Egypt 2007 (Part Four)

Al Bagawat – Parking – 235/5167 – overcast muggy heat

Follows from "Egypt 2007" Part Three

Luxor – Camp - 417/5584 – Sun

Departure at 7.30, heading for Luxor, stop at Paris to visit a fortress, good road a bit wavy, before Paris we were caught in a sandstorm, the first ones had strayed too far from the group, Carlito the first of the second group who could barely see anything because of the wind and sand, called desperately on the CB for Luisa group leader, no answer, at a junction we went blindly left, guessing right, a few kilometres later we caught up with the group. Visit to the fortress of Qasr ad-Dush. Ready for the visit, Carlito notices he's losing water from the radiator, super Bruno steps in and finds where the leak is, while the others continue the visit: I, Daniele, Tony, Bruno and of course Carlito, try to repair the fault, the far-sighted Bruno has the "radiator sealant", a powder that inserted into the water circuit, solidifies in the holes preventing the water from escaping.

ADVICE: equip yourself with one or more bottles of radiator sealant and, if possible, a friend like Bruno Once back the rest of the group sets off again, Carlito will keep an eye on the water temperature. Near Luxor, along the road Aiman explains that by police order, to avoid terrorist acts, for 300 metres from the roadside only low crops may be grown, parsley or alfalfa, beyond that sugar cane can be grown, all this so that no one can hide and attack vehicles in transit. We also notice people not in uniform, armed with submachine guns walking along the road, we'll later learn they're like private police fighting crop theft and cattle raiding.

Arriving in Luxor we settled in the courtyard of a hotel, a place improperly called a campsite, anyway there's water and an electrical connection, not a very high voltage as I tried to run the generator, but it couldn't handle it and all the lights in the courtyard went out, I turned it off immediately avoiding a total breakdown. It's very hot and air conditioning would have been useful. After dinner all together, on foot, we went to the Karnak temple for the "Sons et lumieres" show, it was very evocative: the temple in its majesty, the music, the lights and the narrating voices took us back in time to the pharaohs. All off to bed, tomorrow a busy day of visits to the various temples and tombs on the west bank of the Nile awaits us.

Luxor – Camp – 0/5584 – Sun and very hot

Not on foot but by bus, we visit: - The Valley of the Kings, with three very beautiful and interesting tombs planned, others also ask to visit the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun, a disappointment, it's very small, you only visit one room where there's the granite sarcophagus, everything else is in the Cairo museum. ADVICE: save your money don't visit the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun - Temple of Hatshepsut - Village of the artisans (while transferring) - Tomb of Userhat and Ramose Lunch break in a typical little restaurant where we ate quite well. - Temple of Medinat Habu (very beautiful) - The Valley of the Queens (my wife and I skipped this visit, we were tired) - Colossi of Memnon At the end of the tour, visit to an alabaster workshop with the guide's statement that there's no obligation to buy, ……….

As if, do women ever enter a place like that without buying??? ADVICE: husbands beware of guides' invitations to visit workshops or various shops. Dead tired and dazzled by the sun and heat we returned to our campers where everyone had a relaxing shower. At the evening meeting Anelì and Luciano bring a cake and bottles of liqueur, we chat and decide what to do for the following days and we drink.

Luxor – Camp - 0/5584 – Overcast and muggy heat

Very hot night, even with the portholes open we were sweating. By bus, visit to the Karnak temple, the one seen in the evening with lights and sounds, it was the best site visited so far, Aiman explained in the minutest detail the history and construction of this imposing and majestic temple restored by Unesco, a shame that all this very interesting information, most of it will be forgotten or overlapped by other things to follow. On leaving the temple we were hit by an avalanche of tourists arrived with dozens of coaches, I asked myself a question: it's March and it's very hot, in August with more people and more heat how will they survive?? Follows the visit to the Temple of Luxor, although smaller it's no less majestic than the first.

At lunch everyone goes to the hotel restaurant…………, a very respectable buffet, many, including me, stuffed themselves at the dessert with cakes of every kind. Back at the campsite at 15 we went to the nearby petrol station with the campers to fill up with diesel, once back in our spots we devoted ourselves to maintenance and cleaning of the vehicles, the sand had got everywhere, some even washed the camper, knowing the road ahead I didn't think it was worth it, it's effort and wasted water. Now, while I'm writing and sorting the photos, Tina, with others, has gone to the market……. let's hope she doesn't spend too much!!!!

Aswan – Camping Yehia Camp – 220/5804 – sun

For security reasons to go south you have to travel in a convoy escorted by the police, gathering on a nearby avenue at 7, we're the first, then dozens of minibuses and large coaches arrive, first they send off the minibuses then the coaches and lastly us, we could have slept half an hour more, being last we travel at high speed, the elastic effect of a long column affects the last ones.

