X = (a+b+c)*17.5%
Formula 1
Y= (a+b+c)+X
Formula 2
Y= (X/17.5%)+X
What's the difference? Y remains the same, does it not? Apparently Formula 2 is more complicated than Formula 1. Is it really? Need it be so complicated?
You know what I am getting at, don't you? Life, or the end of it rather, is going to remain the same, however you arrive at it! But do we have the tendency to over complicate it? But aren't simple and complex relative terms?
Now am I complicating a simple post? All I need to know is, is life meant to be simple or complex? Is life meant to be anything at all?!
Friday 25 January 2008
Tuesday 22 January 2008
The Land of Thebes
Luxor, the ancient capital, turned out to be the surprise package for me. I say surprise because my expectations had been severely diminished after Aswan. But the land of Thebes as it was popularly referred to in the glorious times of the Pharaohs was truly magical. One can truly experience 'timelessness' here.
We began our sojourn in Luxor with the 'traditional' felucca ride on the Nile. We were taken to Banana Island where we were made to taste the Egyptian version of our Yelakky! I wouldn't call it an 'out of the world' experience, but the sail back at sunset was refreshing certainly.
That evening we were to watch the sound&light show at the Karnak temple and what an evening it turned out to be! The magnificent temple, the biggest of all the pharaonic temples, in the heart of the land of Thebes, is dedicated to Sun god - Amun Ra. Every Pharaoh worth his salt wanted to leave his mark in this temple, it is said, not only to pay his obeisance to the most celebrated God but also to proclaim his superiority. The temple stands on the East Bank of the river Nile; East Bank is more famously referred to as the 'land of the living'. This was the place where pharaonic civilization flourished!
In the late hours of the evening, when Amun Ra had called it a day, we were transported back to the glorious bygone years, thousand of them. We sat there partly enraptured, partly sad (that it was all gone!) but mainly spellbound! I can't say if it was the beauty of the place, the quality of the show or just my minimal expectations that were surpassed that made me fall in love with the place. But I can say that simply imagining the life that must've been in the ancient land of Thebes was exhilarating! At the end, the silence and darkness added to a strangely likeable eeriness to the air.
With Amun Ra and others fleeting in and out of my head, I started the following day, more upbeat and excited than I had been the whole of the trip. We were to visit the West Bank, known as the 'land of the dead'. It was the place where the Pharaohs, after having lived a glorious life in the East Bank, were buried in their magnificent tombs - all preparations for their after life being made elaborately. There are more than 60 tombs of the Pharaohs excavated so far, in the Valley of Kings and many more of the Queens and Noble men in the Valley of Queens. Then there was this beautiful temple of the Queen of Hatschepsut (a tongue twister of a name that I finally got round to pronouncing properly!) to be seen.
We could get into any 4 of the many tombs in the Valley of Kings for one ticket. Our guide, a young girl from Luxor (let's call her Samira, for I don't remember her name but it was something like that), patiently and enthusiastically educated us on all and sundry of the valley; she even gave us a mini discourse on stories of after life - most of which of course went way over my head! We gave the Tutankhamen's tomb a miss (it's not much of a miss I am told!) but the tomb of one of the Ramses (5 or 6or something like that) was great. It is the deepest of all and once again made me sufficiently claustrophobic; and once again I survived (too bad for you!).
As we were on a time crunch, we decided to give Valley of Queens a miss; the tomb of Nefretari or Nefertiti, one of them is supposed to be the most beautiful tomb That tomb was closed anyway, so there was no point in going up to Valley of Queens.
-----X-----
Nefertari is the wife of Amenothoph, uncle of Tut but more commonly known as the Pharaoh who wanted to get rid of the God Amun Ra and believed that there was only one god, 'Love'. He was the first known Monotheist of that age.
Nefertiti, is the wife of Ramses 2, the most beautiful women; now Ramses had many wives but Nefertiti was his beloved, so it was widely believed that she knew some sort of magic (hee hee!).
