埃及之二｜穿越劇 Back to the Ancient era

Anne
Mar 23, 2018
13 min read

Updated: May 6, 2018

搭 Nile Air 降落在路克索的我們繼續被亮得睜不開眼睛。埃及的藍天真的很浮誇，一整片晴朗無雲加上黃色大地。雖然看似熱到不行，我們實際上被搞得又冷又熱。在太陽下曬五分鐘就會想脫外套，在陰影下又把外套穿回來。雖然在陰影下冷得發抖，但是想到夏天天氣會多可怕就覺得冬天來真好。

The sky in Luxor was as bright and as usual (in Egyptian standards, of course.) Blue sky, yellow sand constitutes 90% of the scenery. Although it seems like summer from the pictures, we were shivering under the shadows. Thinking of how scary the heat will be in the summer, a little bit of cold doesn't seem like a big deal anymore.

跟大家介紹沙漠公路ㄉ一行人：

我（透明）、司機（藍色）、阿姨（黃色）、導遊（紅色）

Here I present to you the road trip gangs:

Me (transparent), driver (blue), Aunt Dani (yellow), tour guide (red)

所以說我可愛ㄉ室友們很好奇我到底在打什麼。懶人我只好來寫雙語版本ㄌ！這篇會比較偏向 photoblog，除非突然想起來什麼該說的小細節（看上面門票的數量就知道ㄌ，全部打出來大概沒人會看完）左邊那排的門票都在開羅，留到下回慢慢說。

God has send angels like Silvia, Dari, Ale, Sune and Ceci to cure my laziness. So here comes the first bilingual post! This post contains a lot of pictures and selected anecdotes, otherwise it's gonna be a perfect sleeping pill. I'll save Cairo (the left row) for the next post.

給大家個目錄：

盧克索｜卡納克神廟、盧克索神廟
山前神殿山後墳｜哈其普蘇特女王的神殿、帝王谷
半路上的神廟｜荷魯斯神廟、老鷹鱷魚神廟
納瑟湖最高｜阿布辛貝神廟、菲萊神廟
尼羅河｜瀑布酒店、遊輪豪豪玩！

AND of course a roadmap in case this looks like a long and unending essay:

Luxor | Karnak Temple & Luxor Temple
Temple, mountain, graves | Al Deir Al Bahari Temple, Valley of the Kings
Halfway to Aswan | Edfu Temple & Kom Ombo Temple
Lake Nasser is the Best | Abu Simbel Temple & Philae Temple
Nile | Old Cataract & Our Ferry

1. 盧克索｜卡納克神廟、盧克索神廟

1. Luxor | Karnak Temple & Luxor Temple

暴力藍阿！！！

a violently blue sky!!!

維基百科表示：

底比斯是上埃及古城，瀕臨尼羅河，位於今埃及中部，即今天的盧克索附近。作為皇室居地和宗教膜拜的宗教中心，它從公元前 22 世紀中期到公元前 18 世紀曾繁榮一時。

[...] 底比斯的名稱來源尚有爭議，有人認為是希臘人以希臘的底比斯命名，也有人認為是用希臘語化的古埃及語「最精選的地方」。

而盧克索英語為 Luxor，阿拉伯語為الأقصر（Al Uqsur），意為「很多宮殿的地方」。則是因為阿拉伯征服者看到這個被毀滅後的埃及城市仍然有許多巨大的宮殿而命名。

總之是古時候埃及的政教中心。（沒錯我懶到抄維基百科。我也是看維基知道的 R）

According to Wikipedia,

Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city [...]. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor. Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome (Sceptre nome) and was the capital of Egypt mainly during the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. It was close to Nubia and the eastern desert, with its valuable mineral resources and trade routes. It was a cult center and the most venerated city of ancient Egypt during its heyday. The site of Thebes includes areas on both the eastern bank of the Nile, where the temples of Karnak and Luxor stand and the city proper was situated; and the western bank, where a necropolis of large private and royal cemeteries and funerary complexes can be found.

IN A NUTSHELL, it was an ancient political and religious center, and yes, I'm that lazy to copy-paste Wikipedia, where my knowledge happens to come from.

