Popo and I woke early the next day, mostly owing to the return of my temporary insomnia, but also because during our trip through Turkey, we were expected to always be on the coach by 8AM. As for why my insomnia returned? Impossible to know although I chalk it up to me watching YouTube videos quite late on my phone and sneaking in a few songs on my Switch before bed.
Hey! Even though I was travelling overseas, a girl’s got to treat herself, all right?
Regardless, we were up and getting our luggage stowed into the underbelly of the coach and eating a decent breakfast. By 8AM we were seated on the coach and ready for the long journey east to a small town in the Black Sea region of northern Turkey: Safranbolu.
Along the way, we stopped for lunch and also enjoyed brief toilet breaks at petrol stations along the highway. At one particular stop, a Shell station, I purchased some hot chocolate that was middling at best. To be fair, it was still superior to whatever I had in North America but once you’ve had Australian coffee/ hot chocolate, there is simply no going back. Especially if you like milk froth.
It was about 2PM when we pulled into the UNESCO World Heritage City of Safranbolu. Of particular interest to tourists is the Old Town, which showcased hundreds upon hundreds of preserved red-roofed Ottoman houses on cobblestone streets. The only thing missing were horse drawn cabs. While I was wandering the streets and admiring it from above, the architecture of the houses somewhat reminded me of old Tudor-style houses although there werestill quite a few differences.
Unfortunately, leading Popo around the city centre meant that I missed out on many an explanation from the tour guide. Wikipedia, which is CLEARLY a reliable source that should be cited often, tells me that the name of the town derives from the spice, Saffron, and the Greek work ‘polis.’
And to be fair, the growing of saffron or ‘safran’ by the locals is still very common practice in the city, what with all the saffron scented performed and flavoured Turkish delights that were on sale.
Once we had viewed the the Old Town from above at a lookout, we headed to our hotel that was close by and modelled in the original Ottoman style. Afterwards, we headed to the centre to get in some ‘shopping. And shop I did! In fact, as I roamed the stores, I bought myself a handmade leather courier bag for only 700 Turkish lira! Others might have been able to haggle further this was not a skill I possessed.
Walking along with a few other members of the tour group, we stopped by a few stores to try out their free samples of Turkish samples. True, it was a ploy to get us to come in and actually buy their merchandise, but it also helped satiate my sweet tooth. In fact, I even picked up some Turkish delights, courtesy of one fo the tour members hoping to bribe me back to their place and into the clutches of their diabolical mother who wanted to keep me as a prized pet.
You might be asking anyone would do that. And for that well thought out question, I have no answer except maybe I had somehow imprinted on this mother. Or she thought me cute and adorable in spite of my actual age and temperament.
After all, I can be quite playful and mischievous if I so wish. I was born in the Year of the Monkey! But, I’m also quite serious and very down-to-earth.
And if that sounds like an excuse, it is.
In any case, our half-day in Safranbolu was quickly over and we retired to our hotel with its quaint little room that was supposed to sleep two.
After an uneventful day of transit, we landed quite late in Turkiye and were rushed quickly to dinner before we pulled in at the hotel that we would be staying at in Istanbul: the Pullman. On the two hour flight from Cairo to Istanbul (for most of the day, we simply sat around the hotel before hopping onto the coach that would deliver us to the airport at 10AM), I managed to watch Bullet Train and tick off the chaotic but fun movie from my long list of films that had looked interesting but I hadn’t bothered to go into the cinemas to actually well…watch.
In any case, by the time I had showered and fallen asleep on the soft bed at the Pullman, it was quite late and we had an early start the next day.
At about 6:35AM, I was rudely awoken by a morning wake-up call and served as a reminder that I was late! Popo and I came down for a hurried breakfast before boarding the coach that would take us around the ancient city of Istanbul, or Constantinople as it was previously known during the Byzantine and Ottoman eras.
We arrived at our first stop for the day: a decently sized marine vessel, just before 9AM. Hopping on, we enjoyed a cruise around the Bosphorus Strait, providing us with excellent views of the city of Istanbul. It should be known that the city straddles the bridge between Europe and Asia and has proven to be a pivotal beacon throughout most of history. It played a key role in Christianity before it fell to the Ottomans and became an Islamic stronghold.
As such, the history of Constantinople is really a history of the world, as well as a symbol of the West’s relationship with the East.
But back to a recount of my trip there!
It was unfortunate that we had arrived in the city in March. The weather was still quite cool and after a good thirty minutes, I felt quite frozen to my spot on the upper deck and quickly sought shelter from the fierce wind.
After our trip on the high seas, our ship pulled into port near the Dolmabahce Palace. In Chinese, the palace is often called the “New Palace” as it was built in and around the mid 1800s and was in use for approximately 70 years until the 1920s when Turkiye became independent.
The style of the Dolmabahce Palace, although commissioned by an Ottoman Sultan, was very European in design. However, this was soon explained by the fact that the architect for the palace had studied in France and had helped build similar types of buildings all across Europe.
Still, the decorations inside the palace was a lot different to the ones I’d seen before in France and Austria. A shame, really, that photos were not allowed as I could show you rather than be forced to describe what I saw. Even though there were a few other tourists that took quite a few ‘subtle’ photographs of the rooms and the grand ceremonial hall.
Most notable, at least to me, were the paintings that lined the walls. Most of them depicted famous battles the Turks partook in. Another interesting piece of interior design that caught my eye was the crystal staircase, with the crystal primarily being the supporting columns of the banister.
Down in the old storage cellars, too, the palace sported numerous displays full of utensils compromised of Bohemian and Baccarat crystals. They also had Mosser glass, which the internet tells me can cost thousands of dollars because of their high-quality construction. Another location in the heart of the palace had displays for medals, weapons and Hokka sets.
