Hi, all.
This is the answer where living creatures in Egypt go...........They go to under water in Red Sea!!! (Just my funny theory. Don't take it serious!)
Many under water photos you will see in this album were taken from a silly disposable sealed camera. I only snorkelled but I saw colourful corals, several kinds of fishes, and other amazing sea animals. It's unbelievably abundant down there as if I open a sea animal book! I wished I could dive at that time so I could tell more.
When you get on the boat and look around the land, you'll find your hotel is actually in a developped desert area. The real treasure is in Red Sea. It's apparently a dramatic contrast between in the land and under the sea. Red sea is the top 5 diving spot in the world. Ras Mohommed National Park and Straight of Tiran are dream destinations of all divers. (however, it's pricey here) And this is the reason why we visit Sharm El Shiekh (SES), the city of the Ras Mohammed National Park which also covers under the sea area.
Let me talk a bit about geography. SES is in the south tip of Sinai Peninsula. In SES, not only can you dive and snorkel but you can go up North to visit St. Katherine's Monastery and climb Mt. Sinai. Sinai region covers huge area in east of Egypt including the world famous, Suez Canal. As I studied logistics, I wish I could visit Suez Canal where ocean shipments from Asia and Australia go to Europe and vice versa. Perhaps I might see the vessels that carry L'Oreal shipment around here ;-) In the case, you have no idea where the places are. I attach the map of Egypt here. Sorry, I know it's little too late. It should be attached since the first email, shouldn't it? But late better than never!! (hehe)
About the trip, not sure whether you still remember we missed the connecting flight before we reached SES. One of my friends wrote back saying that was a real pain in the arse (very British expression but that's also how I feel about the incident). I hardly slept that night and the flight arrived at 5AM. After tried hard to negotiate the taxi cost, we went to the hotel we booked. At 7AM, the diving club picked us up and we had breakfast on the way.
On the first day we went to Gordon Reef and Thomas Reef in the area of Straight of Tiran. At Gordon Reef there are 2 wrecked ships. The water is so clear. You can see some fish from the boat. The sky was so blue and bright. It's a bit chilled, yes but it's more than a lovely day. However, this was a tough day for me. I had seasick because I was lack of sleep. I snorkelled less than an hour. Then, I had an introductory dive which you would dive with an instructor. I had a very quick lesson to learn how to breath with regulator and sink myself. Unfortunately, I failed to equalise (adjust my ears to deeper level). So my ears hurt and I had to stop after many attempts. I saw the corals from the surface of water but I couldn't reach them. I was disappointed.
After the first day, I knew what was going to be my New Year resolution! It is to learn scuba diving. Today I know how to equalise. Even though it's not perfect yet but I haven't hurt myself so far....just little struggle. I hope I'll get better and better.
On the second day, we joined another diving club. As tomorrow morning we had to fly back to Cairo, I and Sayuri snorkelled together today. This was the day we got all the photos under water by my silly camera (no zoom, no flash). We went to Tiran again. We stopped at Jackson Reef, Woodhouse Reef and the last place that we took a break was Gordon Reef where was accidentally the same place as yesterday. This triggered me that next time I should join only one club per trip. And diving in winter is really cold. It wasn't cold under the water if you wear a proper wetsuit like we did but after we got on the boat again, it was VERY cold even for British mates so don't ask me....
Here we come to the last album of my Egypt trip.....ah..I'm so exhausted but the trip was great! This year I plan to travel in one of the most popular countries among tourists. I think some of you may be familiar with it. It's Thailand, hehe. But somehow, I just had a short trip to Singapore last month. Better talk about that later, huh? :-D
Note: where else I'd like to go & do in Egypt. 1) Do a safari desert trip/Go to oasis, 2) Scuba diving in Ras Mohammed and Straight of Tiran, 3) Visit Alexandria, 4) Observe Suez Canal. So if you fancy any of this, I'd like to be your travelmate!
