Hurghada, Egypt 

November 30th to December 6th, 2006

     We planned our vacation to Egypt as sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. We happened to be passing a travel agency and saw what appeared to be some excellent deals in the window. Initially, it was a combination trip that included a cruise down the Nile and a few nights in Cairo. However, due to some strange policy dealing with room capacity, Gavin - a whole 2.5 years old - was considered a third person in a room with a capacity of two. We didn't get it, but we didn't buy a second room for the sake of a two and a half year old either.

    After some consideration, we decided we still wanted to go to Egypt. While we wanted to spend some time exploring Ancient Egyptian culture, I have to be honest - after several months of moving around and changing jobs - I just wanted to relax. Beaches, all-inclusive meals and drinks, pools and massages were sounding awfully tempting. We settled on the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada. I had heard one recommendation from a Dane about how fantastic the diving was there. I don't believe he ever mentioned the hotels, but looking back, it might have been useful to get a hold of him before we booked. Especially considering you don't get a hell of a lot of diving done with a two year old in tow.

     Apparently, star rankings on hotels aren't exactly objective nor equal across the globe. We stayed in the Titanic Aqua Park. Yes, I know, we should have known better. The Titanic sank, after all, so why would anyone name their resort that? It did look lovely in the travel agent's brochure. It supposedly included an entire network of heated pools and several water slides in addition to kiddy pools and slides. What kid doesn't like pools and slides, right?

     Mine, apparently, as that's as far as he ever went in without dragging him in. Forcing the issue resulted in howling and screaming as though we had hacked off a limb. While he liked playing around the pool, it was terribly slippery. There was no relaxing fwhile we were at the pool side, since I was fairly paranoid I'd end up bringing the boy in for stitches. 

    Also surprising, considering the slippery pool area, was the fact that more of the guests weren't laid up on crutches. This is especially true when you added in the fact that the basins at the bottom of the waterslides were too shallow. 

     The food and drinks at the hotel were atrocious and by the fourth night we were eating at the Hard Rock Hotel in the heart of Hurghada. I never wanted to be the stupid American who traveled to another country just to eat American food, but we were starved and what good is a tropical vacation without a drinkable Mai Tai or Pina Colada? I am glad we went to the Hard Rock though. The staff there was incredible and while the food was considerably overpriced, it was very, very tasty.

     The real shining point of the vacation was the day-trip we took to Luxor. It was a very long day, involving a convoy ridden bus ride that left the hotel at 5:30AM and returned after 11PM. I feel a bit stupid admitting to this, but I was under the impression that Luxor and Giza were one and the same and that the Valley of the Kings consisted of Pyramids. I knew that's where Tutankhamun's tomb was, and surely the boy-king was buried in an impressive pyramid. Right?

     Wrong.

     That's not to say the Valley of the Kings didn't contain some beautiful things, but pyramids were not among them. I can tell you what it had though: climbing. Lots of climbing. With a two year old, this is not such a great thing. Even in the off-season, which is when we went, it's still too crowded for anyone to be patient enough to let a two year old navigate steep ramps and stair cases. We did a lot of carrying and only visited two of the Valley's many tombs: Tutankhamun's and Ramses I.

     A disappointing, but understandable, restriction is photography is not allowed inside the tombs. The excess light, etc, causes the damage to the hieroglyphics and other relics. The little old man confiscating cameras at the entrance to Tut's tomb was nice enough to take this picture of us climbing back up in exchange for a tip. Also, regarding Tut's tomb, visiting it is not included in the normal Valley ticket price. It's about USD10 per adult extra, but how can you go all the way to Egypt and not say you visited Tutankhamun's tomb?

   The tour also included stops to Hatshepsut's temple, which was very cool and where many of our pictures were taken, including the one used to create the background for this page. Hatshepsut herself was an interesting character that left behind a rich history. I don't recall ever being taught about her in my World Civilization classes, which is a pity considering she was an early feminist and I attended an all-girls school.

   Most representations of Hatshepsut's face have been destroyed throughout what has been discovered of Ancient Egyptian culture. There are varying theories as to why, including that her successor had a problem with the fact she assumed the historical male role of pharaoh, down to being depicted with the traditional pharaoh's beard.

    Before we stopped for lunch, we did have a chance to have a mini-cruise of the Nile in order to cross it towards the hotel we were eating at. I found myself a little disappointed, since the point where we crossed wasn't much wider or grander than many other's that I've crossed.

     Granted, the palm trees and ancient ruins in the background do make for prettier scenery than most rivers I've been on.

     Lunch was edible, but it was what came after lunch that I found the most enjoyable: Karnak Temple. Karnak is reason alone to visit Luxor. It's the largest religious temple ever created by man, spanning around a square kilometer. The floors were once gilded in gold. The walls are covered in fantastic hieroglyphs, huge columns, and magnificent statues. Our guide rushed us through what he could, but we missed quite a bit and we didn't stay for the light show, but it was a long ride home and we needed to rejoin the convoy or hire a private convoy for around USD 5,000 to get us back to Hurghada. The bus was English speakers only, thus only about 7 families on a minibus. None of us were willing to splurge for it.

Avenue of the Rams (Ram-headed sphynx)

     There were many slabs that laid across the top of the pillars. It amazed me that after thousands of years, wind, sand and the desert sun, the colors were still intact.

    The pharaoh, Pinedjem, was exceptionally attached to his wife and thus included her when commissioning a statue of himself. Even though, by modern standards, the placement and size of his wife's representation could be considered offensive, it was a great honor for the wife at the time the statue was created.

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