But it should be noted that the palace also had similar trappings as its European counterparts such as the gilded halls, lavish drapings, huge mirrors, as well as beautiful chandeliers. Which will serve as useful material for my future writings although I lack photos for reference.
After touring the Dolmabahce Palace, we had a quick lunch in a spot that was, no doubt, frequented for its water views and which served as a popular fishing spot.
With our stomachs full of grilled fish, we headed to the Grand Bazaar, established all the way back in 1481 according to the plaque out front. There, we roamed the shops and I exchanged some Australian and American dollars into Turkish lira. And though there was a leather jacket I dearly wanted to purchase, my funds, unfortunately, did not have enough stretch to allow me to buy it out right. Nor did I want to risk using my debit card for fear that the details would be stolen and used for nefarious purposes.
Good riddance, I say! I didn’t want it anyways…
Maybe…
Gosh, I do wish I had bought that reversible leather jacket!
Once I had established how useless I was at haggling, we headed to the Blue Mosque, which sat opposite the Hagia Sophia. Due to ill luck, visiting on a Friday of all days, the Blue Mosque was closed by the time we arrived. It was also undergoing renovations. This fact angered one member of the tour group who was quite rude and aggressive to our tour guide for fear that we would miss out on all the key locations on the itinerary.
What he didn’t know, of course, was that the itinerary had already been rejigged when we had paid a visit to the Dolmabahce Palace earlier and we would have plenty of time upon our return to Istanbul to take a gander around a mosque if we so wished (which did happen, although it wasn’t the Blue Mosque!).
Undaunted by the trantrum thrown, the tour guide continued to tell us about the Roman Hippodrome that had been constructed in the heart of Istanbul and why the only signs of its presence was the obelisk that had been taken from Karnak Temple. Of course, we had already seen its twin when we visited Karnak Temple several days ago when we had given Egypt a whirl. Score one for a well-planned trip!
We then headed to the Hagia Sophia, which was initially built as a Church following the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. The Hagia Sophia was later converted into a mosque when the Turks took the city. When Turkiye became independent, it served temporarily as a museum before being converted back into a mosque.
And to think that such a sight had been built in a mere 5 years!
True, a lot of the material, such as the Grecian columns used to support the roof, had been recycled from older buildings like a Temple to Artemis in the Ephesus region, but it still looked and felt like a marvel of engineering and vision.
The day ended with dinner at a doner kebab place before we headed back to our hotel for another long day ahead. Although, this time, we would mostly be on the road.
Our last day at Aswan had us waking at a more reasonable hour than the day before. It was a good thing too as I’d embarrassed myself the night before when I was called up to dance when our cruise ship hosted a Nubian performance. And if you’re asking for proof, you won’t get it. I know not to reveal my true face on the internet!
Popo, by now, was terribly tired. I, on the other hand, was still full of vim and vigour. So, while she stayed aboard the Jaz Celebrity, I disembarked with a few other members of the tour group.
Our first stop was the High Dam. It should be noted that the High Dam was the second attempt to utilise the mighty Nile waters to bring benefits to the Egyptian people. Constructed in the years between 1960-1970, it saw Lake Nasser flood, threatening 40 temples in the area, including Abu Simbel. With the help of UNESCO, the Egyptian government was able to save the most important temples although some were taken overseas to other European countries. Only a few remained in Egypt including our next destination: Philae Temple.
The flooding of Lake Nasser also saw the relocation of the Nubians to their current location further north of the Nile and near Aswan, changing their lifestyles from living off the land through farming to becoming fishermen and relying on tourism for their livelihood. Which, as per my previous post, meant entertaining strangers in t heir houses and sharing the space with pet crocodiles!
Of course, constructing the dam also had its benefits. The first dam built atop the Nile in Aswan had been at the behest of the English and the French. When Egypt threw off the yoke of their previous ‘benefactors’ in the Suez Crisis, they sought the assistance of the World Bank and the USSR to help build a new power plant near the High Dam. This enabled Egypt to transform its economy and provide it with independence from other countries.
Our second stop for the morning was a visit to Philae Temple, which was dedicated to the Goddess Isis. It also featured the most recent use of hieroglyphs with dating devices putting in the tiny wall scribble at about 350AD. It might not have been a very good engraving but it still showed that the language of the Ancient Egyptians was still being used when the country was under Roman Rule.
Philae Temple, it should be noted, seems to have mostly been constructed during the Greek occupation of the country. The Grecian-style to the columns was very distinctive to my well-trained eye, although not all had been completed. Another indication that it was built during the Greek era of Egypt’s history was the presence of a ‘birthing’ house, which was meant to illustrate how the Ancient Greek leaders were transformed into Egyptians in order to make their rule of the country more palatable to the common folk.
And although I wasn’t able to take a long look at it, I did note that on the map layout of the Temple, there was even a small dedication to the very first Roman emperor, and the focus of one of my Ancient History projects: Augustus.
Once we had finished touring the temple in the allotted time we were given, it was back on the motor boat and the coach as we headed back to the cruise ship to collect our luggage and head to El Dokku, a Nubian restaurant, for lunch. The novelty here was that the restaurant was on a small island that was only reachable by boat!
After lunch, we headed to the airport with only moments to spare in order to check in and board. Upon landing once more in Cairo, we visited the Khan El-Khalili bazaar where, instead of wandering the stalls and being the target of wily thieves, I simply sat at a local cafe and enjoyed a mango smoothie. Later, people would claim that the mango smoothie was the source of the diarrhoea that struck down quite a few of the tour group but let it be known that I was unaffected.
Then it was back on the coach for a very late dinner at a restaurant near the pyramids. By the time we reached our hotel, St Regis Almasa, it was 11PM.
But it was better this than another hurried visit to the Papyrus and Essential Oils store – something that held zero appeal to me and felt like an attempt to shove in some sponsored shopping (something I very much detested in my cheap Chinese Europe trip back in 2009 with my mother).