-----X-----
We then turned to the temple of Queen Hatschepsut (seriously, try pronouncing it!); Samira made me say it over and over again till I got it right :-)! Oh, btw, Samira, her mom, her entire family loves India, Indian movies; they think Indians are the best dancers in the world. She thinks Indian women are the most beautiful in the world etc., etc.,! :)
Anyway, Queen Hatschepsut was the eldest daughter of one of the Pharaohs (my memory!) and she believed she had the right to throne more so than any one else. She built the temple, again for Amun Ra, directly opposite to the temple at Karnak. It was built at an elevation in such a way that when Amun Ra woke up in the morning, as his rays gleaming through the magnificent pillars of the temple of Karnak on the opposite bank, one could see him rising, from this temple and pay their obeisance. She was a powerful queen and it is said that her rule was a period when the Land of Thebes was beautified a great deal. But the jealous Amenotophe along with tutmosis 3 (who was her Nephew and wanted the throne!) tried to overthrow her and in the process damaged the beautiful temple a fair deal as well.
One can approach the temple of Queen Hatschepsut by foot from Valley of Kings. It's roughly a 45 minute hike. But if you intend to do that, you need to reach the place really early in the morning, if you don't want to be fried (or deep fried) that is! We of course neither went early nor had the time for the hike. On the way back we stopped for a quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, ruins (destroyed by earthquake) of what was once a huge Colossi ;-P. If you insist, this is the story of the colossi!
We didn't have time to do much else in Luxor as we were to reach the bus station to take our first public (read non touristy!) bus trip to our next stop, the Red Sea Coast!
The bus journey was an experience. We got to listen to some Sufi chants (at least I think they were) and watch an Arabic movie. It soon became obvious why Egyptians are crazy about Hindi movies and more importantly why they think Indians are great dancers! And I had no clue what I had just seen. It seemed like some random collection of unrelated scenes (comedy scenes at that).
After 6 long hours (the roads were amazing, a private car should be able to do the distance in 2.5 or 3 hours!) we reached Hurghada - a small but immensely popular coastal resort.
Before leaving though I would only say and say so with much conviction that a trip to Egypt sans Luxor is best not done!
P.S - I am not sure how many of the facts (if any!) I have got correct(haven't got the best memory I am afraid!)
We began our sojourn in Luxor with the 'traditional' felucca ride on the Nile. We were taken to Banana Island where we were made to taste the Egyptian version of our Yelakky! I wouldn't call it an 'out of the world' experience, but the sail back at sunset was refreshing certainly.
That evening we were to watch the sound&light show at the Karnak temple and what an evening it turned out to be! The magnificent temple, the biggest of all the pharaonic temples, in the heart of the land of Thebes, is dedicated to Sun god - Amun Ra. Every Pharaoh worth his salt wanted to leave his mark in this temple, it is said, not only to pay his obeisance to the most celebrated God but also to proclaim his superiority. The temple stands on the East Bank of the river Nile; East Bank is more famously referred to as the 'land of the living'. This was the place where pharaonic civilization flourished!
In the late hours of the evening, when Amun Ra had called it a day, we were transported back to the glorious bygone years, thousand of them. We sat there partly enraptured, partly sad (that it was all gone!) but mainly spellbound! I can't say if it was the beauty of the place, the quality of the show or just my minimal expectations that were surpassed that made me fall in love with the place. But I can say that simply imagining the life that must've been in the ancient land of Thebes was exhilarating! At the end, the silence and darkness added to a strangely likeable eeriness to the air.
With Amun Ra and others fleeting in and out of my head, I started the following day, more upbeat and excited than I had been the whole of the trip. We were to visit the West Bank, known as the 'land of the dead'. It was the place where the Pharaohs, after having lived a glorious life in the East Bank, were buried in their magnificent tombs - all preparations for their after life being made elaborately. There are more than 60 tombs of the Pharaohs excavated so far, in the Valley of Kings and many more of the Queens and Noble men in the Valley of Queens. Then there was this beautiful temple of the Queen of Hatschepsut (a tongue twister of a name that I finally got round to pronouncing properly!) to be seen.
We could get into any 4 of the many tombs in the Valley of Kings for one ticket. Our guide, a young girl from Luxor (let's call her Samira, for I don't remember her name but it was something like that), patiently and enthusiastically educated us on all and sundry of the valley; she even gave us a mini discourse on stories of after life - most of which of course went way over my head! We gave the Tutankhamen's tomb a miss (it's not much of a miss I am told!) but the tomb of one of the Ramses (5 or 6or something like that) was great. It is the deepest of all and once again made me sufficiently claustrophobic; and once again I survived (too bad for you!).
