The Luxor and the Valley of the Kings
Trip Start
Oct 25, 2008
1
59
65
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Brilliance of the Seas
Luxor, Nile River Valley, Egypt
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Luxor and the Valley of the Kings, oppositely to Jordan, were completely disappointing to me. It was not because of the places I was supposed to see, but because of the Egyptians themselves. Unfortunately, they spoiled my day.
It was one of the dreams of my life to see those places I had learnt as a young child at the geography and history lessons. Only two people from my team could go there as tour escorts, therefore I had to beg my manager to be one of them. After more than 3 hours on the couch (one way), we finally reached Luxor and the Karnak temple. We got the entrance tickets from the tour guide, and when I was just about to get inside the temple, I was stopped by the local "ticket controller". He stopped me because of my camera - fully equipped SLR Nikon D200, with a flash etc., hanging out of my neck. He asked me if I was working and then I said yes, of course, I am a cruise ship photographer and a tour escort for the guests from my ship. I could not even deny it, as I was wearing a full uniform (grey pants, black polo shirt and a name tag) plus the camera. "So you are doing some business here" - he said - "You have to pay 1200 Egyptian pounds - an equivalent of about 300 USD - to shoot inside"... No begging, no explanations, no nothing would convince him to change his mind. "I am not here for my own pleasure, I`m here for the guests! There is 900 guests from my ship today, I am sure they paid more for their tickets altogether that 1200 pounds!" Eventually I started to ask him to at least let me go inside and see the place ("it`s probably once in a life time I am here, and you`re not even letting me see the temple!!"). He told me if I left the camera on the bus or at the police station, he`d let me go inside. The problem was, I would NOT leave my camera worth 2500 $ with strange people, even if they were policemen. Neither I could go back to the bus, as by the time I`d have come back, I`d have to leave the place. At that point I was crying already like a baby. I had a feeling it was the only spot where I could take pictures of the guests, and my dream to see it was just ruined by some grumpy local. Never mind people going inside had bigger cameras than me and they were let in. I was "making business" and that`s all that was counting. Eventually I was just about to go back to the bus, stay there and cry. But on my way back I saw the police station and it was like a light in a tunnel. I went to them, and told them all my story. After that they told me: 'come with us". They spoke in Arabic to the guy by the entrance, which sounded to me like hallahahkakahahalalllal and eventually they let me go through, with the camera. I had literally 20 min out of 1h 15 min to shoot and see the temple. It was spectacular, but I could not enjoy it to the full. Afterwards we went to lunch, which was pretty nice. The second most important spot of the day was the Valley of the Kings, but there nobody was allowed to take pictures. Everybody had to leave the cameras on the bus. I saw the tombs of the Ramezes the 1st, the 3rd, the 4th and the 6th. FOr seeing the tomb of Tutenkhamon you had to pay extra and I heard it was not worth it so I left it. By the end of the tour we stopped at two obelisks - kind of columns, but it was nothing special.
I believe there are and I actually got to know a couple of really nice Egyptians. But the things that happened to me in this country made me feel the way that I do not want t go back there for another 30 years, period. Shame the nation that gave the base to the ancient world and the Mediterranean cultural heritage, eventually turned into something like that. I am very dissapointed.
POLSKI:
Luxor i Dolina Kroli, w przeciwienstwie do Jordanii, kompletnie mnie rozczarowaly. I to nie ze wzgledu na miejsca, ktore mialam zobaczyc, ale na ludzi, ktorych tam napotkalam. Niestety, zespsuli mi caly dzien.
