Twenty- five Seven

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  • Sailing down the river

    Sailing down the river

    There’s nothing quite as exciting as going on a cruise. I’d last travelled by ship as a five year old and the only things I really remember from that time were the fun activities for children, the wonderful food we ate on board, the dressing up for dinner and of course the lifeboat practice which really scared the hell out of me. But of course sailing down a river was a far cry from sailing in the big blue ocean where you can rock and roll with the waters . So I was really looking forward to the next leg of our journey which was a cruise down the River Nile.

    We had to catch the boat from Aswan which meant an early morning trip to the airport specially since the distance from Giza to Cairo airport was 25 km and we didn’t want to get stuck in the early morning traffic which could be horrendous. Well, we did get a lot of traffic but that didn’t affect our flight to Aswan.

    However, when we did arrive at the airport, we were shocked to find no one on hand to receive us. This was our second experience of WYSINWYG – something our travel agent seemed to specialise in. After waiting for almost 45 minutes outside the empty airport with not a soul around to ask any question, someone arrived to receive us on behalf of the guide who was actually meant to receive us.

    Ahmad our Egyptologist ( as the guides like to call themselves) gave us some crazy story about being held up in an accident but honestly the road from the airport to town was so deserted that it was hard to imagine any accident. We later found out that he was quite a story teller and this was one of his tall tales.

    Anyhow, we were on holiday and didn’t really have a great schedule to follow so we let that go with just a mild admonishment and then settled down to go to Aswan dam before boarding our boat.

    The waters of lake Nasser
    The Soviet Memorial to honour the aid received for building the dam
    The hydroelectric station

    Boarding the ship and a meltdown

    After a quick tour of the dam – there’s nothing really to see especially at noon when the sun is beating down your back and you have to squint to see anything in the distance – we continued our way to the city.

    Aswan didn’t seem much of a city ( or at least the part that we saw) and on the Ahmad desultorily pointed at a compound saying that that was the quarry and the broken obelisk. Obviously, according to him , it didn’t warrant a visit so we whizzed past and went to our boat, El Nabilat of the Queen Nabilatan Fleet .

    Once again WYSINSYG and we walked into the reception of an aging passenger cruise liner. Once again there was some mix up at the check in and I was caught between the crossfire of the guide and the receptionist who were having an argument about my cabin. At least that’s what I thought and when both of them got on to their phones to have a “talk” with their respective offices, I had a meltdown. I am embarrassed to say that I had real full grown old lady meltdown. When I finally got my cabin, I actually howled, much to the chagrin of Ms. Papaya who consoled me that evrything would be all right.

    She turned out to be right because after I had a good howl, I did feel much better. Perhaps it was the hectic pace at which things were happening and the heat that had left me overwhelmed.

    Cruises are known for their food and luckily the ship did not disappoint. After a sumptuous banquet for lunch we disembarked for our evening trip to Philae Island.

    Philae Island

    The towels folded into swans brought a smile to our faces.
    The Trajan Kiiosk
    Passing by Philae island
    An early christian symbol overwritten on the ancient Egyptian temple
    The Godess Isis for whom the temple was built
    The Temple which was shifted to its present location because of the rising waters of the Aswan Dam

    The Temple at Philae is another UNESCO Heritage site and was reconstructed brick by brick as the waters of river started rising because of the dam. Accessible only by boat, it is a very popular tourist spot. We enjoyed the boat ride and took some fabulous photos in the spectacular light.

    Getting off the boat, the curio vendors called out “hindi, hindi” aBy this nd one even burst into song ‘aaja haathi mere saathi‘ ( come here my elephant) hoping to tempt me to make a purchase. But would you buy something from someone who called you an elephant even though he wasn’t very far from the truth?

    Once again, Ahmad tried to get us into another Tourist Trap – the Perfume factory. But again we steadfastly refused saying that we were allergic to perfumes! That put paid to that tourist trap the rest of the trip.

    By this time, the sun had set and as we passed the Quarry and the Unfinished Obelisk, once again on the way to the Nabilat, Ahmad actually stopped. He expected us to get out and see the unfinished obelisk in pitch darkness! since, I wasn’t an Egyptologist , I refused to oblige and fearing another meltdown, Ahmad didn’t push it.

