Egypt Journey 2008 - The Experience

It is our second day…the group is from all over the world : Costa Rica, the US, Hong Kong, Morocco…they have all flown in one at a time, the last ones arriving just before we left Cairo for Luxor. We are now all well established in our lovely hotel by the Nile and wakeup call today was ….hmmm, yes, an early 5am! The cries of protestation last night…but all will soon forget this when they see where we go!
It is now 5:30 and everybody is assembled in the lobby with their cameras and bottles of water and still half asleep…it gets hot early in Luxor, even in October…we are so close to the desert…We arrive the first bus at the gates of Karnack temple, dawn is still very grey-blue and the first rays of sunshine are pointing nearly between the 2 pylons…the guards smile and let us in exactly at 6am, NO other tourists around…that is the beauty…we now have this huge temple all to ourselves…a rare occurrence! We speed to the sacred lake where we are going to start the day with 45minutes of Nei Gong…the dust is flying as we proceed at a fast pace. I find |the perfect spot”, we roll out our mats and Christel starts to show us the exercises, first the holding exercises, for about 30 minutes, then we practice “Pluck the Flower with a Smile”…Every single person is touched and in awe of the energy we have connected to and which carries us through this movement…It is hard to explain the feeling of deep peace and bliss that all experience, even those who have never before practiced this ancient art..yes, this was the perfect spot to chose, where the intense feeling of unconditional love and wisdom can easily be connected to…magical!

After an extensive visit of the temple of Karnack with our Egyptologist, who is also an artist and paints hieroglyphics (great explanations of all our names…) we are ready for a sumptuous buffet breakfast  around 9:30 on the terrace of our hotel.

This is followed by some private time and then a couple of hours of silence to ponder, muse, meditate or simply enjoy the pool and gardens.

Tonight we are going to visit the other great temple in Luxor, the temple of Luxor, the home of the god Amun Ra and his family! This was a sacred site long before the temple was built and continued to be used by the Christians in the early days and then later the Muslims built a mosque which is still in use to this day. Around 6pm most people leave the temple, it becomes quiet and I usually like to visit then, dusk makes it very beautiful, especially when the lights start to illuminate the huge columns…First we have a ceremony, where I transfer the “Healing Wisdom Energy” to each participant –for many this is a deeply moving moment…. then the historical visit and lots and lots of photos…followed by a copious dinner with laughter galore! We are all tired and content after a day well spent!

Today we again get up at the crack of dawn to go for a balloon ride over the West Bank and have a birds’ eyes’ view of the ancient necropolis of the pharaohs. It is a truly magical experience for everybody, even those who at first are worried about fear of heights; they always enjoy the flight and the dance and celebration that follow! We fly close to the sugar cane, touch it even and go to 1500 feet where there is no noise, just silence and an occasional wooosh when our pilot fires up…we see villages that have not changed since the Middle Age, donkeys ferrying children to school, a few rare cars…the colossi of Memnon, the Ramesseum, Hatchepsut’s glorious temple, Medinet Habu in the distance…and the full moon on one side, the rising sun on the other…a totally different perspective of things, and perhaps for the deep thinkers, a different perspective of life! Everybody is invigorated and singing, and by 7am we are back at our hotel and ravenous!

Everybody needs some quiet time to ponder the journey so far and we leave around 10am to visit some of the West Bank by car and on foot…a more grounded tour this time in the Ramesseum where we are alone, we have a Nei Gong session followed by a mini workshop on the power of speech and expression, then we move to Hatchepsut’s temple, just so everybody can experience a site teeming with tourists, then on not to the Valley of the Kings, but the village of the workers, the Hathor temple there and the tombs of the nobles, just as well preserved or better than most tombs of kings, albeit a tad smaller…the colours are still vibrant, beautiful, the paintings on the walls intriguing and again, no tourists!

It is hot hot hot by now, probably around 45 C and we are ready for a late lunch in a cozy local restaurant, where we devour the delicious Egyptian meal our hosts have prepared for us! Then back to the hotel, the pool and a nap, private sessions or silence time!
At dinner tonight we discuss the purpose of the various temples, the deeper meanings to what we have visited and experienced so far and I give an impromptu lecture on ancient Egyptian philosophy, although peppered with jokes and giggles and laughter!

The following days we visited Abydos, the jewel in the crown of the temples of upper Egypt, and connected to some powerful energies there, went on a felucca ride (without wind and it is supposed to be a sailboat ha ha ha…) nice to be on the water, so we had all 3 experiences: air, earth and water! We then flew back to Cairo, where we had a private visit in front of the Sphinx, shopping and the ever so special hour where we were in the King’s chamber all by ourselves! An awesome experience where we, each and every one of us, felt freedom and joy…and connection to a world we do not regularly see or feel. It was mystical and magical for everybody in their own way!

The last evening we spent on the terrace of a friend’s restaurant, overlooking the sound and light show of the pyramids…and everybody felt renewed, light and happy!