King Tut (King Tut)
Now when he was a young man,
He never thought he'd see
People stand in line to see the boy king.
Steve Martin
Well to be honest, I never thought I would see the boy king. But, once again that little phone call last April has made a lot of “I never thoughts” possible. We just spent our spring vacation in Egypt and it was an amazing trip.
We started in Cairo where we spent more time in the airport than we would have liked too. Not because of a long immigration line or extensive passport stamping, but one of our bags couldn’t find its way on to the plane. Sooner or later, a bag is bound to get lost and at least this time we had help from the Tour company representative. Forms were filled out money was collect…200 Egyptian Pounds otherwise known as 40 dollars. We left the airport and made our first Egyptian stop..A MacDonalds… Got to love traveling with kids. We just made it to the hotel and Emily and Jacob were ecstatic to find out that they had the DisneyChannel.
The next morning Mohammed, our guide, met us in the lobby and we were off to explore the City. Everybody has seen the pictures, but when you are driving down the street and you catch your first glimpse of the pyramids your mouth drops open and you forget to breathe. They are that amazing. The kids had their face pressed to the windows in a flash. Mohammed explained about the construction, the purpose, the size, but to be honest I didn’t hear any of it, I was totally lost in the fact that my hand was touching something that had stood for thousands of years and is the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World. “Time has not damaged the pyramids, it is only man that has worn them away.” Mohammed told us. Pretty deep insight that didn’t soak in at the moment because we were headed to the obligatory camel ride. Now, this was not my idea. I look at a camel as a tall horse, and I’m not that fond of riding a horse. Despite what you see in pictures the Pyramids of Giza sit in the middle of the city, but when you are on a camel riding across a sand dune with the Pyramid behind you the city and the present completely disappear. After the camel ride we hopped back in the van drove 500 meters and turn left and there we were in front of the Sphinx. It is smaller than you think, more weathered then you believe, and still it is everything you have ever imagined. In case you were wondering at this point, we have taken 97 pictures and it is a little after noon.
The next stop on the tour was further north along the Nile River. The first pyramids and the first capital of Egypt were built in Saqqara. The first pyramid is a called the step pyramid and it is built in serious of layers, each on smaller than the on before it. 150 years later the technique was perfected and you have the pyramids of Giza. Nearby is the Egypt’s first capitol, Memphis, and this is where we had our first of many encounters with Pharaoh Ramses II. This guy ruled Egypt for 67 years and during that time; he managed to get his face everywhere. Not content with life size statues, he had himself carved in stones of massive proportions. We thought he was big in Memphis, but that was nothing compared to his size at Abu Simbel. We headed back to Giza for the sound and light show, which was a little over dramatic and loud. Emily gives it a big thumbs down. The best part of the show was getting to take pictures of the pyramids and Sphinx as the sun set.
Day two in Cairo was spent exploring its Islamic roots in the same clothes that we wore on the plane and on Cairo day 1. We visited the 12th century Citadel and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali, the leader of Egypt in the 1800’s not the boxer. Then it was a tour of Coptic Cairo. I have to admit that I have always thought of Egypt as an Islamic country. I remember that Moses led the Jews out of Egypt during the Exodus, so in my mind that left Egypt to Allah. The Coptic area of Cairo changed all that thinking. In less then a 100 meters there is a synagogue, a mosque, and an Eastern Orthodox Church. Although the Jewish population of Egypt is declining, right now 15% of the population is Christian. The afternoon was spent exploring the Egyptian museum. We saw mummies, not just the sarcophagus, but the real live (well, real dead) mummified bodies of several pharaohs. We walked past the funeral mask and gold coffin of the boy king, Tut. The museum is huge and stuffed full of more artifacts than could possible be seen in a decade. There are gigantic statues and gold sandals. Mummified monkeys and loaves of 3000-year-old bread. There are crates of artifacts scattered through out the museum that have not been unpacked.
We left the museum and headed to hotel for a quick snack and chance to freshen up before our next adventure, a sleeper train to Luxor. We had two reserved compartments, which quickly became segregated into a boy room and a girl room. Jacob was completely enthralled with the whole set up and quickly went to exploring every nook and cranny of the compartment. After an in-flight, or is it an “inrail” meal, Jake and I watched as little towns rolled passed our window. One of the coolest things about Egypt is that people are out and about in the towns. They are sitting outside cafes and playing soccer in the streets, and walking through the towns well after dark. Soon the conductor knocked on the door and we stepped into the hall, while he turned our seat into a bunk bed. Of course, Jacob and Emily had staked claim on the top bunk and we were all soon rocked to sleep.
Day 3 of the trip and Day 4 of the same clothes started with a knock on the door and breakfast at 5 am. The train pulled into Luxor station just before 6 am and we headed off to pick up our guide, Sayed, on our way to the Valley of the Kings. The valley is a dusty trail between two dusty piles of rock the stretch up to blue desert sky. There are 73 tombs in the valley including the tomb of King Tut. Your ticket gets you into three tombs, and I don’t think it matters which tomb you see, they are all incredible. Carved into the limestone, the corridors lead deep into the surrounding hills. Now, if you give me all the known measuring tools in the world, a laser guided table saw, and precision titanium guides I couldn’t make a straight cut on a piece of wood. The Egyptians of the New Kingdom managed to vertical walls in stone with a hammer and chisel. Then they went to work with decorating. Paintings, stories, carvings, columns, and row after row of hieroglyphics cover the walls. The large outer stone sarcophaguses were still in many of the tombs. It was beyond imagination.
After the tombs it was temple time: Hatshepsut, a female ruler of Egypt, Karnak, and Luxor. These temples are huge, elaborate, and beautiful. Sayed was with us for the entire trip up the Nile. His knowledge of Egyptian history and mythology, plus a great sense of humor added to every exploration. He gave the kids Arabic cheat sheets to study so they could say "hello", "thank you", and other useful phrases.
Cruising down the Nile is as cool as it sounds. The boat was practically new and practically empty. The Nile leaves a band a green through the sand dunes on the western bank and the rocky hills. We sat on the sun deck and watched history roll past us. Small towns, carts pulled by donkeys, palm trees, and small farms filled the green space, all nourished with water from the Nile. We spent three full days on the boat and were entertained with belly dancing, whirling dervishes, and other ethnic dances. We toured the temples of Edfu, Kom Ombo, and the amazing beyond belief Abu Simbel. We walked the streets of Aswan, a Nubian village, and Edfu. Gina purchased scarves, spices, and jewelry. We rode on camels, in horse drawn carriages, sailed in feluccas, and cruised in motorboats.
We eventually got to change clothes too. Our missing bag appeared on the cruise boat the morning we left Luxor. Of course we had stopped to buy some new clothes the night before. But even with that glitch I have to agree with Steve Martin…..
” Now, when I die,
Now don't think I'm a nut,
Don't want no fancy funeral,
Just one like ole king Tut (King Tut)
He coulda won a Grammy,
Buried in his jammies,
Born in Arizona, moved to Babylonia,
He was born in Arizona, got a condo made of stone-a,
King Tut”
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