    So as we slept, the ship made its way to Edfu our next stop.

    Ciao

  • Day Trip to Alexandria

    The city of Alexandria is a good 219 km by road but is definitely worth visiting. Whlie it took us around four hours to get there, the ride was comfortable because of the beautiful 8 lane highway. The road was well made with a separate road for trucks and heavy traffic. In addition the motorists were extremely disciplined and this made driving a pleasure.

    There was greenery all around with fields of sugar cane and other crops. What surprised us most was a huge walled compound with lookout towers and lots of car parking space. We were quit amazed when Tifa told us it was the new prison!

    As we neared the city, we could smell the sea air and were looking forward to a fishy meal that we had been dreaming about ever since we managed to convince Tifa to allow us to choose our own dining spots.

    The Donkey found it

    But there was plenty to see before lunch chief among them being the Catacombs.

    Donkeys seem to play a key role in discovering archeological treasures as we found out in several cases. For instance the Greco Roman Ruins of ancient Egypt were covered in layers an layer of sand which already had houses built over. So fo years no one knew that there existed a complete underground labyrinth of tombs under the very homes that were occupied by people.

    Looking down the hole where the donkey fell

    And it probably would have remained that way if it hadn’t been for the donkey that fell into a hole. In the process of extricating the donkey, the rescuers found an ancient well and with one thing leading to another, archeologists discovered a treasure trove of Greco Roman underground tombs.

    Egyptian men chit chatting in a roadside cafe
    the sculpture of the buried roman
    the headof Medusa
    Intircatedly cared tomb
    Intricately carved tomb

    The Catacombs are another UNESCO Heritage site and had several tourists braving the hot sun to have a look . This is truly a site worth visiting becuase it has remains of three cultures and civilisations – the Greeks, the Romans and the Ancient Egyptians.

    This ancient marble bath tub can easily be fitted in a modern luxe apartment don’t you think?

    The Citadel of Quaitbay

    This magical fortress stands on the very same spot where the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World, that had guided sailors to the safety of Alexandria port, for years. It was built by Sultan Quaitbay in the 15th century AC as a defence against the Ottomans. Sadly, this proved ineffective and Egypt did become part of the Ottoman empire. Subsequently, the original fortress was greatly damaged during various conquests and was restored and rebuilt to what we see now in 1904.

    It looked truly splendid, like the sandcastles seen in picture books with turrets and flag. While we senior citizens waited downstairs for the rest of our group to visit the empty rooms upstairs, we were surrounded by pretty young girls who wanted to practice their English.

    Vuiew fron the battlements
    roadside view
    One of the many cafes
    The fortress reflected in the window of the restaurants we ate it
    The pillar of Pompey with a Bajaj rickshaw in the foreground

    The city of Alexandria is a fascinating city . Its waterfront promenade reminded me greatly of our very own Marine Drive with many elegant buildings and fancy hotels alongside.

    We did not go that far to dine, preferring to have a quick bite at a local eatery reviewed by Trip Advisor. The Zephyr , one of the oldest sea food restaurants in Alexandria was a fishy place after our dreams. Even though it was on the second floor we got an elevator to take us there.

    It seemed quite a popular place by the number of well dressed ladies who had come there to dine. A balladeer was serenading them with a pretty seemingly tuneless song but the ladies clapped and danced to the beat.

    And of course we binged on the prawns, cuttle fish and fish delicacies along with the salads and sauces that went with them.

    What a memorable meal it was ! At a table overlooking the bay where the boats were anchored under an angry rain filled sky.

    The Library

    By the time we drove into the city to see the Library, the sky had cleared up without shedding a drop! The seafront looked somewhat like Marine Drive, lined with old fashioned buildings that had definitely seen better days. When we reached the new building, we were struck by the grandness. Unfortunately it didn’t appeal to the children and even the fact that the complex boasted the largest telescope in Africa didn’t impress them in the least.

    The Library, then is definitely worth a miss, especially if you have just the day unless of course you are an academician or scholar in which case a cursory visit just won’t do!

    We returned home quite late and completely exhausted. The next day we were scheduled to catch the morning flight to Aswan from where we were going to board our boat for our Nile Cruise.

