) and the smaller,
Luxor precisely, the facade is beautiful, there were originally two obelisks but one was cut and given to the French in exchange for a clock ( we will see in
Cairo), the obelisk is now on display at place de la concorde in Paris. E 'possible to see the avenue of sphinxes, originally along three kilometers, connecting the temple of Karnak to the
Luxor and the Temple of Alexander the Great where he portrays with the god of fertility. After visiting the enchanting boat where we start navigating to
Edfu come in late at night.
Edfu - Kom Ombo
After a hearty breakfast we are off the ship where we expect the carriages that bring us to tempiodi
Edfu. On the way we have the opportunity to "glimpse" this pretty town with its rural inhabitants intent to carry out daily chores. The temple of
Edfu dedicated to the god Horus is the second largest in the world, has the colossal walls and there are some fantastic hieroglyphics. A visit to a room where it is depicted, with the original colors, the goddess of the sky resting the hands and feet into the earth and the body forms the sky. also in this temple there is a special room, in this place there are hieroglyphics that describe the art of preparation of essences, art that the Egyptians (Nubians or better) benessimo learned today Asswan is the first city in the world preparation of essences. After the visit of the fabulous temple dedicated to the marketplace a few minutes, obviously the merchants invite you, often with a handshake or by calling friend, to see their wares ... but watch (especially women) to not surpass the white line that indicate the entrance of the store. " We return by ferry and depart for
Kom Ombo, while browsing, you can contemplate the beautiful banks of this river is incredible to see a lush vegetzione along the Nile and just a few km further on only desert. The temple of
Kom Ombo is the only entry with a double as dedicated to two deities the crocodile god and Horus the son of (???). The temple stands on a hill close to the Nile, in the evening with the lighting is a fable. Inside you can see many interesting hieroglyphs like the first time in history and the first surgical instruments in history. Worthy of note is the famous nilometro, the well utilizing the principle of communicating vessels can know the level of the Nile. Knowing the level of the river to the Egyptians was of fundamental importance in basic ........ this could be attributed to taxes .... high water or low taxes meant zero (flood or drought), levels interim fees were increasing. As usual we head towards the local market, unfortunately tonight we have a costume party and we need to buy coats ... the prices that we are shooting are 25 euro a tunic but ..... been out !!!.... after a beautiful and animated trattativa I buy three for 5 euros each (receiving the "compliments" of the merchant) ... ah, the phrase that most feel is to say: buy this model Giuditta !!!!!. Arab dinner tonight I have to say enough good Aimè I can not eat felafel (for Favismo) but I shall very good with the cous cous in the end we make friends with the cooks and Abdul Mohammed.
Kom Ombo - Aswan
The ship arrived this morning to
Aswan and today we expect a boat trip to the Island elephant named because it was the center of trade in. You can see the tombs of nobles carved into the rock and the mausoleum of AG Khan. Return by boat and after a quick lunch we leave for the great dam at
Aswan, the first step, however, is the palace of scents (
Abu Simbel Perfumes Palace), managed by the Nubians, go after a small lesson on how to prepare us to the essences smell different essences (max 4 so stunning) and of course invite you to be interested ...... xchi son can play any scent on application. After we go to the great dam at
Aswan, the creation of this dam was to control the flooding of the Nile and to increase the arable land but has created an artificial lake (Lake Nasser) which was flooded as well as 17 temples of
Abu Simbel and Phil. Just this temple is our next step, we come to a small marina where we take a motor boat that takes us five minutes on the island where it was rebuilt (after having recovered the pieces from the bottom of the lake), the temple of Phil. The temple is beautiful and you can see a room used by the Coptic Christian religious functions with an altar inside a main hall. Note also the porch of Titian used to accommodate the ships that entered the temple.
