Esna Temple visit.

[John Landon]

We are thinking of heading down to Esna and are looking for some guidance please..

Best day to travel and rough cost of a taxi for the day.

I was thinking of Sunday, and paying about 1600 to 1890 LE for the journey.

All advice greatly received.

Tia...

[A-Four]

The best day for any distance travelling by car is Friday, starting early in the morning, if possible.

I have only travelled by train to Essna, coming out of the station, you would honestly believe you are in the Enlish countryside, however the walk to town on the opposite side of the Nile is quite a distance.

The Temple, as you may know was totally buried, remember it is Greek, and therefore the hieroglyphics are a bit 'Mickey mouse'. It has recently been restored, especially the ceiling. Most of the boats no longer call at Essna these days, which is sad really as the Temple is walking distance from the river.

Sorry cannot help with current taxi fares from Luxor. .

[John Landon]

Thank You A-Four, that's great all round information.

I have in my mind what I want to pay and keep everyone happy. It's only about 40 miles though I expect it's going to be a good hour and a half minimum drive.

It's on "her indoors" to do list, though I would like to see the renovations.

Thanks once again.

[Teddyboy]

Our first stop, on very our first cruise, was Esna Temple. Obviously, being complete novices, we were very impressed. Looking up and behind the temple the guide pointed out the broken wall of a dwelling, and it was made of empty pots to act as insulation against the heat.
The Temple itself was also fascinating, but with most of the ceilings still covered in soot from the fires of the Christians who sheltered there. Oh the memories!

[A-Four]

The Temple itself was also fascinating, but with most of the ceilings still covered in soot from the fires of the Christians who sheltered there. Oh the memories!

I too remember that time Teddyboy, but when it was first built, I imagined the high priest of Amoun visiting from Karnak looking up and saying to himself 'What the f*** is that all about'. It's certainly far removed from the authdoxiy of the faith at that time.

The restoration was carried out by an Egyptian team of conservators trained by the American at Karnack temple, and I believe they did a brilliant job, since then they have worked at Abdos, Edfu and are now carrying out restoration work back in Karnack.

[FABlux]

Did you get there John? How did it go?

[John Landon]

Did you get there John? How did it go?

We are heading there this coming week FABLux.
Our taxi driver has given us a good price for Wednesday, and Thursday, so may be going then.

[John Landon]

I managed to get the same price for Friday, as per A-Fours advise for being the best day to travel. Early start and hopefully be there by about 10.00

[A-Four]

There is one other Temple on your route that I should really mention as you come back from Essna, and it is in a village that is actually quite near to your hotel, it is called the Temple of El Tod.

In truth, it's not a beautiful temple, it's remains make that clear, but in truth this is the only Egyptian temple in Upper Egypt that we can say flourished from the the early middle-kingdom upto almost the 5th Century of the Christian Era. In truth, this place is the modern archaeologicalist's temple of great knowledge, and every student in the field should make careful study here.

As you enter the main area of the temple take very careful note of the recent discoveries by the French of various Chistian statues on the immediate left hand side. As far as I know tickets for sale can be obtained at Luxor Temple. To my knowledge there is only one other early Christian 'temple' in the Luxor area, and that was very near to Habou, it was late 1st Century. This 'church' moved South eventually into Ethiopia for protection and therefore became the first Church of Christ, in other words the Ethiopian Church.

[John Landon]

The visit to Esna went quite well on Friday.
Picked up at the Jolie at 09.30, and we were in Esna by about 10.30.
Another 10 mins drive through the town to get to the ticket office, directly across the road from the market street that leads you to the temple.

Be warned its CARD ONLY, to pay the 200LE each, and I didn't have my card on me. Which in retrospect was just as well.

I found someone who was happy to pay for me in exchange for cash, and upon doing so he had to hand his card over to the attendant and after a bit of messing about then had to tell the guy his PIN, for the transaction to go through after the attendant keyed in the PIN then handed the card back.


Not exectly secure, so I am glad I didn't ha e my card in me.

The temple is small and access is restricted to the temple and the cleared area at the front.

