-Hi, I'm Rick Steves,
sailing beyond Europe this time. We're on the Nile, exploring the historic and cultural
wonders of Egypt. Thanks for joining us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Egypt is essentially
a big desert, with a lush green ribbon,
the Nile River valley, running right
through its middle. This is the Nile, and the vast majority of
Egyptians live along its banks. In this program,
we'll sail much of it and visit many
of its greatest sights. Saving Cairo and its
magnificent pyramids for another episode,
we'll visit cities and sights all along the Nile. Exploring the fabled city
of Alexandria, we'll venture
into a local market and enjoy a "shisha." -Strawberry. -In Luxor, we'll revel
in the glory of the pharaohs -- their temples
and their hidden tombs. We'll hoist the sail for
an unforgettable felucca ride. Then we'll upgrade
to a river boat and kick back while enjoying iconic Nile views and a glimpse
of timeless rural lifestyles. Our finale: the magnificent
ruins of Abu Simbel. In the southeast corner
of the Mediterranean, Egypt is one of Africa's largest countries. The Nile River flows from south to north. We start in Alexandria, fly to Luxor, cruise up the Nile to Aswan, and finish in Abu Simbel. We're starting in the north
on the Mediterranean coast, in Egypt's second city. Alexandria is one of the great
cities of the Mediterranean. It was Egypt's capital
for almost a thousand years, until the Muslims came
in the 7th century. Not as big as Cairo,
it faces the Mediterranean, has milder weather,
and feels a bit more European. Alexandria is a thriving
port town with a busy harbor. Fishermen, as they have
since ancient times, harvest the sea
to help feed the city while taking advantage
of this safe haven. The harborfront corniche
is lined with cafés, restaurants, and people
out enjoying the scene. Strolling here in the cooler
hours of the early evening, you appreciate
the inviting ambience. ♪♪ This beachside café
has a relaxed vibe -- not unlike other Mediterranean
towns I've enjoyed. Alexandria can feel spirited,
young, and progressive. In fact,
this city helped spearhead Egypt's Arab Spring revolution
back in 2011. The populace is an intriguing
blend of conservative, modern, religious, and hipster. The city has a chaotic energy exceeding anything
I've experienced in Europe. With the constant beeping
of passing traffic, its center is a carnival
of commercial life. Scenes like this
are why many come to Egypt -- and why many don't. [ Bicycle bell dings,
horns honking ] This urban commotion literally
sits upon lots of history. But -- apart from
this Ancient Roman theater, which dates from
the 4th century -- very little survives. It's mostly destroyed,
in the sea, or buried under today's city. ♪♪ Alexandria was named
by Alexander the Great, who founded it in 331 BC. It became one of
the great cities of antiquity, with a population
of several hundred thousand. Queen Cleopatra
ruled Egypt from here -- when the city rivaled Rome as a cultural
and intellectual capital of the Mediterranean world. And it's here that St. Mark introduced Christianity
to Egypt -- establishing what, to this day,
is the "Coptic," or Egyptian,
Church. Ancient Alexandria was home to two of antiquity's
greatest sights, neither of which survive: a huge library
and an awe-inspiring lighthouse, one of the wonders
of the ancient world, built in around 300 BC. Imagine the lighthouse that stood
at the mouth of this harbor. It was so tall that
light from its fire could be seen
from 30 miles out at sea. After guiding ships
from across the Mediterranean safely into port
for 15 centuries, in about the year 1300,
an earthquake hit, and it tumbled into the sea. Today, a 500-year-old fortress
marks the spot. In fact, it's said that many of
the stones from the lighthouse were dredged out of the sea
to help build it. While the ancient lighthouse
guided friendly ships in to Alexandria, centuries later,
this fort was designed to keep enemies --
like the Ottoman Turks -- out. And Alexandria was
famously home to perhaps the greatest library
in the ancient world. No ship was allowed to dock here without giving up its books
to be copied. Tragically,
about 2,000 years ago, that amazing repository
of knowledge was burned and destroyed. Today, its legacy survives
in the city's modern library. Built in the year 2001, its walls are inscribed
with characters of the world's languages
through the ages. An inviting gathering point
for Alexandrians, the library feels promising,
perhaps offering a chance to see the next generation
of this country's leaders. The interior
is welcoming and airy, with space for
hundreds of readers to sit in its main reading room. For me, no visit to Alexandria
is complete without venturing into
its ramshackle market district. While you can buy
just about anything in these thriving
and exotic streets, there's also a strong sense
of community that naturally comes
with such population density. And, to better enjoy
this convivial scene, I'm joined by
my Egyptian friend Tarek in a classic
"shisha" joint. As I've done in Turkey and
elsewhere in the Middle East, I occasionally enjoy
this traditional and very social form of smoking. -Nice, huh? -This is a beautiful scene.