話說這裡的古時候指的是公元前幾千年那種古時候，所以在古埃及人之後又經歷了希臘化時代、羅馬/基督徒時代、阿拉伯人、歐洲探險家的「洗禮」，這些人都在古蹟上留下了或多或少的痕跡。

所謂的古時候其實也包含了很長一段時間，所以卡納克神廟其實並不是一個時代蓋好的，是歷代國王從裡面慢慢往外加蓋的結果。包括哈奇普蘇特女王的世界最高阿姆斯特朗迴旋加速噴氣式（並不是）方尖碑也蓋在這裡，但是奪權成功的姪子想掩蓋她的痕跡於是把她的尖尖碑用牆圍起來了。謝謝姪子，尖尖碑因此保存得不錯。

This is the 3000-BC-kind of ancient that we're talking about. Therefore, the ruins and the land in general encountered the Greeks, the Roman Christians, the Arabs, and the European explorers. All of them left traces, major or minor, on these ancient architectures.

That kind of ancient also contains a long period of time. For instance, the Karnak Temple wasn't built in some decades, but gradually augmented by generations of Egyptian kings. Queen Hatshepsut also built her obelisk, the tallest in ancient Egypt, at this site. After her nephew Thutmose III seized power, he tried to eradicate any sign of Hatshepsut's existence. He ordered people to build a wall around the obelisk, and thanks to him, this obelisk looks rather fine nowadays.

卡納克神殿裡面的大柱子廳是我最喜歡的部分。上面像圓盤狀的東西是模擬紙莎草的裝飾，一側的柱子是紙莎草、一側是模擬蓮花。

在大概兩個人高的地方會看到 18XX 年的歐洲探險家簽名，刻在幾千年的古蹟上，超級沒擬貌。至於為什麼在兩個人高的地方，是因為在蓋亞斯文高壩前這個地方沉在沼澤裡，所以當時的探險家是坐船經過這些柱子的。

My favorite place in this temple complex is the Great Hypostyle Hall. "The roof, now fallen, was supported by 134 columns in 16 rows." The disk-like thing on the top of the pillar is a kind of decoration mimicking papyrus. Half of the pillars was decorated by papyrus carvings, and the other half by lotus carvings.

If you look up to somewhere between 3-4 meters high, you'll see European names and 18XX carved into the pillars. Well now it's a little awkward to say "thank you for preserving these ruins."

How did they reach there anyways? Before the Aswan high dam was built, this temple complex was half-covered by swamp. So the Europeans were on boats when they discovered this site, and leaving their names on rather higher places.

一些羊頭獅身，據說羊頭代表太陽神

Lamb head represents Amon-Re, the god of sun.

這位後面有棕櫚葉加持的 94 拉美西斯二世本人。他對面還有拉美西斯二世2號，擺出左腳前右腳後的姿勢，代表活著的版本。上面這個雙手交叉是死掉ㄉ，所以木乃伊都是這個姿勢。

This guy, decorated with some cute palm leafs, is Ramses II, the King who reunited Egypt. The statue was placed at the entrance of Karnak, with another Ramses II standing on the other side of the road. Ramses II #2 stretched his left foot to the front, representing the living Ramses; this statue with hands crossed on his chest represents the dead Ramses. The latter gesture is a typical mummy gesture.

盧克索神廟的故事基本上就是我突然領悟「大太陽最適合玩星芒ㄌ！」所以連不該有星芒的照片都是星芒... 順便發現自己保護鏡很髒這樣子。

Pictures of Luxor Temple is mainly me realizing "OH BRIGHT SUN IS PERFECT FOR SHOOTING STARBURSTS!" So there are starburst everywhere, including those unnecessary ones. It's also about realizing how dirty my protection filter is. :-)

中間那片彩色的地方就是基督徒留下來的痕跡。象形文字搭壁畫真的很奇妙呢

The colorful mural was painted by Christians and surrounded by hieroglyphs. Interesting combination.