Good flight. Good night.
Nam :-)
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202007/Egypt%20Trip%2020-29%20Dec07/Sharm%20El%20Sheikh%2021-22%20Dec/
Monday, 25 February 2008
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Namrin in Egypt: Luxor 26-27 Dec
This is the forth album...we nearly reach the end of the Egypt trip. I was still on the cruiser and Luxor was the next stop after Edfu (and Esna). This means Luxor located in North of those 2 cities as the current of Nile River goes from South to North. (Just repeat what I told you last time, hehe)
Let's talk about Luxor. Luxor was one of the capital cities of Egypt in ancient time. I think it was a capital city for a very long time during Pharaoh's reign. In the past it is called Thebes. Thebes owns several ancient buildings and tombs. It has so many attractions for tourists. And for the modern eyes, here is a big city which less busy but more friendly than Cairo. You may picture of Manchester VS London...or a better example is Kyoto VS Tokyo (because Kyoto also used to be a capital city). Note that I didn't meant that Cairo is as developed as Tokyo or London, just meant to compare the capital city with its brother city.
Major tourist attractions in Luxor are as follows:
In West Bank
- Valley of the Kings (we've been here)
- Valley of the Queens (we didn't go there)
- Tombs of the Nobles (we didn't go there)
- Deir al-Medina (Temple of Hatshepsut) (we've been here)
- Temple of Mernaptah (Museum) (we didn't go there)
- Colossi of Memnon (we've been here)
In East Bank
- Luxor Museum (we've been here)
- Mummification Museum (we didn't visit there)
- Luxor Temple (we've been here)
- Temples of Karnak (we've been here)
As you see, there are so many things to see so I and Sayuri spent 2 days in Luxor. The trip was very heavy on the first day because we still had been with the local guide and the Thai group so it's better to let him introduce us to several places. In the case that you prefer to have a slow pace, I think you can spend 3-4 days in Luxor without feeling bored!
When we were at the Valley of the Kings and Luxor Temple, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy was also visiting the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, I forgot his mobile phone number so we didn't meet up :-P
The thing that came through my mind when I was traveling in Luxor was about service mind. I think in general, service is not in Egyptian mind. I really wonder why (this is a tourist country) and I still can't answer myself. I believe that there would be something in their history that makes this wonderful sightseeing country is not good at service. For an example, when we were on, they called themselves a 5-star cabin cruiser, we were asked to leave the lunch table because they wanted to clean up. It was only 2PM and next meal was dinner at 7-8PM. I didn't know why they couldn't wait for a little bit. This kind of things also happened in Cairo. However, my negative feeling has been changed when we stayed in a small hostel on the last night in Luxor, the hostel team was very generous and unbelievably helpful. They even refused the tip!! I and Sayuri felt that this hostel was strange because it's too nice comparing to any other places we've experienced in this country so far. Anyway, we feel thankful and hey, some Egyptians have service mind but it's just not so easy to find.
For the last part of this album, I'd like to say modern Egyptians are very lucky that they had Pharaohs. I believe that people also appreciate those ancient Kings and Queens. Without them that means without those incredible Pyramids, treasured tombs, amazing historical temples, etc., Egyptians' lives today would be more suffering because economy wouldn't be this good without tourist business.
Most of living things are surrounded by dessert; heat, drought and sand. Have you ever wondered where all living creatures in Egypt go? I'll show you where next time. Stay tune.
Namrin
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202007/Egypt%20Trip%2020-29%20Dec07/Luxor%2026-27%20Dec/
Let's talk about Luxor. Luxor was one of the capital cities of Egypt in ancient time. I think it was a capital city for a very long time during Pharaoh's reign. In the past it is called Thebes. Thebes owns several ancient buildings and tombs. It has so many attractions for tourists. And for the modern eyes, here is a big city which less busy but more friendly than Cairo. You may picture of Manchester VS London...or a better example is Kyoto VS Tokyo (because Kyoto also used to be a capital city). Note that I didn't meant that Cairo is as developed as Tokyo or London, just meant to compare the capital city with its brother city.
