The Longest Mile

I listen to a lot of different music when I travel. I love putting in my earbuds and having a soundtrack for the daily adventure that is in store for me. For example, last October I went to The Cloisters here in NYC. 

(http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/visit-the-cloisters)

Interior courtyard of The Cloisters

The Cloisters is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in Fort Tyrion Park in northern Manhattan and is dedicated to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. For that visit, I made a medieval playlist which included, some Loreena McKennitt, Anonymous 4, selections from "The Pleasures of the Royal Courts" and various classical works by Handel. Sometimes I try to match the music to the venue, sometimes it is more of a feeling or mood (i.e. McKennitt and Handel). Strolling through the lush gardens and outdoor courtyard on that warm October afternoon with my playlist was a wonderful meditation and somewhat surreal. It was as if everyone else who was there was removed from my experience. It was heaven.

If you really want to experience a place, make a soundtrack for it.

At the end of December, 2009, I traveled to Egypt and Jordan with my dad. It was a trip that we had dreamed of all of our lives. We are both history buffs and armchair archaeologists so those 2 countries are a historian's/archaeologist's wet dream. We spent a week in Cairo visiting ancient sites like the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, the stunning Mediterranean city of Alexandria (one of my favorite day trips), and the Valley of the Kings to name a few. The soundtrack for Cairo: Led Zeppelin.

Cairo is one of the busiest and most frenetic cities I have ever been to. The air smelled of diesel fumes. My dad and I almost died 3 times in one day trying to cross the street until and old Egyptian woman clad in all black motioned for us to follow her into "The Wall of Death" (what I had come to call the hundreds of cars screeching and honking and speeding towards us). Somehow everyone stopped for her. Their horns blaring at her audacity but never coming close to hitting her.

"Wall of Death" (Cairo traffic)

After a week of pollution and mayhem, I was ready to depart for somewhere quieter and less stressful.

On New Year's Day, still hung over from our previous night of beer consumption (it was a part of the daily diet of Egyptian Pharaohs over 5000 years ago, so I just went with it) and hookah overdose, we took a very early, bumpy flight down to Luxor for a 5 day cruise down the Nile. The soundtrack for the flight: Nancy Ajram

Happy New Year!

Luxor was a welcome change from the cacophony of Cairo. Much more quiet and laid-back and no diesel fumes.

Smile!

Our boat, the M/S River Anuket was a welcome sight after a long day of airport hell. We were exhausted to say the least.

Wasted on the Nile

So after checking into our cabins, which were graced with elaborate towel art, we went down to a fantastic spread of food and beer and turned in early for our explorations of Karnak and Luxor Temples for the next 2 days.

Towel Art: A Retrospective

Karnak and Luxor Temples, located near the banks of the Nile in Egypt, are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites and comprise one of the largest open air museums in the world. Karnak itself is the 2nd largest ancient religious site in the world after Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia and the 2nd most visited site in Egypt after The Pyramids of Giza in Cairo.

Dwarfed by the massive columns in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Temple

It took an entire day to get through a small portion of Karnak Temple. I explored every block and hall I could.
At one point our tour guide told me it was time to go. We were off on yet another shopping excursion. This time to a perfume factory. These "excursions" really started to piss me off. I was ripped from The Valley of the Kings to go to an alabaster factory, dragged away from Dendera Temple (dedicated to the Goddess Hathor) to go to a papyrus factory… I would just begin to discover the beauty and marvel of the Sacred Geometry of a site when, bam. Time to go shopping! So this time I flatly refused to leave this holy place to waste time lining the pocket of my guide with "kickbacks" he would receive from the revenue created by our purchases at said "factory." Plus, Karnak was just across the street from where our boat was docked so there was no need for me to board a bus this time!

Other people in my tour group saw what I did and followed suit, staying on and exploring Karnak. Our guide was not amused. In fact he ignored me for the rest of our stay in Egypt and left me alone to wander at my leisure. Which was fine with me. Myself and the other anarchists in my group, spent the rest of the day, until the Temple closed, exploring. Later, back at our boat, those who went to the perfume extravaganza wished they too had broken free from our guide's "great hard sell of 2010."
The soundtrack for Karnak Temple: Nancy Ajram

Day 2 was Luxor Temple.

Luxor Temple entrance

1.7 miles down the road from Karnak is Luxor Temple. Founded in 1400 BCE (New Kingdom period) several theories exist as to it's purpose. The most accepted theory is that it was mainly used for the Opet Festival which coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile. The temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun (father), Mut (mother) and their son Khonsu. Every year a statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from Karnak Temple to consort with Mut in an elaborate fertility festival. Earlier festivals had the Statue of Amun paraded along the Avenue of the Sphinxes which connects Karnak and Luxor Temples.

Several Pharaohs built upon and expanded Luxor Temple over hundreds of years. Ramses II (the most celebrated Pharaoh in Egyptian history), Tuthmosis III (son of female Pharaoh, Hatshepsut) and Alexander the Great all left their marks at Luxor.

Ramses II and I, just hanging out.

We explored all morning. We stood, slack-jawed with awe at the engineering marvels all around us. As we made our way through to the end of the complex, we came to a small sanctuary built by and dedicated to Alexander the Great. In antiquity, no one was allowed into this most holy shrine. Only Alexander could enter. Our guide told us that the further we went into the temple, the more holy it became. Non-royals could only wait outside. The further a procession went in, it caused less important individuals to drop out, until only the Pharaoh himself was left to enter the most holy place in the temple.

I was mesmerized. I wanted to walk that procession. From the Avenue of the Sphinxes that connected Karnak and Luxor Temples all the way into the inner most sanctum of Alexander.

