Thursday, March 18, 2010

Back from Egypt

It's been a long-held dream of mine to travel to Egypt - there's a version of me in a parallel universe that ditch biochemistry at school and ran with my passion for latin, ancient history and archeology instead. True that version is likely broke, unemployed and with moth-eaten straggelly beard, so perhaps I shouldn't feel too regretful, but still...

And so Egypt was our choice of honeymooon destination, to cruise down the Nile and see the sites I'd read of and the depictions of all the deities that captured my imagination from a young age. We started off in Luxor (to see the Valley of the Kings, Colossus of Memnon, Hapshetsut's Temple, Luxor Temple and Karnak), sailed upstream to Edfu (Temple to Horus), onto Kom Ombo (Temple to Sobek, crocodile headed deity), then to Aswan and the Temple of Philae (dedicated to Isis). A selection of snaps below.

And it was all I had hoped for. I love poking about these places, and it was awe inspiring how huge and intricate they were. And what I loved the most was finding these patches of heiroglyph-covered wall that still had the original paint on (see second shot below) - these places weren't just beige stone covered in carvings, they were brightly coloured and intricately patterned. And the detail is incredible. Sights that I'd definitely recommend anyone to see.


















So, now its back to reality with a bump. I always find that a break from the toolset means that you then approach it with a bit of trepidation and fear over what you've forgotten. Just before I left, I finished off a dracolich lair that the party might stumble upon. That now brings me to the last couple of areas to flesh out the sandbox. And hopefully i'll have some screenies of those soon.

6 comments:

EC said...

Those weren't really the shots I had in mind. ;)

Sounds like you had a nice trip. Youère lucky to have ahd a chance to see these sights.

I find the unease lasts only a few minutes after returning to the TS. You'll get right back into it as if you never left it.

Amraphael said...

Wow! I share the same dream to see Eqypt. I've been fascinated by the architecture, the history and the tales since I was a little kid. I almost steered my career towards history but was too good at science and then it was this new thing called personal computers :) I never got the chance to go there, but I will eventually.
Glad to hear that the trip was a success. The photos are really great.

Looking forward to see the WPM progress. My little module (disclaimer: which may never be released) are going forward in a slow pace. I may consult you on some encounter matter later on.

Ankh, wedja, seneb!

Lance Botelle (Bard of Althéa) said...

Great pictures! Makes me wish I had had my digital camera when I went to Egypt. I only had my old camera and film was too pricey to click too many snaps. ;)

Aren't they the same columns I saw tourists' kids colouring in? Only kidding! LOL

I think most builders have a secret Indiana Jones side to them. That's partly what makes us builders!

Lance.

Jclef said...

Welcome back and thank you for sharing some of your experience - It must've been crazy to be there!

Kamal said...

Now we just need those converted to placeables ;-)

Anonymous said...

I'm jealous you went to egypt....