And so ended our stay in Egypt. We might not have ticked off everything on our travel itinerary but we got to see most of it.
We docked as Aswan during an known moment in the middle of the night. I certainly was not awake for it, although the water in our room temporarily halted and I had to find an alternate method to wash my hands. Thankfully in Egypt, bottled water is aplenty and the only real way to stay hydrated. Anything straight from the tap would be detrimental to both guts and stomach.
Heading back to sleep, I was rudely awoken by an early morning wake-up call and rolled out of bed around 3:15AM in the morning as we needed to drive down to Abu Simbel Temple. Of course, by then, the toilet to the room I shared with Popo were constantly flushing and I was required to find a fix to the problem. I managed it. Somehow. But I can’t say how or why what I did helped. All I know is that it was fixed and we were ready to head down to Abu Simbel.
From Aswan, Abu Simbel was almost a four hour drive, made more complicated by the fact that the roads were filled with other large coaches, all needing to pass through a police check point.
It was almost 9AM by the time we pulled up at the temple and listened once more to the exploits of King Ramesses II, from how he defeated the Hittites, even though he was vastly outnumbered, to his vainglorious display of his love for his wife. After all, the small temple at Abu Simbel had been built in her honour.
What we didn’t get to learn, although I did hastily duck inside the visitor centre to read it just as we were leaving, was that the Abu Simbel we saw was not the original Temple in its original location. After the Nile was dammed and a lake formed in the 1960s (more information will be revealed in a future post), the original Abu Simbel was at threat of being flooded. Egyptian authorities requested the assistance of UNESCO to help move the ancient site out of harm’s way.
And thus, Abu Simbel was able to remain standing and frequented by tourists.
After drinking my fill of both the large Temple that was Ramesses II’s attempt to say that he was as strong as the midday sun (his statue was placed in the centre between the morning Ra and the afternoon Ra), as well as the Small Temple (although the line was so incredibly long), I started to make my way to the meeting point that our guide had indicated. That was until my hat flew off!
Sill me attempted to stop my hat but had forgotten that I was still holding a hefty water bottle in my left hand. As such, I managed to bludgeon myself with a mighty blow. There was no blood but it still hurt like the Dickens. And, of course, the blow sent me into a panicked anxiety-fuelled spiral. There I was, in the middle of Abu Simbel, wondering if I had suffered extensive brain damage, concussion or possible memory loss.
Let it be known, dear readers, that sometimes it doesn’t pay to read too many articles about sport-related head injuries and their consequences. While a little bump to the noggin can lead to long-term health complications if you’re unlucky, not every light tap will. And even if it did, well, there sin’t much I can do about it now, is there? The deed is done. Just learn to be careful for next time? Or live in a protective bubble!
Regardless, despite my best attempts to stay awake on the drive back to Aswan (for fear of concussion), the comforting rocking of the coach and the early start to the day had me falling asleep in mere minutes.
Once we arrived back at the Jaz Celebrity cruise ship, I had a quick lunch and barely any rest before boarding a sail boat to enjoy a lazy afternoon on the waters of the Nile river.
We then boarded ANOTHER vessel whilst on the water and headed to a distant Nubian village. And what a sight it was! The settlement was a myriad of different colours and the locals rode around on camels and motor vehicles alike. They also kept crocodiles in their own houses.
It should also be noted that the Nubians also have their own spoken language. After learning my numbers and the Arabic alphabet (which I promptly forgot soon afterwards), we also learned how to say them in basic Nubian (which I also forgot). Afterwards, we enjoyed some tea and snacks at a local Nubian house, which was just as colourful as the other buildings we had seen. But instead of traditional floorboards or carpet, the Nubians liked to coat their floor with sand.
As some of the tour members rested, including my grandmother, I and a few of the others left to wander the streets. I even bought a simple dress for my mother at a local stall before we returned to our cruise ship by motor boat.
Later, my grandmother was able to celebrate her birthday according to the lunar calendar and we all enjoyed some cake!
And so ended our third last day in Egypt. It was hard to believe that our time in this land of ancient mysteries was finally coming to an end.
The night passed without much incident as the boat powered upstream (and further south) towards Edfu. A shame really, as I had been busy practicing my faux French Belgium accent to impress upon the others in my tour group of my deductive ability as a modern day Asian woman version of Poirot.
“Zere ‘as been a murderrr!!”
Alas, it was not to be.
In fact, the only ‘death’ to truly be considered on the cruise was the dearth of free wifi, leaving many of the older guests with nothing to do. Thankfully, I am easily entertained if presented with a book. And I had also packed my Nintendo Switch OLED with me, jam-packed with hundreds of tracks from the Final Fantasy franchise – for which, Ansem did not share in my entusiasm and fell a few pegs down in the rankings of a potential future beau – which meant I had all the things I needed to keep my interest from flagging. That and my trust journal (from which this blog post derives from. Go me!)
I suppose I should also give a review of the Jaz Celebrity, the ship that we were on, but I doubt you, dear readers care too much for a floating hotel. Yes, it featured a pool on the upper decks and a bar on the second floor but given the proclivities of a large group of mostly elderly Chinese woman, including Popo, their primary interests were mostly napping, trying to get a decent signal to post things on WeChat and heading to the dining hall for the required three meals per day.
The only people that I witnessed frequenting the sun deck and the bar were the cruise ship’s other guests. Namely, the guests that had come from France and Spain. Never in my entire life have I heard so much ‘merci’ and ‘d’accord’ in my life on a daily basis.
Anyways, back to old decrepit ruins!
Our first destination for the day, after arriving at Edfu, was a visit to the Temple of Horus. Despite its distance from the Nile, it too had been buried by desert sand until it was later excavated in the late 1800s. It was so buried, in fact, that passing travellers that had set up camp had stained the very top of the Crecian columms (done in either Ionic or Corinthian style according to my untrained eye) black.