上面這座清真寺是神廟沈入沙中之後，阿拉伯人看到像地基的東西蓋上去的。 11 世紀的古蹟蓋在西元前 14 世紀的祖宗級古蹟上。如果你拉回上面那張方尖碑上長太陽的照片，會看到清真寺的尖塔在城牆後面。連同上面的基督教壁畫，盧克索神廟同時有三個不同時代和信仰的人們敬拜他們的神。

After the ruins sunk into sand, the Arabs found this "sturdy ground" to build their Mosque. If you scroll back to the obelisk and sun picture, you can see the minaret between the walls. What we see here is a 11 CE temple building on top of a 14 BCE temple. Despite the vast time difference, they both look ancient to us.

Three different religion, three eras in to same temple.

2. 山前神殿山後墳｜哈其普蘇特女王的神殿、帝王谷

2. Temple, mountain, graves | Al Deir Al Bahari Temple, Valley of the Kings

窮游表示：

神廟坐落在帝王谷北面，依山而建。此神殿三層樓設計方式，開闊簡明，很有現代建築的風格。其建造者哈特謝普蘇特女王是古埃及第一位女王，武則天一般的存在。其為法老嫡女，與其弟結婚，夫死後，奪其夫庶子帝位，自立為王。身死後其庶子重登大典，挖其棺木，毀其宮殿，消除一切有關女王的材料。哈特謝普蘇特，或譯哈特舍普蘇特、赫雀瑟或哈塞普蘇，在古埃及語的意思為 “最受尊敬的”。她是第十八王朝法老（約公元前 1479 年－約公元前 1458 年在位），是古埃及一位著名的女法老。她的神廟位於尼羅河西岸 Deir el-Bahari 陵寢群，鑲嵌在一片山壁中央，十分壯觀。

幫大家挑關鍵字：長得好像現代建築、女王蓋的、長在山壁上

According to Wikipedia,

Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri (Monastery of the Sea) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis.

The first monument built at the site was the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh dynasty. It was constructed during the 15th century BC.

During the Eighteenth dynasty, Amenhotep I and Hatshepsut also built extensively at the site.

Key points: Contemporary look, Hatshepsut was here, merges perfectly with the mountain

背向陽光的天空最藍

You can always find blue sky on the opposite side of the sun

偷偷觀察遊客的部分

因為跟團的人素質通常比較，你知道的，亞洲觀光客。我覺得全世界的人（除了亞洲觀光客本人）心裡都對亞洲觀光客有點芥蒂XD 所以下面如果用了負面的詞彙，請大家不要介意。

先說中國遊客。在埃及的中國遊客通常身上至少有一間鮮豔的衣服。大紅大紫、艷綠艷黃都有，而且屢試不爽。通常中國遊客出現的時候，整個神殿就會迴盪著捲舌的聲音。韓國遊客就看起來... 像韓國人。黑色毛毛蟲羽絨衣、鮮紅的口紅、圓眼鏡和圓臉，大概是韓國人的標準配備。日本人也穿羽絨衣，但是顏色比較深。大部分的日本伯伯嬸嬸前面都會掛一台小相機，而且你知道那不只是小相機。

那台灣人呢？嗯我們兩個全身黑，看起來像去奔拉美西斯的喪。XD

好啦正常台灣人也會穿羽絨衣，也蠻多聲音的。至於穿什麼樣子我真的解釋不出來，但一眼看過去就覺得是。（什麼都沒有解釋到）

HOW TO TELL EAST ASIANS APART

Because the people of those tour groups are, you know, more like stereotypical Asian tourists. I think the whole world have a thing or two to say about typical Asian tourists (other than themselves.) So please understand if my comment is somewhat not positive.

Let’s start with the basics, aka Chinese tourists. You can always spot a vibrant piece in their outfits, whether it is red, purple, green or yellow. Korean tourists look like... Koreans. Over-knee length black down coat, vibrant red lipsticks, and round glasses. Japanese tourists also wear down jacket, but in dark colors. There are a lot of Japanese grandpas and grandmas carrying a small camera on there chest, which I believe are pricier than its size suggests.

What about Taiwanese tourists?