It's easy to relax here. -So relaxing,
comfortable. Peace. -A lot of people
in the United States, they say this would be a
"hookah" or a "hubbly-bubbly." What is this in Egypt? -" Shisha." It's called
"shisha." -" Shisha,"
yeah. -Yeah, and few people now
call it hookah, hubbly-bubbly, "nargile." It lets us vent out,
be casual, socializing, you know, talking
with friends -- we do it with close friends, we vent out and talk... -Yeah?
-Yeah... and have fun! -While clearly
Tarek could spend the rest of the evening
right here, we've got some exploring to do. A short walk is filled
with cultural serendipity. And we'll start with dessert. It's hard to walk by this place without enjoying
at least a taste. -...and delicious!
-That looks great.
What are these? -This is "sawabe' Zainab"
-- "Zainab's Fingers." -Zainab's Fingers.
-Mm. -" Shukran."
-Thank you! "Shukran!" -Mmm! The key to this kind
of sightseeing? Have a curious spirit, have fun, and explore. These guys are
way too fast for me. The entire neighborhood is an
endlessly fascinating market -- and it's open late. There's fresh bread, ♪♪ -White chicken.
-...very fresh poultry, ♪♪ olives straight
from the desert, ♪♪ and something I noticed
everywhere: friendly and inviting people. I know about six words
of Arabic -- but it didn't stop the smiles. Okay, we've worked up
an appetite. And Tarek knows
a great place for fish. -" Bailhana' walshifa'!" What is the fish?
What am I eating here? -This is "denise"
from the Mediterranean. -Okay.
-Yeah. -And then...?
-This is fried calamari from the Mediterranean, too, and fried prawns. -We dip our bread in this? And that?
What is this one? -That's tahini;
that's baba ghanoush. -This is tahini?
-Tahini, yes... -I just go...?
-Of course, yes. Mmm-hmm! So fried eggplant, tahini, you find this in many
countries in the Mediterranean. -Absolutely, and each country
would claim it's "ours." -So today we claim
this is Egyptian. -This is Egyptian,
from the Mediterranean! -The Mediterranean region
shares many delicious and similar dishes. -What country wouldn't
want to claim this as their national cuisine? But, tonight,
it's definitely Egyptian. While Alexandria sits
at the delta, where the Nile flows
into the Mediterranean, we're heading south to Luxor,
about 500 miles upstream. Luxor, straddling the Nile, was for many centuries
the capital of ancient Egypt. It's famed for its tombs
and temples, which were mostly built
between 1500 and 1000 BC. These were the glory days
of the pharaohs. From their palaces here, they proudly
ruled a united kingdom -- Upper and Lower Egypt together. Luxor is a standard stop
on the tourist's itinerary. While a city of about
half a million people today, Luxor feels like a tourist town,
with its riverfront hotels, shops, and ancient temples
gathered along the Nile. The riverbank is lined
with characteristic boats ready to ferry sightseers
to a world of ancient sights. Popping into its busy market,
you find a colorful bazaar that serves both locals
and tourists. The friendly welcome
is a reminder of how important tourism is
for Egypt's economy. The souvenir I take home? Memories of so many vivid
snapshots of humanity. Luxor's charming
riverfront promenade welcomes strollers enjoying
the cool of the early evening. As the sun sets, we appreciate
the timeless beauty of both Luxor and the Nile. ♪♪ The Luxor Temple is particularly
dramatic at twilight. Standing in the middle
of the city, it's evocatively floodlit and welcomes visitors
in the evening. The towering front wall
proclaims the power and greatness of the pharaohs. This grand entry was marked
with a pair of soaring obelisks. Both still stand --
this one here, and its sister
in far away Paris. This holy complex was built
around 1300 BC, nearly a thousand years before
Ancient Greece's golden age. Egypt's temples were not places
of public worship, but sights of sacred mysteries
where priests and pharaohs huddled privately with the gods. Reliefs show
pharaohs wooing the gods with rituals and offerings. While the temple may have been
dedicated to the gods, it seems all the statues
celebrate the great pharaoh, Ramses II. Egypt's ultimate king,
Ramses ruled for 66 years -- and did a lot of building. The sheer size of the complex, with its forest
of massive columns leading to huge squares, is a testimony to Ramses'
power to get things done. Evening's a great time to visit. Under the stars, people wander,
learning and dreaming, wonderstruck at the achievements
of ancient Egypt. Luxor's other great sight -- another magnificent