Ahmed, our erstwhile local guide pointed all this out for us before explaining a little bit of Ancient Egyptian mythology. But, I must admit that I was tickled pick by the story he chose to tell. For it was the love story of Osiris and Isis. As well as the very jealous and covetous Set (or Seth based on alternate spelling). And time, though, I was used as a prop to the narrative our guide was telling the other guests. In fact, I played Seth’s wife, Nephthys!
In any case, the story Ahmed told was how Set was jealous of his brother, Osiris, and had a sarcophagus built in just the right size to fit his brother. He asked the other Gods to try to fit inside during a party, with Osiris being the only one that could fit snugly inside. When Osiris was ensconced inside, Set shut the lid and tossed his brother into the Nile. He later then recounted the subsequent butchering of Osiris into 14 different parts (representing the 14 regions of Egypt at the time).
He had to tell this story, of course, to explain the birth of Horus, the son of Osiris, and the very reason for the temple we stood in.
Crammed full of tourists from all over the world, we were able to squeeze our way to a few key areas, snap a few photographs and learn a little more about one of the oldest civilisations known to man. Such as the fact that they had wi-fi! Okay, the last was a joke. The Ancient Egyptians did NOT have wi-fi but one of their hieroglyphs (supposedly to denote racks of meat) looked very much like the current symbol we use to express the internet.
By 9:30AM, we were back on the cruise ship and headed to Kom Ombo. To while away the hours, I lounged around the ship, read a few pages of my book: The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (mostly to appear smart and learned) and played a few select songs from the Final Fantasy franchise.
After a hefty lunch and some afternoon tea on the sun desk, our ship finally pulled into Kom Ombo and most of the tour group disembarked to take a gander inside.
Unlike most other temple Kom Ombo was dedicated to two gods. Horus and Sobek. The story here was that Horus and Sobek were meant to represent the body and the mind. Sobek, our great crocodile-headed God was displeased by the offerings that were provided to him. As such, he and Horus had a disagreement which resulted in Ra flying off alone. Left alone, Sobek began demanding more and more from the local populace until they realised that in searching for gold and jewels to appease the gold, they had not planted the next harvest and would starve to death. Desperate, they prayed to Sobek for aid, but being a representation of mental fortitude, Sobek was unable to bequeath the people the physical strength needed to labour underneath the harsh sun.
Seeing no recourse, Sobek was then forced to beg Horus for assistance. When Horus returned, granting the people the strength they needed to farm the land and survive the winter, Sobek was grateful and agreed to share the Temple again with his fellow god.
The moral, therefore, at the end, was that a healthy balance was required between body and mind. It also encourages people to listen to both sides of a story before passing judgement. And it was also something a lesson in moderation. For too much indulgence can lead to sloth, but too much labour with too little rest can also prove detrimental to one’s body.
That aside, Kom Ombo is also famous for its depictions of surgical tools. There was even a specific hieroglyph of the ‘correct’ form for birthing a child!
Such discoveries have helped inform our understanding of this ancient world and how it functioned. For the Ancient Egyptians were not so different to who we are now, except maybe they were far smarter than we ever thought possible. Indeed, a lot of what I’ve learned and seen with my own two eyes will prove invaluable in constructing the fantastical worlds I want to create in a so-called fantasy setting.
I do, after all, have a story planned in my head with the central setting a city in the desert. Now, I have the first-hand experience to help me build it!
So, stay tuned, dear readers, one and all for further observations from good ol’ Kyndaris of Ancient Egypt and beyond.
Oh, and there was also a crocodile museum! With mummified remains! How crazy is that? Clearly dissection was not something that only came about in the 17th-18th century and anatomy was clearly something people in the ancient past were already exploring.
One of the greatest ancient cities on the Upper Nile was Thebes. But look at any modern map and you’ll never find it. Why? Because the city took on a different name following the Muslim conquest of Egypt: Luxor. So named, possibly because of the palatial residences and the riches the Arabs found when they arrived. After all, the name Luxor derives from the romanicsed Arabic qasr meaning ‘castle’ or ‘palace.’
From Hurghada, Luxor was approximately four hours drive along the highways. The gong was slow and there wasn’t much to see outside the window except desert, the occasional wild tussock of grass and other passing vehicles.
Was it any wonder I’d fall asleep on the way there? By the time I groggily blinked awake, we were passing by fields of green on the left and an actual cityscape on the right. True, it was no Western-style city but the local population had suddenly exploded. I watched from my window as people went about their daily lives, heading to market or riding around on carts as they carried sugar cane.
Unfortunately, to reach our cruise ship to paddle up the Nile, we had to go down a very narrow rural road that was sprinkled liberally with checkpoints. There might not have been traffic lights in this part of Egypt but there was certainly a large number of armed police wielding the classic assault rifle from every video game ever: the AK-47, as a show of intimidation. That or they sported submachine guns on their persons. They even had small watch-towers, accessed only by rickety wooden ladders!
Once we had checked into our floating hotel, and after a quick lunch at the buffet, we piled back on the coach to witness the sights and sounds of Karnak Temple. Suffice it to say, the towering pillars and obelisks were breathtaking to behold. Everywhere I turned, hieroglyphs lined the walls, still retaining the colour they had from several millenniums ago.
Primarily dedicated to Amun-Re, in the information centre before we properly entered the historical site, there was even a copy of the ship that Ra would ride on every night as he descended into the Underworld to fight his way back up to the surface.
It boggles my mind that such treasures had been hidden beneath the desert sand until a century or two ago. So much history and culture lost and rediscovered.
