FYI - My Current view is here! (1) Luxor - 7 Nov 2024 - We arrived in Luxor at 7:25am. I walked down the stairs and onto the tarmac - incredible. We all boarded buses to go to the terminal. It was recommended that we use the W.C. while there as our coach would be taking us directly to the Karnak Temple Site. I had to pay $5 US for toilet paper - I didn’t have anything smaller. Ramadan advised me that he would arrange for a wheelchair and an attendant. There was a great deal of walking. Everyone here wants to help me so much, it is getting irritating! I know they all mean well, but I can function. It doesn’t help that I am an old woman. I see my bag on the carousel and try to grab it, but a porter dives in and gets it before me. He was upset that I would even try, He meant well - and that’s what I keep in mind. They are concerned for me and do not want me to hurt myself. There are 3 of us in the group with varying degrees of disability. Enough whining - on to Luxor Temple.
I just want to put it right here - I am keenly aware of the privilege I have of being here. It is an honour and a grace to be here with these wonderful people. Many have so little, but they would gladly offer it to you. I am blessed.
I have seen pictures. Read books. None of it compared to being on the site. The shear magnitude of the obelisks and columns is almost incomprehensible. You stare at them with the knowledge that they are several THOUSAND YEARS OLD. The colours are still visible. The hieroglyphics still legible. As one of my group mates said, “it is surreal that we are here.” (2)
Another ship is going by and we are rocking! :)
Ramadan is an expert. He takes us through the parts of the temple. He knows most of the other tour guides - he trained many of them. From what I observed, he provides much more than the others. He isn't just telling you what something is; he tells you the whys, the hows and the wherefores. I took Egyptology in University. He has taught me more in a few days than I learned in an entire semester! He still teaches at the universities. He is an expert in hieroglyphics.
The entrance way to the temple is lined with Rams’ head spinx. There is one obelisk - the only one remaining as they others were taken by the British, Rome, etc. There use to be so many more, however, there are more Egyption obelisks in Rome than are left in Eygpt. That is so very wrong. (3)
Ramadan takes us inside the temple and into the chamber the statue Amun-Ra. Karnak was built as a nod to the joining of the two Egypts and the two gods who were worshipped by each part. We discussed the heiroglyphics and the story they told. Ramadan explained what a cartouche is and what the “letters” mean. He drew my name on the floor of the temple - hard to
see, but it is there. Amazing. (4)
There are 150 columns at Karnack. To say they are massive is an understatement. Each one tells a different story. The skills and abilities to create these columns was enourmous. Once upon a time, there was a roof. I cannot barely imagine what that looked like. (5-10)
Cairo traffic mind-boggling. You know how in Montreal, if it is 3 lanes, there will be 5 cars are the stop light? Well, in Cairo there are 6 or 7 cars and they may not all be going in the same direction. It was insane but fascinating, So many near misses. Everyone understands the ballet, They use their horns to speak to each other. There are cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, some of which have 2 or 3 people on them! There are people everywhere. Our guide said they do not have “rush hour”, they have “rush day”. Everyone needs to get where they are going and they do! I was terrified at first, but can to realize that our driver, Mohammed, was a very skilled ballet driver! Our guide pointed out landmarks as we went. He also told us we had to have our luggage outside our rooms by 3:00am. Pardon??? I’ve just spent 15 hours getting here with a 7 hour time difference, no sleep and you’re telling me that I have to be up, packed and ready in less than 7 and a half hours? Okay. I managed to get a shower, then crawl into bed. I was on time. I saw other luggage outside at 3:00am, which gave me comfort. We were to meet in the hotel reception area at 3:30pm. I think I had 4 hours sleep - no dinner.
7 Nov 2024 Our guide also explained that we would get a breakfast bag in the cafe and that we needed to be at the bus parking lot, located at the other tower’s side for 3:30pm. I got to the cafe. I was given a large brown bag with handles. It contained two medium baguette sandwiches (one meat, one cheese - no mustard or mayo), a bag with an assortment of breads, a little jar of jam, two hard-boiled eggs, apple juice, an apple, a banana, and a plain yogurt. It was a bonkers amount of food. I ate a small croissant, the banana and the apple juice. I took the bag with me. Picture attached.
