But I will leave that for a moment to tell you about bad
number one. Our credit card was stolen. Where? We have no idea. Nor did we know
anything about it being stolen because I was too lazy to download any
transactions because the internet was too slow. Apparently on May 18 somebody
used a card or the number (we’re not clear on this) to by 200 gallons of fuel
in Dover, Delaware. Note that we boarded the ship on May 16. About May 23 or 24
we were called down to the Passenger Service desk because our card had been
declined. We had a credit balance so I wondered why they were even bothering,
but apparently they check to make sure the card is OK. I called VISA and the
sweet young thing on the phone couldn’t figure out why our card was declined
other than the charge came from the US and VISA thought we were travelling
abroad. OK, that was sorted out and they allowed the “charge.”
A week later the same thing, and I brought my credit card
down and they manually swiped it and the charge went through. A week later we
got a snotty message telling us to come down before noon (it was 10am). Same
thing, I gave them my card and they ran the charges and gave me a receipt that
they were paid. That night after dinner, we found a letter telling us to come
to the desk that night. The ship's charges had again been denied even though they said earlier they had gone through. This time I asked for the manager and we decided to
wait until morning.
In the morning I spent an hour (!) on the phone with VISA
and it was only after 15 minutes of conversations and transfers to Security
that they allowed that there probably had been some fraudulent charges. After
much conversation, including that they would let us keep the card and would
authorize payments on a piece by piece basis—it boggles the mind that they
would even suggest that—they agreed to cancel the card and ship a new one to
the ship in Athens. If it hadn’t been for Alex, the Finance Manager for the
Sun, I STILL wouldn’t have solved the problem. So the card is now (4 days
later) in Athens and will be sent to Mykonos to meet the ship.
Bad number two? My camera was thrown out of the overhead when
our bus went over a particularly nasty bump on the way to Luxor and the lens ripped off the body. It is definitely kaput until
we can get home. Both camera and lens have things hanging off them that
definitely are not supposed to be hanging off. Randy has a point-and-shoot that
I am using, but I miss, miss, miss my D300s!
Bad number three is still to come.
Safaga is the gateway to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings
so we were willing to put up with the hardships. The land we drove through is possibly
the most barren we have ever seen. No grass, no shrubs, and certainly no trees.
Not a speck of plant life anywhere visible. Even Death Valley has SOME
vegetation, but not this land! The land rises to about 2100 feet (675 meters)
but doesn’t cool off at all. We were told later that the temperature was 50°C
(122°F) but I don’t believe it came even close to that; maybe 40, but not much
more. But there is no shade in any of the areas of Luxor and the Valley of the
Kings and the monuments just hold on to the heat and radiate it outwards so it
seems much hotter.
To me the Temple of Karnak was the most magnificent. To see
the massive columns, decorated with thousands of hieroglyphics and figures is
astonishing. Trying to imagine how it looked before is impossible for me; it’s
enough to see what’s left.
The caves in the Valley of the Kings, if I can call the tombs
of the the Pharaohs mere “caves,” are pretty amazing as well, especially if you
see the models of the underground parts as well. It’s hard, in this age of
computer modeling, to imagine how the Egyptians of 3-5000 years ago (I can’t
remember exactly how old the tombs are) could figure out the logistics of
digging into the ground on so many levels and having entrances and tunnels line
up. We were not allowed to take photos at the Valley of the Kings so you’ll
have to go online to see the magnificence of the tombs of
Ramses IV and
Ramses IX,
the only tombs we could see in the time we had. Here what impressed me the most
were the colors. There is no color left at Karnak, but here there is lots of
color and it makes a huge difference for a newbie who’s never seen any of the
Egyptian tombs.
Between the Temple of Karnak and the Valley of the Kings, we
crossed the Nile on what is becoming an ordinary mode of transportation for us,
a very dilapidated boat. Nonetheless, it didn’t sink—although the engine temporarily
died on the boat’s way to pick us up, that was a bit worrisome!—and we had a
lovely albeit hot lunch.
Because of the distances involved, we had no more than about
45 minutes at each place and then back on the bus for what has become “home”
for us. My friend Liz especially will be aghast that we spent so little time
there, but this is a trip of finding out that this-is-what-we-will-come-back-to-see and that there are a few
never-agains!
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| Our boat to the restaurant for lunch |
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| Not the most wonderful transportation |
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| Our happy boat driverr |
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| Chugging across the river |
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| This is the barren land we travelled through |
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| Flat Stanley reading the guide books |
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| Flat Stanley making friends with the Egyptian police |
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| Our transport to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut |
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| Temple of Queen Hatshepsut |
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| A cartouche |
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| Temple of Queen Hatshepsut |
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| Closeup of some pictures on Hatshepsut's temple |
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| Flat Stanley enjoying Hatshepsut's carvings |
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| Flat Stanley next to some hieroglyphics |
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| This I took because the sign just makes no sense at all! |
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| I was trying to show the eclectic architecture and unfinished houses along the road to the Valley of Kings (note the rebar sticking up on the left of the yellow house) |
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