Major tourist attractions in Luxor are as follows:
In West Bank
- Valley of the Kings (we've been here)
- Valley of the Queens (we didn't go there)
- Tombs of the Nobles (we didn't go there)
- Deir al-Medina (Temple of Hatshepsut) (we've been here)
- Temple of Mernaptah (Museum) (we didn't go there)
- Colossi of Memnon (we've been here)
In East Bank
- Luxor Museum (we've been here)
- Mummification Museum (we didn't visit there)
- Luxor Temple (we've been here)
- Temples of Karnak (we've been here)
As you see, there are so many things to see so I and Sayuri spent 2 days in Luxor. The trip was very heavy on the first day because we still had been with the local guide and the Thai group so it's better to let him introduce us to several places. In the case that you prefer to have a slow pace, I think you can spend 3-4 days in Luxor without feeling bored!
When we were at the Valley of the Kings and Luxor Temple, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy was also visiting the same place at the same time. Unfortunately, I forgot his mobile phone number so we didn't meet up :-P
The thing that came through my mind when I was traveling in Luxor was about service mind. I think in general, service is not in Egyptian mind. I really wonder why (this is a tourist country) and I still can't answer myself. I believe that there would be something in their history that makes this wonderful sightseeing country is not good at service. For an example, when we were on, they called themselves a 5-star cabin cruiser, we were asked to leave the lunch table because they wanted to clean up. It was only 2PM and next meal was dinner at 7-8PM. I didn't know why they couldn't wait for a little bit. This kind of things also happened in Cairo. However, my negative feeling has been changed when we stayed in a small hostel on the last night in Luxor, the hostel team was very generous and unbelievably helpful. They even refused the tip!! I and Sayuri felt that this hostel was strange because it's too nice comparing to any other places we've experienced in this country so far. Anyway, we feel thankful and hey, some Egyptians have service mind but it's just not so easy to find.
For the last part of this album, I'd like to say modern Egyptians are very lucky that they had Pharaohs. I believe that people also appreciate those ancient Kings and Queens. Without them that means without those incredible Pyramids, treasured tombs, amazing historical temples, etc., Egyptians' lives today would be more suffering because economy wouldn't be this good without tourist business.
Most of living things are surrounded by dessert; heat, drought and sand. Have you ever wondered where all living creatures in Egypt go? I'll show you where next time. Stay tune.
Namrin
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202007/Egypt%20Trip%2020-29%20Dec07/Luxor%2026-27%20Dec/
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Namrin in Egypt: Kom Ombo-Edfu-(Esna) 25 Dec
I've been busy with work for a while. This is the 3rd of 5. And we were at the middle of the trip as well.
For the persons who are interested in cruising the Nile, taking a cabin cruiser is a very good choice but quite expensive. The most popular and shortest programs are cruising for 3 days 3 nights and 3 days 4 nights. We took 3 days 3 nights by starting from Aswan, then, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, and finish at Luxor. The 3 days 4 nights is just the opposite route. It takes longer time because you cruise against the current. Aswan is south of Luxor but southern land is in higher than northern land. This means you go up North if you cruise along with the current.
Kom Ombo is the first stop today. The temple of Kom Ombo is special because it was built for 2 gods, god of crocodile or Sobek and god of falcon or Horus. Normally, one temple will feature one god. Therefore, the temple of Kom Ombo has 2 main entrances. You and me, foreigners, may not notice 2 entrances except you are good at Egyptian history. I asked the guide where Pharaoh stayed because it doesn’t make sense that Pharaoh only built just a temple on the Nile River bank which is a great location. He said behind the temple it used to have a palace but the palace was built with different type of stone. Thus, after thousand years, the palace has gone. Only the temple is still left. The temple was built to pray for gods so Egyptians used a very durable type of stone such as granite to construct this sacred place.