As we were on a time crunch, we decided to give Valley of Queens a miss; the tomb of Nefretari or Nefertiti, one of them is supposed to be the most beautiful tomb That tomb was closed anyway, so there was no point in going up to Valley of Queens.
-----X-----
Nefertari is the wife of Amenothoph, uncle of Tut but more commonly known as the Pharaoh who wanted to get rid of the God Amun Ra and believed that there was only one god, 'Love'. He was the first known Monotheist of that age.
Nefertiti, is the wife of Ramses 2, the most beautiful women; now Ramses had many wives but Nefertiti was his beloved, so it was widely believed that she knew some sort of magic (hee hee!).
-----X-----
We then turned to the temple of Queen Hatschepsut (seriously, try pronouncing it!); Samira made me say it over and over again till I got it right :-)! Oh, btw, Samira, her mom, her entire family loves India, Indian movies; they think Indians are the best dancers in the world. She thinks Indian women are the most beautiful in the world etc., etc.,! :)
Anyway, Queen Hatschepsut was the eldest daughter of one of the Pharaohs (my memory!) and she believed she had the right to throne more so than any one else. She built the temple, again for Amun Ra, directly opposite to the temple at Karnak. It was built at an elevation in such a way that when Amun Ra woke up in the morning, as his rays gleaming through the magnificent pillars of the temple of Karnak on the opposite bank, one could see him rising, from this temple and pay their obeisance. She was a powerful queen and it is said that her rule was a period when the Land of Thebes was beautified a great deal. But the jealous Amenotophe along with tutmosis 3 (who was her Nephew and wanted the throne!) tried to overthrow her and in the process damaged the beautiful temple a fair deal as well.
One can approach the temple of Queen Hatschepsut by foot from Valley of Kings. It's roughly a 45 minute hike. But if you intend to do that, you need to reach the place really early in the morning, if you don't want to be fried (or deep fried) that is! We of course neither went early nor had the time for the hike. On the way back we stopped for a quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, ruins (destroyed by earthquake) of what was once a huge Colossi ;-P. If you insist, this is the story of the colossi!
We didn't have time to do much else in Luxor as we were to reach the bus station to take our first public (read non touristy!) bus trip to our next stop, the Red Sea Coast!
The bus journey was an experience. We got to listen to some Sufi chants (at least I think they were) and watch an Arabic movie. It soon became obvious why Egyptians are crazy about Hindi movies and more importantly why they think Indians are great dancers! And I had no clue what I had just seen. It seemed like some random collection of unrelated scenes (comedy scenes at that).
After 6 long hours (the roads were amazing, a private car should be able to do the distance in 2.5 or 3 hours!) we reached Hurghada - a small but immensely popular coastal resort.
Before leaving though I would only say and say so with much conviction that a trip to Egypt sans Luxor is best not done!
P.S - I am not sure how many of the facts (if any!) I have got correct(haven't got the best memory I am afraid!)
Saturday 5 January 2008
The Land of Nile
Aswan, a smallish town, is where you find Nile in all his glory. This is the land of Nubian, of temples that were submerged under the High Dam. On our first day in Aswan, we were shown the controversial boon to the Egyptians - the High Dam, the smaller Aswan Dam and the Philae Temple.
The High Dam threatened to submerged 23 temples built along the banks of Nile in and around Aswan. It also took down a village of the Nubians who were relocated to safer parts of Aswan, a move they were clearly not happy about. But then again, it supposed to be a boon to the whole of Egypt, not just aswan! We also got a quick and almost passionate heads up of the significance of 6th of Oct and the love lost between Egypt and Israel etc.,
As for Philae temple, it was built for the ancient Egyptian god Isis. In the course of being informed about ancient Egyptian gods and religion, we ended up having a discussion about the religions of the world, with our man Shieko. When Shieko got highly emotional about Islam, we realised it was time to stop!
The next day we were to take the early morning (well actually its almost middle of the night for us) convoy to the temple of Ramses II in Abu Symbel. This was the highlight of the trip for me.
