Monday, December 24, 2007

Jejak Misr 2 : Doha-Luxor. Ya habibi..here I come

Its not a fog....
foto by tokasid
BQ


It was very foggy.The sharp smell of abundant multiple types of tabocco just kicked forcing itself into your nostril. Initially it felt like you just ran into a burning house and your chest felt slightly congested After hours of smoke free environment, the Smoking Room had that effect on you. But you carry on, loking around for a seat. There were about 10 chimneys there. men and women.They were Caucasians, Rabs, Indonesians and Filipinos. Enter a Malaysian chimney.Me.
I sat at the end corner and took out my Gudang garam. I joined the others to increase polluting the Smoking Room.

Despite the foggy and stuffiness, I had my fix. Went to the washroom meant for wheelers( the non-wheeler's washroom was full) and washed my face,brushed my teeth and wet my hair.Its time to go check-in at Gate 6 of Doha International Airport.

We checked-in and went down stairs to the waiting aerobus,to take us to our plane.Doha-Luxor.
It was a smaller plane compared to the A330 from KLIA. And no, it doesn't have the entertaiment console like the A330. Its okay. I have my MP4 and the faithful Nokia 3110c for the music.And I could do with some sleep.

Apart from tourist to Luxor, there were few Egyptians to. Must be going home for a holiday or after finishing their bussinesses in Doha. Most have several luggages with them.Big luggages which I don't think qualifies as hand-luggage.

At 0810 am(Doha time. Its 5 hours difference btwn Doha and KL. Doha and Luxor is 1 hour)) the plane took off and after a while I was sleep only to be waken by Mrs TA when the crew served our breakfast( and I thought we had one on the A330,earlier). But,you do get hungry fast when flying intercontinent right? The food was an indicator of our diet for the next 1 week. There were steamed(?) carrots,potatoes,smoked tomato. Arabic meatball and smoked chicken. And pita bread too.Croissant with butter and jam and orange juice. After 5 minutes,finitto! Is that starving or what. Or maybe pelahap!

I took out Dean Koontz's Watcher and read a few pages before falling asleep.The plane continued its flight across the Arabian desert north of Makkah and Madinah. When I woke up, I could see desert mountain ranges below. Ah!That must be the Eastern desert of Egypt.Everything is sand and rock. But it was a beautiful sight. Sometimes you can see a highway at the fot of the mountain range and see vehicles running on it like a lost ant.

When the plane stared to descend, we know we are maybe 200-300 km from Luxor,our destination. As the plane descende you see the mountain range getting bigger and bigger but no Pyramid was on sight. Then you start to see vegetations.Plots of farms. Green. With the greens you see scattered villages and houses.

Finally the plane landed.No applause or cheers.Everyone in our tour group was excited and eager to step on Egyptian soil. The land of Pharoah*. With our hands clutching our lugages we entered the arrival hall of Luxor International Airport. Our group re-group and Angel(our tour leader)briefed us. "Get your passports ready. There are money changers on your left if you want to change your US dollars into Egyptian Pound. The washroom is over there...I'll give you all 20 minutes before we go through the immigration booths.Is that okay with you??"



Angel..she such an angel
foto by Hafiz
Nokia N73

I went to the money changer booths. There are 5 and 4 are opened.The rate is 5.51 Egyptian pound to the greenback(in Malaysia I got RM3.41 for a dollar). There was ofcourse confusion at these booths. Some wanted to change US50.00, some a hundred. And everyone was confused with the rate( well not really confused I guessed,more of misunderstanding) and I heard someone saying to the other that we have been ripped-off. Well, I did my homework before coming to Egypt and I had calculated how much pound you get for how many dollars.

