Ramadan Mubarak

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Sonya

Today is the first day of the Holy month of Ramadan. It is my first Ramadan here in Qatar and Travis’ second (although I’m not sure if living on camp in Ras Laffan Industrial City counts in as really having experienced a Ramadan in Qatar!). During the lead up to Ramadan there were many discussions in the our office – what to do, what not to do. I was curious to see what it would be like – one month where most of the country’s population is fasting – this combined with the fact that it falls generally during the hottest months in the year in the gulf.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, where Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset. According to the teachings of Islam, fasting month reminds people of the poor and how they feel. It is also a time for redirecting the heart away from worldly or personal desires. The fasting period lasts for a full lunar month.

As we are not Muslims, one may think that Ramadan does not affect us and other non-Muslims in a significant way. However, there are some very strict constraints placed during this month. For example, eating, drinking and smoking is forbidden in public – it is illegal. You are not allowed to drink, smoke or eat in even in your car.

In the office we have reduced working hours. I read today that the Ministry of Labour will enforce this by conducting surprise raids in private offices to make sure employees are not working more than six hours (!) Within our office eating is permitted only in designated areas (i.e. the concealed kitchen). Out of respect for fasting colleagues we are not permitted to heat up food. Shops and cafes are closed during the day and re-open at sunset until the early hours of the morning.

Iftar refers to the breaking of the fast and takes place at sunset. Most restaurants here advertise speciality Iftar menus. I have heard that in reality, consumption actually increases during Ramadan. Many of the Iftar meals that restaurants and hotels offer are buffet-style feasts in contrast to the simple Iftar meals of Arabic bread, dates and curry which were traditionally eaten. It seems the government have recognised this and a number of newspapers have urged people to remember the religious intent of Ramadan.

Anyway, with Ramadan just beginning we are hoping to attend some of the Iftar celebrations around town and see what the locals get up to. Looking forward to it!

Abu Simbel – reign of Ramesses the Great

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Sonya

We awoke at 2:45am the following morning to start the journey south to Abu Simbel. The hostel had packed us breakfast (bread, boiled egg and juice) and we hopped onto the bus at 3am to pick up other travellers along the way. As Abu Simbel is about forty kilometres north of Sudan, there are some rules around travel there – buses need to travel in a police escorted convoy and there are regulated times for these convoys departing Aswan. The three hour bus ride was quite uninteresting – mostly desert outside and so I slept most of the way. One highlight was seeing the sunrise across the bare, flat horizon, it was very beautiful.

Nothing can really describe the feeling of awe as you look above at the huge statues of Ramesses II carved out of the side of a mountain over two thousand years ago. The depictions inside the temple were also quite amazing, of war, family life… and the wonderful statues of Ramesses with the three gods – Ra, Amun and the Ptah god of the underworld which is the only statue which the sunrays do not fall upon inside the temple.

There is also another temple next to Ramesses temple, the temple of Hathor and Nefertari – built for his wife Nefertari. Inside were pictures dedicated to the beautiful Queen.

We headed back to the bus back to Aswan. At Aswan, we stopped at a local restaurant and tried koshary – something we had seen Egyptians eat in Cairo. Koshary seemed to be a mix of beans, rice, pasta… it was interesting, but by then I had already grown quite fond of falafel and much preferred eating that.

We decided to leave Aswan for Luxor that afternoon so headed to the train station. We purchased tickets on the train and settled down for the ride to our next destination, Luxor.

Aswan – Temple of Philae, Unfinished Obelisk, High Dam

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Sonya

We caught the Abela Sleeping Train from Cairo to Aswan. It was $60 USD per person for the twelve hour trip there, which included dinner and breakfast. I had caught overnight trains in India but this one was very comfortable in comparison. We had a cabin to ourselves which had a small table, a sink, a seat (which converted into one bed) and a fold up bed above it. Dinner was an aeroplane-like meal (various formats of chicken, salad and bread, some pastries), drinks were extra.

The following morning I awoke to hear passengers get off for Luxor. That meant about three more hours before our stop, Aswan. We headed to the dining cart for some coffee. As it was daylight, we could now see the beautiful scenery outside the train – a view of the Nile and its rich fertile land.

We arrived around 9:30 am in Aswan. As soon as we departed the train the atmosphere felt very different to Cairo. It was much hotter… and seemed more relaxed, laid back. We headed towards our hostel, walking through the souk. The shops were selling Nubian-style goods, Nubian being the local people of Aswan.