First driving down a desolate high way in the middle of nowhere (only desert all around!) in the middle of the night at over 100km/hr; watching the sun rise over Nile, the 4 large statues of Ramses II sitting magnificently on the west bank facing east as though overlooking the whole process of sun rise. It definitely was the best part of the trip for me. To add to the fun, was our guide, Reham, a young girl from Aswan who had just finished her course in tourism. Her passion for the temple and King Ramses was funny but also sweet. But the real icing on the cake was the priceless expressions on the faces of the American father-son duo who were our company that morning.
The rest of the evening was spent strolling along the corniche in Aswan, watching the sun set, followed by the dinner. Now, I must mention about this dinner - for it exemplifies my main gripe with Egypt. So in this restaurant we had dinner at, we were greeted in the usual 'oh you are Indian, I love India, Indians very nice etc.,' way. Furthermore the waiter assured us that he knows (in an almost sympathetic way!) that we are vegetarians and he will ensure we get the best and their special vegetarian food. So far so good. The food arrives, it is about as good as you can expect in Egypt (Egypt is not a place for food, we were warned and it is indeed true!). He then asks us to give us 50E£ as he doesn't have change and assures us that he would deduct it from the bill. We are a bit perplexed but there can be no harm in it, can there? So we oblige. We then ask for the bill and he comes up with the number 103E£ - in addition to the already handed over 50E£. That means our bill is £150E£. But surely something is wrong. As per the menu card, even if we over estimate and add service charges (which can be more than 20% in some cases!) etc., our bill shouldn't be more than 75E£. So we ask our man quite innocently, if we could have a breakup of our bill, only so we could be more informed about what we are paying for. He loses his cool now. He hands us our 50E£ back, and after 15 long minutes comes up with the bill - a total of 43E£! What the hell! So how did he come up with the 150E£ before??!!!
My point here is, if you want more money, just state it in the menu card! I don't mind paying more for something, as far as you are honest. What is all this cheating about? See, I am not trying to taint Egypt; it is a beautiful place, undoubedtly, but this kind of cheating, which is not a one off case btw, sticks out like sore thumb!
With our stay in Aswan ending on a sour note, we were not really looking forward to our Luxor trip the following day!
The High Dam threatened to submerged 23 temples built along the banks of Nile in and around Aswan. It also took down a village of the Nubians who were relocated to safer parts of Aswan, a move they were clearly not happy about. But then again, it supposed to be a boon to the whole of Egypt, not just aswan! We also got a quick and almost passionate heads up of the significance of 6th of Oct and the love lost between Egypt and Israel etc.,
As for Philae temple, it was built for the ancient Egyptian god Isis. In the course of being informed about ancient Egyptian gods and religion, we ended up having a discussion about the religions of the world, with our man Shieko. When Shieko got highly emotional about Islam, we realised it was time to stop!
The next day we were to take the early morning (well actually its almost middle of the night for us) convoy to the temple of Ramses II in Abu Symbel. This was the highlight of the trip for me.
First driving down a desolate high way in the middle of nowhere (only desert all around!) in the middle of the night at over 100km/hr; watching the sun rise over Nile, the 4 large statues of Ramses II sitting magnificently on the west bank facing east as though overlooking the whole process of sun rise. It definitely was the best part of the trip for me. To add to the fun, was our guide, Reham, a young girl from Aswan who had just finished her course in tourism. Her passion for the temple and King Ramses was funny but also sweet. But the real icing on the cake was the priceless expressions on the faces of the American father-son duo who were our company that morning.
The rest of the evening was spent strolling along the corniche in Aswan, watching the sun set, followed by the dinner. Now, I must mention about this dinner - for it exemplifies my main gripe with Egypt. So in this restaurant we had dinner at, we were greeted in the usual 'oh you are Indian, I love India, Indians very nice etc.,' way. Furthermore the waiter assured us that he knows (in an almost sympathetic way!) that we are vegetarians and he will ensure we get the best and their special vegetarian food. So far so good. The food arrives, it is about as good as you can expect in Egypt (Egypt is not a place for food, we were warned and it is indeed true!). He then asks us to give us 50E£ as he doesn't have change and assures us that he would deduct it from the bill. We are a bit perplexed but there can be no harm in it, can there? So we oblige. We then ask for the bill and he comes up with the number 103E£ - in addition to the already handed over 50E£. That means our bill is £150E£. But surely something is wrong. As per the menu card, even if we over estimate and add service charges (which can be more than 20% in some cases!) etc., our bill shouldn't be more than 75E£. So we ask our man quite innocently, if we could have a breakup of our bill, only so we could be more informed about what we are paying for. He loses his cool now. He hands us our 50E£ back, and after 15 long minutes comes up with the bill - a total of 43E£! What the hell! So how did he come up with the 150E£ before??!!!