With Popo in tow, however, there was a lot she wasn’t able to see and enjoy. It should be known that Popo was almost 85 (at the time of posting, she is already that ripe old age) and had an old injury from her childhood that meant she has limped for most of her life. Contracting COVID-19 last year in September only made her mobility issues worse, giving her chronic pain in her legs.
Tethered to Popo made exploring the ruins of Karnark that much harder, although not quite impossible. As she wasn’t able to walk much, I usually found a shaded seated area for her to rest at before taking off to snap all the photographs that I needed of ancient kings and their tributes to the gods, along with indecipherable hieroglyphs that held little meaning to me.
By the time we finished at Karnak, the hour was quite late. Still intent on getting the full experience of the East Bank of the Nile, we stopped at the Temple of Luxor to admire the many statues of King Ramesses II. There was even a carved depictions that showed off his many sons and what they had bequeathed their father when he had held court.
Deep inside Luxor Temple we also saw carvings from the Greek era of pharaohs. The most important distinction, as pointed out by our tour guide, were the slight curves of the thighs and ankles, as well as the rounded stomach. The Greeks, it seems, desperately wanted to emulate the Egyptians during their occupation of their area and had not been intent on destroying their culture in a bid to co-exist. A valiant effort considering how modern civilisations have steam-rolled over indigenous populations since the 15th century.
After we had rushed around Luxor Temple, our first day at Luxor ended.
The second day at Luxor had us rising early to hurriedly scoff down breakfast as we raced to the West Bank of the Nile before our ship would start cruising upstream. This, of course, was where the Valley of the Kings lay. After getting a quick rundown of some of the famous individuals that were discovered within, and shown copies of photographs taken during Howard Carter’s expedition when Tutankhamen was unearthed, I dove down deep into KV 8: Merenptah’s tomb before shambling over to KV6: Rameses IX.
Finally, I joined the the huge line to take a peek at KV2 to see what Ramesses IV had in store. Surprisingly enough, written on the entrance to the tomb were words in Greek followed by a symbol of early Christianity: the fish. But what truly impressed me was the fact that down in the depths of Rameses IV tomb was that many of the hieroglyphs still retained a lot of their original colour, be that red, blue and gold.
But the main reason for why the line was so long was due to the large number of people all eager to snap selfies or group photos with particular arresting reliefs, thereby holding up the line as I tried to squeeze past. Rest assured, it was quite annoying as I only wanted to quickly duck in and duck right back out with as little fuss as possible.
And while there were other tombs that were open to the public at the Valley of the Kings, a few also required additional payment to visit. Of particular note was that of Tutankhamen’s tomb. One I didn’t venture down into as most of his treasures had been removed and were on display in numerous museums around the world.
Before we returned to our cruise ship, the Jaz Celebrity, we also stopped at Deir al-Bahari where colossal statues of Queen Hatsheput, in the form of Osiris, stood guard.
As one of the only places that still retained her name, historians were able to identify objects and carvings from her time period before her son, Thutmoses III has been able to scrape them off. So, despite his best efforts to erase the woman pharaoh, the name Hatsheput has remained until this modern age.
Ah, sweet irony.
In any case, we arrived at Deir al-Bahari when the sun was at its zenith. And though I was there in early March, the temperature was still unbearably hot. After climbing to the very top, I was sweating like a pig and desperate to return to the air-conditioned bliss of the tour bus. That or enjoy some nice delicious ice-cream.
Alas, since Popo had returned to the coach before I was able to ask for a few dollars to pay for an ice-cream, I didn’t have the necessary funds to buy myself a cold snack. Instead, I returned to the bus with plenty of time to spare to board the boat and begin our cruise up to Edfu and Aswan beyond.
Oh, and before I forget, we also visited the open air statues of Memnon right before heading to the Valley of the Kings and were pestered to buy merchandise from the hawkers that lined the street. Popo bought two bags and a pouch while I sat there impatiently hoping to learn additional history and/ or mythology of a bygone age. After all, I didn’t come to Egypt just to shop around.
The only real additional kernals of fact I managed to glean as we drove to the Valley of the Kings was that the Ancient Egyptians were one of the first civilisations to realise that the year was 365 days. They split the year into 12 months. Each month was three weeks and each week was ten days. The missing 5 days on the calendar were explained as Amun and Amunet meeting each other in secret.
And because they were such stargazers, astrology too, can be attributed to the Ancient Egyptians.
And another thing to note, I did spot a set of traffic lights in and around Luxor Temple. It was probably set up there due to the sheer number of people crossing the road needing safe passage from the rampant number of cars and tour buses that frequented the area.
So, maybe Egypt isn’t as chaotic as I first thought it was!
When most Australians think of surf, sand and sun, they think of their local beach. Press them a little on famous ones that they can lounge on or which tourists frequent and they might say Bondi Beach or the Gold Ask. Ask them for something a little more exotic and they’ll probably name a resort in Bali or Fiji.
Ask Europeans for an exotic beach locale and you might get something like Hurghada. After all, it’s not too far from the European mainland and has some killer snorkelling opportunities to get up close and personal with adorable little fishes!
Our tour group had chosen to stay at the Stella Makadi Resort. More exactly: the Stella Gardens Resort and Spa Makadi Bay. From the outside, it looked almost like a massive compound. On the inside, it was a nice relaxing stroll down to the beachside with a few shops dedicated to selling trinkets and souvenirs that screamed: EGYPT!
Our first day at the resort was one of rest. We had no activities planned, which seemed apt when travelling with a large group of geriartrics.
Okay, I kid. They were mostly in their 50s and 60s. Which, I mean, still isn’t young by any means but considering I was the youngest of the entire group sitting at the round number of 30 says a lot. Heck, even 30 is old when you talk to teenagers.
So, what does one do when there isn’t much of a rush to head anywhere and everywhere? You go to the local beach, of course. As, as part of a package with the resort, there was a shuttle could take the adventurous down to the shoreline instead of having to hoof it down, plebeian style.
