Wednesday 2 July 2008

Karnak Temple (and the Grinding Granny)


WE went to Karnak on the last day i.e. the day before we were to return home, and they definitely did save the best till last.

I think i'll let the pictures speak for themselves. There's no point in trying to give you a history lesson. If you're interested just google Karnak, and the possibilities are endless. Wikipedia is a good starting place.

My favourite part was the Hypostyle Hall, which is basically a hall with a flat ceiling supported by columns. Each of the Temples we visited had at least one Hypostyle, but Karnak was definitely the most impressive with 134 columns. Karnak was the main seat of the Theban Triad made up of Amun-Re, Montu and Mut, and up to 30 Pharoahs contributed towards the complex over the years, seeking to make their mark on the country's most important temple; hence the sheer size of the place. It's divided into 3 precincts, one for each of the gods. The only one open to tourists at present is the precinct of Amun-Re. Amun was the local deity of Thebes (modern day Luxor) who gradually rose through the ranks and became adopted by the other regions, ultimately becoming identified with Ra-herakhty i.e the merged identities of Ra and Horus.

The columns are so wide in diameter that apparently it takes 10 people linking hands to encircle one. We didn't try this but saw other groups attempting it. Our Egyptologist, Ayman proved to be one of the most politically incorrect people, joking that it would normally take 10 people, but 20 Japanese tourists to encircle one column. Hadihaha..

Other highlights include the Sacred Lake in which the priests of Amun would purify themselves before presenting sacrifices to their god. There's also the statue of the Scarab Beetle which is associated with good luck, as the beetle usually came out with the rising of the sun. It is thought that if you circle the statute 7 times, good luck would be yours. The Scarab beetle is also the apparent inspiration for those bugs that crawl underneath the skin and move about in The Mummy (or was it The Mummy Returns). Oh, and the complex lay buried under sand for over 1000 years until it was discovered in the mid-19th century!

That's enough for now, i think. Remember i'm still taking questions.












Sacred Lake


Scarab Beetle





Advisory Note
If you ever visit Karnak Temple, do not under any circumstances go back in the evening for the so-called Sound and Light Show. It sucks! We paid £17 each for the privilege and basically saw what we had seen during the day, lit up and with amplified narrative (by the way, ancient Egyptian kings and queens spoke with Shakespearean accents!). All i'm saying is save your money and avoid it!!!

Grinding Granny
On the second evening,after dinner we were introduced to the boat's management and Heads of department. It was kind of amusing, as it took place in the Lounge bar, with all the guests seated and one of the guides would call out each person and their job title and the DJ would start the music and the person would come in and stand at the front of the room. TB and I had loads of fun whooping loudly as each person came in (hey, we had to keep ourselves amused somehow!).

Anyway, after this, we had a supposed 'disco'. The dj was abysmal. The music selection even worse. So much so that we had to stage an intervention, and (to give you an idea on how abysmal the playlist was) we settled for Dancing Queen by ABBA! So not wanting to go to bed yet, we chilled and watched the one or two other people who decided to brave the dance floor.

Eventually, the dj puts on a relatively danceable track. I think it was Mambo No 5 or Shakira's Hips dont lie (albeit the Spanish version), when some guy comes out of nowhere and begins to grind against this girl who it turns out is his girlfriend. The guy actually went on to propose later in the week and whilst the girl accepted the ring, she refused to put it on her wedding finger as the guy is in the process of getting a divorce but technically still married.

But i digress...So they are grinding away, and it's quite raunchy and beyond the playful kind of grinding. TB, who can be quite puritanical, is almost ready to walk out in disgust. Me, i'm really not bothered much, when all of a sudden, this woman who had been dancing away with her daughter and friend, goes behind the guy and begins grinding against him. So, basically, the guy is grinding his girlfriend from behind and this granny is grinding him. I was almost on the floor with laughter! I'm not sure if she knew what she was doing or if she was drunk, or if she thought perhaps a conga line was forming and decided to join in, or what! The girl was so embarassed, which made it all the more hilarious to me...mwahahahaha! And since then, she became known as the Grinding Granny. The End.

I actually took a surreptitious picture of her, but it was one of the ones i mentioned that i lost! Ah well...

more pics

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely pics. Would soooo love to go round the scarab beetle statue 7 times! Not being PC can be genuinely funny but not the Price Phillip way though. I thought the Jap comment was funny. As 4 grinding granny, go granny!