As I was heading to the reception area, when a gentleman called to me. I stopped on the stairs as he explained he was with my tour. His name was Mohammed El Sherif. He escorted me to the bus parking area. We all boarded - there are 11 of us on the tour. We met our Egyptologist, Ramadan Bassiouny. We drove straight to the airport and Ramadan got us through security, our bags checked and (the ship is rocking a bit as I type this! LOL) and arranged wheelchairs for myself and another group member. We got to our gate in record time. Off to Luxor!
My apologies for not writing sooner. It has been a whirlwind with 2am wake up calls and 6am flights and right into a tour. I will go in order:
6 Nov 2024 - Well, that was a day! As I am disabled, when I travel by plane, I always arrange for assistance. When I fly domestically, the airlines are usually fairly good at meeting me after I check in at a kiosk. British Airways did not. I waited in line for an hour and a half. Once I got to the counter to check my bags, the BA said, "oh dear! You were supposed to have wheelchair assistance and called for a wheelchair. I was hurting quite badly by that time. The attendant got me to the gate quickly and I was boarded quickly. It was a long flight, but not unpleasant. The food was not bad - photo below. I was not able to sleep. I watched a variety of things to pass the time and I crocheted. I was very happy that I choose to get Premium Economy.
I arrived at Heathrow Airport in time and was quickly taken off the plane and put into a wheelchair. The nice young man took me through security, where I had to remove my shoes and received a full body pat down as they did not have a wooden cane for me to use to stand in the scanner! :( They did not like one liquid item I had, so my bag was pulled. That took twenty minutes as they were pulling a large number of bags. After tests my St, Francis Herb Deep Immune, we were our way, The very help young man, Patak, then asked me if I wanted to get any food, drink, etc. He took me to a WH Smith. I was then taken to a handicapped waiting station/room until my gate was called. I had been told that they flight was delayed because they could not get the crew a transportation. Seriously.
I learned, one the way to my gate, that this plane was going to be a walk up. However, a lift would be available. When it was time to go to the gate, I was helped into a golf cart that sat 6 and away we went. The woman driving the cart was a pro and you had best get out of her way. We drove all over the airport and took two elevators WITH THE CART! It was crazy. When we got to the gate, we all had to wait. Twenty minutes later, the lift vehicle arrived and we got in. We went on a 10 minuted ride (Heathrow is huge!). We arrived at the opposite site of the plane. I jokingly asked, as the lift was rising, if they were going to knock on the door. He just looked at me and knocked. \The co-pilot opened the door and on we went, I got seated quickly. The flight was full but uneventful. I had a mother and child sit with me. They both fell asleep, with the little boy's feet on my lap!
Arriving in Cairo was an experience. I was met with a wheelchair attendant. He seemed to want to get me to the baggage carousel in record time. As we passed the line of tour operators, I would have missed mine, if he had not jumped in front of us. The gentleman instructed the attendant to take me to carousel 2 and off we went. Once there, the Insight Travel Manager told me to use the washroom while he watched my bags. He said there were two more on the flight and he would find them. He did.
We then set out to got through security, which in this case meant him waving at the armed security guard and us walking through to the exit. Outside it was hot and steamy. There were hundreds of people there. Our driver arrived; we loaded up and were our way. It was dark outside and the City was alive!
Losing the internet - I will tell you about Cairo traffic in the next entry!
Well, I am packed - although I have to swap some things out. I will admit that I am nervous. I'm not always a great flyer. Take off is the worst for me. However, I shall get through it. Considering I have six (6) flights in the next twelve days - Crazy. I am also very excited. I can hardly believe that I, Stacey Leadbetter, am going to Egypt, with a sidebar to London, UK.
I've been in a bit of a panic today. So much to gather together. So much to think about. It's that horrible feeling of "what if I forget something?" mixed with "do I really need to bring that?" I had a bit of running around to do today. I had mani/pedi with the wonderful Sherry @lavishsalon. I then had to go to the office because I forgot to do a couple of things before I left on Friday - like change the voicemail! I was glad I went. It gave me sometime to sit and have lunch with my co-worker - I brought him a tea! I then had to get my currency. They did not get the Egyptian Pounds I ordered. Oh well. A visit to Purdy's helped with that. I left there and went to a small market for milk for one of the children. I then went and picked up another of my children. 🤣 It's all good.
I have been troublesome. I have been spontaneous. I have been reckless. I have had adventures, most of which were inadvertent. They were amazing, fun, scary and hilarious, but completely unplanned. Now I am planning an adventure. Hopefully not the last one - as long as I get this one paid off! LOL. I hope you can join me on this adventure. First, a little backstory:
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