Vallei der koningen en een disco zwembad

Sportief gaan WE doen vandaag, op de fiets naar de vallei der koningen. Voordat het zover is moeten we eerst fietsen zien te scoren. Ooit ben ik samen met Lorraine op de fiets in juli naar de vallei gegaan. Dat was een zware tocht, slechte knieën, dito fiets en een straffe warme wind tegen. Op sommige plekken hebben we gelopen omdat we bijna niet meer vooruit kwamen. Het bleek een vals plat te zijn, maar daar kwamen we op de terugweg pas achter. Dat gaat me niet meer gebeuren, dus het zal een goede fiets moeten zijn, anders wordt het taxiwerk. Het wordt een mountainbike en dat gaat prima. Na 50 minuten fietsen zijn we er. Volkomen doornat stap ik van mijn fiets af en wordt belaagd door kamikaze vliegjes, die vermoedelijk op mijn lichaamsvocht afkomen en lelijk bijten en ondanks dat ik dol op dieren ben, hebben weinigen dit keer het overleefd. Fikse bulten zijn het gevolg. Eerst worden we langs de stalletjes met de verkopers gedirigeerd om later wanneer we de vallei weer verlaten, hetzelfde gezeur, geplak en trekken weer te mogen gaan meemaken. Ze hebben het zwaar op dit moment de Egyptenaren en hierdoor zijn ze helemaal vasthoudend. Edwin gaat, buiten de 3 graven die je op het toegangskaartje mag bezoeken,  naar het graf van tutanchamon en ik ga naar het graf van Ramses 5 en 6. Dit laatste graf is een plaatje met een schitterend bewaard gebleven plafond. Edwin was in de gelukkige omstandigheid om een foto te kunnen maken van de mummie van tutanchamon. Dit keer ga ik buiten m'n favoriete graven nog een voor mij nieuw graf bezoeken, te weten Seti 2. Ook dit is een mooi graf en ik krijg het aanbod om foto's te maken, maar dat moet dan wel snel, stiekem en niemand mag het weten. Tuurlijk meneer de guardian, ik speel het spelletje wel mee hoor. Ik heb u nooit gezien of ontmoet. Het levert me een paar fraaie plaatjes op. Moe maar voldaan verlaten we de vallei en racen nu terug op onze bikes zonder dat we dan ook maar een keer onze pedalen hoeven te gebruiken.
In het hotel galmt buiten de Engelse zwembaddisco ons tegemoet. Er zitten een aantal Engelsen in het hotel, die de hele dag bij het zwembad liggen. Zij hebben hun eigen muziek meegenomen en met de volume knop op vooral vol is het voor hen de ultieme vakantie. Op het ligbed heb ik prachtig uitzicht op witte getatoeëerde Engelse lijven. Een dame met valse wimpers is aan het zwemmen, het is net Katrien Duck. Morgen zal ik brood meenemen, kan ik de eendjes in het zwembad voeren.

Greco-Roman Bahariya, mummies, cemetries, death masks

When visiting the area of Bahriya oasis with my groups and our wonderful spiritual christian egyptian guide, Ibrahim,enthusiastically leads us to the ancient cemetry sites, delves into cave like tombs to find, mummies wrapped in just linen, possible mercenaries of Alexander the great in the area, we have entered an area of Egypt that has the strongest connections where history is woven and blends with the history of the Ancient Greek and Roman rules of Egypt.

Alexandra the great had a temple built here, and it became a thriving town for the wine trade,that brought alot of wealth to the area, allowing merchants to have tombs built for themselves, and it also developed an extensive Roman cemetry. It is this area in which the golden mummies were found.What makes these Greco-Roman mummies and their death masks so extraordinary,is that the Romans blended their beliefs with the ancient egyptian practice of preserving the bodies for the afterlife,but they painted their mummy faces to show a realistic impression of the face of the deceased, which offers a feeling of actually 'knowing' the deceased.

