Luxor and beyond!

Greetings from Luxor Egypt! I am located in the original capital of Egypt where the Pharaohs of the day ruled with military force and built dynasties of architectural masterpieces that are still amazing today. Luxor is a little over an hour by plane from nowadays Egyptian capital of Cairo where the Pyramids are located.

Luxor was hit by several terrorist bombings in recent years which really crippled the tourism industry (which is about the only source of income for the area) until late. Built along the Nile River and surrounded by a mountain range in which the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are carved into. Today there are over 280 river cruise ships plowing the Nile from Luxor to Aswan. Which I have got to admit I felt really bad not being on one of the cruise ships. But to really explore Luxor you must do so by car, horse and carriage or foot.

After my plane was an hour delayed for technical reasons I was first able to set foot in Luxor and meet a great cab driver who spoke good English this is for sure a blessing. When telling him that I would only truly be in town for the next day and I would need a driver we began to negotiate for the fare for tomorrow for the full day. This is when it became even more apparent not to mention the hotel room I had booked at $20 a night, that Luxor is really dieing for more of the tourism dollars.

Anyways he said because of the heat he wanted us to leave tomorrow at 8am but knowing it was my only day to sleep in all week we settled on 10am. The sites in Luxor are divided into the West Bank where the Valley of the King and Queen are and the East bank which is where modern day Luxor is and the Karnak temple is.

On the way to the West bank you get to cross over via bridge the Nile river and are immediately taken back in time. With the numerous donkey drawn carriages, tons of agriculture workers in the fields and an all around simpler way of life if you will. As you driver closer and closer to the mountains you start seeing the caves in the side of the mountains, which I am not sure the story of but figure it is where the Bedouins live today. And immediately are struck by two huge stone statues of what appears to be Rameses but I am not 100% sure.

The first site was the Valley of the Kings my driver asking me if I would be about an hour and I agreed that sounded about right. Lets just say there is soo much to see that I ended up spending about 2.5 hours there. They have an efficient system after security checks a trolley that takes you into the valley and you being to explore the different tombs. As you are not aloud to take photos inside I just have photos of the signs outside explaining about each one, and what was found within or the significance. There were probably about 15 to 20 different ones and about half of those were open to tourists currently to see within.

The ones closest to the entrance were impressive you start noticing the intricacy of each drawing with the different colors and carvings and symmetry but not huge in size but still vast amounts of room for you to walk around in comfortably. As you get further and further bank into the valley is where the amazing tombs are. They are extremely deep into the mountain with numerous rooms for different purposes and even more intricate carvings and drawings. I guess I have two good examples, the first was of a King that had died suddenly so there was a descent size tunnel that dropped of suddenly deep to where the room where the mummy was laid. (thus representing the abrupt death).

The other example depending on the story of what they were supposed to be doing in the afterlife had snakes cobras to be specific and they explained that cobras carved and colored into the wall of the tombs pointing to the entrance were supposed to protect the King in the after life, and the cobras facing the tomb were supposed to be deminies and bad things in the afterlife. Now each tomb had an amazing assortment of things for the dead kings to use in the afterlife. Such as in the example of the ones with the cobras pointing towards them was a book that they found which was depicting stories and ways to fight off the demons in the after life. Other things such as the King Tuts for example which was said to have the most stuff in it Such as: 6 of the un assembled light weight horse carriages, jewelry, plates, furniture such as chairs for them to sit in, coins, gold, and the list goes on and on.

After exploring and exploring in amazement of the artifacts still in existence after the countless amount of time that has passed we went onto the next site. Which was the valley of the Queens. This site was similar in the sense that they were built into the side of the mountain but definitely not as many tombs as the other valley. This followed the same story as well, but also included tombs of princes that died young. In fact one even had the bones in perfect form on display right next to the stone casket. Some may consider it in bad form to have such a thing of graphic nature but I am sure to the history buffs it was appreciated. I for one was just a little shocked at the moment.