24 Columns in sets of 3, left and right.
6 of which are part of the front wall, and the rest all housed inside.

The column tops were quite intersting as was the ceiling and walls, we were there for about 1 hour, and had the place to ourselves. But one could easily view it all in half an hour.
The noise was almost intolerable, due to the singing blasted from both sides of the temple from the mosques, I could hardly hear myself think, and there was no let up.
Probably one of the downsides to travelling on a Friday.

We explored the back streets and was accompanied by an old solider who kept the hassle away from us, nice old fella in all honesty.
Had a drink in a local bar, then walked back through the market street, which by then was all closed, except for the die hard traders at the entrance.

It's intersting to note how low down the temple is, considering all the other buildings around it have firm foundations some 20 feet above the temple.

The river was intersting too, as they have a lock system, and all the cruise boats waiting to enter the locks on the south end of the river.

I guess river navigation before the locks were introduced would be a bit tricky back in the day, shipping huge statues and obelisks from Aswan. ?

The countryside is indeed beautiful out there on the East bank just before the bridge. And the town reminds me a lot of old luxor West bank in places.
..............


During our time here, I got out onto the west bank a few times and did some exploring.

We had some friends who had a farmhouse and fields out in the fields beyond the Blue Sky more or less opposite but slightly south of the Four Seasons.

I followed the new corniche down to where the fields open up from the extended main street, but knew I had gone too far.
I made my way back and bumped into one of the family and he took me to the farmhouse to meet the others.
The farmhouse hasn't moved at all, but now resides in the last western side street off the corniche, and is surrounded by villas and partly built houses. He has some fields left to the west, where the track still exists to lead back to his village house.
The young 8 year old girl who we met back in 2006, was a good friend to my wife, and she spoke good English. Over the years we saw her grow up into her late teens.
I asked about her, and it seems she was married and at the time she had a three year old daughter when she sadly died quite suddenly. The family now look after the daughter.

Upon my return that evening, my wife was devastated by the news, and she was going to come across to see her again once I had managed to track her down. So sadly my recon' mission to find her did not bring the news my wife had hoped for.


..............

While on my own, I have now mastered the art of fending off all the calesh, taxi drivers and traders with a quick flick of my right hand and a specific look on my face while uttering a showkran or la showkran.

Anyhow, Esna temple is the last one ticked off our list. We fly out Tuesday afternoon, so winding down now on what will be our last visit here.

I glad we came and had some amazing times, met sowe lovely and wonderful people and every day here has been a learning day.
These times are different in many ways, and not quite how it used to be, but times move on, and we have enjoyed the best of times here. It's been a blast.

[Teddyboy]

"our last visit here"

Any particular reason for this, John?
We have booked for our "last visit" for March, but that's because we're getting too old for the long flights and airport hassle. (Plus not having a sufficient income!!!)

[John Landon]

"our last visit here"

Any particular reason for this, John?

Times have changed, as has Luxor, which we enjoyed at it's best, and it's time to move on to other places now.
More visits to Morocco and Tunisia, planned as they are only 2 hours away. Plus now I'm retired we can have longer spells there.

We also want to do some long hauls to India, the Philippines, Thailand and China, all of which we could not do when I was working, as 2 weeks wouldn't be enough in those places.

We are looking forward to that.


We have enough put by for that and hope to do all that in the next 5 years. Otherwise it probably won't happen.

My DD uncles ony regret on his death bed that he confided to me, was that they didn't travel enough and wasted a lot of time at home.

At least his kids had a nice inheritance...

[Teddyboy]

Right, good thinking. We did a month in India a couple of years ago, couldn't manage it now! It was OK, but we won't do another "group tour"!
Morocco and Tunisia are a lot easier, I agree.

[John Landon]

Teddyboy, you should try Manchester again and do a short haul flight to either of those places.

It's so easy now, even with terminal 1 and 3 being closed to all but one airline company.


So long as you have your boarding passes, there is hardly any waiting time, if at all.
Security is so much better.

