Temples I – The Convoy
We spent the last two days in Luxor on private tours of four temples upstream and downstream of Luxor. The Egyptian government started using police led convoys as a way to thwart terrorism starting about 17 years ago. Since that time there have been numerous attacks mainly in Sinai at hotels, but also the major attack at a temple in Luxor. I’m not sure why they reason that the convoy helps, but we were stuck taking a tour because all traffic carrying tourists must go by convoy. The first day was spent at Kom Ombo and Edfu temples located almost in Aswan south of Luxor. The second day was spent in the opposite direction at Dendera and Abydos temples.
Edfu was our first stop. Edfu is a temple dedicated to Horus their falcon god. It is the second largest temple in Egypt and is one of the best preserved. The preservation is due to the fact that Edfu was buried for centuries under many meters of sand. Edfu is one of the newer temples since it was completed just 2050 years ago! This would have been a great stop but due to the convoy it was completely over-crowded with people who were given only one hour before the convoy had to continue south. Also, this is a favorite stop of the river cruises and they seem to get there at the same time, too. We have seen a lot of indications that Luxor is totally overloaded with people during high season and Edfu seemed to demonstrate this in a manner of which we did not like to be in the middle. Our guide was pretty obnoxious for many reasons which I will skip and the combination of him and the crowds was almost unbearable. Peggy and I persevered and we did our best to find places in the complex where others did not visit as much. The main focal point being the great pylons forming the gates and the inner courtyard where a falcon statue resides. The crowds were also all over the main temple that contains a replica of the original altar which is now in France or UK. I mean, they were going nuts jostling for positions to photo this replica. I have a feeling most of them were just told that it was a very special item. Just another ugly herd moment to me.
Our next stop was Kom Ombo where we had plenty of time to explore on our own after the convoy quickly left for Aswan and we waited for its return. Kom Ombo is a double temple with one half for Sobek the crocodile god and the other for Horus once again. This temple has some nice decorations, but it is probably not as well preserved as Edfu. It has a river dock right next to its gate and a large food area (closed for Ramadan) so we imagined this one being very crazy during high season. Peggy and I were the only ones at the place as soon as a half hour past since we were the only ones crazy enough to be going back to Luxor (three hours). It was definitely too bad that this was not reversed with the crowds at Kom Ombo and us having Edfu alone.
While the temples were good the most memorable part of the day was not good. That was the convoy itself. Each day all buses, vans, taxis and cars with tourists must report to the same known location at the same known time. The convoy is led by a police pickup with some armed men. The vehicles form a line behind that lead vehicle and another police vehicle takes up the end position. Some of the legs of the convoys have more police vehicles. The police drive as fast as possible ignoring speed limits and far exceeding speeds that would be deemed safe. The other vehicles driven by yahoo Egyptians do exactly the same. They also pass each other, weave in and out and do other reckless activities. All of this endangers the tourists who are supposedly being protected as well as the villages, pedestrians, children, cars, donkey carts, camels, other animals and other vehicles along the way. It is all quite terrifying. I am sure many convoys have accidents. I am sure they will deny that.
We finally asked the second day why they drive so recklessly and our guide told us that they do it to stay awake. I told him that if the driver is too tired to drive normal then he is definitely too tired to drive like a madman. We told him to stop passing and weaving and playing other games with the other drivers. He was not happy, but he did just that. I am sure he expected an extra tip for following our wishes. The guide that told us about the tired business fell asleep within five minutes of this conversation so he obviously was not too concerned about the driver staying awake. We should not have put up with this the whole first day especially since the convoy leaders get held up at checkpoints waiting for the slower vehicles (not many!).
The checkpoints control the passage of vehicles with tourists and they also get cars pulled over so that the convoy can pass through as unimpeded as possible. The checkpoints and nearby side roads are controled by men in robes with ancient rifles. These guys look right out of Afghanistan and they are the scariest thing I have seen in Egypt. They also could not stop any terrorist attack of many men with good weapons. I actually believe they would be part of any such problem if it were to occur. The convoys basically create the perfect target for a terrorist attack and we have to agree with Paranoid Planet on this one. If they don’t kill a tourist in a traffic accident, the terrorists could certainly have a field day being delivered hundreds of tourists in a long line with just a few inadequate police to save the day. Really scary when you are in the middle of it. We believe this is a make-work program by the government and has nothing to do with preventing any attack. Evidence is that we moved freely in Sinai where most of the attacks have occurred and I don’t know of any that were against tourist vehicles.
The single scariest moment was when we were stopped at a checkpoint and fifty meters later we passes an 18-wheeler parked next to the road. It was a flatbed truck containing giant bags which were maybe three meters in diameter and 2.5 meters high stacked two high. Each bag was labeled in large print as “Ammonium Nitrate” (ala Oklahoma City). I kid you not. There were tons of the most basic explosive right next to the road and the convoy drove by them! Add some diesel which is readily available and a detonator and everyone is gone. I was telling Peggy about it when we passed a second one 100 meters further up the road. I’m sorry, but me thinks this country is way off its rocker. When factoring in Islamic fundamentalist terrorists and a country so corrupt that many people could be bought off to help or turn a blind eye (the 1997 attack at Hapshetsup’s temple was done by guys wearing real police uniforms and checkpoints did exist), this whole convoy business is NUTS!!! Call me a bigot, but the idea that a robed, armed gunman is there to protect me the infidel is also NUTS!!!
Tags: Africa, egypt, Travel
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