About 600 Amsterdamians did a different type of Marathon, but in the same blistering heat. We were docked in the port of Safaga near the top of the Red Sea, west side. Our objective was to cram into 16 hours, something that really requires several days to see in a meaningful way: Luxor, Karnak, Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatchepsut. This was made all the more Marathon-like because Safaga is 230 kilometres from the sites. In Egyptian road and traffic conditions that is a 3 1/2 hour drive, each way!
We were up at 5.30, just because we were excited. We started the drive at 8.15 AM after picking up our box lunch prepared by the ship. First a little background. As you may or may not know, Egypt's main source of income is tourism. There were several terrorist attacks on tourists, in an attempt to cripple the Egyptian economy, several years ago, before 9/11. If memory serves me correctly one was at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Another was in the parking lot of the Temple of Hatchepsut, where several German tourists were machine gunned as they were getting off the busses. The habit of taking pot-shots at lone busses and Nile Cruise ships did not stimulate the urge to visit Egypt either. Needless to say, The tourist trade in Egypt dropped to Zero, affecting the economy almost fatally.
The Egyptian authorities responded very positively to the challenge and to my knowledge these things have been eliminated. But at a cost. Here is how the situation works in getting a ship-load of tourists safely to Luxor from Safaga: There were about 16 busses, plus two 'spares'. In front of the convoy were two or three vans with security people one or two with armed uniformed security people in them. In the middle of the convoy that stretched out for over a mile was another two vans with armed people. At the tail end were the two spare busses and another two armed escort vehicles. The convoy is given top priority, stopping for virtually nothing, including numerous 'check-points' where there is a cluster of buildings with maybe ten armed soldiers on duty 24 hours a day. Each bus also had an armed security officer sitting in the front of the bus.
All of this gave a somewhat inflated inflated sense of security to the pampered guest who each paid $299 for the privilege of having a seat on the air-conditioned Mercedes. Our bus was fine except for the very uncouth, loud, overweight and somewhat unattractive lady in front of us. The typical 'Ugly American'. Could you imagine my horror when I found out she was a Canadian? Must be from the east no doubt.
One the way there we went through what is called The Eastern Desert. This is about 50/60 kilometres of the most barren looking mountains on the face of the earth. Rocky, worn, formidable and devoid of vegetation. We did see a tree that looked so out of place it was uncanny. After that the terrain flattens out and eventually we came to irrigated land. What a blessing the Nile is to Egypt. It meanders through six countries, ending by forking into two arms in Egypt emptying what is left of it into the Mediterranean. From this river they have engineered canals that are the life-blood of farmers and country dwellers. We paralleled a canal for the last 70 kilometres or so.
Every few kilometres there is a road-bridge for the canal dwellers to cross over. On virtually every one of the bridges there was an armed, local, stopping local cart and vehicle traffic as this mile long convoy of the over-fed whizzed by, looking at amazement on life on a canal.
Once again better to be poor in the country than the city. I should correct myself, they are not poor, they just look poor by our standards.
12 noon approximate. Eventually, we made it to the Valley of the Kings where we and every other tourist in Egypt decided it was a good day to pay our respects to the long-dead Pharaohs of Egypt. Due to the escort system all 16 buses [600] of us arrived at the same time to be lost in the sea of other buses of tourists that had already arrived. The 40 degree, [105?] temperature added to the drama.
We visited a couple of tombs, very, very impressive to be inside such a place. However the experience was somewhat akin to being in an overcrowded elevator the whole time. It was cooler inside though. Soon, our time was up and the exit through the bazaar-like gift stalls was a crash course of in-your-face hawkers. Fellette and I had been there about 15 years ago and were familiar with these hawkers approach of selling to tourists. I was offered a scarab, [Egyptian beetle], carving for U$200, the man stopped pestering me when I told him I bought it's brother for two dollars.
2.00 approximate. Next to the Temple of Hatchepsut. Photo stop only, us and another 50 busses.
Next the Colossi of Memnon, lighter crowds here, only 30 busses! Next to the Temple of Luxor where we repeated the procedure of disembarking and following our leader where he gave us some history lessons as we par-broiled. Then a meander through about 1/2 of the three kilometre long complex. Moe and I got separated from the group and had a nice meander.
4.00 approximate. Back to the busses and to lunch? Once again through master planning, all 600 of us arrived at the beautiful Sonesta hotel where, after shuffling like cattle, we were dispersed into a few intimate dining areas that only seated a couple of hundred of us by now starving and completely shredded tourists. After a leisurely lunch we piled back on the busses and somewhat belatedly made our way to the event most of us came for, the much vaunted 'Sound and Light Show of the Karnak Temple'.
I think the last time I was that disappointed was in grade two when I got a bad report card. By now it is dark and around 7.00. All three thousand of us, [my estimate] shuffled and tripped our way through the maze of darkened columns and entrances guided by non-English speaking Egyptians, some of whom looked more like muggers than guides. The uneven unlit pavement, some of it must be as old as the pyramids, offer a bit of a challenge to the elderly and lame, of which there are many. By now we were mixed up with people from Albania and Turkistan I am sure. We blindly shuffle along until we stop, stand there in trembling anticipation until suddenly, booming thespians speaking in the best BBC accents you have ever heard go through the history of the Temple in a somewhat over the top melodramatic dialogue. This happens three times as we cram for the exam that we are sure is to follow.
Next, a two thousand yard shuffle to an 'arena' where we finally see all of the masses of people that are also subjecting themselves to this Marathon. However some have merely come from the Nile boats by horse drawn carriage a kilometre from their stateroom and probably had an intimate dinner to soothing music just minutes before.
We have been on the road 12 hours by now, eaten two meals and not enough water and some of us would really, really like to see their own toilet rather than be here. By now the lady who was felled by heat stroke earlier has recovered enough to join the throng, God bless her!
The cushioned seat was as good as the history lesson that we had, again, by the BBC Thespian Group. Their melodramatic voices were equally matched by the calling to prayer by one of the myriad of mosques in Karnak, one of which in red and green neon was the main sight we saw as we sat there for the 1/2 hour show. Somehow I was expecting lasers and powerful music, oh well, we saw that in Hong Kong.
Again a two thousand yard shuffle, somewhat like zombies by now, to our awaiting busses where there was, guess what, another box lunch 'snack' to tide us over for the 3 1/2 hour escorted convoy ride through the moon-lit Egyptian countryside where, through master planning, all 600 of us arrived at the single gangway to the ship. When we got off the busses, the hordes of Amsterdamains in this blob reminded me of cattle in a herd being run through a 'squeeze' to get either branded, ear-clipped or castrated. I could not have cared less at this point and just wanted to get into our room, toilet, shower and bed. We had been on the tour for 16 hours. We arrived at the ship at midnight, which sailed minutes later.
Forgive my sarcasm folks. It was great, just too many darn tourists! We must come alone sometime and be a party of two, with a personal guide!
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