Our guide informed us, as usual, it was time to get on the boat and go shopping. Again.

We got back onto the bus and headed back to the boat. My dad knew I was fuming. He hated the shopping trips as much as I did, but his metal hips (he called himself the $6.40 man) prevented him from keeping up with my 7 hour exploration marathons. I turned to him on the bus and said, "Dad, this is bullshit. I want to go back to the temple! I want to walk the mile like the ancients did!" He smirked and said, "Then do it. Just cover your hair and be careful."

We went back to our cabin, I got my trusty iPod, money, cell phone, passport, head scarf and a bottle of water and just before the boat took off for yet another "kickback extravaganza" I ran for it. I was stopped by the guard at the entrance of our boat. He asked me just where I thought I was going. "Back to the Temple! I'm sick of shopping!" He laughed at me and said, "Oh habibi, you are brave! Okay. Cover your hair and be careful. Do not talk to any men and walk tall. You make me proud with your love of my country."

I was free. As the boat sailed out onto the Nile, I looked back and saw my tour group friends stunned at my moxie. Shouts of, "Hey!! What are you doing?? Come back!! You can't go out there alone!!" And my dad, smirking, just waved and took a picture.

Now I was alone in a man's world.

Nothing but men along the Nile

As I walked the longest mile to Luxor Temple, I began to feel like I was being watched and I was. I looked around: men everywhere. Staring, leering, making comments about my short hair. Apparently short hair is very sexual in that part of the world. I remembered that I had my scarf and quickly covered it up. Tourist policemen started to follow me and talk in Egyptian Arabic about how audacious I was being: a woman walking alone. I don't speak Egyptian Arabic, but I got the gist. I live in New York City: one does not have to speak the language to know what intimidation sounds like.

I started to get really nervous. Then I thought about the guard who told me to "walk tall" and I did just that. Instead of cowering, I stared right back at the men who tried to intimidate me on my walk. I thought of what Pharaoh Hatshepsut must have gone through being a female Pharaoh in a mens only club. I thought of Cleopatra VII and how she tried so desperately to keep her kingdom together by consummating a liaison with Julius Caesar. Who was I to allow myself to be intimidated by these men? I'm no Pharaoh, but I'm a broad just like they were. I had every right to be there. So I uncovered my hair, turned to the men who followed me and said, "Shukran, habibi! Youm Sa'eed!" (Thank you darling(s)! Have a nice day!) They stopped dead in their tracks. They couldn't believe I spoke their language. They began to laugh and walk towards me again so I held up my hand and said, "La." (No.) I stared them down and after a few seconds they turned their attentions to other females who were less intimidating than me.

At this point I was almost back at Luxor Temple. I felt empowered. I knew Cleo' and Hatshep' had my back. I made my way to the temple, paid my entrance fee and prepared myself to walk the ancient procession of the Pharaohs.
The soundtrack for the walk of the Pharaohs: "Gladiator" (music from the film)

The Avenue of the Sphinxes with Luxor Temple in the distance

It was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to turn everything a deep golden color. The crowds had died down so I was mostly unimpeded as I made my way back along the Avenue of the Sphinxes as far as I could. The breeze from the Nile had died down and all became strangely quiet. I turned to face the Temple and realized I was about to do something that had been done for hundreds of years, thousands of years ago.

I put in my earbuds, centered myself and pressed play.

As I began my own private processional, I began to go into kind of a meditative state. I could feel the stone eyes of the Sphinxes watching my progress. I wondered if they thought me arrogant. I wondered what it must be like for them to watch their great empire crumble around and on top of them-- to be buried under sand and silt for hundreds of years, only to be uncovered 2000 years later to the sounds and smells of 19th century Egypt.

Every step took me closer to the entrance of the temple. I could almost see the tousands of ancient Egyptians lining the edges of the complex, craning their necks to get a glimpse of the Pharaoh and his or her priests dressed in their finest attire: gold and jewels glittering in the sun. Did they hate him or her? Love? Did they care?

Ramses II

Now past the main entrance, watched by impossibly large statues of Ramses II, I continued on, the soundtrack to Gladiator humming in my ears. I reached the large empty inner courtyard and paused in the middle. 

Courtyard

I took in every statue and every column surrounding the area: heiroglyphs praising the virtues of the pharaohs past and present. I tried to see the colors of the pigments they used to decorate their great temple. Blue: The Nile and the Heavens, Black: the fertile soil around the Nile, Green: The vegitation that issued forth after the annual flooding, Gold: their life giving Sun, Red: the deep color of Egyptian skin.

Further along into the temple, dwarfed by granite pharaohs and limestone pillars topped with lotus flower capitals, I saw the innermost sanctum ahead. This would have been the point when only the pharaoh and his or her priests would have continued on. I paused for the imaginary lesser mortals to drop off, and continued. The warm breeze from the water began to pick up as the music in my ears changed to a lamenting woman, bemoaning the loss of her beloved. I imagined Cleopatra VII and what she must have felt upon the loss of her empire to the Romans.

Innermost sanctuary of Alexander the Great

I was now at the entrance to the innermost sanctum. The priests had left, their incense hanging in the air like a veil between worlds.

As I reached the innermost sanctuary of Alexander the Great, I began to cry. I'm not sure why to this day. Maybe the emotion of the ritual, the mourning for a great empire lost-- destroyed from within and taken over from without.

As I contemplated 7000 years of history, my playlist ended, a great gust of wind blew through the small sanctuary and Abu Haggag's call to prayer began to sing across Luxor.

The veil had been lifted and I think the Pharaohs were pleased. It was the best day in my time in Egypt.