Then we headed to Temple of Hatshepsut Which was a massive building built into the side of the mountain that was extremely impressive and the best was I could describe it to is something out of the movies of a British Summer estates. It had 100 of stairs carved from stones going up several stories with tones of amazingly tall statues guarding from side to side at the top level. This one was interesting because there were several ornate cattle depictions carved into the walls (I am sure of some significance to it, but I never heard what) Poland has recently helped to restore the entire site.

There were numerous other smaller sites that I explored that had the same types of impressive drawings, carvings, statues, paintings on the walls and mammoth columns. It was at this point amazingly hot almost indescribable. To give you an idea I think throughout the the afternoon I drank like 8 bottles of water to try to keep hydrated. I was also sad at times for the people there that were trying to sale their tourist souvenirs; I believe it had to be the cheapest prices for this stuff that I had ever heard of. Offering statues of stone and such for like 20 cents. I was really sad that I couldn’t buy any of it, because I just can’t have the weight in my bags as I fly too much.

Anyhow we headed back into the East side where the city is and after a great lunch we started to explore Karnak temple. This is right in middle of the city and is huge. As you enter after going through all of the ticketing and stuff you are greeted by huge statues probably 25 on each side of Goat / Cat looking animals in a sitting position. An impressive entrance to the temple to say the least. Once inside from this entrance one is struck by a huge Statue of Rameses and The Gigantic collection of columns that line the walk way. I was just standing there struck to what they had been able to build all of those years ago when speaking to someone in amazement I said it’s pretty cool isn’t it, as the old man replied its more then cool its amazing. Which is really what sums up Karnak temple. Within is a large lake in which is held together by its stone walls which was for the religious leaders to cleanse themselves before they started their daily religious duties inside the temple.

I got a little off the beaten path and one of the Bedouin guards starting showing me the parts of the temple which are currently closed to the public because of restorations, which is a another area with amazing gates probably 4 stories high, and huge statues and more buildings probably for religious use.

By this point I felt as if I was going to pass out if I didn’t go some place to cool down, after getting back to the hotel it was the perfect place on the roof top pool to see the antiquities sites from up high I had been exploring all day, watch the cruise ships float by and enjoy the pool.

That night I had one main thing to do which was to explore the Luxor museum, which for anyone who has been to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo like I have knows it’s a lot to take on. I mean the Egyptian Museum in Cairo looks like someone took 1 million artifacts and through them in a bunch of rooms, you could spend weeks and not of explored everything and probably because of the lack of organization not know what half of what it is.

Anyways that being said, the Luxor Museum is different. They start off by showing you a movie that explains what you will see, a little about the origin of Luxor and Rameses and King tut and to be honest gave me a lot of information that simply just didn’t know that brought it all together for me.

I was amazed when I stepped in the Luxor museum was a world class museum and organized I felt as if I was at the MET of Egypt. There is everything you can image in there but instead of 2 million different pieces like in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, this Museum has the top 100 pieces probably. You first are shown the different statues much smaller in scale compared to what we had seen outside all day, and all have a different story either of a special animal which represents death or some crazy thing, or of a special person that was close and trusted by a King. Then there is the stuff that was in King Tuts tomb such as one of the chariot’s, furniture, dishes, coins, the different archechtural tools that were used to build the tombs with such symmetry. As well as two mummies, on of which had been stolen and placed in a Canadian Museum until it was recently returned to Egypt. It is crazy because you actually see the Mummies and not everything is covered up by the linen.

Two of the pieces that really caught my eyes were one was a necklace with three large flies made out of Gold these flies were given to a warrior when ever they did good in battle, it really made me laugh a fly of all things you would give to someone.

The other was a piece of a casket which they explained was a Christian stone casket, with the fish ornately carved into it. I was taken back it was one of the oldest Christian artifacts I think I have seen not taken into consideration the remains of the churches of John the Baptist in Jordan on the Jordan river.

So I know I have written a ton, but I think to sum it all up and if it wasn’t already apparent by how much I have written, Luxor truly is amazing. You know I am not a history buff so that says a lot, and I for sure say that the antiquities of Luxor I believe are as impressive as that of the Pyramids but in a different way of course.