The Luxor IA is small, about 3/4 of Langkawi Airport.But the arrival hall is clean and well maintained There were no smoking signs but I can see few guys in uniform and the janitor smoking happily. After re-re-grouping, we headed for the immigratiom counter and passed through without much problem. We took all our lugages and headed through the Customs officer without bothering us visitors of Egypt. But the locals who boarded with us in Luxor were searched . Their big boxes of TV sets,DVD players were opened. Some bags were opened and clothes spread around. And we see Egyptians arguing with the Customs officers. I wonder how long will that take after we left the airport. I wonder if pounds will exchange hands!

Outside the airport, porters were waiting to collect our luggages and cart it to the buses about 50 meters away. We were told earlier that all the tips were included in our payment,so we don't need to tip anymore if didn't wish to."Its up to you!"- that will be the favourite phrase of our Egyptian guide. After putting my luggages in the bus, the porter ask for a tip.5 pounds in his palm,he thanked me a lot( and its about 65 sen to an Egyptian pound).

The weather was fine. Very sunny and bright but temperature was about 19 C. But you get the chills when the wind blew.


Muhammad al_Gharbawi our Egyptian guide
foto by Hafiz
Nokia N73

We were introduced to our Egyptian guide on the bus. A handsome young man. Muhammad al-Gharbawi. He spoke to us in English. And we understood him.That is good point,I told myself.We wouldn't be chicken speaking to ducks after all( but thats gonna happen while shopping). As Muhammad was briefing us, the bus started to the road. I was interested by the views rather than Muhammad's explaination.Never mind, MrsTA can brief me later.

Despite being colonised by the British and later for a short period by the French, the Egyptians drove on the wrong side of the road! They followed the French and the Americans and the Chinese.And the Egyptians they like to drive fast.And they honk a lot. They'll honk when they want to overtake you.They honk again after taking over. They honk when another care wanted to take over them and they honk when the other car had taken over. So its a honky place if not a honky-tonky one. And then the motorised vehicles have to compete with the horse carriages which goes ktok!ktak!ktok ! ktak! on the road. Occasionally the road become stalled when an ass cart is infront.The honking will get very loud all at the same time. Being an ass, the ass just showed its ass to the drives! Maybe,just maybe thats how the term asshole was coined!LOL.

Our bus passes by the Karnak Temple from far but we saw Luxor Temple at close range.What a sight! It was on our left and the great Nile on our right with ships(cruise ships) and motorised boats and Felukas.I know this trip is gonna be great.

Then ,Muhammad told us: " There is going to be a slight of change in our plan today! We will skip the Karnak and Luxor Temple today...", my heart sank...."...but we are going to see the Valley of the Kings.Its on the west bank of the river Nile".

Ahh...that would be nice too. VOK(Valley of Kings) here I come.



Valley of Kings
foto tokasid
BQ


Pharoah*: in the Ancient Egyptian it is Per 'a , closer to the Arabic word : Fir'aun.
Pharoah is the Greek word for Per 'a


Next: The Valley of Kings.





Kandungan posting mungkin ada kena mengena atau tidak dengan makhluk yang hidup atau yang telah tiada.Kalau sapa-sapa terasa nak buat macamana kan. Sapa makan cabai melaka dia pedaih laa

52 comments:

Mior Azhar said...

Tok,
That pix of Valley of The Kings is simply breathtaking lar. Just curious (and I'm too lazy to look up the atlas), where exactly in Mesir is this place called Luxor.. or is it part of Cairo ker? Never been to Mesir but now I'm very interested...

tokasid said...

Pak Mior:

Luxor is the new name for Thebes in Upper Rgypt(south Egypt).

After the Muslims entered Egypt, Thebes was called al-Aqsa( place with many palaces).I was informed that in Egypt al- is not pronouced as al- that we do. It was pronounced with the silet alif/a so it sounded 'l-aqsa. When the Europeans came in . 'l-aqsa became Luxor.
Will write more about it nanti.

ZABS said...

Salam TA,
Getting interested by each posting now. By the time you finish this Jejak Misr story, I might have made up my mind where to go for my holiday next.
Did your gudang garam attract the attention of any of the other chimneys?
Photos taken using N73, must be good. Before my D40, I always rely on my N73 for my pictures.

cakapaje said...