temple complex -- is best enjoyed
early in the morning, beating the heat and crowds. An avenue of battered sphinxes leads to the awe-inspiring
main entrance heralding the Temples of Karnak. Karnak was the most important
place of worship in all Egypt. Back when Luxor was
Egypt's capital, this sprawling complex
of temples was dedicated to the grandiose Holy Family,
a trinity of gods: Amon, Mut, and Khonsu. It was built
over many centuries throughout
this New Kingdom period, when most of the great
and famous kings ruled. The Great Court is the largest
single area of the complex. It was used once a year
for an elaborate festival feast celebrating fertility:
fertility of the land, the people, and the kingdom. As you venture farther
into the complex, things get older and crescendo
in religious importance. Everything at Karnak
leads to a small chamber that marks the very heart
of the temple complex: the Holy of Holies. This was the most sacred spot
in all of Egypt. On this pedestal
sat a statue of the top god, Amon-Ra. Amon-Ra was the god of Luxor,
the god of empire -- Egypt's god of gods. ♪♪ The Nile still flows,
as it did for the pharaohs -- the lifeblood of civilization
then, as today. Luxor's riverfront is busy
with boats big and small. The traditional felucca -- long
a hard-working cargo boat -- now hauls vacationing tourists. Anywhere on the Nile,
I love a felucca ride. The hand-stitched canvas sail
artfully catches the breeze. Egyptian boatmen
have been sailing this river for thousands of years. Today, they expertly maneuver as tourists leave
every care behind, enjoying this scene -- essentially unchanged
since the time of the pharaohs. Here, where the desert
meets the Nile, the lush ribbon of green is a reminder of
how fundamental this river is to all life in Egypt. ♪♪ ♪♪ As the sun sets,
palms become silhouettes, ensuring memories created
are never forgotten. ♪♪ Across the Nile from Luxor
are hills rich with some of Egypt's
most important ancient sights. While most sightseers
cross the river on a fleet of touristy shuttles, we're riding on the public ferry
with the locals. And we're heading
for the Valley of the Kings and the ancient tombs. To the ancient Egyptians, it seemed logical to live
on the east bank, where the sun rises, and bury your dead
on the west bank, where the sun dies each evening. The valley is blanketed with
yet-to-be-excavated ruins. Here, two lonely statues
herald a long-gone temple. And here, burrowed into
an arid mountain range, is the Valley of the Kings, where mummified pharaohs
hide out with their treasures, awaiting the eternity express. This valley was all about
protecting royal tombs, and so were the great pyramids
before it. It was to ensure
that all those valuables made it safely
into the afterlife. Ironically,
rather than protecting tombs, the pyramids were actually
attracting thieves. Again and again,
pyramids were looted and pharaohs were waking up in
heaven with absolutely nothing. By about 1500 BC, pharaohs stopped
building pyramids and began hiding their tombs
instead. These tombs -- buried deep
in the folds of this valley -- proved to be more secure than the intentionally
high-profile pyramids. While around 60 tombs
have been excavated in the Valley of the Kings, far more have yet
to be discovered. ♪♪ The tomb of Ramses IV
was typical. It had a long ramp,
intricately carved and painted, leading to the burial chamber. ♪♪ This massive granite sarcophagus
was slid down the ramp. It protected the mummy
of the pharaoh. Slathered in hieroglyphs --
prayers and symbolism -- it was all designed to boost
the pharaoh into the next life. Jackals stand guard, and here, a god presents two
ankhs -- the symbol of life. The burial chamber walls are
remarkably vivid for their age. Sealed away dry, dark, and
forgotten for over 3,000 years, they're beautifully preserved. Tourists can still clearly see Ancient Egypt's
elaborate spiritual world. The most famous tomb
in the valley is of King Tutankhamun --
A.K.A. King Tut. Another long passage
leads deep into a chamber where you find more
well-preserved paintings surrounding an empty
stone sarcophagus. It was one of eight
nesting boxes and coffins that protected
the pharaoh's body. Remarkably, Tut's actual mummy
lies nearby. The ancient process
of mummification ensured that the body was there for the soul to inhabit
in the afterlife. And yet, gotta admit, Tut
doesn't look a day over 3,500. While his reign was of
no importance historically and only lasted a few years, Tutankhamun is the one pharaoh
