The Magic of Egypt (Part 3)

Crossing the vast dessert, we made our way to Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt. Abu Simbel is  one of the most famous ancient Egyptian monuments after the Pyramids and Sphinx and is listed as a UNSECO World Heritage Site.

This temple that stands now was relocated in its entirety in 1968 from been submerged during the creation of the Lake Nasser, which is an artificial water reservoir formed after the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River.

In the early days, ancient Egyptians could only reach the temple in their sails as the dessert route was inaccessible.
With worship being paramount to their lives, the ardous journey was not a deterrence to them.

Meeting the temple built by the mightiest of the pharaohs, Ramses II, the four colossi of himself carved out of a mountain is nothing short of magnificent.

The closer i walked towards it, the smaller i felt (in every sense).
The sheer size glorified the power and pride of the king during his reign.

(Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the temple.)
Walking into the temple, was a humbling experience as i felt my insignificance walking through the towering row of statues leading into the main altar.

(source: google images)

The interior though less spectacular than its facade also has no wall left untouched; intricately carved with egyptian gods, rituals and beliefs.

The thing that intrigued me the most is how on the every 22nd February and 22nd October annually, the first rays of the rising sun will penetrate the temple and illuminate the Holy Quartet (except Ptah on the left).

(source: google images)

The significance of the dates are still a mystery but they are believed to be the anniversaries of Ramses's coronation and birth.
How they aligned the sun to light the temple altar is definitely an architectural genius considering the technology available in that era.

I marvel at the workmanship of the carvings.

Abu Simbel is worth the travel- journeying through the vast dessert for hours to actually seeing the temple itself has been an unforgettable experience for me.

Another one off my bucket list. :-)

On the way, don't forget to enjoy the breath-taking view of the Lake Nasser ...

and in Aswan, also do savour the Nubian cuisine unique to the region. 

A satisfying lunch it was with a view to boot!

Pictures taken with a Panasonic Lumix Camera.

TBC...

Read The Magic of Egypt (Part 2)

Read The Magic of Egypt (Part 1)

The Magic of Egypt (Part 2)

We cruised down the River Nile on board the Movenpick cruise for the next five days of our trip. One of the most important landscapes in Egypt is the River Nile which sustains all life in the country and also believe to be the longest river in the world.

We had most of our meals on board the cruise during our stay as there are stricter hygiene standards compared to the restaurants in the cities. We were treated to a spread of global cuisines and desserts at every meal and we never got sick of eating the buffet on board.

My favourite section...

Take your pick and eat all you can!!

The room is small like most cruises but it was cosy, comfortable and clean. The brightly lit bathroom was also a bonus for me!

The times when we were cruising along, it was just relaxing to chill on the sun deck with a cocktail or coffee to enjoy the scenery of the Nile banks. This was one of the Egyptian sunsets we caught. The energy of the sun is different in Egypt. Almost close to a perfect sunset I always envisioned. 

The sun deck.

Honestly, i never liked cruises. This was the second one i ever took in my life, just never liked the idea of being "stranded" on board. This cruise however was a little different, i really enjoyed the comforts of the cruise and sailing down the charming River Nile.

That afternoon, we disembarked and continued our tour of the ancient Egyptian temples. I was on a quest to find out the signifiance of the temples to ancient Egyptians and the stories the hieroglyphs told. 

This was the Mortunary Temple of Hatshepsut dedicated to the sun God Amon-Ra and is located next to the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II. This temple is considered as a Classical architecture which is a little different from the other temples but like others it was used to honour the Gods that are relevant to the afterlife.

Restoration in process...

Anubis the God of Mummification... 

A representation of the Egyptian sky... 

This temple was also considered one of the more well-preserved ones as much of the relief scupltures still had traces of colour on them. Seeing them with colour is just different altogether. I wondered how they applied the colors with such precision, especially in that age when technology practically did not exist. The workmanship was close to perfection. 

A short horse ride took us to the Temple of Edfu. 

It was an important temple which told the story of Egypt's past and used to honour the God Horus. 

The facade inscription depicts important scences and inscriptions of the sacred drama related to the age-old conflict between Horus and his brother Seth for the kingship.

Another important scene in the temple...

The God Horus is represented by the head of a falcon.

There are countless well preserved carvings in this temple. 

One of my personal favourites is the scarab, which is a holy beetle. It is an amulet used in Ancient Egypt symbolizing resurrrection. 

Walls and walls of inscriptions! No wall was left uncovered. 

There was always the temptation to touch. My negative example. Best to keep hands off. 

Cats were once considered Gods in ancient Egypt, if only they were given that same status today...

Hello Temple Cat!!

It is a good idea to get to the temples before 9am to avoid the crowds...

It was just peaceful walking in the temple premise with minimal people. 