Salam Doc,

I agree with Pak Zabs, your accounts is getting to be more and more interesting indeed! But I am also very sure that many of us are waiting and waiting for the gelek gelek part! lol!

Anyway, I don't think you've mentioned about the weather whilst you were there: paneh ke sejuk?

tokasid said...

Pak Zabs:

One thing that I would recommend is a winter holiday in Egypt. For me it was worth every sen that you spend to get there. But you have to go during winter when the weather is nice.
Like other places, there are ofcourse certain negative things in Egypt which I will describe later.

My gudang didn't attract any chimneys in Doha but few ppl along the Nile had requested a stick or two.

I was impress with N73 that Hafiz uses,it sure can produce good images.

tokasid said...

Shah CA:

LOL! The gelek part will come.Not to worry bro,but I can't skip chapters right?

Its winter in Egypt now. In Upper Egypt(south, where Luxor,Aswan and Abu Simbel is) it was btwn 18-22 C during the day and can fall to 13-15 C at night.But everytime the wind blows you'll get the chill into your bones.

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Tokasid
After reading this posting, I don't think I would do justice by going to Egypt and not visiting Luxor and also Alexandria. My next trip will include these places, insya'Allah.
And yes, I would also recommend going there at the end of the year like I did this year. I've been there during the height of summer. It was not only hot but dusty. I had my first nosebleed then.
Before, I had used the N70 to take pictures. Now, its the N95. They are cool phones and equally good to take pictures too.

tokasid said...

Fauziah:

My wife have been aiming for Egypt for several years and had browsed here and there on the net and asked several friends who studied in Egypt. The verdict we got- don't go during summer and the best time to go is winter.

Yes, if we just go to Cairo its not visiting Egypt!One need to take a trip from the south right to Alexandria to see Egypt.Of course going there for 9 days is inadequate,but you get to see the whole spectrum of Egypt,its history, its monumental ruins and its people(the Nubians are in in Aswan to Sudan)and its food.Hotels will be difficult in Aswan and Luxor during winter, so I heard and one need to book them very early.

Alexandria is so beautiful with its beaches and a refreshing Mediteranean air.

If N73 can produce good pics, I know what N95 can do.I've you pics and the oics you took at Giza pyramids.Splendid! Very spelndid sis.

Unknown said...

Tok Asid,
Spectacular, indeed. What a nice trip you have there.
Valley of the Kings? The place where Tutankhamen's body discovered, and later we found out how tragic the story of the young king; being killed, overthrown at the early age of his kingdom...or so what I've heard. May you confirm it?
I've been asking friends studying there, and most are having flu due to the chilling winter.
Keep well, keep warm.

tokasid said...

Akmal:

Thank you for visiting.

Yes,thats the VOK. King Tut's tomb was the last to be found and it was famous for the richness of the tombs( semua harta2 tu ada display at Cairo Museum and I have seen it!)

There are about 64 tombs in VOK. I have written about VOK for the next posting.Now am downloading the pics to accompany it. InsyaALLAH I can post that before 3pm.

Cairo and Alex is very cold now,as your friends have told you, but in Upper Egypt(south) is warmer andthats the destination that Egyptians and tourist are heading( esp this Christmas hols).

Daphne Ling said...

Hi Doc,

Thanks for sharing! Penganggur like me, must get to know about places from other people ;)

Er, Angel tu siapa? As in, exactly who? Sorry kalau I ter-hilang the plot...=(

Next on your list, put Austria...I nak tengok! Heheheh...

Lee said...