Looking to my job it’s interesting to think of the amazement of the advanced society that existed all of those years ago, and today my job what I get paid to do. Analyzing businesses here in Egypt and to think they are an emerging market not considered a developed nation. Leads you to the question what happened where and when did things start to change.

Well I guess that’s all for now for those of you still reading by this point, it was an amazing trip and another example of the wonders that the Middle East region holds for those that dare to come and explore. For now its time to start up another work week. And until then I look forward to my trip to India two weekends from now. All for now.

Chad

The Oddities of Different Countries

Its that time again, another week has flown by and another world wind week I am sure is to come. We are now in the heart of the project with AAA meetings every day or at least every week, which means great potential but as well I am getting to start meeting some really interesting people.

Life is good all the way around. And I have really no complaints a few prayer requests for friends and family but all in all life is good. I thought that this blog should be about interesting events or occurrences that have been happening in my life. Once I completed my Semester at Sea I really wished that I had kept a book just on the interesting or oddities of each country. So here are a few that are happening in Egypt with a few side notes on maybe why they are happening.

First off through out the Middle East rally do restaurants give you napkins (only in the fanciest of restaurants) Instead on every table there is a box of clenex for you to use instead.

There is a man (who I assume lives near the building) how has made his own job as a street attendant right in front of my apartment building. Here is there every night and has a whistle and almost every car that goes by which is constantly he blows his whistle and waves them to go past. Also if anyone stops for a minute or tries to park he politely waits for in Egypt we call baksheesh (or tip, nothing big just about 20 cents or so). So it is very funny every time I walk by or especially if I am ever waiting to get a taxi he stops all of the traffic and get my a taxi and of course opens the door. After talking to my driver about this interesting man. I found out that in fact this is common all over, in Egypt and I have now started noticing them. Some are even licensee by the government and have little plastic license looking things that they wear on their shirt.

Last night I was cooking, I was making hot sauce because my driver had invited me over to dinner at his house with his family. And I thought that it would be nice to bring something from home. Anyways my maid comes over and insists on helping me cut and mix all of the ingredients together. (Which it actually turned out quit nice) anyways there were a few ingredients left over and I had bought some zip lock bags to put the extra in. Anyways I hand her the box not watching what she was doing. Anyways she proceeds to pull one out but can’t figure out how to open it. So finally I show her and proceed with what I am doing. Later I am in the fridge and notice that she had put two or three different ones in there but didn’t zip any of them close. Making me realize that she had never seen or used a zip lock bag, something so common place to us Americans.

What else….I guess the last one I would point out is the riot military police/army. You see everyone man in the country has to serve in the military or police for at least one year up to three depending on how much education they have or are getting. Anyways throughout the city 24 hours a day in three shifts there are armored buses that kind of look like an American trash truck that park two or three together that have 50 or so army guards sitting in them. With two guards one at the front and one at the back with the full riot uniform and protection on standing next to each vehicle. Apparently Egyptians like to protest for any number of reasons starting with Politics and the fact that many do not think that there have been fair elections here since the same president has been in power for the last two decades and many think his son will be the next one. Anyhow there they are throughout the city keeping order or scaring the people into making sure order is held.

I guess that’s all I know I will come up with more. Besides that I have finally booked my plane ticket to India so I leave to go to Bombay in three weeks and we will also go to Goa so I am extremely excited about that. All for now and talk with you soon.

Chad

El Gouna and the rest of the Story

Another couple of weeks have flew by, and still no blog, why was I so much better at doing this back in the day. I guess it is that part of actually having a job. The last few weeks have been challenging, rewarding and interesting to say the least.

Much has happened starting with our regional training that was held here in Egypt. The company was flying in several teams from around the Middle East to do a regional training in El Gouna Egypt. I at first wasn’t that thrilled about the idea as I am sure you can image it is tough to get excited about working over the weekend, but I was truly looking forward to seeing friends that I hadn’t gotten to see in several months.

