I had been to Egypt twice before, but only to Cairo to see the pyramids and tour the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. Now I realize that is just not enough. To truly appreciate Egypt you have to look beyond the pyramids.
The four gigantic figures of Egypt's longest reigning pharaoh tower 66 feet high and are set against a 108-feet-high facade recessed into the side of a cliff - an absolutely incredible work of ancient Egyptian art that rivals the pyramids. Not many steps away, a smaller temple is flanked by six 35-foot-high alternating states of Ramses II and his favorite wife Queen Nefertari portrayed as the goddess Hathor.
Later abandoned, they remained buried for centuries until discovered in 1813 by a Swiss explorer who noticed their heads sticking above the sand.
Our tour had begun, as most visits to Egypt do, in Cairo, where, of course, we visited the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities and the pyramids as well as the museum containing the funerary boat of the Pharaoh Cheops. Cheops' nearby pyramid is the largest of the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau, the other two being the pyramids of Chephren and Mycerinus. It is always an awesome feeling to stand and look at the pyramids and the Great Sphinx, the 66-foot-high, 190-foot-long statue with the face of a man (a pharaoh perhaps?) and body of a lion that guards the pyramids.
From Cairo we flew 420 miles south to Luxor, the land of Thebes, capital of the New Kingdom. Here succeeding pharaohs built two great temples along the east bank of the Nile.
Nearby, on the west bank of the Nile we visited the Valley of the Kings (best known for the early 1900s discovery there of the more than 3,000-year-old tomb of Tutankhamen) plus the Valley of the Queens. These tombs were carved deep into hard rock in these valleys by rulers and nobility who preferred that to pyramids. Also in this area the magnificent Temple of Hatshepsut, ancient Egypt's only female pharaoh, stands in a great amphitheater at the foot of a sheer limestone cliff and the Colossi of Memnon, two faceless 60-foot-high enthroned statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, one of which the ancient Greeks and Romans believed emitted a singing sound each dawn.
CRUISING ON THE NILE
Interesting as monuments and ruins of the ancient world may be, there is also much to be said for the amenities of the modern. Abercrombie & Kent's Egypt trips show you some the best of way back then while making sure you experience some of the finest of right now.
This beautifully refurbished ship, superbly furnished and decorated in contemporary style with Art Deco influence, has a chic lounge area and bar, a well-equipped gym, a good library, a small pool, two very spacious sun decks and a very comfortable restaurant featuring picture windows so you can take in the scenery while dining.
Activities onboard included a slide presentation by our professional Egyptologist guide, an authentic Egyptian folklore performance and a party for which we were each provided a souvenir galabeya, the traditional Egyptian outfit, to wear.
The food - a wide selection of American, Continental, international and Egyptian - and the service were, as has always been the case on any A&K trip I have experienced, outstanding.
Between the Luxor area and Aswan we stopped along the Nile to visit three remarkable sites.
At Edfu we toured the Temple of Horus, the falcon god. At Kom Ombo we visited a Greek-Roman temple in which one half is dedicated to Horus The Elder, or Haroeris, a falcon god combined with a god of light whose eyes were the sun and the moon, while the other half is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. In the Aswan area, we toured the magnificent Philae Temple, site of an especially beautiful temple shrine honoring the greatest of Egyptian goddess, Isis.
Wherever we visited, our egyptologist guide brought history to life by carefully explaining the significance of wall etchings and deciphering for us many of the things written in hieroglyphics.
Sometimes during the trip I'd sit on the deck of Sun Boat IV, sipping coffee in the morning or having afternoon tea, pondering the wonders I had seen thus far and soaking up views of the Nile. I'd watch distinctively Egyptian small sailboats called feluccas sail by carrying people or materials or even animals, or watch a lone farmer toil his small plot in the fertile soil near the shore of the great river. I would also see a youngster, sometime a couple of them together, riding along a shore path on a donkey, swishing a palm branch against its side, making it move along faster - scenes surely no different from what I would have seen had I been there centuries earlier.
And as I took it all in, I kept saying to myself: What a wonderful way to experience Egypt.
IF YOU GO
For information regarding Abercrombie & Kent's tours of Egypt click on www.abercrombiekent.com. You can also e-mail questions to info@abercrombiekent.com or call 800-554-7094.
