Friday 16th Jan 09 - Valley of The kings etc

OK to continue from previous post. The 3 tombs we actually went inside while visiting the valley of the Kings were -

The tomb of Siptah,

The tomb of Tauerset & Seknakht

The tomb of Ramses II

All are fascinating and have wonderful colours and reliefs clearly visible in the tombs. The valley of the Kings is huge, and there are so many tombs. They continue to excavate throughout the area and will be doing so for many years to come.

You are not allowed to take photos inside tombs because the colours would very quickly fade due to the thousands of flash bulbs. Just the mere fact that tourists in their droves enter on a daily basis is enough to cause destruction.

16th Jan continued:

The Nile cruise boat the El Kahila ( which means kohl) docked in Aswan at 11.30pm on Thursday night. A local bellydancer came on board, for couple of hours entertainment. Her costume was totally tacky 'entertain us'... humph! entertain she did, aimed soley at the males ... she was awful! We found it difficult not to roll around the floor laughing!

She was in your face dancing like she was selling sex! She was more a pole dancer with a few sloppy Belly dance moves.The whirling dervish dancer was good, but nothing like the one we saw in Cairo, that fellow was incredible. they move so fast it is near impossible to get good photos. some of the girls were able to get some video, so I hope to get copy of that.

Thursday morning we visited the Aswan dam, it is massive and is divided into upper and lower Aswan Dam. The whole area looks like some huge never-ending sea.

Apparently if the dam ever broke there is so much water in it, it would literally drown Egypt, plus areas beyond Egypt.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride across the Nile to see The temple of Isis. The Philae temple. This temple was moved due to it being completely underwater when the dam was filled. It sat underwater for 4 months before they could move it all, and most of the colour that the temple was known for, was lost. It is still beautiful even without the colours. The temple of Philae is amazing, the energy there is very real. It is a smaller temple when compared to others, but for me it was probably the most beautiful. I offered up prayers for everyone. I had a scarab blessed there and felt like I didn't want to leave.

The boat ride was an experience in itself, and lots of fun. It really is just so peaceful sailing the Nile. I could do that every day for the rest of my life. it is like 'coming home'!

We disembarked from the Nile cruise this morning (Thursday) and boarded a bus for the Aswan airport. The flight of 35 minutes took us to Abu Simbel. (an airport was built simply for people to get to the temple - going by road takes forever) One of the last Temples built. It is HUGE! the Front entrance statues are massive. Rameses II built it for himself and the drawings show Rameses as both a God and King. He wanted to be thought of as a God, and the portrayal as both was a deliberate choice. ( yes they had big egos back then just as some have today ... so nothing has changed much in the world:-)) The approach to the temple front, is quite unexpected, you slowly climb upwards in the heat and think OMG when will we get there, when all of sudden as you trudge around a bend or should I say drag your feet around the bend, and feel like your throat is so dry, the next breathe won't reach your lungs ( the air in Egypt is very hot and dry) this massive edifice is right in front of you, and the intake of breathe from all those nearby - including myself, is clearly audible. It is quite a shock as you are not quite expecting it.

He also built a smaller temple for his wife the beloved Nefertari. Hathor and Isis are predominant Goddesses in that temple. I say smaller temple, yet it is still huge.

Abu Simbel was actually moved and reconstructed 80 metres from the original spot because of the Aswan dam, If it wasn't moved it would be completely under water and totally destroyed.

It took months and months to move it, each piece was numbered and all was put back together like some giant's jigsaw puzzle.