My point here is, if you want more money, just state it in the menu card! I don't mind paying more for something, as far as you are honest. What is all this cheating about? See, I am not trying to taint Egypt; it is a beautiful place, undoubedtly, but this kind of cheating, which is not a one off case btw, sticks out like sore thumb!
With our stay in Aswan ending on a sour note, we were not really looking forward to our Luxor trip the following day!
Friday 4 January 2008
The land of Pharaohs
The land I've dreamt of seeing since the time I learnt about the civilizations in history. 7th or was it in 8th standard? The day had finally arrived when I would be standing in front of the only monument that has the distinction of being a wonder of both the ancient and modern world.
Driving on the 12km long 6th of Oct Bridge in Cairo for some vague reason reminded me of New Delhi. The roads are also comparable to the Delhi ones, as is the traffic. Crossing the road is an experience. The traffic doesn't bother to stop, signal or not, and you just have to manoeuvre your way through it. Hello, I am from India, but even I can't handle that level!
So on our first day, we were to go around with an English Couple (Why o Why an English?) and a proud Egyptian guide whose name is Shady but who (thankfully) calls himself Shieko! Shieko gave us a few tips on how to handle the localites we would encounter. Of course, we knew all that, after all, aren't we the generation of 'lonely planet reading', 'net-researching' travellers! Furthermore, Shieko promised to take us to 'govt run' places to buy original papyrus, perfumes and any other Egyptian specialities we might be interested in shopping for. All geared up and visibly impressed with Shieko's knowledge and his sensitive & courteous manners we were geared up for our first day at Cairo.
Our first stop - Pyramids at Giza. So, did it live up to all the high expectations I had from it. Yes and No. I mean yes, it is certainly impressive. But I always have the problem of over expectation! Anyway, am not suggesting it is not worth it. You can't find it anywhere else, can you? Inside the pyramid, there is nothing, we were forewarned! But then one would still want to see what is that nothing! So we went in, almost crawling. Once there, I wasn't sure if I was going to survive to tell the tale, as claustrophobia happens to be one of the many phobias I nurture! And oh btw it is hot as Hell! We rounded off the Giza visit with the routine jazz - sphinx and all that.
I think I asked Shieko one two many questions, so he decided to lead us straight into the first of the many traps he had set up for us - the perfume factory and papyrus museum! Unless you really enjoy being fooled out of your wits, you would do well to avoid any one trying to talk you into one of these things. As for us, I think it would suffice to say that by midday on our first day at Cairo we were left with a rather huge hole in our brains and wallets! The full impact hadn't hit us until later that night, though.
Our penultimate stop for the day was the Egyptian Museum. I, not being a very 'museum person', don't have much to say about it. But hey if you think Indians are stupid to give away the Kohinoor to English, what do you have to say to the Egyptians? The only non-original piece in the whole of museum is the Rosetta stone - and no points for guessing where the original is! But, how do the British do it, really?! The highlight of the museum of course is the Tutankhamen coffin and Jewel section! Again the all famous Golden Mask of the juvenile Pharaoh is currently in London O2, temporarily.
We then made our way to the maddeningly refreshing Khan-El-Khallili Souq. Yes, it's the same world famous bazaar where everyone tries their hand at bargaining; where one sits down and enjoys (or not) the Shisha and Turkish coffee in one of the most famous and extremely touristy Ahwa house! We were in every single shop, greeted as 'hey Indian', and the names of Amitabh Bacchan and Shah Rukh Khan were on every one's lips. Some men tried their hand at flirting, mostly the harmless kind of course. After several failed attempts to buy a scarf for 5E£, I settled for a 10E£ one. This was to get into the Hussein mosque, which though not much renowned for its beauty, is known to be one of the important mosques of Islamic Cairo. Oh, by the way, Lonely planet informs me that non Muslims are not allowed inside. I think it is not possible to look at an Indian and guess what religion they practise, if they do at all!