I don’t believe much explanation is required when photos will suffice in terms of the atmosphere of the Stella Makadi. It was pretty much your typical resort stolen from every tropical resort ever. Which isn’t to say it was bad, but I hadn’t brought swimmers. I had been more intent on learning the history of fishing rather than focusing on my tan lines.
As a random aside, most of the elderly Europeans (of which there was a lot down in Hurghada) seemed to love the idea of burning their skin until it was lobster red. They might not have peeled yet but is it any wonder their skin was so saggy and wrinkly when compared to Asians?
In any case, my first day of Hurghada mostly revolved around getting to know a few select members of the tour group a bit better than I had before by playing cards with them on the beach and pondering what our buffet meals had on offer.
The second day at Hurghada was, thankfully, one of adventure albeit ones where you had to pay a little bit extra on top of the $7000 that had to be shelled out at the start for the trip.
Our first stop was Sindbad Submarine. And no, that’s not a typo. It was literally called Sindbad rather than Sinbad.
In any case, the Red Sea, it should be noted, shares a few similarities with the Great Barrier Reef. In that it has a reef where plenty of fish call home. And to truly appreciate the aquatic life in and around the area, one must go beneath the waves. Hence, many of our tour group packing into a floating tin can that could sink down about 25 metres below the surface, all so that we could marvel at coral, the diver that came with us, and the fish the diver had managed to lure towards our window with the promise of food.
I even spotted a Red Sea clownfish poking out through its home anemone, as well as an Indian lionfish lying low but wasn’t able to snap a shot fast enough on my phone. Alas!
After our submarine adventure, we boated back to shore and were presented with a certification of completion. Our local tour guide, Ahmed, even saw fit to write our names in Arabic on the slip of paper.
With our morning activities over, it was back to the resort for lunch before we enjoyed a Jeep Safari through the Sahara Desert. But although I say Jeep, I really mean Toyota Land Cruisers.
Since most of those in our tour group were an elderly bunch, the dirvers took it slow on the small hills and crests in the desert. Throughout the drive, we stopped at multiple areas, snapping shots of a distant mirage, a lonely Acacia tree (that was not the Tree of Tenere), and a towering dune of sand.
We even stopped at a nomadic village. In Chinese, it sounded like Bolu but a search on Google tells me that it might be the beduins. In any case, we got to taste their special type of naan, cooked over a flat stone with camel dung used to fuel the fire, ride a few camels and enjoy a cup of red tea that was a little too bitter for my tastes.
By the time we left their village, the sun was setting. Though I would have preferred to have returned to the resort by then, we still had one last stop. A performance, actually, that involved belly dancing and some clever dervish twirls. Along with some food and refreshments.
And even though I was asked to participate in some additional dancing, like the I coward I am I refused. Me? Belly dancing? In front of strangers? Never.
Besides, I’m not very curvaceous – at least in the sexy sense – and the thought of being the only poor dancer on stage was a huge disincentive to get up and ‘shake my booty.’
So, while this wasn’t the most stereotypical beach episode in every anime ever, there was plenty of sun, surf and sand to enjoy. Certainly, for any enterprising influence, Hurghada would have been a great relaxation spot with excellent water views and opportunities to get down and dirty with beach volleyball and Zumba on the sand.
As for budding Egyptologists, well, a little leisure can go a long way. Hurghada might not be rich in history, but it is rich in demonstrating the interconnection between cultures and giving some much needed zing if all one does is trek from one dusty old temple to the next.
After snatching a few hours of rest the night before, our first day in Cairo started early. Making sure all our luggage was in order, Popo and I came down to breakfast prepared for a long day ahead. Thankfully, with my planning skills in full display, we were able to enjoy a lengthier breakfast without having to cut it short to rush back to our rooms to collect our luggage – which had been located down a very long corridor was basically at the very tipping end of the building.
Once the rest of our tour group was ready we go, we headed onto the coach for a day out exploring and appreciating Egyptian antiquities. Along the way, I got to observe how the people in Egypt drove (which was basically a free-for-all with lines marked out on the road serving mostly as guidelines and liberal uses of the horn to serve as warning to other drivers).
It was essentially like being back in Asia and witnessing cars squeeze in wherever there was a free space, along with bikes. In all honesty, I could not help but be reminded of my times in China. Although, at least with China, there still seemed to be traffic lights. In that first fraught day in Cairo, there appeared to be none.
I also took the opportunity to take in the city itself, observing the buildings and seeing how Egyptians lived. While it couldn’t be described as terribly run-down, when compared to the west, it seemed a bit more chaotic with unfinished buildings that had yet to install windows or doors, or even a roof! This was later explained by our tour guide by people that had built their homes on illegal land to avoid fines from the government.
Then, of course, there were the people that wandered the highways, looking to get picked up by friends or strangers!
But back to the agenda of the day, our first destination was the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. There, we inspected artefacts that dated back all the way to the Old Kingdom. Statues, as well, abounded in the halls of the museum. But of importance was that the entrance of the Museum had two depictions of the Goddess Isis standing guard, flanking Hathor (at least according to our guide).
Inside, there were plenty of depictions of King Ramesses II, although there were also statues of Hatsheput and even of Akhenaten himself! Of note, and as pointed out by our tour guide, Ahmed, was the Narmer Palette, which contains some of the earliest hieroglyphics inscriptions ever found and shows the unification of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of the Nile.
There was also a huge block of text that had inscriptions detailing tax reforms that included Greek as well! I think it was part of the Rosetta Stone or had come from the same source as the rock that sat centre-stage at the British Museum.
Regardless, the Egyptian Museum of Cairo also contained busts of Graeco-Roman individuals due to their presence in Egypt in the latter half of BCE. After all, who can forget the great love story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony: an Egyptian Queen and her Roman lover.