whose name we all know. That's because in 1922 this tomb was discovered
with its treasures intact. And those treasures
are now back in Cairo. Tut's mummy was
in this extravagant coffin. He was wearing a
dazzling mask -- 24 pounds of gold
inlaid with lapis lazuli and filled with symbolism proclaiming the greatness
of this boy pharaoh. A short venture
beyond the famous sights takes us into a timeless Egypt
untouched by tourism. The vast majority
of Egypt's 100 million people live along the banks
of the Nile. And most of them
lead traditional lives on land made fertile
by the river. Plowing with oxen... ♪♪ ...sowing seeds by hand... ♪♪ ...and harvesting their crops... ♪♪ ...they farm as they have
through the millennia. In some ways,
life along the Nile seems to have changed little
since the days of the pharaohs. The major difference? The annual flooding -- once essential to nourish
the soil with silt -- has been controlled
by an enormous dam. Today, fertilizing
and irrigating the soil is the work of engineers
rather than the gods. With the Nile now tamed, farming in Egypt is possible
throughout the year. Luxor is a busy port
for river cruise boats. Fleets of these provide
multiday Nile cruises, which have become a standard
part of an Egyptian tour. We're riding one
farther upstream for a look at the most scenic
stretch of the Nile. The trip upriver takes you
by natural beauty and seemingly ancient scenes interrupted only
by modern cruise boats. Long stretches pass by timeless
slices of Egyptian life as vacationers have
little option but to relax and live at the pace
of the steady boat heading against the current
of the fabled river. It's so peaceful, until the tranquility
is broken by...pirates?! Nope! They're eager
and enterprising salesmen who artfully tie up
to the surging river boats to display, model, and haggle -- [ Men shouting indistinctly ] selling their souvenirs
the hard way. ♪♪ Whether you buy anything or not, you can enjoy
their entertaining show afternoons on both the port
and starboard sides. As the sun gets low in the sky,
we enter the magic hour. Scenes crescendo in beauty
as they glide gracefully by either side of the boat. We pass patient fisherman, grazing cattle,
farmers at work... Children play,
villagers do their chores, and minarets call all to prayer
as the sun sets. ♪♪ After two lazy days,
we reach the city of Aswan, the last major port
on the river. An ancient garrison town
famed for its granite quarries, today it's embraced tourism, taking full advantage
of its attractive riverfront. These days, Aswan is most famous
for its massive dam. It was built with
Soviet technology and money back in the Cold War. A game-changer for Egypt,
it tamed the Nile, providing electricity and controlling the flow
of the once-erratic river. The dam created a huge
reservoir, called "Lake Nasser." Its creation submerged many
towns and ancient treasures. But the most important
temple was saved. To visit that temple, tourists
catch a short flight from Aswan. It's an easy half-day side trip over one of the largest
manmade lakes in the world. ♪♪ The Temple of Abu Simbel, while originally built by
Ramses II in about 1250 BC, was relocated here
only about 50 years ago. Abu Simbel was saved from
being submerged in the lake and lost forever after
an international outcry. Thanks to a heroic effort
in 1968, this ancient temple
was cut into huge blocks and relocated to this spot -- high and dry for at least
another 3,000 years. ♪♪ Four towering statues
of the powerful pharaoh stand sentinel at the entry. Ramses' wife
and some of his children -- considered less important and
therefore smaller in scale -- are at his feet. Inside, the central hall
is lined with more imposing statues
of Ramses. They're surrounded by reliefs
showing off his power. Here, the pharaoh leads
his army into battle, riding his chariot -- thoroughly destroying
his enemies. ♪♪ And finally,
in the sacred sanctuary, Ramses assumes his place
in the company of the gods. Admiring this one last
magnificent temple, you can't help but ponder
the rich and complicated 5,000-year story
of this civilization. I hope you've enjoyed
our look at Alexandria, Luxor, and some
of the wonders of the Nile. I'm Rick Steves. Until next time,
keep on travelin'. -After guiding ships
from across the Mediterranean safely into port for [stuttering]
f-f-fifteen centuries... [ Drumming on stone ] The pyramids were actually
attracting...thieves. Again and again. ♪♪ [ Hookah bubbles ] ♪♪ [ Laughs ] ♪♪ Yeah, baby! ♪♪ [ Door slams, bell tolls ]
