Fellucas on the Nile, Aswan
|
La vallée
du Nil
(Francais, cliquez
ici)
Nile valley
(English, click
here)
Du 24 au 30 Décembre
2004
|
Cartourche, Karnak temple, Luxor
|
I have been living
in Egypt since August 2004 and thought I was accustomed
to Egyptian life and culture mixing so well with foreigners.
I was wrong. While there are well-preserved monuments, mass
tourism is destroying Egyptian culture, temples and treasures.
All of my previous travels have been by way of "backpack
travel", but because we were traveling with and hosting
foreign guests in Cairo, we decided to go with a middle
to upper range package tour. |
We started our journey
with an overnight train from Cairo to Luxor. A private
double cabin for 55$US/person was a fair price. Service
was excellent and cabins were small but very clean.
We then went on a four
day cruise with the Oberoi-Shehrayar, which has the reputation
of being one of the finest cruise lines in Egypt. Again,
the service was excellent and the
accommodation was good. However, both my wife and my mother
got sick during
the cruise probably due to inadequately boiled water or
undercooked food. By the end of the cruise, it was known
that other travelers also had experienced similarly upset
stomachs.
The cruise was overall
very good, but there are simply too many boats on the Nile
during the tourist season and the lock at Esna is not capable
of handling such volume. On December 25th, there were 18
boats lined up to cross the lock and all waiting between
six and ten hours to do so. All the boat engines were running
non-stop and the day ended up being a day of inhaling smoke
and exhaust. Crew members told me that sometimes twenty
to thirty hours are needed to cross the lock.
|
Obelisk
Karnak Temple
Luxor
|
Ramses II, Luxor temple
God Horus,
Horus temple, Edfu.
|
On a 4-day cruise, this
waiting time becomes important, as all the sightseeing must
be done quickly so the boat can leave early and wait at
the lock. On our first day, we visited Karnak temple, Luxor
temple, the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens
& Hatshepsut temple. Too much for one day. The original
schedule gave us two days in Luxor, but was changed due
to the waiting at the lock. Later in Edfu, it seems that
all cruise lines have decided to bring tourists to Horus
temple using horse carriages. For a five-minute horse ride,
each person is required to pay 20LE (in Cairo, 20LE would
get you a 25 minute cab ride). While quaint, 20LE for a
horse ride is a tourist trap technique pulled on sightseers,
and the operators won't tell you that a fixed price is in
effect until after the ride is over. While 20LE may only
be a few dollars and it is someone else's livelihood that
is at stake, it is the feeling of being "ripped off"
that leaves an unpleasant taste. A more reasonable amount
for the ride would a good start or perhaps if the cruise
lines offered additional options for reaching the Horus
Temple.
As well, this Oberoi-Shehrayar
cruise was billed as ''inclusive'' or ''full board''. However,
we ended up spending more than 500LE ($80US) on extras like
the horse carriage, a boat ride to Philae Island, and a
bus driver to the Valley of the Kings to name a few.
The cruise ended in
Aswan, where we were transferred to the Mövenpick Hotel
on Elephantine Island (previously the Oberoi Hotel). This
hotel is a poor value at $250US/night. The service was miserable,
and while the room was clean it was very small and the two
single beds were old and not befitting of such a high room
rate. An extra bed was brought to our room and this was
nothing more than a camping cot with two bed sheets. Unless
you have nothing better to do with $250, then I wouldn't
recommend anyone to stay at the Movenpick Hotel on Elephantine
Island.
At 3:30am the next morning
and for $50US/person, we were picked up by a mini bus to
go to Abu Simbel. As things turned out, we basically paid
$50 for a squishy van ride that should have only costed
about half that much (one can hire a car and driver for
two days in Cairo for about $50USD).
The convoy to Abu Simbel
is surreal joke, being sure that every tourist arrives at
the temple at the same time. On December 29, there were
125 buses totaling approximately 3000 tourists trying to
get into the Abu Simbel Temple.
|
Kom Ombo temple
Horus temple, Edfu
|
Consequently, it was
a good decision to stay overnight at the Nerfertari Hotel
in Abu Simbel. This gave us the chance to visit the temple
in the afternoon at a much more leisurely and less congested
pace.
The light show of the
Abu Simbel temple is 35 minutes, but worth the 60LE, and
is a much more impressive show than the one at Giza.
The Nerfertari Hotel
in Abu Simbel has an impressive location being situated
over Lake Nasser and a five-minute walk from the temple.
But, like the Movenpick Hotel on Elephantine Island, $150US/night
for a room there was excessive given that the accommodation
is "OK" at best, that we had no hot water for
most of
the day, and that the included breakfast consisted of cold
toast and watery coffee. This hotel claims to have 4-star
status, but is really a 3-star charging 4-star prices. Its
location is its saving grace.
I will always remember
my trip down the Nile valley. Amazing temples but expectedly
too many tourists. Even more disconcerting, at many places
I saw tourists writing on statues, leaning on perfectly
carved walls, kids throwing rocks at 4000 year-old hieroglyphs,
or visitors taking flash photography inside temples. It
is frustrating, sad, and unbelievable to see how many tourists
have no respect and no idea of the value of these national
treasures.
Even sadder is that
the local guides, tourist police, travel agencies, even
the Egyptian government don't seem to bother to tell them
that while this treasure has lasted for 4000 years, it may
very be lost forever unless visitors admire the sights with
a modicum of respect.
|
Luxor Temple
Hieroglyphs,
Horus temple, Edfu
|
|
|