BTW, Dancing Queen is a classic as u know. I wonder what else was on the playlist?

Naapali said...

naijalines haba why did u beat me?

Naapali said...

love the picture of the sacred lake.

Jennifer A. said...

Lollll @ the Egyptologist...woahhhh...so much for being politically correct...

Ayayaaaa, that "grinding granny" story is just hilarious. LOL...I don't even know what to say...

Those pictures are dazzling...can't wait to go to Egypt...

Thirty + said...

in front of her daughter - lol. she must have been drunk

UndaCovaSista said...

@naijalines - there was loads more un-PC jokes where that came from, i tell you! Can't remember what else was on the playlist to be honest. Let's just file it under 'bad music' :)

@Naapali -It's one of my faves as well. Thanks

@Jaycee - Tell me about grinding granny o! Too hilarious

@30+ - ...or had a great sense of humour :)

Unknown said...

Spellcheck! I meant Prince Phillip. Though he's probably low priced anyway, lol.
U wanna beat me doc naps? U would have to try harder o :)

Fo said...

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Pass word!

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Fo said...

*zooms back!! WAIT a min!! are u in cairo??? damn gurl, gots gemme call!!!
btw vote for TEARS!!

Afrobabe said...

lol @ the grindy granny...you cant blame granny for going after something good...

where are the original pics???

i mean the ones with u in them...

Flourishing Florida said...

now u r making me wish i have enough money 2 go 2 Egypt 4 d honeymoon

Shubby Doo said...

wow!...thank you for this...It sounds so grand. Still amazes me that these guys could engineer things of that scale that stood (& still stand) that test of time...buried for >1000 yrs...wow!

oya...which one of you guys got to the Scarab beetle first...I’m sure someone needed some good luck to keep away baba groper 1 & baba groper 2...lol

Jaja said...

ah... am still beefing you for the Morocco trip...
The pics are lovely.

Shubby Doo said...

Hollywood sef… just settled on one aspect of the scarab beetle … ‘death’ …hisssss… na wa for big box office bucks… thanks 4 the insight about this one.

Atutupoyoyo said...

Those scarab beetles in The Mummy were really something and worth the reverence.

The Japanese line made me laugh out loud as did the thought of that iya arugbo grinding someone up. There are always the people who view a holiday as a chance to behave as stupidly and unruly as possible, quite often spoiling it for everyone else.

I hear u on the regimented holiday thing. Did one to Italy a while back and swore never to again. I was more knackered by the time I got back than when I bloody left!

Unknown said...

those pictures are incredible

Carlang said...

SO here's my question.

How do you always make in first on people blog.
Teach me how to use the force oh princess.
Teach me...
I beseech you.

UndaCovaSista said...

@naijalines - diddnt even notice the typo till you pointed it out...

@fo - hi babe. good to see you about again...Are you in Cairo at the mo? I'm not by the way, but just got back from Southern Egypt. I'll be looking out for you on blogville idol...

@Afrobabe - I want to remain anonymous for as long as i can, so no pics of me on blogsville, i'm afraid! having said that anyone who knows i went to Egypt now knows that undacovasista is I (or is it ME?) .. Ah, well

@Florida - So when is the honeymoon? Or should i say when is the wedding? You never know, anything can happen before then. Definitely a great honeymoon destination, i think...

@Shubby - they were a truly amazing people, i agree. I gave the Scarab beetle a miss, personally. I think we handled the Baba gropers quite well notwithstanding i.e. put as much distance as possible btw us and them!

@Atutupoyoyo - Stereotypical brits abroad,eh?
And lol @ being more knackered when you got back from your trip than before you went! I feel you...Each day we would come back and literally crash for hours!

@Olamild - Thanks, my dear. The sights were amazing...

@Carlang - Hi dude. Hope you've called the Spanish babe.
I really can't tell you that. It's all part of the mystery and intrigu that make up the undacovasista

@

UndaCovaSista said...

@Jaja - thanks dude. Good to see your scarce self around here...hope you're well.

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guerreiranigeriana said...

...nice pics...i have heard so many different stories regarding visiting the pyramids...its really crazy how your tour guide and people in your group really influence what sort of tour you get and the information shared...

...i think only americans and british/maybe other western europeans worry about being pc...

...grinding granny huh?...damn that you lost that pic...would have loved to have seen that...haha...