Aswan - Abu Simbel - Aswan - Kom Ombo
Today is a real sfacchinata, alarm at 2:30 (!!!!!) right time for a coffee and at 3:15 we leave. The bus that goes to
Abu Simbel is a site of a convoy escorted by the police beginning to 4:00
Abu Simbel is located 200 km from
Aswan and only 40 km from Wadi Alfa Sudan (!!!). After hours of pure desert to arrive at destination 6:30, needless to say that the sfacchinata is well rewarded by the beauty of these temples dedicated to Ramses II and his wife Nefertari. The facade is amazing there are four depicting Ramses colossi seated with his arms crossed (the symbol of death) and the fake beard straight (symbol of life). Obviously there's a lot of people and makes an already hot at 7:00 let venedo to 14:00 .... go soon forget (also applies to the valley of the kings and queens). The interior of the temple is an apotheosis of hieroglyphs and portrayals of the most famous are the chariot of war and the battle of Kadesh ..... a truly wonderful spectacle (if not for the FOSE stifling heat and humidity through the roof). At the bottom there is a small room where they are shown in order of Amon-Ra, Ramses II, Horus and Ptah these statues on February 22 and October 22 (one day more than the birth date and the crowning of the Pharaoh, had to shift reconstruction after all'allagamento from Lake Nasser) are illuminated by the first rays of the sun, the whole process takes a total of 12 minutes and the first beam illuminates Ammon-Ra, Ramses II and then finally Horus .. Ptah is never illuminato xchè is the god of darkness ... to see the temple of Osiris the only pharaonic history to be dedicated to a woman. After the tour we return by boat and begin to navigate to Kom-Ombo.
Luxor
This morning we wake up early (6:15) and we head towards the temple of Karnak, the temple is the largest in the world is a true spectacle its colonnade room is huge even yield the remains of Color on hieroglyphics (!!!). Also worth seeing are the two obelisks, and the sacred lake where you drew the water used for the coronation of the pharaoh. Near the lake there is a column with low above a scarab, the tradition says that doing a turn counter-clockwise can make a wish ... After the temple was again on the western shore to welcome us before the valley of the kings and queens are the colossi of Memnon. We make a first step to a nice temple of Habu, and from here we head towards three of the 62 tombs discovered in the valley ... the scenery is fantastic, almost lunar. Here in the valley makes a warm sovraumano and the morning of 11 October and is still !!!!!!!, tombs are exceptional, see all these magnificent hieroglyphics colorful (the colors used are four black, red, yellow, turquoise) is a real thrill ... many are incomplete (the pharaoh died before the end of the work) and you can admire the fabulous sketches just as if you were seeing a way of "drawing mouse."
Luxor - Cairo - Luxor
Included in the price of the cruise there is also a one-day trip to
Cairo (Gulp!), Then speglia early (4:30) for a change and we head to the airport where we expect a small turbo that takes us an hour in
Cairo. I did not understand if there are 13 or 17 million people, however the difference with other cities viewed until now it is clear ... there is abnormal traffic (though nothing compared to that of Naples). The first stop is the famous museum of
Cairo there is so much stuff that the findings seem stacked with good and better, there are about 36,000 objects (!!!). We see many interesting things as the scribe, the statue of Chefren, the First Lady and the second floor there's the wonder of the treasure Tutancamon. The second floor is almost entirely dedicated to the pharaoh's sarcophagus all, jewels, throne, bow, arrows and the famous funerary mask. After the museum we head abruptly to the citadel where we admire the fabulous mosque of Mohammed Ali really looks very nice with blue mosque that is located in Istanbul. After the mosque we go (finally) to the stage that alone worth the trip to Egypt, or the pyramids at Giza even with the smog that is offensive, you can see the outline of the pyramids already from the terrace of the mosque. All of the pyramids of Giza is situated on a hill to the city center attaccatissima just entered the bus parked in a nearby spiazzale where you can admire in all their beauty. Cheops, and Chefren Micerino are the only marvel of antiquity still stand, at least we have to see this magnificent work of man. The bus continued its course stop at the foot of the pyramids where you can admire more closely, we go after the sphinx, with his body half man half animal (lion) is a site where the beautiful display of the pyramids from the background. After the Sphinx we head into one of 15 institutes papyruses where we are working to see how the papyrus, and from here we head to the famous market of Khan El Khalli ... to try, after this day stancantissima returns tomorrow we return to
Luxor home.