~Gator World Explorer~: Slamming Planes and Dancing Norwegian

Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Today is definitely a day I will never forget since the highlight of my trip was the visit to Abu Simbel to see the Temple of Ramesses II. I am one that prefers the temples over the pyramids!

This day started very early, with a 3:30am wake up. I was actually tired that night so I managed to grab about 3 hrs of sleep, more than what I had slept the previous two nights combined! And the 3:30am wake up call was not too bad considering previous tour groups have had a 2am wake up call. I guess it all depends on the time of your flight. Lisa and I went to breakfast and it was rather quiet; you can tell most were still half asleep. After breakfast, we headed out to the bus and it was quite a chilly morning! Thank goodness I packed a jacket and long sleeve shirt because there were a few cool mornings and evenings during my trip. On the bus ride to the airport (Abu Simbel is a 40 minute flight from Aswan or a 3 hr bus ride), Sherif didn't give a history lesson or pep talk since most just wanted to sleep. Shane and I on the other hand were so excited we couldn't stop talking; who would have thought that me who loves sleep so much and is rather cranky in the mornings would be so chipper with 3 hrs of sleep! We arrived at the airport and it was a lot nicer than the Cairo airport but then again, I'm sure it didn't handle that many flights. Sherif distributed the boarding passes and we headed to the trams that took us to our airplane. I am not a good flier and flying Egypt Air had me a bit nervous but at least it was a normal plane, not one of those small things with propellers. The take off was uneventful and then the flight attendants proceeded to go down the aisle with a cart full of water bottles offering passengers little cups of water. I know it was a short flight but couldn't they have offered at least some juice or soda?!? Sorry, it just felt weird being offered a tiny cup of water. The flight was going great when all of a sudden BAM, SLAM, WHAM! Someone forgot how to land a plane!! There was no slowing down, no slow descend...nope this pilot apparently got bored of flying and thought it'll be funny to slam the plane down. Those that were half asleep were now definitely more than an awake. Elisa, tour mate sitting next to me, and I were still in shock and our hearts were racing. I wanted out of that airplane and now!

We got off the plane and walked into the Abu Simbel airport which was the size of a hotel lobby. Then again, the airport serves less than half a million people a year and all those are tourists stopping by to visit the Temple of Ramesses II and the temple of his favorite queen, Nefertari. On our way to Abu Simbel, I started feeling a bit overwhelmed because this was what I was waiting for. The pyramids were interesting and amazing but nothing compares to the magnitude and importance of the Temple of Ramesses II especially to someone like myself who is so familiar with the life, conquests, and struggles of one of Egypt's greatest leaders. As we were walking around the outside of the temple and I caught my first glimpse of the four giant statues of Ramesses II, I got a tad emotional and had a few tears in my eye (luckily my sunglasses covered that up). It was then that it hit me...I was in Egypt fulfilling a life long dream! Until then, everything felt like a dream but seeing the Temple of Ramesses II brought me down to reality and to the fact I really was in Egypt and everything I had read in books and articles and everything I had seen in pictures was now coming to life before my own eyes. I no longer had to dream because I was living it!

Now back to the day's events...

The group gathered around Sherif for a history lesson on Ramesses II and here is the basics...The Temple of Ramses II was carved out of a solid cliff during the 13th century BC and was dedicated to the patron deities of Egypt's great cities - Amun of Thebes, Ptah of Memphis, and Ra-Harakhty of Heliopolis. Next to his temple, is the temple dedicated to his favorite wife, Queen Nefertari. In the 1960s, the construction of the High Dam in Aswan threatened to submerge the whole temple under Lake Nasser. With the help of UNESCO, the whole cliff was cut into blocks and moved 688 ft back and 213 ft above their original position.

Then it was time to go inside the temple!! Tour guides aren't allowed inside the temples in Abu Simbel so Sherif took a few minutes to tell me where I could find specific stories on the walls inside the temple. He knew I was particularly interested in the story of the two spies from the Hittie Empire that tricked Ramesses II, an action that almost caused the demise of the Egyptian Empire. As Shane and I walked into the temple, we were amazed at the amount of detail and hints of colors found throughout (unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside). The temple was really crowded so it took some patience navigating from room to room and sometimes when you would be standing in front of a wall looking at the paintings and inscriptions someone will just walk in front of you. While the Egyptians were really nice people, quite a few of the tourists I came across lacked basic manners! Since we only had 40 minutes to visit both temples (Queen Nefertari's temple was next door), I unfortunately didn't have much time to really look at each painting and take the time to read some of the stories (I can pick up quite a few hieroglyphic symbols). It was amazing to see the amount of detail and workmanship that went into each painting and how a few were drawn to look animated. In one of the rooms, an unfinished room, you can actually see the charcoal highlights of where an image would have been painted along with a few grid lines. The Egyptians usually drew grids then outlined an image in charcoal before drawing the black outlines and filling in with color. After about 20 minutes of walking through the temple, we headed out to visit the Temple of Queen Nefertari. Her temple is a lot smaller but I thought the art was a lot more impressive. The paintings and inscriptions were chiseled in a lot deeper so the images looked almost 3-D. Also, the colors were better preserved especially the green and red hues. While walking around the temple, I noticed quite a few unfinished rooms which are always interesting because you could see the different stages of work from the sketches to the outlines to the first layer of coloring.