We then headed to Giza station to catch the overnight train to Aswan. Our next encounter was with a group of Indians. When 2 Indians or groups of Indians meet anywhere outside their country, the encounter is worth a mention. The words flow out so measuredly! You talk and yet you don't. You want to ask them things and yet not. It's funny. Anyway after some small talk mostly revolving around where from, where to and the likes, we kept to ourselves. We were going to run into them the next 2 days in Aswan anyway. We finally settled in our seats and eagerly waited for Aswan ....
Driving on the 12km long 6th of Oct Bridge in Cairo for some vague reason reminded me of New Delhi. The roads are also comparable to the Delhi ones, as is the traffic. Crossing the road is an experience. The traffic doesn't bother to stop, signal or not, and you just have to manoeuvre your way through it. Hello, I am from India, but even I can't handle that level!
So on our first day, we were to go around with an English Couple (Why o Why an English?) and a proud Egyptian guide whose name is Shady but who (thankfully) calls himself Shieko! Shieko gave us a few tips on how to handle the localites we would encounter. Of course, we knew all that, after all, aren't we the generation of 'lonely planet reading', 'net-researching' travellers! Furthermore, Shieko promised to take us to 'govt run' places to buy original papyrus, perfumes and any other Egyptian specialities we might be interested in shopping for. All geared up and visibly impressed with Shieko's knowledge and his sensitive & courteous manners we were geared up for our first day at Cairo.
Our first stop - Pyramids at Giza. So, did it live up to all the high expectations I had from it. Yes and No. I mean yes, it is certainly impressive. But I always have the problem of over expectation! Anyway, am not suggesting it is not worth it. You can't find it anywhere else, can you? Inside the pyramid, there is nothing, we were forewarned! But then one would still want to see what is that nothing! So we went in, almost crawling. Once there, I wasn't sure if I was going to survive to tell the tale, as claustrophobia happens to be one of the many phobias I nurture! And oh btw it is hot as Hell! We rounded off the Giza visit with the routine jazz - sphinx and all that.
I think I asked Shieko one two many questions, so he decided to lead us straight into the first of the many traps he had set up for us - the perfume factory and papyrus museum! Unless you really enjoy being fooled out of your wits, you would do well to avoid any one trying to talk you into one of these things. As for us, I think it would suffice to say that by midday on our first day at Cairo we were left with a rather huge hole in our brains and wallets! The full impact hadn't hit us until later that night, though.
Our penultimate stop for the day was the Egyptian Museum. I, not being a very 'museum person', don't have much to say about it. But hey if you think Indians are stupid to give away the Kohinoor to English, what do you have to say to the Egyptians? The only non-original piece in the whole of museum is the Rosetta stone - and no points for guessing where the original is! But, how do the British do it, really?! The highlight of the museum of course is the Tutankhamen coffin and Jewel section! Again the all famous Golden Mask of the juvenile Pharaoh is currently in London O2, temporarily.
We then made our way to the maddeningly refreshing Khan-El-Khallili Souq. Yes, it's the same world famous bazaar where everyone tries their hand at bargaining; where one sits down and enjoys (or not) the Shisha and Turkish coffee in one of the most famous and extremely touristy Ahwa house! We were in every single shop, greeted as 'hey Indian', and the names of Amitabh Bacchan and Shah Rukh Khan were on every one's lips. Some men tried their hand at flirting, mostly the harmless kind of course. After several failed attempts to buy a scarf for 5E£, I settled for a 10E£ one. This was to get into the Hussein mosque, which though not much renowned for its beauty, is known to be one of the important mosques of Islamic Cairo. Oh, by the way, Lonely planet informs me that non Muslims are not allowed inside. I think it is not possible to look at an Indian and guess what religion they practise, if they do at all!
We then headed to Giza station to catch the overnight train to Aswan. Our next encounter was with a group of Indians. When 2 Indians or groups of Indians meet anywhere outside their country, the encounter is worth a mention. The words flow out so measuredly! You talk and yet you don't. You want to ask them things and yet not. It's funny. Anyway after some small talk mostly revolving around where from, where to and the likes, we kept to ourselves. We were going to run into them the next 2 days in Aswan anyway. We finally settled in our seats and eagerly waited for Aswan ....
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