118th Ball de l'X

Last night we crashed the 118th annual Ball de l'X at the Opera Garnier. Girls in fancy dresses and high heels, waltzing, white rose-covered banisters, and young men in their school uniforms. It's the ball of the fancy Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, one of the science Grand Ecoles, founded in 1794.

Last Day

Last day in Egypt was great, though I don't have photographic evidence of the best part. With our Muslim Tour guide, we visited the biggest mosque in Cairo, and got a first-person account of the tradition behind it. It was interesting to hear more about the prayers that I'd been hearing echoing from the city as a whole 5 times a day over the course of our vacation. From there, we went to visit a great Coptic church in the city before lunch at another Koshary, yum.

But the best part of the day, for sure, was visiting the big museum in Cairo. Most amazing thing was the exhibit on King Tut, the pristine stuff they pulled out of his tomb in the beginning of the 20th century. It was incredible! I mean, it blew me away. The artifacts were so well preserved, and just so extravagantly gorgeous, from scarabs and jeweled belts to intricate necklaces and the sarcophagi themselves. The whole thing was like those Russian dolls; there was a gold casket inside a gold casket inside another, and in the inside a sarcophagus within a smaller sarcophagus, meticulously bejeweled and designed. The whole display was so over the top, I could barely believe my eyes.

Another highlight, of course, was the mummy room, housing everyone from Queen Hatsheput to Ramesses II himself, who historians have rumoured to be the Pharaoh that prevented Moses from leaving. I've only seen one mummy before, in the Vatican this Christmas, so I was entranced by this collection. They are weird looking, that's for sure, with their leathery skin and intact fingernails and crunchy hair skill on their heads.

One last night smoking shisha in the Cairo hotel, with some girl talk and reminiscing, then off to bed to catch our early morning flight back to Paris, via London Heathrow. Exhausted, broke, and dying for a real meal, yet feeling great!

Day Six

Another day in Luxor, showed around by Remonda, our sweet tour guide, in our private car operated by Sara transport :) First up were the Karnak Temples, a huge space with additions by multiple kings. The most striking thing were the gigantic columns, over 100 of them, that used to form a temple. We also saw the famous obelisks, and the empty rock where the obelisk stood that now rests in Place de Concorde in Paris. We also visited the Luxor Temple, another sweet piece of history.

In the afternoon, we went off exploring with Remonda, with whom we'd bonded over the two days. She was 23, so the three of us got along really easily. She secretly whisked us away in this odd Luxor bus thing, that's actually just a panel van with no doors that you flag down and hop into. We walked all around her neighborhood--having someone who spoke Arabic made for a very different experience than the day before. At the end, Hannah and I went to a bazaar to find some last minute souvenirs, which somehow turned into this whole big adventure with one of the shop owners to a papyrus musuem.
That night, we headed back to the hotel and watched the cruise ships on the Nile at dusk before catching an overnight train back to Cairo for one last day in Egypt.
Karnak Temples

Obelisk
Rames II
Hannah scoping out some guy's yard in Luxor, moments before all those geese attacked me. You can see them eyeing me in this picture...
The people we saw in the streets were happy to have their pictures taken, and loved seeing them afterwards.
One woman invited us in to see the interior of her house.
The kids loved posing for us.

Cruise ships on the Nile

Day Five

Day 5 we spent in Luxor. We arrived late the night before and spent the night in another lovely hotel. For Hannah and me, who are more accustomed to stinky, dorm style European youth hostels, the accommodations were such a treat, and definitely not something most college students get to experience.
We got up early to hit the sweet hotel buffet, then met our tour guide. Surprise--we had a girl this time, which was a ton of fun. She was a Coptic Christian, one of the approximately 10% minority in Egypt. It was completely different dynamic, and I really enjoyed getting a different perspective. She took us first to these two great statues, that had a really sweet, sad myth behind them. Next was the valley of the Kings, my Everest. When the Pharaohs decided the pyramids were too risky and prone to grave robbing, they selected the dry, mountainous Valley to bury 63 royals during the New Kingdom. I was obviously terrified of going tunnel/grave exploring, but I just figured I was only going to be there once. So I sucked it up and went in three tombs, which were amazing and terrifying for me at the same time. From there, we popped over to the Temple of Queen Hatsheptsut, built right into the mountainside.
We got back to the hotel pretty early, so Hannah and I decided to explore off the beaten tourist track a little. We headed into the back streets of Luxor and had a truly eye-opening experience into the daily lives of Egyptians. From produce being pulled by donkey carts, to women selling live pigeons, and old men smoking hookah in the dust to clouds of flies surrounding everything, I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it in my life.
Around sunset, we headed back to the hotel, compelled by a desperate need to shower. Then it was off to a sunset felucca ride, which turned out to be just me, Hannah, and the two young boat captains, who were a blast. We played Arabic music, drank hibiscus tea, and watched the sunset over the Nile framed by giant white sails.
It was a great relief to spend the night in the same place again that night, the only time we spent two consecutive nights in one hotel. No stinky overnight train, no midnight wakeup call, just a solid 8 hours of sleep in a comfy bed. Hannah and I played gin rummy, read some Zola for our French Lit class, and passed out. Hotel in Luxor

3D map of the Tombs in Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
Temple of Queen Hat Hatshepsut

The streets of Luxor





Sunset Felucca ride

Day Four

Day four actually started at midnight, when we got in a van to join a convoy of cars and buses all heading down south to Abu Simbel for the bi-annual sun festival. The temples are an amazing sight dedicated to Rameses II and his wife Nefertari. On February 22 and October 22, the first rays of sunrise illuminate the god of darkness deep within the temple of Rameses. To celebrate this event, we arrived at 4 AM and listened to Egyptian music and saw traditional dancers. Hannah and I were even interviewed by an Egyptian news channel. The sight of the sun rising over Lake Nasser and illuminating the temples was truly once in a lifetime.

We tried to get some sleep on the drive back, then our agent and our guide took us on a boat tour on the Nile to see the Elephantine island and the Nubian villages. It was great to see the giant sails of the feluccas against the sand dunes on the banks. From there, we were on the train up to Luxor...