In any case, any trip trip to Egypt – and to Cairo – would be remiss if such a stop was overlooked. Visiting the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is a must. Especially as it details a lot of the history of the country and has some excellent displays such as the one that detailed what ancient Egyptians got up to in their spare time including sports and games. As an Australian, what amused me was the fact that the creation of this wing had the help of the Australian Consulate. And there were even boomerangs on display to show similar hunting tactics!
More importantly, though, the Egyptian Museum also featured the sarcophagi as well as the mummified remains of Yuya and his wife, Thuya. These two are the grandparents of Akhenaten and were located in KV46.
Animals, too, had been mummified in the past. As we walked through the gallery, I noted the remains of a crocodile, dog, monkey and a sacred fish!
If these aren’t enough to impress, the museum also featured a display dedicated to King Tutankhamen and that of a pharaoh whose tomb was discovered during the height of the Second World War (and is thus not greatly remarked upon by most individuals), Psusennes I.
Now, he was a pharaoh with a most impressive collection that was also mostly untouched upon discovery. Better yet, his sarcophagus was lined with silver, not gold. And during this period in Ancient Egyptian history, silver was considered much more valuable than gold.
After touring the museum, and picking up a commemorative fridge magnet, we lunched at a restaurant not far from the pyramids (and which was praised for the fact that it had pigeon on the menu). Afterwards, we headed straight for the looming tombs of Khufu, Khafre and Kenkaure – with the Great Pyramid of Khufu being considered the oldest and last surviving Ancient Wonder of the World.
Strangely enough, after we went to the pyramids and completed the customary photographs outside the old tombs, as well as taking the traditional selfie with the Sphinx nearby, it was later discovered the next day that there might be another secret passage close to the entrance of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Clearly, it was my presence at the pyramids that day that was the key for the researchers to uncover more hidden secrets. Will this lead to me becoming the next Jack West Jr.? Will I become embroiled in a quest to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse?
Or will I be co-opted into the Order of Hidden Ones and become a full fledged assassin, leaping off buildings and parkouring around the modern cityscape?
So many options, so little time!
Regardless, after we had drunk our fill of the Pyramids of Giza and the Khufu Sphinx, as well as enjoy a camel ride across the great desert, we headed to dinner at a different Chinese restaurant to the one we went to the night before. Afterwards, we headed directly to the airport for a domestic flight.
Our destination?
The beach-side holiday resort city right next to the Red Sea: Hurghada.
Following on from my last trip overseas to Taiwan, it took another three years for me to finally venture past my country’s borders as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. True, the disease is still out there and still has the potential to cause catastrophic harm but people no longer consider it with the same amount of fear as they did before. Regardless, my first destination after so long was to head to Egypt – a land steeped in history and mythology. For a connoisseur of the mystic arts, such as myself, and after taking Ancient History in high school, going to Egypt was like a dream come true! For the first, and possibly only time, I would be walking past the pyramids, come face to face with statues of the gods and the pharaohs of old!
Suffice it to say, such a would would be exciting, if not exhilarating for one such as I.
The start of the trip was not the most auspicious of days. It was a Tuesday and I had to climb out of bed at 3AM in the morning to make the 6AM flight. Not very fun, I assure you. Despite that, we managed to check-in with time to spare, although we were not able to upgrade to business class like my mother wanted.
In my opinion, it was for the best. Who wants to fork out an extra $3000 for a few minor luxuries?
Ah, that’s right. I ought to explain the plural ‘we’ that I’ve used in the last few paragraphs. On this first trip overseas since COVID, I was travelling my Grandma. Meet Popo! And we were going with a tour group. This was no solo wing-it trip. Oh no! Our tour group was about about thirty people strong and we had exchanged pleasantries as we checked in, although I didn’t know anybody.
Fun fact, I was the youngest person on the trip by about 12 years! Whereas Popo was the oldest, sitting comfortably at the ripe old age of 85!
Now, when it comes to travelling with Emirates, there are no direct flights to Cairo from Sydney. Rather, we had to transit through. Which, in and itself, was a 14 hour flight. Coupled with an additional 4 hours as well as the transit time, that was approximately 20-ish hours!
Some might consider that an overly long time. And it was plenty long to be sitting in an uncomfortable airplane chair, waiting for the forming nitrogen bubbles in my joints to enter my brain and kill me, but it also gave me time to peruse what entertainment Emirates had on offer!
On my bucket list of things to watch, I knocked out the Harry Potter 20th Year Anniversay – Robbie Coltrane, may you rest in peace – and watched the Julia Roberts and George Clooney comedy film: Ticket to Paradise.
Now, it should be known that the main reason why I would watch such a film was not to keep up to date with old Hollywood heartthrobs. The main reason why I would watch a vapid film about a girl marrying a guy she’d met about 30 days ago was really because I wanted to see Kaitlyn Dever’s performance in it. And let’s just say she nailed the part of playing the daughter to two famous movie stairs.
The film also starred Billie Lourd, reprising the role she kinda had in Booksmart. Honestly, when seeing her work on American Horror Story and comparing it to the party girl typecast that she seems to be thrust in when it comes to major blockbuster titles or Hollywood films, it seems such a waste to me.
And because I still had almost 10 more hours to go on the flight, I decided to binge watch the entirety of Season 2 of Why Women Kill, starring of course, my favourite Evil Queen: Lana Parrilla from Once Upon a Time.
By the time the flight landed in Dubai International Airport, I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how the season of Why Women Kill would end. Of course, by then, we had to disembark and go through another security check. An ordeal that took quite a while although none of the security cared if we had more than 100ml of water with us when it came to connecting flights.
Unfortunately for me, my grandmother was eligible for wheelchair and priority access. Getting on the cart that arrived, she was whisked away by airport staff to an unknown location and I was left to walk to the gate as there simply wasn’t enough seats on the golf cart for additional passengers.