Love temple corridors like this that lead to a path unknown. 

TBC...

Click here to Read The Magic of Egypt (Part 1)

pictures shot with a Panasonic Lumix GF5

The Magic of Egypt (Part 1)

How do you experience the Magic of Egypt?

As a child, I have always been fascinated by the ancient civilization of Egypt.
Intrigued by the mummies and tombs, to the beautiful jewelry, to the half-animal-half-man Gods and Goddesses.
There was always a kind of deep yearning in my soul to go whenever I see objects, pictures and associations to the Egyptian ancient culture.
There was a kind of mystery in the air when we talk about Egypt.
Egyptologists have gotten so much artifacts but yet we truly know so little.

A spontaneous decision at the NATAS fair got us signed up for a tour with Chan Brothers Travel. (approx SGD$2100 per pax -air fare inclusive of airport taxes via Qatar Airways, hotels, 95% of meals included for a 10 days 8 nights tour)

The savings we got signing up at the fair was big enough an incentive to just pack and go!

It was about a 10 hour journey by air, 7 hours to Doha and approximately 3 hours before transiting on an hour flight to Luxor. We landed in Luxor International Airport.

Wasting no time, we disembarked and started our tour of Luxor city with one of the most important and largest temples in Egypt, the Karnak Temple.

I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED IN EGYPT!! Could not be more excited!

The Karnak Temple is actually one of the most well preserved temples in Egypt, considering it's intricate architecture and grandiose proportions. But it was sad that most of the colour on the limsetone had already been worn off over the years and some parts of the temple were destroyed.
Despite that, it was not hard to see the temple with one's imagination walking through the corridor of grand columns.
This is how tall they are...

The Obelisks are still very well preserved...

With my faithful travel companion!

One of the animals i love... Look how deep the carving is! I was in awe, still am!

Luxor had some of the most important sites in Ancient Egypt history and another important temple was the Temple of Luxor dedicated to the God Amon Ra.

Inside the temple with statues...

There is just something special about visiting the temples at night.
Mystic just fills the air.

This is 6pm in the evening during the winter season in Egypt. One of the best times to go to Egypt would be in winter (Nov-Feb), as summer can see temperatures scorching above 40 degrees Celsius !
Even in winter, it gets really hot (30C) in the afternoons.

We continued our journey into the city of Luxor on a horsecart carriage.

It was quite an eye opener to be riding through the city into the little streets where the locals stayed.
To conserve electricity, the electricity in the different areas of the city would be switched off for awhile, how long exactly i wasn't sure, but through my hour of ride most of the small streets where the locals lived had no lights. The locals lighted their candles and many just sat at their doorsteps while their children played bare foot in the dark on the streets. Others hanged out at their friends' or at their nearby little coffee shop which was really just a bare stall with some small tables and stools. The lack of light did not seem to bother them at all. Life in Luxor was simple. It made me think how we have taken all our basic necessities and infrastructure back home for granted. The thing that made me reflect on the most was that most of the locals looked rather happy and contented even though they were living in such harsh conditions of having just very basic amenities and meagre money they have. It made me realize that having more may not necessarily always be a blessing.

The second day at Luxor started really early with us rising at 4 am as we wanted to experience the hot air balloon over the Valley of King as an optional tour. It was my virgin hot air balloon experience and a part of me was all excited and the other part extremely frightened! First i was uncertain about the safety of the ride and secondly, i had a fear of heights. That was a tough one to overcome! But at the end, i battled my ghosts and hopped into the basket!

It was interesting as the journey to the venue where the hot air balloon departed included a ferry ride across a river where they played host by serving us a biscuit and a cup of coffee/tea, which i politely declinced at the thought of not having the bathroom being up in the sky; later of which many of my fellow mates regretted afterwards. The wait was over and it was pure excitement just watching them check the canopy of the balloon and heat it up.

At approximately 5 am in the morning... i was hardly awake...

I instantly loved the rainbow canopy balloons!
 Slowly one by one, the heat got the balloons ascending.

Taking off...

Up and away....

The Egyptian sunrise was special...

It gets really pretty over the Valley... 

It was interesting to watch how they land the hot air balloon, they needed many men to hold the balloon down before the passengers got off. 

Yes DREAM BALLOONS! The dream is done! One off my bucket list!!

Two weeks after our trip, a hot air balloon explosion took place at the very same place we took the hot air balloon. As much as we were shocked and felt very sorry for the unfortunate incident, we were also very thankful that we were divinely blessed always. It is something that no one would want happen to them nor their families and our prayers go out to the deceased and their families for their grievances. 

They have since stopped the rides. We got lucky with the last of the hot air balloon rides in Egypt! 

TBC... 

Read The Magic of Egypt (Part 2)

pictures shot with a Panasonic Lumix GF5