First stop was Esna for the visit to the temple of Khnum, unfortunately under restoration, we continue to Edfu where we detach from the convoy for the visit to the temple of Horus, still escorted by a police van we continue to Kom Ombo for the visit to the temple of Sobek where we stop for lunch, being bound by the time imposed by the police, we only have 20 minutes to eat, later extended to half an hour, the temple of eating sandwiches and a coffee and off to Aswan, where, after crossing a very modern bridge over the Nile, we arrive at the Yehia campsite, here too the name campsite is improper: it's an old house in Nubian style with the inner courtyard surrounded by rooms, the outside not level, where we settle as best we can, there's electricity with only two sockets with the usual castles of double plugs and a water tap where no one has the fitting with the right thread, with a bit of

tape the situation is solved, the wc emptying is done in the toilets (?) where I didn't find water. We arrived quite early, I was already thinking of resting, I slept very little last night, sorting the photos and updating the diary, but, BOSS Luisa is restless, in agreement with everyone, she hires a bus that will take us into town, the women can't do without the daily market, I'd like to stay in the camper, but Tina insists I follow her and I obey, the shopkeepers and street vendors welcomed us in an intrusive and annoying way, a few food purchases then, having called the bus back ahead of time, we returned to the campers. A nice pasta with ragù, already prepared at home in jars, rewards us for the day's labours, a fresh breeze and a shower cheer up our tired and overheated bodies.

Aswan – Camping Yehia – 0/5804 – sun/hot

The bus at 7:30 takes us to the surroundings of Aswan to visit: - The old dam (English) whose turbines provide power to the Aswan area. - The new dam (with Russian aid) that blocked the Nile forming Lake Nasser, a tremendous undertaking that allows Egypt not only to provide power to its entire territory, but also to sell it to its neighbors. - Granite quarry with the unfinished obelisk because it broke during the works; here you see and marvel at how in those times they could cut and transport these artifacts of enormous weight. - Botanical garden on Elephantine Island, a beautiful experience of a felucca crossing, with a strong but contrary wind, the boat had to maneuver by zigzagging, but the skilled boatman brought us to our destination, the garden is very beautiful, a group of Egyptian girls in their colorful clothes (jeans with skirt and veil) had their photos taken with our group.

- Mausoleum of the Aga Khan, to cross a stretch of the Nile we would have had to take the felucca again, but because of the wind, so they told us, the police banned navigation, providing us with a motorboat, the mausoleum cannot be visited because it is closed, we photographed it from the outside. - Monastery of Saint Simeon, Capo Luisa added it to the program at the last minute, to reach it you have to walk in the sand for half an hour or use a dromedary, I, Tina and others gave up and we did well, those who saw it said it was insignificant and devoid of interest.

Those who had not taken part in the excursion to the monastery had remained on the boat, at a certain point the boatman made us get off ashore rudely and set off again empty, unable to do anything else we got off and when Aiman arrived we explained what had happened, he immediately busied himself to find another boat which arrived after 20 minutes, meanwhile those who brought the sandwiches got ready for lunch, finally the boat arrived, which to top off the misfortunes first ran out of fuel, then hit a rock before docking near a restaurant where 3 crews had lunch. - Aswan Museum, also added by CAPO Luisa at the last minute, after the temples and ruins seen so far this place is useless to visit. - Coptic Cathedral of Aswan, visit requested by CAPO Luisa at the last minute, a copy of the one in Cairo, I give it a miss.

Finally we arrive at the campsite, shower and pasta and straight to bed, tomorrow wake-up at 2, unfortunately Tina broke the alarm clock, others have the same problem, we'll keep the CB on: Carlito takes on the job of waking us up.

Aswan – 0/5804 – Camping Yekia – sun

In recent days CAPO Luisa and Aiman had proposed going to Abu Simbel by rented bus at a cost of E. Lire 600 and not with the campers, the proposal was accepted unanimously, the convoy left at 4, a great chaos at departure, everyone wanted to be in front, reckless overtaking bordering on criminality, after three hours of travel we arrived at Abu Simbel, the two temples of Ramesses II and of Hathor, already seen on TV or in documentaries, stand on the shores of the immense Lake Nasser in all their splendor and majesty, photographed from the outside, it is not possible inside, where the bas-reliefs are almost intact with still much of the original color, suffering at not being able to use my trusty Canon, we wandered among these grandiose statues and the rooms covered with carved images, astonished.

Disbelief came upon looking at these two temples and one almost does not believe that they could have been transported and raised from their original site by several hundred meters. During the outward journey almost everyone dozed off, some even snored, see Carlito, on the return, departure at 9 again in convoy, there was chatting, joking and eating sandwiches, at 12:20 we were back at the campsite where I tried to take a nap, but the heat is oppressive, Tina did not accept the air conditioning, so after filling the water tanks she did the laundry, I finally caught up with the diary. This evening: roast kid, cooked by the managers, with the participation of a folkloric group that sang and danced with us, among laughter and shared fun, we ate quite well with Nubian specialties and drank better with wine brought by us.

Luxor – Kamp El rezeika - 223/6037 – sun

Continues on "Egypt 2007" Part Five