Luxor, Egypt Yesterday’s travels — Uber to Alexandria train station. Porter to train. Train attendant to our car and seats. Heavy wiping of trays and arm rest. Three hours to Cairo. Snagged a porter who took us all the way to where a taxi driver we engaged parked – miracle. Taxi to Cairo airport. Check in to the regional flight terminal – actually calm. Waited three hours or so in a coffee shop. Finally got loaded onto a packed plane. Thanks to some dramatic use of his cane, Don and I got ushered into the very early boarding queue. Fast one-hour flight into Luxor airport. Getting a cab involved the usual hassles and negotiating, but we were finally on our way into town.
But were we in Luxor or on the Las Vegas strip? It was hard to believe this gaudy overlit series of temple/tomb/pyramid-shaped hotels was in the same place where the actual objects reside. No fantasy version required.
I mean, get a load of this shower. We had to have a tutorial.
Oh well, I guess you go with what you got.
One further note about Alexandria: Our hotel, the Metropole, was the height of luxury in 1902, when it was built. It has an elegant elevator inside the staircase, and a plaque saying that at its bottom was the base from which New York’s Central Park’s obelisk was removed. (Egypt’s obelisks were widely distributed.) This one came from Cleopatra’s temple, the site over which we were sleeping. How ironic that we now live across the park from that very obelisk.
Today started out calm, but somehow we got cajoled into a horse and buggy ride to Karnak Temple, a not totally pleasant experience in the Luxor heat.
Karnak Temple was worth the trip. It dates from around 2055 BC to around 100 AD, and is the largest religious building ever constructed. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedral would fit within its walls.
Needless to say, a lot of walking.
I’ll let the drama of the Hypostyle Hall with its amazing relief images – with paint still evident – pour over you as the path leads to various avenues, statues, two obelisks, and various temples. The drama of it is overwhelming.
The Hypostyle hall, at 54,000 square feet (16,459 meters) and featuring 134 columns, is still the largest room of any religious building in the world. Every king added something to reflect his glory. Besides the main sanctuary, there are several temples and a vast sacred lake – 423 feet by 252 feet (129 by 77 meters). We are coming back here on another tour, so that will come later.
So much to know and still so much to learn. But nothing is more rewarding than being in the presence of this great civilization’s astonishing accomplishments.
Don’s Food Corner
It’s been an ugly two days in this corner.
We have thrived on hotel breakfast buffets, but otherwise our Egyptian diet plan is still in effect.
Yesterday at the Cairo airport we were limited to what was available in the domestic flight terminal. The lounge memberships we could tap into were only available in the international terminal. And the choices in the domestic terminal were cruelly limited.
Here’s the best we could do: At a supposed sandwich/coffee place, Jo found something that was billed as a bagel with ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato. No mustard or mayonaise available. This sandwich was put together by someone who had never had any form of bagel. It was just round bread. Pathetic. I found something that promised to be a kind of sub sandwich with salami, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Again, no mustard or mayonnaise to enliven the dry sandwich. A sad interpretation that would horrify any resident of Philadelphia or New Jersey. A total waste.
Today, after a hot day of temple touring, we fell into an Italian restaurant in the hotel where we are staying. The menu looked great. But we ordered too ambitiously. I ordered the spicey penne all’arrabbiata. Jo was lured into ordering veal scallopine in a lemon sauce. Both dishes were disasters. Like the person who created the bagel at the airport sandwich shop who likely had never seen an actual bagel, the folks at this Italian restaurant did not appear have been to Italy or eaten in a real Italian restaurant.
I ate most of what was brought to the table even though it was pretty bad. But Jo determined that her “veal”, which was more like aged beef (and, she thinks, might have actually come from an Apis bull), was inedible. Noticing that she wasn’t happy, the restaurant staff offered to replace it with something else. Jo selected a small fettucini alfredo. It arrived, piping hot, but with a consistency that was close to Elmer’s glue. We just paid the bill and left.
Happily there was a Snickers bar in the room.
Food in general was a disaster for me too. I survived mostly on lentil soup. Maybe I should visit again because that’s the only time I had shed some pounds.
I have read about and seen pictures of this temple complex all of my adult life. I cannot imagine being in its midst. You must have been overwhelmed. The pictures are outstanding. I am soooooo envious. Hope you packed a lot of Snickers.