Moim marzeniem bylo zobaczyc wszystkie te miejsca, o ktorych uczylam sie jako dziecko na lekcjach geografii i historii. Tylko dwie osoby z mojego zespolu mogly pojechac na ta wycieczke jako eskorta, wiec musialam blagac managera, zebym byla jedna z nich. Po wiecej niz 3 godzinach spedzonych w autokarze, w koncu osiagnelismy Luksor i swiatynie Karnak. Dostalismy bilety od przewodnika, i gdy wlasnie mialam wejsc do swiatyni, zostalam zatrzymana przez "kontrolera biletow". Zatrzymal mnie ze wzgledu na moj aparat - w pelni wyposazona lustrzanke Nikon D200, z flashem itd. - wiszaca na mojej szyi. Spytal czy ja tu pracuje, odparlam oczywiscie, jestem statkowym fotografem i jednoczesnie eskorta dla moich gosci. Nie moglam nawet temu zaprzeczyc, gdyz mialam na sobie pelen uniform - szare spodnie, czarna koszulke polo i plakietke z imieniem - plus oczywiscie aparat. "Czyli robisz tu biznes! Musisz zaplacic 1200 egipskich funtow (ok.300 $) za pozwolenie na robienie zdjec w swiatyni!" W koncu zaczelam go prosic, zeby mi chociaz pozwolil wejsc i zobaczyc to miejsce ("moze to moj jedyny raz w zyciu kiedy tu jestem, a ty nawet nie pozwalasz mi zobaczyc swiatyni!"). Powiedzial mi wtedy, ze jesli zostawie moj aparat na stacji policji lub w autobusie, to pozwoli mi wejsc do srodka. Problem tkwil w tym, ze nie mialam zamiaru zostawic sprzetu wartego 2500$ z jakimis obcymi ludzmi, nawet jesli byliby to policjanci; a jesli wrocilabym sie do autobusu, do czasu kiedy przyszlabym na miejsce, musialabym juz zawracac. W tamtym momencie plakalam juz jak dziecko. Mialam przeczucie, ze to bedzie jedyny spot, gdzie bede mogla robic zdjecia gosciom, poza tym moje marzenie, zeby zobaczyc to miejsce, zostalo zrujnowane przez jakiegos gburowatego miejscowego! Niewazne, ze ludzie, ktorzy wchodzili do srodka, mieli wieksze aparaty niz ja, ja "robilam biznes", to wszystko, co sie liczylo. W koncu mialam zamiar wrocic do autobusu, zostac tam i plakac. Ale w drodze powrotnej zobaczylam posterunek policji i to bylo jak swiatelko w tunelu. Poszlam tam i opowiedzialam cala moja historie. Po tym policjanci stwierdzili: "chodz z nami'. Pogadali po arabsku do goscia przed wejsciem, co brzmialo dla mnie jak halllakahajallekahal i w koncu dali mi wejsc do srodka, z aparatem. Mialam doslownie 20 minut z calej 1h 15 minut, zeby zrobic zdjecia i zobaczyc swiatynie. Byla imponujaca, ale nie moglam w peni jej podziwiac. Po tym udalismy sie na obiad, ktory byl calkiem smaczny. Drugim gwozdziem programu byla Dolina Kroli, ale tam nikt nie mogl robic zdjec. Musielismy wszyscy zostawic aparaty w autobusie. Widzialam grobowce Ramzesow 1go, 3go, 4go i 6go. Zeby zobaczyc grobowiec Tunenhamona, trzeba bylo zaplacic dodatkowo, a ze slyszalam, ze nie warto, to dalam sobie spokoj. Na koniec wycieczki zatrzymalismy sie przy dwoch obeliskach, takich rodzajach kolumn, ale nie bylo to nic specjalnego.
Wierze, ze istnieja, i wlasciwie bylo mi dane poznac paru bardzo milych Egipcjan. Ale rzeczy, ktore przydarzyly mi sie w tym kraju, spowodowaly, nie mam ochoty tam wrocic przez nastepne 30 lat, koniec kropka. Szkoda, ze narod, ktory dal podwaliny kulturze antycznej, ktory byl jedna z podstaw Srodziemnomorskiego dziedzictwa kulturowego, stal sie czyms takim. jestem bardzo rozczarowana.
