An Egyptian sojourn

A lot of pressure for this one so I shall., though personally I'm still absorbing what I saw and heard a week ago.Our much planned -put off yet-again trip to the Pharoahs' land finally happened ..A ten day trip complete with an unforgetable cruise down the Nile.

Egyptians are an amazing people..rather I speak for the ancient souls who lived over 3000 years ago . What they left behind is a series of awe inspiring temples and tombs..and ofcourse their mummies ! Since, they were only concerned about their after life rather than the one they spend on earth they didn't bother too much about their homes in this world..Apparently all home (palaces include ) were built of mud so didn't last the passage of time. The Pharoahs set about building their tombs and preparing for after life as soon as they ascended the throne! We visited the Valley of Kings ( and Queens) where we saw the elaborate hyroglypic art . By now, I can deciper some some of the symbolism and representations though the Robert Langdon amongst us is clearly daughter dearest who says her back up plan , in case she doesn't make it to NASA is to become an Egyptologist !
Entering the tombs you feel a sense of guilt for the ancients had not meant them for us to visit..It was only for the soul Ka, to return to the resting place and identify the mortal remains (by reading the cartouche -the name written in hyroglyphics-incribed on the sacrophagus ) The ancient Egyptians believed that whatever age one shed the earthly body the Ka returned and one continued one's afterlife aged 20! Ah, that's a nice thought..to be twenty again.....Ofcourse for King Tut twenty was an age he hadn't reached as the teenaged Pharoah was mysteriously killed(died ) aged 17. Seeing his mummy at ther Valley of Kings was a poignant moment...his love story is there for all to see in various Papyrus paintings. At the Egyptian museum in Cairo later, we would see the treasures from his tomb, his jewellery, his throne, his bed, all the things they packed with a Pharoah in his tomb for his after life..Contrary to popular belief the Pharoahs didn't kill their servants to add to their retinue for after life.Rather they made statues of them which would come to life when a magic charm (also inscribed in the tomb ) was uttered once the Ka came home as it were..King Tut and his young wife Ankhsenamun made a goodlooking young couple sitting in the Karnak temple .They looked alike which can easily be explained as they were siblings. To be a Pharoah you had to marry royal stock of blue blood pure, therefore, the Pharoahs always ended up marrying sisters (in this case half sister, she was the beautiful Nefertiti's daughter ) stepmothers or aunts ! Imagine the plight of some who had to marry old women just so they could be Pharoah! The price of Power! The famed Pyramids were huge by any standards, we did manage to go inside , bent double , breathing in the musty odour of those airless mausoleums..Aren't we disturbing the dead , asked little Ms Langdon as we almost crawled through the length of the Pyramid..I guess they were long disturbed by the tomb robbers who left nothing behind.
Cairo is not as alluring as the historic towns of Luxor or Azwan.Downtown Cairo is like bits of East Delhi, crowded and packed choc-a -bloc with sad looking apartments..At Cairo , we did as Romans do and observed the Ramadan fast as food was scarce at lunch hour..But that was okay since there was so much to see and so little time...Everyone on the street wanted to know if we knew Amitabh Bachchan ( at one point S replied "no, I don't know him" ) Some even shouted Shahrukh's and Aamir's names , but that was just once or twice..Khans , take note Amar Akbar Antonio rules!!!!Wound up our tour in the Grecian city of Alexandria..another place altogether by the beautiful Mediterrenean Sea. There's something about beach towns that get me.. That way am glad for this Madras sojourn for now...come Puja weekend a trip to Pondicherry for a little bit of French flavour...Something tells me I haven't seen the last of Egypt though.....