That's a super hard question. I instantly recognize them when they appear, but it's hard for me to list out specific features. They might also wear down jackets or something sporty, being less vibrant than the Chinese and more colorful than the Japanese. They love running shoes for some odd reason. As for me and my aunt, we were dressed all black as if we were going to the funeral of King Ramses. I guess we're really living out the European and Arabian fascination of black :-)

和超猛太陽對幹就會很灰 QQ 但你看遠遠小小的綠洲！

The picture turns grey if you point the lenses directly towards to sun. But hey look, oasis!

這是神殿的天花板，古埃及人畫星星都喜歡畫成海星的樣子。覺得可愛

The ceiling of the temple is filled with stars. Tbh they look like starfish, and I find them really cute.

坐車車繞過山去帝王谷囉！但我到現在還是不知道那車草是做什麼用的

Time to go to the other side of the mountain!

I still have no idea what these straws are for.

帝王谷超級值得去！壁畫和象形文字的量和規模大到讓人驚嘆。

但因為拍照要另外付錢買攝影票，所以我們來參考 youtube 上 Jose 先生在拉美西斯四世陵寢（KV2）錄的影片：

The Valley of the kings is a must- go for fascinating Egyptian murals and the vast amount of hieroglyphs. Since taking pictures inside the tomb requires an additional ticket, I didn't take any inside of the temple. However, Mr. Jose kindly uploaded this clip of KV2 (the tomb of Ramses IV) on youtube. Check it out!

不過告訴大家，說不能拍照其實塞錢給守在那裡的埃及人就可以拍ㄌ。他還會叫你站到高的台階上或是幫你拍照，所謂「錢能使埃及人拍照」的諺語就是這樣來的（並沒有這種諺語）

Although it requires purchasing another ticket to take pictures, giving "tips" to the Egyptian guards inside the crypt can bring you the same privilege. They will also tell you to jump on to the lower walls to get a better angle, and offer to take pictures of you. Money takes pictures.

3. 半路上的神廟｜荷魯斯神廟、老鷹鱷魚神廟

3. Halfway to Aswan | Edfu Temple & Kom Ombo Temple

我是不是還沒說這趟是個好寶寶行程？例如我們每天都六七點起床。這天六點被挖起來，然後坐馬車去神殿

Did I not mention this is a early bird trip? We woke up at 6 this morning to go to the temple of Edfu, in a carriage!

... 當然是埃及人駕的哈哈

我本來坐在後面，但是後來跑去前面和司機坐，甚至握了韁繩。我發現路上一個埃及女性都沒有，出來工作的通通是男生（歪頭）

他們大概不常看見女生坐在馬車駕駛座旁邊ㄅ。總之遇到這種情況我總是滿腦子「女性主義的風快吹到阿拉伯世界吧啊啊啊啊」

It was the Egyptian "driver" that controlled the horses lol I felt bored sitting in the back of the carriage, so I soon moved to the left had side of the Egyptian. With the clear vision, I then realized there are zero women on the way -- zero! All the people walking and working outside we

re males.

I guess they don't often see a girl in the front seat of the carriage. In every situation like this, I always scream in my heart, "PLEEEASE LET THE WIND OF FEMINISM BLOW TO MENA!"

柱子上面裝飾的順序由左到右是蓮花、紙莎草、蓮花、蓮花、紙莎草、蓮花。有看出來嗎？

The decorations of the pillars, from right to left, are lotus - papyrus - lotus - lotus - papyrus - lotus. See that?

戳戳樂ㄉ部分來自基督徒，因為他們後來跑到裡面聚會，而且討厭多神教。他們甚至在另一面牆壁上顆了十字架XD

The numerous tiny holes were carved by Christians. They occupied this empty temple, and they happened to hate polytheism.

接下來來到老鷹和鱷魚神殿。下面是他們一起拍照

We arrive later at Kom Ombo temple, a temple dedicated to Horus and the god of alligators, Sobek. They posed together for this photo:

不過我覺得這個小怪獸最可愛 <3

But my personal favorite goes to this cute little monster <3

這個井是當初測尼羅河水位用的。我有入鏡哦，應該蠻好找ㄉ

This well was used to estimate the water level of Nile. I guess it's easy to spot me in this picture, right?