But despite me taking the long way to the gate, by the time I arrived, there was no sign of Popo. Even talking to the staff manning the gate, he was unable to tell me where my grandmother was! And they were already making the final boarding call for the connecting flight to Cairo!
What in the world could I do?
Ought I stay behind in Dubai as the rest of our tour group boarded? Could I try calling my grandmother instead?
Long story short, the cart pulled up with a few moments to spare, although I very nearly had to suffer through a panic attack. Popo and I boarded the connecting flight and I managed to finish off the second season of Why Women Kill before we arrived in Cairo.
After a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant – the food was average at best – we arrived at our hotel: St Regis Almasa to rest after a trying day of flights, catastrophising and watching a once mousy understanding woman let go of her moral sensibilities all to join an elite gardening club.
In the good old days of high school, I was one of the ‘cool’ kids that sported a PlayStation portable. And although I had never played the original Final Fantasy VII, I was well versed enough in the lore to understand the implications behind Advent Children and was similarly excited to play out the story of SOLDIER 1st Class, Zack Fair. Back then, I thought the CGI cutscenes stunning, the combat fun and the story immersive. Especially when it came to the friendship between Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth. Despite that, I never did finish the origin story of the Buster Sword. Mostly because I got intimidated by reading a guide about the boss battles that I had yet to face.That or I got distracted by other games – honestly, can’t quite remember – and never returned to witness the terribly sad ending that was for our sweet dark-haired prince.
Fast forward more than a decade and Final Fantasy VII finally saw a remake on the PlayStation 4 and 5. Along with that came a remaster of Zack’s story for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 console. So, because I hadn’t played through to the conclusion of Zack’s story, I found myself forking over $70 once more to play a game that I already owned in the past. Enter Crisis Core: Reunion.
In the first few moments of the game, I was instantly swept back to my halycon days of high school. Though the graphics had improved, much of the game was still the same. In fact, I knew most of the story beats already, following Zack on his journey from SOLDIER 2nd Class and the war with Wutai to uncovering the secrets behind Shinra’s experiments with JENOVA cells along with Projects G and S. In fact, one of my friends, Bleachpanda, can attest to my annoying quotations of LOVELESS without having playing through the game. This one’s for you:
Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess.
Throughout the story, it was nice to see who and served as one of the major influences in Cloud’s life: Zack Fair. True, Cloud may have forgotten him due to his mako poisoning and the trauma associated with Sephiroth (one of his great heroes) burning down his home, leading Cloud to replace Zack in his memories, but had it not been for the way Zack selflessly sacrificed himself and passed on his legacy and dreams to the younger man, we might not have had the Cloud Strife that we know today. Zack Fair, although a forgotten hero in the original Final Fantasy VII game was a pivotal and very influential figure in the hero that would soon become its own complex compilation in a series of fantasy games from Square Enix.
In any case, it was a blast reliving conversations and meeting familiar faces ranging from Lazard, Cissnei and Angeal to young Aerith, Tseng and Reno.
But what surprised me when playing the game was how short the game actually was. In my memories, Crisis Core was an incredibly lengthy journey. Possibly because I wasn’t playing it as consistently as I am during my working years, or perhaps because I had a less optimised build for Zack.
While I did read that the PSP version was longer than the remastered version, I remembered spending quite a lot of time with the game, perfecting specific moments such as the cutting down of missiles in Banora to the squat competition at headquarters. All of which were retained.
But what did change was combat. According to online articles, it’s much faster than how it was originally. Materia abilities are keyed to the L1 and an accompanying face button. Items are easily accessible through the L2 and R2 buttons with circle being the default ‘use’ button. No longer do you have to sift through a menu! Nor do you have to endure the constant ‘Modulating phase’ popouts that only served to slow down battle though the DMW is still very much the same as before.
As is the norm when anything is reliant on RNG, my luck was atrocious. Especially when it came to levelling up materia. I had to resort to setting the game aside for a few hours as I did chores just so I could max out a few choice materia for me to use as a means to demolish the monsters in my way.
The graphics, too, also saw an upgrade in the remaster with the in-engine game models being of a much quality and fidelity than the CGI cutscenes that remained untouched. In fact, it was quite jarring to see the difference. As one of the below images that I’ve uploaded reveals, the CGI just doesn’t quite hold up. Which was a right shame. After all, who wouldn’t want to admire Sephiroth burning down Nibelhiem for the umpteenth-time in full 4K glory?
Certainly this thirsty game blogger!
These changes aside, Crisis Core Reunion also sported updated voice acting with an all new English cast. And according to the internet, they were terrible and didn’t hold true to the direction and spirit of the previous recording. After hearing a few samples on YouTube, I opted for the Japanese voice-acting instead. Which remained mostly untouched and still with the original Japanese voice actors.
Did you know that the voice actor for Zack is married to the voice actress for Aerith? Zaerith confirmed!
Even with another language serving as a barrier, I still felt for Zacks’ plight and might have shed a few tears near the end as he faced the impossible odds that were stacked against him.
Rest in peace, sweet prince. You are and always have been the hero you dreamed to be! The price of freedom is steep but you paid for it gladly!
Now here’s to wondering what new wrinkle the altered timeline of the Final Fantasy VII Remake will play into all this! As well as all the complications that Zack’s survival might bring to the story that we know.
I just can’t wait to see what Rebirth might bring even as I fear that too many changes might destroy the fragile balance of what proved to be an iconic story from the past.
On a site note, why didn’t they ever animate blood? Why did Sephiroth and Cloud only ever have random wispy black smoke emerge from their wounds? It makes no sense! Also, you know, the most cursed looking Moogle to ever exist in the Final Fantasy franchise.
The Writing Corner 