    Ciao

  • A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities

    The Citadel of Salah Al din

    As mentioned earlier. I was listening to the tales of the Ottoman Empire while getting ready for my trip. I knew Alexandria was part of that Empire but I didn’t know that Cairo was too ! My trip to Egypt was totally unplanned by me: I was just piggybacking on to Anna Shetty’s family vacation. So I didn’t pay any heed to the itinerary etc. I just decided to go with the flow.

    So when Tifa told us that we were going to visit the fortress or the walled city of Salah Al din, around 15 to 25 minutes from Downtown Cairo, I was quite excited. Since we were far out in Giza , it took us at least an hour to get there .

    On the way , we passed many houses that looked abandoned ( not the high rise ones but low lying ) which turned out to be cemeteries . These were truly citadels of the dead where families had buried their loved ones in family tombs .

    The Mokkattam Hills , the highest point in Cairo was the obvious place to build a fortification and it was only natural that Sultan Salah El-din ordered it to be built there in 1176. However , he died before it could be built and it was completed by his successor of Al Malek El Kamel . Many of the building blocks we’d taken from the stones of some small pyramids in Giza .

    Muhammad Aly Pasha, the father of Modern Egypt made many changes in the citadel, chief among them being the Alabaster mosque fashioned in the style of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It is now known as the Muhammad Aly mosque.

    The influence of European architecture is very obvious
    365 lights inside the mosque, one for each day
    The European style colonnade on either side of the mosque
    The majestic Muhammad Aly mosque
    The lighting was completely renovated
    the two mosques in the courtyard
    The water fountain in the courtyard
    The minbar
    A cannon in the fortress
    One of the massive gates of the Citadel
    A clock tower for an obelisk
    Muhammad Ali Pasha
    In the foreground you can see the tombs of recent times

    Reading several blogs upon my return from Egypt, I found that many of the facts of our guide Tifa were fanciful but I suppose seeing the children in our group, he decided to make the commentary more interesting than merely factual.

    The children loved the display of planes, tanks and cannons in the courtyard of the Military Museum but were quite scared of the exhibits in the Police Museum – they were especially disturbed with the gory story of the two sisters Raya and Sakina who were notorious serial killers. They couldn’t imagine women upto such awful acts.

    The Coptic Church

    The latter half of the morning saw us in another historic part of Cairo – the Christian part. Cairo is seems was the place where the Holy Family stayed in for 3-4 months during their flight to Egypt. They stayed in a cave over which is now a church.

    The street near the Coptic Church
    The street restaurant that we insisted on eating in
    The tiny lane in the coptic quarter
    Gobbling down a streetside lunch
    The Egyptian Mona Lisa
    Interior of the Hanging church
    Entrance to the Cavern Church
    Where the Holy Family stayed
    Where the Holy Family prayed
    a stunning mural in the courtyard
    An rexample of stained glass
    Mother Mary and the Infant Jesus
    The Bablyon Fortress
    The Hanging Church

    According to our guide Tifa, the church is normally crowded but because of the conflict in Gaza, there was a slight lull in tourism. But walking thourh the narrow alleys, we came across a priest and one could almost imagine we were back in medieval times.

    The higlight of this visit however was of a very personal nature when we three senior citizens from our group , intimidatd by the steps leading to the chapel, decided to take the lift little knowing that we would spend two minutes going up and down, bewildered and slightly terrified of being stuck and trapped till somebody discovered us! I was in a fit of giggles while the other two were itching to possibly slap me!

    By this time we were ravenous and insisted on eating in one of the roadside eateries. Of course Tifa was most reluctant to deviate from the plan but we were equally keen on trying more authentic local cuisine so we plonked ourselves on the pavement cafe and enjoyed our local fare. The kids of course stuck to the tried and tested hamburger and cola which somehow tastes the same the world over while I went for the koshyari. This delightful rice dish turned out to be vegetarian !

    The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Khan Khalili market which none of us were really keen on visiting because quite frankly it was no different from the markets at home with its warren of streets. But Ms. Papaya wanted to buy a Magic Lamp so we indulged in some bargaining which resulted in a small little lamp for her. Of course we found out that this lamp was made in China and a similar one was gifted to us from a visitor to Singapore!

    Ciao and see you soon

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