El Gouna was about 5 to 6 hours drive from Cairo so after we picked a few more people up from the airport we started making our way on the trip. It is amazing how much of nothing is in the dessert besides sand, the road we were on and the flames from the oil refineries that are out in middle of no where. The next day we had a full day of meetings and a few presentations on my part. It was interesting getting a little more of the corporate culture with power points and podiums. But keeping with the usual tradition of our “interesting corporate culture” of my company we had a few examples that were out of the norm like one of the presenters proceeding to put dead sea mud on his face and things like that.

It is funny again after day in and day out of being in front and meeting with CEO’s and government officials one would think that I would be a little nervous getting in front of my peers and bosses in the corporate setting. But I am glad to say that this job has hardened me to where it wasn’t even a factor. That night we got to hang out and enjoy the amenities of the hotel. It was quit interesting when we broke for lunch and after the day was over us walking around dressed up with briefcases in hand around the resort, we sure did get some interesting looks. Who knows what the people thought we were there doing, inspecting the place to buy or close it down who knows.

The health club was great, it was on a little island right where the club house was for the golf course, so you had to take a little boat with a driver that would take you over to it from the resort, which was surrounded by numerous water inlets from the sea with the most crystal clear water.

That night we all meet up around the harbor, I guess I should go back a little bit. El Gouna was built by a man named Serwies part of the Forbes 100 richest list. El Gouna is right next to the town of Hourgata a beach community where he, his family and friends of the socialite scene of Egypt had been going to for years. As the story goes though the town was extremely poorly planned out so, he decided he needed a proper place for him and his friends and families to be able to hang out at, and dock the yachts. This is how El Gouna happened it’s a master planned community right on the coast of the red sea, which beaches, hotels, private harbors, restaurants, clubs and of course many large vacation homes for Egypt’s Elite.

So we enjoyed a great dinner by the harbor then traveled from one club to another along the strand catching the night life as we went along. The next morning we had more presentations, and actually throughout the training it was very beneficial personally to be able to hear others successes what works for them, new ideas for the future and adapting different styles to what I am currently doing.

After the training session we had been invited to go on one of his private yachts for the day. Now this was fun, a crew, a stocked cooler and a private beach with a buffet just for us. The water I think was the most blue I have ever seen, and they would anchor the boat right out front of the beach then take us on a smaller boat that that came from inside the yacht to take us to the beach. There are several private deserted islands throughout the Red sea which we went from place to place. We also had every once in a while a couple of dolphins that would get curious of the boat and come and check things out.

That night we were told that we had been invited to fly back on his private jet to Cairo with the Minister of Tourism who would also be joining us on the flight home. Now this was particularly sweet considering that the drive is over 5 hours and I had never taken a private jet before. It really was a good taste of how the other side lives one that I am sure that it doesn’t take long to get oust to. We pulled up to the private airport they grabbed our bags, we got on boards, we had a few drinks and before you know it we were in the air. One of the coolest parts was the landing they left the door to the cockpit open so you could actually see out of the front window as we were landing. This was interesting because the plan does actually sway a little back in forth right before your landing. Now in Cairo when you land you actually land at the main airport but at a separate private jet terminal. So you jump off the plan they grab your bags and we were escorted to a 7 series BMW that was waiting for us. We were back in downtown from El Gouna in less then 1% of the time it would have taken us had we drove. Definelty an experience I will soon never forget.

Besides that life during the week has been the usual, the network is still coming along nicely we have found two great companies to profile one in which we signed on yesterday.

Speaking of last night though this was pretty interesting so, I am covering an Asian Television network for this project. Well it turns out the Prime Minister of Japan is in town and we got invited to go to a couple of functions he was at. As you can imagine security was unbelievable. We got a couple of photos with him as well were able to meet three or so ministers from Egypt. It was a fun night getting to meet and see everyone and the impact Asia is having currently on Egypt’s future.

I guess that’s all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and I will try to post again soon!!!

Chad