The unusual faces or death masks of Bahariya offered us an impression of people with individual characters, their pasts an promise of an afterlife. The images are personalised, sometimes in touching ways. One female mummy that we saw in the museum has beautiful eyes that are accentuated by eyeliner, and it reminded me of a saying of my own grandmothers, 'always dress to impress as you never know what might happen to you, this young woman obviously wanted to be seen at her best in the afterlife.

for more information of bookings, visit our websites

Muzawaka Tombs In Western Desert

Every Christmas and New year I take a group into the western desert to refresh the body with clarity energy vibrancy and amazing atmosphere of the Egyptian Western desert. This year we visited the tombs of Muzawaka in Dakhleh Oasis, near ancient Amheida,which was incredible as the tombs are still full of mummies! In this place you look death in the face, you think of the human souls and their lives who have layed in these tombs, since the first and second second centuries after the birth of Jesust Christ. This is an awesome experience and left me with a most poignant effect. Boujewin enthusiastically investigated lots of the tombs and was really effected with his experience in this necropolis. Have a look at this facinating video of the tombs full of mummies.



for more information see my websites: Triade Travel
http://www.freewebs.com/spiritualegypt/

Kalabsha Temple - A Greek Hymn to Mandulis in Graffitti translated

As much as I adore the history of the Egyptian temples I have a fascination with the graffitti found on and within them., as these are traces of a human soul, a remembrance of a life, footsteps of a presence in time centuries previous that we are now also standing in,and I often wonder about the person who wrote their graffitti, so to my joy I came across a selection of very old books about Egypt in a charity shop last week, and wonderfully one of the old books records the actual translation in English of the actual piece of Graffiti that had filled me with curiosity since I found it myself on the panel in Kalabsha temple that we visited on our spiritual tour in December, and what a joy of poetic hymn this piece of graffitti is, so moving and spiritual, so I will relate it to you.

TRANSLATION of the GREEK HYMN TO MANDULIS at KALABSHA TEMPLE:

'When I had gone to contemplate this blessed place of peace, to breathe in the air the sweet breath of life, new ideas,strange to my former life, whirled round my spirit on all sides. Since my conscience had no vice with which to reproach me, my nature then called on me to cultivate the mystic works. Then, becoming a scholar, I composed a varied song, thanks to the noble eloquent spirit which the gods bestowed on me. When the muse made me clearly pleasing to the gods, I shook the Bacchi crown adorned with flowering grass, and then a grotto of sleep staling me straight away transported me quickly into a country which is dear to me. For it seemed me that I was bathing my body in the streams of a river, and the sweet abundant waters of the Nile laved me pleasantly. I thought that I was singing a beautiful song in noble words inspired by the muses, in harmony with all the nymphs. Thinking it a dainty left by Greece I have written on the stone this inspiration of my wise heart. After having moved my limbs as one moves in tune, obeying the baton, I called in, to join with the song, the help of this inscription, without knowing whether I was leaving a cause for blame to unsympathetic souls; but the master called me to speak this learned poetry. Then the great Mandulis descended from Olympus. He softened the barbaric style of Ethiopia, and exhorted me to sing in sweet Hellenic verse that, thanks to thee, man's life can vaunt that is is foreseen, that Day and Night adore thee, and all the Hours, they call thee Brieth Mandulis of the same parents, divine stars rising together in one constellation. Thyself, thou badest me to come and inscribe this in thine honour, and to expose these learned writings to the harse judgement of all men'



The actual temple of Kalabsha was created durng the Graeco-Roman period,and took its present form during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus,its dedicated to Mandulis, From the "Vision of Mandulis" we find the unforced equation of this Nubian solar deity to Egyptian Horus and to the Greek Apollo, which is what also probably inspired the Greek Hymn translated above.

New Kalabsha Island has been re-created itself with many of the sacred sections that stand on it, that were rescued in the same manner as Abu simbel. Here we saw Gerf Hussien and Biet en Wali, where our group held an angel spiritual meditation inside the chamber,this had once been turned into a coptic church,but now has returned to the original state that ramses 11 created.

A glorious kiosk stands proudly on the edge of the rocks looking out to sea, bathing in the warmth and brilliance of the Egyptian sun, to the glory of the Goddess Hathor whose smile greets us and welcome us within her Kiosk, where I experienced a wonderful feeling of love, a blessing from Hathor herself, and as I rested and felt the warmth of Light energy infuse my body, offering me new light energy and inspiration, I remember the beauty of this place surrounded by the sparking Turquoise sea of the Nile that laps around this wonderful Island, I hope my fellow friends of the group have happy memories also of our trip here - Love to you all from Lorraine & Caroline.


To watch our video of the group on Kalabsha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUC_Zs_hKgE