Friday, October 27, 2006
23/10 Nile Cruise
I'm the first on my boat this morning (there are approx 200+ boats waiting at the dock) having been on a 0630 flight from Cairo to Luxor (the ancient Thebes). Luxor is much smaller and quieter than Cairo and less air pollution. I have the whole place to myself til lunch time. I'm sitting in the shade on the top deck of MS Tulip. It has been almost silent. After the frentic noise of Cairo - quite a contrast. It has just hit 12 noon and the call to prayer has broken the silence in an ancient and totally appropriate way. The middle eastern version of a gregorian chant fits this scenery, adding atmosphere to a scene before me of contrast yet perfect harmony.
The Nile is green-black (actually quite clean looking compared to Cairo and what I imagined) and very wide (they tell me 1.5km but I think closer to 1km here). There is a slight current so the reflections are not clear like the Scottish Lochs. The banks are lined with date palms and eucalypt trees (yes !) and thick grasses. And immediately behind this thin green line are a range of sand mountains, like great frozen sand dunes. The sand is a sandstone colour - hard for me to get get used to as my 'outback' eyes register sand as red or red-brown or white. It seems dirty, but obviously not.
The palm tree heads poke up above the line of solid green, leaving a rough edge to its incursion into the desert. Between the leasves the desert colours sneak back through the fronds, reminding you it is just there, waiting on the edge of the oasis. There is a man and his son fishing in the reeds close to shore in a small flat-bottomed boat and a small tug-type boat is phutting down the other bank. Its blue paint in stark contrast to the deep green of the water and bleached green of the bank.
As I sit here trying to describe this green, it strikes me that it is the green of my outback. Sunbleached outer leaves with grey brown trunks. Soft new green hiding with the new leaves in the centre. It is mid October - Autumn - but iut must be 35 degrees and dry...It feels like undara in December but doesn't smell like that. The dune mountains behind remind me a little of the MacDonnell Ranges outside Alice.
Tucked between the green and sometimes overcoming it are mud formed buildings up to 3 stories all facing the river. Small windows in large sand-coloured walls. The yare browner than the sand around. Possibly from adding the 'glue'. Some are painted jacarander blue or blonde. I have taken some photos but will try again in the late afternoon when th elight is softer and maybe the colour won't be so bleached.
There is a haze on the horizon, I imagine a mixture of pollution and dust and the sky is absolutely cloud free, blue - but not as blue as home - maybe the dust... It is so peaceful. I think the river is in seista. I'm sure it will not stay this quiet.
I'd say the boat is 60m, four inside decks and the sun deck. My cabin is on the 3rd deck. There are no balconies just the top deck is outside. Only 30 pax for the cruise - 9 English speakers. A family of 2+2 from Holland, an Aussie couple, an Indian couple and I. This afternoon we met our guide, Mohammad. We visited Karnak and Luxor Temples. Mostly ruins but amazing how much has survived 3000 years, being flooded by the Nile regularly. These temples line up on an East-West axis with the Valley of the Kings. Very clever people. Huge complexes, built on a grand scale. All BC (before computers). The areas have been reused by successive empires, Alexander, Coptic Christians, Greeks, Romans, etc.
Even though we are about the same distance north of the Tropic of Cancer as Brisbane-Rockhampton is south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun gets up later and goes to bed earlier. We have decide it is because the longitude is different. Sun up by 5.30am and DARK by 5.15pm.
I'm the first on my boat this morning (there are approx 200+ boats waiting at the dock) having been on a 0630 flight from Cairo to Luxor (the ancient Thebes). Luxor is much smaller and quieter than Cairo and less air pollution. I have the whole place to myself til lunch time. I'm sitting in the shade on the top deck of MS Tulip. It has been almost silent. After the frentic noise of Cairo - quite a contrast. It has just hit 12 noon and the call to prayer has broken the silence in an ancient and totally appropriate way. The middle eastern version of a gregorian chant fits this scenery, adding atmosphere to a scene before me of contrast yet perfect harmony.
The Nile is green-black (actually quite clean looking compared to Cairo and what I imagined) and very wide (they tell me 1.5km but I think closer to 1km here). There is a slight current so the reflections are not clear like the Scottish Lochs. The banks are lined with date palms and eucalypt trees (yes !) and thick grasses. And immediately behind this thin green line are a range of sand mountains, like great frozen sand dunes. The sand is a sandstone colour - hard for me to get get used to as my 'outback' eyes register sand as red or red-brown or white. It seems dirty, but obviously not.
The palm tree heads poke up above the line of solid green, leaving a rough edge to its incursion into the desert. Between the leasves the desert colours sneak back through the fronds, reminding you it is just there, waiting on the edge of the oasis. There is a man and his son fishing in the reeds close to shore in a small flat-bottomed boat and a small tug-type boat is phutting down the other bank. Its blue paint in stark contrast to the deep green of the water and bleached green of the bank.
As I sit here trying to describe this green, it strikes me that it is the green of my outback. Sunbleached outer leaves with grey brown trunks. Soft new green hiding with the new leaves in the centre. It is mid October - Autumn - but iut must be 35 degrees and dry...It feels like undara in December but doesn't smell like that. The dune mountains behind remind me a little of the MacDonnell Ranges outside Alice.
Tucked between the green and sometimes overcoming it are mud formed buildings up to 3 stories all facing the river. Small windows in large sand-coloured walls. The yare browner than the sand around. Possibly from adding the 'glue'. Some are painted jacarander blue or blonde. I have taken some photos but will try again in the late afternoon when th elight is softer and maybe the colour won't be so bleached.
There is a haze on the horizon, I imagine a mixture of pollution and dust and the sky is absolutely cloud free, blue - but not as blue as home - maybe the dust... It is so peaceful. I think the river is in seista. I'm sure it will not stay this quiet.
I'd say the boat is 60m, four inside decks and the sun deck. My cabin is on the 3rd deck. There are no balconies just the top deck is outside. Only 30 pax for the cruise - 9 English speakers. A family of 2+2 from Holland, an Aussie couple, an Indian couple and I. This afternoon we met our guide, Mohammad. We visited Karnak and Luxor Temples. Mostly ruins but amazing how much has survived 3000 years, being flooded by the Nile regularly. These temples line up on an East-West axis with the Valley of the Kings. Very clever people. Huge complexes, built on a grand scale. All BC (before computers). The areas have been reused by successive empires, Alexander, Coptic Christians, Greeks, Romans, etc.
Even though we are about the same distance north of the Tropic of Cancer as Brisbane-Rockhampton is south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun gets up later and goes to bed earlier. We have decide it is because the longitude is different. Sun up by 5.30am and DARK by 5.15pm.
# posted by The Essence of Good Taste @ 3:35 PM 