4. 納瑟湖最高｜阿布辛貝神廟、菲萊神廟

4. Lake Nasser is the Best | Abu Simbel Temple & Philae Temple

這天起床時間又突破極限。三點半準時上車，一路往南開！

We woke up at 3am (kinda) and headed all the way south.

大約九點終於到了快到蘇丹邊界的阿布辛貝神廟。這一路上旁邊的湖仍然是納瑟湖，這個大小根本意圖把台灣裝進去吧

We finally arrived the Abu Simbel Temple, which is located almost at the boarder of Sudan. Despite the long drive, lake Nassr was always in our view. Pretty sure you can fit Taiwan in that lake

最驚喜的是，逛一陣子之後阿布就、變、成、這、樣！

The best thing is, the temple looks like this after 20 minutes!

迷有人！一個都沒有！門前有一坨埃及男生在自拍而已！裡面只有我跟我阿姨！（連守衛看沒人都走ㄌ）

Literally no one was there, even the guard went to rest! Only a group of Egyptian guys selfie-ing! Me and my aunt happily conquered the whole temple.

拉美老婆的小神殿

Cute temple for Ramses' wife

好開勳。接下來的景點也很棒：

Philae is definitely another awesome spot:

是水水呢水水！

We're on the lake!

導遊一定 hen 想殺我^^ 帶到一個屁孩

回程的時候想要重施上次在開羅尼羅河的故技，坐在甲板上然後玩水。不過被傻眼的船夫制止了哭哭

I bet our tour guide wanted to murder me for acting like a 6-year-old. I wanted to sit on the deck an put my feet into the water, but I was stopped by that captain.

圖右：船夫表示這個他不行（亂加對白）NOPE

好ㄉ來看神殿本人

So here's the temple

我是說我本人

I mean me

又是蓮花

Lotus again

又是紙莎草

Papyrus again

國王獻祭給捲髮ㄉ伊西絲女神

The king offering to Isis, a powerful Goddess

基督徒的痕跡

Traces of Christians

螳螂捕蟬ㄉ概念

My aunt photographing me photographing the scene

5. 尼羅河｜瀑布酒店、遊輪豪豪玩！

5. Nile | Old Cataract & Our Ferry

我覺得我一直被伊斯蘭藝術驚艷。阿姨帶我們到這裡喝茶，順便參觀。

Islamic art never cease to fascinate me. We came here for tea, and of course looking around.

終於來到最後一個部分：遊輪～～～喔

We finally reach the last section! It's the cruise. Oh yeah.

船上的乘客大部分是德國爺爺奶奶，還有大概六個法國人。我跟阿姨是唯一ㄉ幼齒亞洲人。

The majority of passengers are old German ladies and gents, and about 6 French. We are the only youthful Asians on board lol

服務人員的毛巾藝術讓我每天回房間都傻眼。太強ㄌ

The staffs continued to amaze me with their towel art. Yes, it art.

瓶蓋當眼睛！ These blue dots are water bottle caps!

最後一天因為我們把毛毯帶出門，所以服務員只有白毛巾可以用

它完全不甘示弱阿阿那個孔雀冠是衛生紙！

We brought out the yellow blanket that day, so the staff was left with white towels. Didn't seem to be a problem! The crown was made with tissue :D

接下來帶來遊輪的一天

A day in the cruise looks like:

6:15am

9:47am

9:57am

3:00pm

3:20pm

3:37pm

7:30pm

嗯還不懂怎麼拍天空，畫質爛請包涵（改進中）

Didn't know how to properly photograph stars then :P Sorry for the grainy picture and I'm surely improving my skills!

9:44pm

1:43am

這大概也是畢生難忘的經驗。因為從路克索往亞斯文逆流而上，所以課本上出現向巴拿馬運河那樣開閘門--加水--開閘門活生生出現在眼前！

那天睡不著跑到甲板上真是太幸運了。

This is one of the coolest thing I've experienced. I've only read about how the boat has to go through canals, gates closed, water poured, gates opened and voila! That's how boats climb stairs. Witnessing it in person is just too cool.

2:02am