After an intensive explanation of Kom Ombo and Pharaoh history, time was up.
In a few hours, we arrived at Edfu. We visited the Temple of Edfu or so called Temple of Horus. Apparently it was built to offer for god of Falcon. The proof is a few giant Horus statues in the temple. This temple is bigger than Kom Ombo temple. Make sure you have more than 1.30 hr. to see the whole temple.
Actually, that's all for today. We didn't stop at the Temple of Esna. We just passed it. The interesting bit was when the ship got into the Lock. Err..it's a bit difficult to explain. The lock is built for transit the ship when the level of water is very different. I suppose Esna is the end of Aswan Dam. Imagine the water in the dam is higher than the water in (normal) Nile River. So the ship goes to the lock and the lock will block the water and adjust the level of water in the lock for the ship to cruise into the (normal) Nile River. Unfortunately, we were having dinner at the time when we got into the lock so I didn't take a picture. Anyway, it's not going to help much if I couldn't explain you well by writing, hahaha :-D
Oh, we were a bit in Egyptian costume...don't forget that it was Christmas Day... yeah we need sth special.
Next we will visit the former capital city of Egypt, Thebes or today, we call Luxor ;-)
Nam
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202007/Egypt%20Trip%2020-29%20Dec07/Kom%20Ombo-Edfu%2025%20Dec/
For the persons who are interested in cruising the Nile, taking a cabin cruiser is a very good choice but quite expensive. The most popular and shortest programs are cruising for 3 days 3 nights and 3 days 4 nights. We took 3 days 3 nights by starting from Aswan, then, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Esna, and finish at Luxor. The 3 days 4 nights is just the opposite route. It takes longer time because you cruise against the current. Aswan is south of Luxor but southern land is in higher than northern land. This means you go up North if you cruise along with the current.
Kom Ombo is the first stop today. The temple of Kom Ombo is special because it was built for 2 gods, god of crocodile or Sobek and god of falcon or Horus. Normally, one temple will feature one god. Therefore, the temple of Kom Ombo has 2 main entrances. You and me, foreigners, may not notice 2 entrances except you are good at Egyptian history. I asked the guide where Pharaoh stayed because it doesn’t make sense that Pharaoh only built just a temple on the Nile River bank which is a great location. He said behind the temple it used to have a palace but the palace was built with different type of stone. Thus, after thousand years, the palace has gone. Only the temple is still left. The temple was built to pray for gods so Egyptians used a very durable type of stone such as granite to construct this sacred place.
After an intensive explanation of Kom Ombo and Pharaoh history, time was up.
In a few hours, we arrived at Edfu. We visited the Temple of Edfu or so called Temple of Horus. Apparently it was built to offer for god of Falcon. The proof is a few giant Horus statues in the temple. This temple is bigger than Kom Ombo temple. Make sure you have more than 1.30 hr. to see the whole temple.
Actually, that's all for today. We didn't stop at the Temple of Esna. We just passed it. The interesting bit was when the ship got into the Lock. Err..it's a bit difficult to explain. The lock is built for transit the ship when the level of water is very different. I suppose Esna is the end of Aswan Dam. Imagine the water in the dam is higher than the water in (normal) Nile River. So the ship goes to the lock and the lock will block the water and adjust the level of water in the lock for the ship to cruise into the (normal) Nile River. Unfortunately, we were having dinner at the time when we got into the lock so I didn't take a picture. Anyway, it's not going to help much if I couldn't explain you well by writing, hahaha :-D
Oh, we were a bit in Egyptian costume...don't forget that it was Christmas Day... yeah we need sth special.
Next we will visit the former capital city of Egypt, Thebes or today, we call Luxor ;-)
Nam
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202007/Egypt%20Trip%2020-29%20Dec07/Kom%20Ombo-Edfu%2025%20Dec/
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