An Empty Abydos Temple, Egypt and a missing highway!

Last week I had the great pleasure to spend the day in Abydos, Egypt. This is the site of the Cenotaph Temple of Seti 1 and also his son Ramses 2.

Outside Seti 1 temple

For me, its a magical place and no other temple has the same spiritual feeling as this one. For the egyptologist tourists amongst us, its wonderfully preserved with the most exquisite reliefs on the walls.

Seti 1 temple

Ramses 2 temple
Humanised Djed Pillar

The walk across the desert to the smaller Cenotaph Temple of Ramses 2 brings us to a more ruined temple, but with such wonderful colours it is hard to leave.





Our journey began in the early morning with a drive up the East Bank road, through Qena heading towards the barrage  bridge at Naga Hammadi.  However, things did not go quite as planned. Our drive to Naga Hammadi was without incident, but at Naga Hammadi, things changed.

On the track to the new bridge
The old bridge is in the background

They have built a new bridge over the River Nile here, to replace the ageing barrage bridge. Ok, great! A new bridge to cross, and from a distance it looked like a wonderful bridge! But how to get there?
The only road was a small track running alongside the river and the police directed us along that track. So we bumped along, wondering how the big tour coaches and articulated lorries coped with it. Not to mention the people who live alongside this track. I imagine it was a very peaceful place to live, but it is obvious that the track will be widened and the houses will be demolished and these people will lose their land and their homes.

After 10 minutes we arrived at the new bridge.

There is small evidence that there will be a new access road to the bridge, but it is not there yet, just a sandy track leads us onto the bridge itself.  At that point we could not see the other side of the bridge but as we drove over the brow of the bridge, um.......... the road stopped after the end of the asphalt of the bridge. Another track leading to a t-junction.  Left or right? Toss a coin?  We spot a few men in the distance to the left, so we head that way to ask directions.  Not a good egyptian trait, asking directions is admitting they don't know something. But they send us on our way, another t-junction and take a right. But......... a young man on a motorbike is frantically indicating that we follow him........ to the left.  A decision is taken to take the right that the older man told us to take.

I have no idea where we ended up, but the villages that we passed through were full of confused faces at the "tourists" driving through their village.

But eventually we found the "high"road and quickly arrived in Abydos and had a wonderful day wandering in peace and quiet.

Thomson Holidays - scaremongering for profit!

Some friends of mine were here on holiday last week on a package booked with Thomson Holidays UK.

In their pre-holiday literature was one of the worse cases of scaremongering I have yet come across with regard to holidays in Egypt.

Basically they said


"the Foreign Office has instructed British tourists not to book excursions in Luxor except through representatives of their UK tour company."


I am appalled by this blatant lie!  There is nothing on the Foreign Office travel advise stating anything of the sort!  It is simply to line the pockets of the tour company and its reps! 


My friends spent a week in the Sheraton watching pretty much all the other holiday makers staying in the hotel unless they were on a Thomson coach!  They themselves had a brilliant holiday, all under their own steam and without any incidents whatsoever!  I met up with them twice, once at Snacktime overlooking Abu Haggag Square on Friday, immediately after Friday prayers...... and again for dinner and drinks on Monday night on the West Bank.  They loved Luxor and were upset that so many other tourists were not enjoying their holidays as they were too scared to go out of the hotel.


There is a link to the Trip Advisor hotel review that they did where you can see in Ben's own words what he thinks.


http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g294205-d301831-r116958947-Sheraton_Luxor_Resort-Luxor_Nile_River_Valley.html 


Please share this with everyone you know, especially if they are planning a holiday to Egypt! They need to know this is a blatant lie!

Spirit of the Nile Website

Finally, my new website is live. It still needs a few tweaks here and there, but all the new packages are now available and online.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

Spirit of the Nile Website

Whatever your needs are while you are in Luxor, Egypt we will do OUR best to provide YOU with the very best.

We are now offering spiritual tours and workshops, in addition to the felucca packages and sightseeing packages.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

If you have any special requests, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you.

We are not including external flights or hotels, so that you can have the freedom to choose a package holiday or independent travel. We can however, help with smaller hotel bookings or independent apartment rentals if required.

Egypt Unveiled Photography

We are also looking at working closely with a local photographer to offer courses on a daily or weekly basis and have access to egyptology courses for those who do not wish to partake of the spiritual aspects. A perfect solution for a couple with different interests!

We hope you find the time to check out the website. Please contact us if you require any further information.

Spirit of the Nile Website

Egypt Unveiled Photography