| 9/22/1999 | |
| Abu Simbel, or "Hey, who turned off the lights?" | |
| As usual, we started out with breakfast, then we boarded our bus and headed to the airport for our flight to Abu Simbel. Once again, the frogs were everywhere. I know, the racial slur is a bit over the top, But by this point I was ready to turn France back into the largest province in the third Reich. They seemed to be getting worse and worse, when in actuality, they were just becoming more and more prevalent. I don't understand it, but suddenly there were zillions of French touring groups around. All pushing there way around the country. Anyway, I digress. When I signed up for the tour, I was expecting a tiny little aircraft sputtering it's way out to the temple complex. Again I was mistaken. We were on another Airbus 300 (45 rows, 6 seats per row). Once again, the pilot was, well, much like the drivers in Cairo. The take-off was STEEP (actually, I like that); the landing was harrowing, but we were there, and in one piece. We fell in line, behind the RFF's (Mike's affectionate term for the Rude French Fucks), as they had pushed their fat furry asses to the front of the plane the second it was on the ground. We were very pleased when they had to wait around to board shuttle busses, and we had our own bus (heh, eat shit amphibian!). Again, it was HOT (damn hot, ...). We walked along the pathway, with a large piling to the left. There was a sign that said "WC" pointing down the trail. About 59 feet later, there was a pile of toilets an plumbing parts; I was very confused. aS (damn caps lock) we came around the corner, you could see the top of Ramses' head. Wow, it was really up there. When we got in front of the Temple, I was in awe. Standing there (well, sitting anyway) were the four largest person statues I have ever seen. There, bigger that life (60' tall each), were the four colossi of Ramses II. In front of and beside them, dwarfed by the king, the wife and various god statues. The Greater Temple was absolutely incredible. The interior was as impressive as the exterior. The front room had four large statues on each side. The images on the wall were clear and big. It was staggering. While wandering through the temple the power went out. Most of the temple was in complete darkness. Being a former caver, of course I had my flashlight with me. This gave me the rare opportunity to see the temple much as those that discovered it. Since it was dark, no one was in the back rooms. It was totally dark and quiet. I was seeing the images one flashlight-width at a time. It was most triumphant. Eventually I made my way back outside where the wife bitched at me for wasting our free time (I had ditched the group in favor of solo exploration, again); it seems to me that it was very well spent. Anyway, after a group photo with Mike and Alicia, it was on to the lesser temple (I didn't name it). The temple was smaller, but never-the-less spectacular. It had a number of ~30' statues in it's facade, and was also very cool. On our way back to the bus, we took a detour through the mountain. Yes, through the mountain. It's fake. It was created when they moved the temples back in the 60's. After another stop in a street bazaar, we were back to the airport and off to Aswan. The flight was another foray into the harrowing, but we were on the ground and still healthy. We made it back to the hotel, where I laid low for just a minute. Three hours later, I awoke. We had planned to meet Mike and Alicia at the pool, but that was thwarted. So, instead, we wrote post cards and updated our journals. Mike and Alicia stopped by to check out our view (which was spectacular mind you). Then it was off to dinner. There we took pictures of the various couples and groups with whom we had been travelling. After dinner, it was round 16 at the bazaar. After a short trip through the non-tourist section of the bazaar, Mike and I bolted for the cafe. We were supposed to meet up with the rest of our touring group when they had finished their shopping; as sort of a "parting of the ways" party. Most of the group wimped out, or were led astray when we had to change cafes due to the first one's gender restrictions (no chicks, imagine that). Anyway, whilst Mike and I sampled what the locals smoke (instead of that tourist crap), the womenfolk continued their rampage on our wallets. Chris came back with a pile of stuff; some for us, some for others. After all of this, we still needed two more presents. We headed back to the hotel to pack up and rest before our journey back to Cairo. |
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