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

Trip Advisor Listing!

I am so happy! Finally I got a listing on Trip Advisor under Things to Do, Attractions! I had help and the listing is being changed to reflect all that I now do, but its on there and available for review!

Please if anyone reading this has sailed on Spirit or taken a tour with us,  could I ask you to write a review for me?

Spirit of the Nile - Trip Advisor

Reiki and Chronic Pain

dGreat article here about the use of Reiki to treat chronic pain.  I personally confirm that using my own Reiki following abdominal hysterectomy a few years ago helped me to heal quickly, minimise pain and be able to leave the hospital sooner than normal.  Why not come to Luxor, Egypt and start on your own Reiki path. Learn how to use this amazing energy for yourself and for others.

Can Reiki help your chronic pain?

The practice of Reiki sounds almost too good to be true. By "laying on hands" on specific parts of your body or even just positioning hands slightly above your body, a qualified Reiki practitioner can help bring relief to your chronic pain and make you feel better than you have in years. It is an ancient Japanese technique and a form of alternative medicine also sometimes referred to as a "biofield" therapy.

In alternative medicine, Reiki is a treatment in which healing energy is channeled from the practitioner to the patient to enhance energy and reduce stress, pain, and fatigue. Practitioners say that it works by opening up a channel between healer and patient to transfer energy — a Reiki healer restores the body both physically and mentally.

During a Reiki session, muscles are relaxed, and energy flow is unblocked. This helps reduce physical tension and pain. Anxiety and stress also are reduced, helping to unblock and release emotional pain. Although you may not be completely pain-free, you feel relaxed, refreshed, and better able to cope with your condition.

Reiki and Chronic Pain: What the Research Shows

Though Reiki may sound very "new-agey," the effectiveness of this ancient treatment has been shown in some studies. "A [recent] issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine reviewed 66 clinical trials on biofield therapies," says Julie Kusiak, MA, a Reiki practitioner in the integrative medicine department at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. The authors of the review concluded that there was strong evidence that biofield therapies help reduce the intensity of pain in general and moderate evidence that these therapies help reduce the intensity of pain for people who are hospitalized or who have cancer, Kusiak says.

In addition, Kusiak says, a separate review article of 24 studies also showed that touch therapies were successful in reducing pain. This review article noted that the studies involving Reiki therapy seemed to have the most success.

When Reiki is examined for its impact on more specific types of pain, the results seem to hold up equally well. "Recent studies on Reiki therapy reflect a broad spectrum of its benefit for pain relief," says Kusiak. "During colonoscopy, Reiki treatment resulted in decreased anxiety and pain. With abdominal hysterectomies, the women who had Reiki therapy both before and after their procedures experienced lower anxiety and pain. Cancer patients being treated with Reiki reported lower fatigue, less pain, less anxiety, and better quality of life. And in a community of older adults, those who received Reiki therapy were documented to have reduced pain, anxiety, and depression."

Another plus about Reiki, adds Kusiak, is that it seems to be effective with very few side effects. "No serious side effects or risks have been identified in the medical literature on Reiki, and it is considered to be a very low-risk intervention," she says. "Since Reiki is facilitated either with a very light touch or with no touch — slightly off the body — it provides a therapeutic option for those who are in pain or unable to be touched."

Finding a Reiki Practitioner for Chronic Pain

If you're interested in finding a qualified practitioner of this alternative medicine, you can start by looking at Web sites such as The International Center for Reiki Training and Reiki Masters. However, Kusiak points out that standardization of the practice of Reiki is lacking in the United States, so your best bet might be to get a good reference and do some research on potential practitioners that you might be interested in.

"National standards are lacking for Reiki and other biofield therapies, so a key factor to consider would be the practitioner's level of experience and training," she says. "Ask them if they have an understanding of and experience treating your particular health concern. With serious medical concerns, you may need a practitioner who is affiliated with an integrative medicine program. Finally, as with any therapy, one needs to feel comfortable with the practitioner."

Photography in Luxor, Egypt

I just wanted to share the blog pages of a friend of mine who is a photographer here in Luxor, Egypt.

Her pictures are wonderful and bring to life all that Egypt has to offer.

Please take a look at her site

Egypt Unveiled

Ok, so she just told me that the blog is not complete, but please keep checking on it and in the meantime, check her Egypt Unveiled Facebook page. Please like it!!

Egypt Unveiled Photography - Facebook page

And a sneak preview of yesterday's Gurna fun fair, stick fighting and dancing horses

Gurna fair

Tomorrow should be the Dancing Horses display in Gurna, I am hoping to be there, but I know Helen will be and will be taking more photographs

Enjoy!!

More Abu Haggag Moulid 2011

Just another short video to show the participants of the procession who were running on Egyptian time! Late!

Abu Haggag Moulid....... running late!