I can hardly believe it myself, having hated the whole Manchester experience in the past, they have worked hard to improve it..


I will have to update my TripAdvisor and Google reveiews now.

[HEPZIBAH]

'Last visit' - Teddyboy and John Landon, it's interesting to read your references to your 'last visit' as I was thinking over the weekend of my last visit to Luxor. It was a December trip - Christmas in Luxor with a quick visit to Alexandria for New Year before flying home from Cairo. None of my Egyptian friends could understand that I was very much my trip to say goodbye to them - especially my elderly friends - and to thank them for past hospitality etc. but that I wouldn't be visiting again.

My visits had always been primarily people based visits. Repeated visits to tombs and temples are not my thing. If I hadn't been adopted by so many families, I would have stopped visiting long before, but over the years, there were fewer of the older folk to visit. The girls and young women I had got to know were married and moved away from the family homes into their husbands families, so were harder to contact and see. The young men who I had originally got to know when they were very young, were married now with their own families (and sadly some with women who saw a more mature British woman as both a threat and an opportunity).

I've seen Luxor change, and the people change with it. I do miss seeing some of my friends, but I don't regret not going back again to visit. I have only so much time and money, although these days I have more time but less money. I have to use both wisely, and there are still so many places to visit, including in the UK, that I need to focus on what I can realistically do to make the most of both my time and money.

All that being said, I stand by the saying 'Never say never!' Who knows what the future may bring? I had a standing [joke] arrangement with a friend I went on my first visit to Egypt with - when we were both 70 we'd meet at the Pyramids. We've not reached that point yet, but as he now lives in Argentina, I think there is more likelyhood of me flying to see him there than us both making it to Cairo.

[Teddyboy]

Sad days are upon us!
When we turned 70, we realised that our time in Luxor was nearing the end. 83 Egyptian (different riser heights and different tread depths!) steps up to our dwelling didn't help, but neither did the aches and pains, plus the new necessity of having hugely expensive health insurance, due to various bodily failings.
What finally made the decision for us, was a generous offer for our flats from a long-time English friend who wintered in Luxor. I'm not aware of anyone else leaving Luxor with more money than they entered with! Not by very much, mind; but we've heard more than our fair share of foreigners losing fortunes, big and small, during their time there.
We're going back for a visit, mainly because we left without making some proper farewells, plus a shared urge to one last time enjoy the sheer pleasures of the Winter Palace and the Cataract in Aswan.
The journey of life goes on!

[HEPZIBAH]

Sad days are upon us!
When we turned 70, we realised that our time in Luxor was nearing the end.... plus the new necessity of having hugely expensive health insurance, due to various bodily failings.
...
We're going back for a visit, mainly because we left without making some proper farewells, plus a shared urge to one last time enjoy the sheer pleasures of the Winter Palace and the Cataract in Aswan.
The journey of life goes on!

When our bodily temples start to age and crumble, it certainly is more expensive, and an extra effort, to visit those man made ones.
It is good that you are both feeling able to make a farewell tour. Saying goodbye to people, and places, is not always easy, but it does help draw a line under a part of your life experiences.

[John Landon]

I echo HEPZIBAH's post.

In the last few years I have drawn many lines under parts of my life.

It helps with closure, closure under the good times that you know are not coming back, just as closure under the bad parts that are not coming back either.

The memories are all there, and as such I'm grateful to have been able to make them, and share them.

They say time travel to the past isn't possible, but I disagree. I have traveled back many times, but what you realise is that it's the people who are not there anymore.

Saying goodbye is important quite often, and many times we never realise that the people last spent time with was the last time.

I'm all for living in the present these days, it's the only real time that we actually have in life. Each moment that is the present becomes the past, and the future is not guaranteed, but the present is a great place to make plans for the future.
We are all just making movies..

Anyhow Teddyboy, I hope you enjoy the WP, it's not changed much apart from the lawns that have shrunk due to more bushes being planted. It looked really nice with all the xmas lights.
The replica Tut death mask is pretty awesome too. It's in the corridor that leads to the dining rooms.