Another wonderful thing about Abu Simbel is the breathtaking views of Lake Nasser! Standing in front of the temples, you get a magnificent view of the water and since it is early in the day, the sun is still low in the sky creating some amazing photo opportunities.

When we finished, we headed off to the bus for the drive to the airport. After the morning's slamming landing no one was looking forward to the flight back to Aswan. We boarded the plane and when the came time to land, my tour mates and I all had this panic look on our face. I grabbed my seat belt and placed it as tightly as I could. Another one of my tour mates was holding on to the armrests for dear life. Then the moment of truth...we got a pilot that knew how to land an airplane!! We were all so happy that we started clapping and cheering!! Others on the plane must have thought we were nuts but after that morning's experience, a great landing meant the world to us. Back on the bus and off to the cruise for an afternoon of relaxing!

After our journey to Abu Simbel, the rest of the afternoon and evening was pretty relaxing. We had free time on the boat until about 6pm when we visted a temple in Kom Ombo and in the evening it was our Egyptian themed party. We returned to the boat at around 11:30am and most headed to the top deck for some tanning and lounging. I too headed to the top deck where I met up with Sherif and we spent a little over an hour talking about Ancient Egypt and Egypt in general. Then it was time for another big all you can eat meal! The lunch was really tasty and after lunch I stopped by the jewelry store on the boat to order my personalized cartouche, which has my name written out in hieroglyphs. I had planned on returning to the top deck to hang out with some tour mates but I actually took the free time to return to my cabin and take a much needed nap. In the middle of my nap, I woke up feeling really hot and rather nausea. I figured it was maybe something I ate so I took some meds, drank some water, and tried going to bed. About an hour later, I woke up on fire and feeling really light-headed and nausea. This will be the start of a long day and a half that would consist of me bonding with the toilet since I frequently had to puke (sorry for the graphic image!). I was starting to think this was some sort of bug/virus and not food poisoning since I didn't have any of the symptoms associated with the latter. I kept drinking water and I tried munching on a granola bar I brought from home but nothing was settling right. I laid in bed until it was time to go to our next temple.

Despite feeling like garbage, I wasn't going to miss out on anything! Luckily, this temple was just a walk away from our boat so it wasn't too bad. I was still feeling a tad light-headed but the cool, fresh breeze was helping a little. We were off to the Temple of Kom Ombo!! This temple is the most symmetrical of all temples and it has a lot of Greco-Roman influence. It is unusual in that the temple is dedicated to two gods; the left side to the falcon god Horus and the right side to the local crocodile god Sobek. The temple was built during the reigns of Ptolemy VI through Ptolemy XII, hence the Greco-Roman influence. This was our first night visit to a site and while it provided for a nice view, when it came to taking pictures and viewing the details of the temple, I would have preferred daylight. Some parts of the temple were poorly lit so you couldn't clearly see the details and colors on the wall. The history and stories behind the temple were really interesting especially the stories of our how the Egyptians feared the Nile crocodiles hence creating an altar so they could make offerings to appease the creatures. After Sherif finished the tour, Shane and I spent about 20 minutes walking around the temple. Then came the fun part; on the way to the boat we had to pass this market which had really aggressive sales people, some of the worst I encountered in Egypt. As we were walking towards the boat, this young boy, maybe 8 or 9 years old, kept following us trying to sell us some trinkets. Shane and I kept saying no and then he started grabbing my arm trying to get me to stop. After about 3 minutes, I lost my patience and elbowed (not that hard) the kid so he could leave me alone. I tend to be a patient and tolerant person but since I was not feeling well and just wanted to get to the boat, my patience was a tad shorter than normal.

Once on board the boat, I decided to skip dinner to get some rest before the party. I ate some snacks that I had and just relaxed on my super comfortable bed. Then it was time to get ready, time to wear my belly dancing outfit!!! My outfit was sheer so I wore a red tank top underneath (thank God I packed one!) and a tour mate let me borrow her shorts (thanks Megan!!). Sick as I was, I was feeling awesome in my belly dancing outfit. I finished getting ready and walked downstairs to join the party. It was great seeing everyone all dolled up in their outfits and accessories and it was especially hilarious seeing the boys in their Egyptian tunics. I didn't dance since I was feeling really nausea and was actually starting to feel a tad worse. But since I was not going to miss one thing on this trip, I sat and watched the crowd go wild. HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT: The best part of the evening was the Dancing Norwegian. No this wasn't an act courtesy of the cruise, it was one of my tour mates gone wild. Erik had been really shy and quiet throughout the trip but today all that changed. After arriving from the temple, Erik started drinking some whiskey so by the time the party rolled around, he was a total dance machine! Hands up in the air, hips moving from side to side, and sometimes a little break dancing on the floor. Sometimes, it looked like he was going into seizures but he was totally living it up. When they played the Isley Brother's "Shout", Erik completely set the place on fire! I'm not sure if any of my tour mates caught his dancing on video but it was definitely one of the highlights on everyone's tour. After the party, quite a few of us went to the top deck to hang out and relax making it another long, but very fun evening!