Hello Tokasid, was over at zawi's having coffee noticed your lively comment. Couldn't help laughing at yours and Zawi's comment re the buses with 'aircond rosak'. Arhaa ha ha.
Yes, I too experienced that wayyyy back in early 80's after selling off my car prior moving to Canada.
My wife and I used those daredevil 'bas mini's, Holy Smoke! They even race with one another on Federal H'way, take the corners at Brickfields, even Michael Shumacher will envy.
And the mini buses? Sardin cans is not the word! Take them at 5.20 PM at Bangkok Bank or at Klang road bus stand and one gets squashed like like nyamuk on a hand. But I suffered betul terok! I am a 6'1" fellow, and standing from Bangkok Bank to PJ, I can tell you it was no joke, plus like you mentioned, the scents and smells? WhhhoooEeee! Balek rumah kena mandi pakai sabun Sunlight add VIM. ha ha.
Tokasid, I noticed you like chincalok? Me too. They sell them here. But only last month my isteri opened a new bottle, made in Malacca, it meletup all over the kitchen...itu la dia, no more chinchaloke for dinners anymore. Maybe old stock? Dia da takut. Oh boy, her language that evening would make a sailot blush! Ha ha. As she spent an hour washing and wiping the kitchen, ha ha, mumbling, grumbling re the ancestors of those who made this chincaloke.
I saw that movie 'Bujang Lapok' three times.
And you like 'bubur gandung'? Wow, that is my favourite dessert. Baik pun sini ada jual. Though I love it cold.
But sorry, I don't know what is 'kepok lekor'? Apa itu?
Ahhhh, you isap 'gudang garam'...gosh, that rokok makes all kinds of crackling sounds! When I last balek kampong, I brought back here three packets (I smoke Lucky Strikes, unfiltered) just for fun and to make my Mat Salleh friends kelang kabote.
Holy Smoke, we in our office smoking room, I lighted one. That room sure cleared out fast!
"Hey Lee! What the heck you smoking, man"? Told them "its the latest in designer opium cigarettes", ha ha.
By the way, that pic of 'Angel' is very nice.
Tokasid, I wish you and family the best of seasons greetings and a very happy new year.
My best regards, Lee.

Unknown said...

I had about 6 weeks of school holidays and what did I do? I went to the mainland once,dragged to Pesta Pulau Pinang where I spent about 2 hours plus and couldn't walk the next morning, attended a few kenduris and spent countless hours surfing. Not much of a holiday is it?
Heck, I didn't even get to see the pyramids at Sunway.

Oh anyway, had a pleasant surprise. After coming home from school this morning (timetable la apa lagi)saw that we are back online.

tokasid said...

Dear Daphne:

Angel is our guide from Malaysia, she was our tour leader. Such a nice person ,she is.

Austria or Australia?
Austria is too cold for comfort I think.

You going to Canada?

tokasid said...

U.lee:

TQ sir for coming over via Pak Zawi. Always like reading your writting at Pak Zawi's. ANd I like your blog too. The photos of the foods....terus lapar rasanya.

Yes, those were the days of bus mini and Sri Jaya. A tall guy like you memang terseksa in the mini buses what more from bangkok Bank to PJ.Thats a neck pain ,right?

Cincalok exploding?Now you wanna be careful.We don't want the Canadian to think you and Mrs are trying to bomb them tau!

Kepoklekor is actually Keropok Lekor( see Awang Goneng's GUiT)

TQ again sir.Have a nice week.

tokasid said...

Che'gu:

Time really flew fast. Suddenly the hols are over and you are right, when you turn back you would think you didn't do anything.

If I didn't go to Egypt, I too would have done nothing new.

As for pyramids, Sunway wouldn't impressed the Egyptians. But the Egyptians might be impressed with what Sunway had to offer inside the Pyramid.

Alhamdulillah, you can blog again.
GoBlog!!

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

i cant imagine exactly what you saw but but definitely a breath-taking view, no doubt. like i said before this, one needs to experience it himself to know what you're talking about.

for the next JM, dont forget to write about the food, the drink and the culture esp on how the locals lead their lives daily.

Daphne Ling said...

Hi Doc,

Austria, Sound of Music Austria! Hehe...Yeap, me going Canada...If all goes well...=)

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