Our hostel was not far from the souk. We were given a lovely room with absolutely stunning views of the Nile. We booked a driver with our hostel who would take us to three places that day – Temple of Philae, the High Dam and The Unfinished Obelisk.

Temple of Philae

The Temple of Philae was our first stop, about fifteen minutes away from the city. The temple is located on an island and so requires travel by boat. The LP stated that the price of the boat trip was about 20 EGP per person, however the boat taxi men insisted on a price of 50 EGP per person! (It’s about a ten minute boat ride). Fortunately, we came across a friendly Brazilian couple who were looking to share costs, in the end we paid 100 EGP for four of us on one tiny dinghy.

The Temple of Philae was actually originally located at Philae Island but moved to Agilkia Island due to rising water levels from the Aswan High Dam. We had watched a number of Ancient Egypt documentaries and recognised the front of the temple as we approached by boat – with its beautiful inscriptions across the front. One of the benefits of travelling post-revolution was that there was barely anyone at most of the sites we visited. At Philae there were a handful of people. It was peaceful, serene and stunning.

High Dam

The High Dam was a drive further south from Philae. Aside from the view of Lake Nasser, it wasn’t too eventful and could have been skipped. However, it was interesting to see how and why the dam was built and the effect it had on the surrounding areas.

Unfinished Obelisk

The Unfinished Obelisk has an interesting story. Aswan was the primary source of granite during ancient Egypt. Due to the many pharaohs desires of leaving their legacy, granite was important for making obelisks and other monuments and statues. The unfinished obelisk is a forty-two meter long humungous piece of granite which was planned to be the biggest obelisk ever. But after three or four months into its making they noticed that there was a major flaw /crack in the granite hence having to abandon it. The obelisk is located in a quarry where there is evidence of other obelisks being cut out of the granite (some are now in Karnak, Luxor or Thebes as it was known then). The quarry men who worked carving out these monuments lived on the quarry, as can be seen by various pictures carved on the surrounding rocks. It is said they came from places afar, as the pictures are of exotic birds and dolphins which are not generally found in the area.

Aswan Souk and Felucca Cruise

In the evening we decided to take a walk through the souk and later take a felucca on the Nile. It was extremely relaxing and romantic, watching the sun set across the Nile.

We had dinner at a restaurant on the Nile – traditional Nubian fish tagine (which was delicious) and shish tawook (grilled chicken, always a favourite).

Egypt – Egyptian museum and Islamic Cairo

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Sonya

We headed to the famous Egyptian museum, next to Tahrir’s Square, the following day. Whilst we had arrived early, there were already busloads of tourists waiting at the gates. We found out we would have to wait another half an hour till the museum opened so we took photos with relics outside. Unfortunately, the museum does not allow photographs inside.

When opening time arrived we decided to head first to the Tutankhamun galleries. It was on the first floor. There we saw the iconic Tutankhamun mask, and the various items and relics found in his tomb by the English archaeologist, Howard Carter. It was simply amazing, the jewellery, clothes, vases, and other items that were found in his tomb, many of which were in excellent condition.

Other highlights of the museum included:

– The royal mummies – particularly the Ramesses II mummy. Amazingly well preserved – some of them had their hair, teeth and skin intact. Slightly eerie.

– Animal mummies – the Ancient Egyptians believed the scarab (dung beetle) to be representative of the rising of the sun in the way they rolled their dung around. Here we saw a scarab sarcophagus! Plus plenty of animals that had been mummified including a crocodile, dog and baboon.

The museum is definitely a must-see. It was a bit overwhelming to have so many ancient artefacts sprawled around haphazardly, waiting to be observed. Most of the artefacts are not well described – so a guidebook or guide comes in handy.

After the museum we decided to head to the Khan El-Khalili markets near Islamic Cairo. We walked there from the museum which was quite a distance however it gave us an opportunity to experience the full hustle and bustle of Cairo. The markets were quite impressive. There was everything from perfume, to paintings, spices, similar to what we’d seen around the region, with an Egyptian flair.

As we sat down for a rest and were approached by a taxi driver. We told him we weren’t looking for a driver he told us that he was wanted to buy Heineken beer for his niece’s wedding and asked if we could buy some for him. We politely refused and shortly after a lady next to me asked if we wanted assistance buying anything, that she would be happy to help as a local. Not sure how many requests or offers for help were genuine but we decided to err on the side of caution.

After the markets we headed towards Islamic Cairo (also being accosted several times along the way – one guy even followed us!), admiring the architecture. We went into the medieval gate Bab Zuweila and climbed the tower which allowed us a good view of Islamic Cairo.