Egypt 2005

3 October

The Egypt Air Lines plane awaits us at Leonardo da Vinci airport to reach that long-awaited destination. The flight is smooth, with no jolts or air pockets. The plane isn't bad, though I've seen better. The on-board service, on the other hand, is excellent — excellent, nothing to say. Courteousness is clearly at home here. After 4 hours we're in Luxor, tired from the journey but happy to have arrived in a wonderful land long dreamed of. We're picked up at the airport and, by shuttle bus, transferred to the mooring of the Ships, which are in reality enormous, well-fitted barges. We're welcomed excellently, routed straight to our cabins for a shower and then to the dining room, where we immediately run into the fateful "international cuisine". Plain rice, chicken and beef.

During dinner we're shown the travel diary, our excursions and the frantic schedules, the early rises and the various means to be taken.

4 October

The alarm on the first day isn't bad: at 6:00 we have to be in the dining room for a good breakfast. At 6:30 we're ready on the bus to return to Luxor and visit the great temple consecrated to Amun. The guide spins tales, enchanting us with stories about this enormous temple. In fact there are two temples: walking along, you realise you're inside the temple of Luxor and then reach the temple of Karnak, an immense expanse of columns that define the place. The colonnade is spectacular — 134 columns — it leaves us breathless: the hieroglyphs, the colours, the different shapes, papyruses and lotus flowers, a spectacle that, visited early in the morning, leaves you open-mouthed. Beyond the colonnade you can admire the mosque of Abu el-Haggag, and you also notice the height of the sand that once submerged the temple.

A curiosity: on a column high up we find an inscription, "1820 Carlo Vidua Italiano". Carlo Vidua was a Turin traveller/explorer/collector, who was struck by Egypt. So struck that he wanted to make a gift to Turin, the most beautiful and largest Egyptian museum in Europe. But the real curiosity is the date: in 1820 Italy didn't yet exist.

5 October

The first stop, again by bus, is the temple of Hatshepsut. We arrive by bus to a point, then get off and take a kind of little train that takes us to the gates of the temple; there we get off and take shelter under a canopy, and seated we listen to the guide explaining the structure, which by eye seems much more modern than the ruins seen so far, and indeed most of the temple has been rebuilt. The temple consists of three terraces/colonnades leaning against the natural rock; the last terrace, the highest, is connected to the sanctuary reserved for the deity Hatshepsut, the first true queen of Egypt. In reality the temple doesn't leave you open-mouthed, at least not us; it left a bit of a bitter taste. On the second terrace you notice two chapels: the southern one dedicated to Hathor (goddess of music, poetry and love) and the northern one dedicated to Anubis (god of the dead).

In this one you can see very beautiful colours, still vivid despite the sun and the inexorable passing of time. We climb back onto one of these rattletraps and return to our bus to head for the Valley of the Kings. We arrive and get off the bus; the first impression isn't the best. The spectacle to come is. An immense desert with small holes going down, little doorways that look like burrows but are in fact tombs, the tombs of the Kings. The guide seats us under a small canopy because the sun is starting to beat down hard. There in the shade he explains the area and what we're going to see, and above all why he won't come in with us. He tells us it will be very hot and very humid inside, and he won't be able to stop to explain, to avoid anyone feeling unwell. In the valley 63 tombs have so far been discovered. The first you come across is the tomb of Ramses VII.

We go in and understand what the guide meant — you suffocate. Our day continues laboriously; we're not used to this heat. Breathing is perfectly fine, the air isn't at all muggy, but the sun ferociously cooks your skin. We get back on the bus and head for the ship, where a welcome surprise awaits us. A small towel kept warm to pass over the face and neck; it seemed a paradox, but in less than a minute the heat had gone. They serve us lunch and then immediately out again to visit the temple of Edfu, dedicated to the god Horus. This time, though, we don't go by bus but by carriage; outside the ship we find a row of little carriages with scrawny horses that struggle just to breathe. The coachman, a boy of barely 18, acts as our guide; he explains that a truly run-down building is the local hospital, and that further to the right is the local team's stadium.

We have fun and get to know this boy, who explains that the horse is his family's only source of livelihood. We arrive in front of an enormous car park, but there are no buses or cars, only carriages all lined up, hitched to bars. Beyond the railing a group of children ask us for Bic pens and the caps we wear for shade. I go over — I don't have Bic pens or pencils, but I gladly give them my baseball cap. Arriving in front of the temple I'm amazed by its size. The whole exterior of the temple is covered with very large bas-reliefs; the effigy of Horus covers both sides to their full height. Entering this temple is something special; you're entering the temple of the falcon god. Horus was the god of the sky, of light and of goodness; he defeated Seth (his uncle), god of evil and darkness.

6 October

The day of 6 October begins very early. Wake-up at 4:30. We have to be ready for 5:00; at 6:30 we have a flight that will take us to the most fascinating place in the world. We'll visit the temple of Abu Simbel. The flight, unlike the inbound one, is a bit shaky. Domestic flights leave a little to be desired. At the airport a bus is waiting for us; this will first take us to the Aswan dam. Once there we get off and look at the masterpiece commissioned by President Nasser, who missed seeing it inaugurated by just a few months. We're the first to present ourselves before the 4 Pharaohs carved directly into the rock. Statues 20 metres high, built by Ramses to honour three great deities, Amun Re and Ptah. The temple of Abu Simbel, however, has a fascinating history that doesn't go back very far, only about 40 years.

7 October 2005

The previous day was gruelling, so in the morning we're left freer than usual. Wake-up at 7:00. The day should be calm and we'll go to visit the Mosque of Muhammad Ali and the plain of Giza. Arriving by bus in a car park we get off and start walking to reach the Citadel with its mosque of Muhammad Ali. Here, unlike the sites visited previously, the atmosphere is different: we're not stormed by children wanting pens or caps as gifts, or by souvenir sellers. Here the Police are very strict with anyone approaching tourists; they tolerate nothing. For security and work reasons the police watch us from a distance, and as soon as someone comes near to offer us something to sell, the officers approach and, in a threatening manner, drive the street vendor away. We enter the mosque and women who are "too low-cut or attractive" are made to cover up with a green cloth handed out at the entrance.

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