LOCUTUS:
Faces of Apolyton #12, 19/Jun/2004
PART 2 | PART 1
Solver: Thanks for the very extended and interesting
conversation about Civ. I would now, though, like to turn a little
bit to life other side of the monitor. Rumor is, you've been on a
trip to Egypt recently. Any experiences to share?
Locutus: Far too
many to mention! Egypt is an absolutely amazing country, it was an
incredible experience. That probably also had to do with the
intensity of the programme: I don't think I've ever done and seen
so many things in such a short period of time. I knew in advance we'd
be traveling a lot from one destination to the next so I brought 3
thick books to pass the time we would be on the
road, but I doubt I read more than 10 pages (not including
travel guides).
The first few days we spent in Cairo, where
the highlights of our visit included the Egyptian Museum, which
unsurprisingly offers the largest and most impressive collection of
ancient Egyptian objects anywhere in the world -- from much of the
contents of the tomb of Tutanchamun to 15 odd mummies of some of the
most illustrious pharaohs and queens of ancient Egypt (as well as a
collection of mummified animals) to some of the oldest pharaonic
artifacts ever found (such as the Narmer Palette and statues of the
builders of the first few pyramids, including the Giza Pyramids).
Other highlights included 'pyramid-city' Saqqara and of course
the Giza Plateau, where the Great Pyramid of Khufu is located -- the
only of the 7 wonders of the world still standing. Of course, the
plateau is crowded with tourists throughout the day and the pyramids
themselves are basically bare rock -- they have long since been
stripped of any decoration and contents they once had -- but standing
in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid surrounded on all sides
by a total of some 600 million tonnes of rock(!) is an unforgettable
experience, as is the near-impossible climb to get there (through
claustrophobic passages and tiny holes of sometimes barely a meter
(yard) high and
wide)!
After that we travelled by train to Aswan, the
southernmost major city of both ancient and modern Egypt. The journey
was long (14 hours) but certainly not dull: we saw a
lot of the Egyptian countryside and
interacted a bit with the native population with whom we shared the
cabin (with hands and feet, as they didn't speak much English and
our Arab wasn't too great either).
Our stay in Aswan itself
was the most enjoyable part of the trip. It is really a transition
zone between the Middle East and Africa and offers the best of both
worlds (no pun intended). The weather was fantastic, the Nile clean
(though still not safe for swimming) and at its most beautiful and
the native population cheerful, if a bit too eager to sell their
goods and services (though Mark Twain's quote that visitors to
Egypt “[suffer] torture that no pen can describe from the hungry
appeals for baksheesh that gleamed from Arab eyes' was more true
for Cairo and Luxor than for Aswan). The landscape there is quite
amazing: the most inhospitable dry desert borders on fertile farmland
alternated by rainforest.
One
moment you're leaving a typical Arab harbour town on camelback to
trek through the desert, half an hour later you're hacking your way
through the jungle en route to an African village. Though we did
many, many things in Aswan, the absolute highlight was the visit to
Abu Simbel and the journey to and from it (it's located 280 kms
(175 miles) south of Aswan). Over land one
can only get there by convoy, so we had to leave in the middle of the
night. That sounds like a bad thing, but it wasn't: we were
surrounded on all sides by miles and miles of empty desert and far
removed from civilisation (which is quite an
experience in itself, if you happen to live in one of the most
densely populated countries in the world), so the view of the night
sky was absolutely amazing. And yet, it dwarved in comparison to the
sunrise that followed a few hours later. The tempels of Abu Simbel
itself were the most beautiful we've seen anywhere in Egypt, their
beauty only surpassed by some of the tombs of Luxor. And as a bonus,
we were treated to not just one, but at least a dozen fata morganas
on our way back to Aswan. I'll never again accuse anyone of having
lost it if they're seeing things that aren't really there,
because even though we all knew there was nothing out there, we had a
damn hard time believing it!
The final days of our trip were
spent in Luxor. They were the most relaxed part of the trip, as
despite the magnificient location at the ancient capital of Thebes
(and 8 of Lonely Planet's 12 Highlights of Pharaonic Egypt) the
activities in Luxor were mostly aimed at leisure and relaxation
rather than temple climbing and other more 'high-brow'
activities. It's extremely touristy there, almost like a holiday
resort. That doesn't mean there isn't plenty to see and do for
the more 'cultured' travellers, but even for them it's a good
opportunity to relax a little for a change. After such an intense and
packed schedule for the first two-thirds of the trip, most of us were
getting quite tired and started to suffer from the classsic AEO
syndrome (Ancient Egyptian Overload): we had seen enough temples and
tombs for one trip. The ancient Egyptian highlight of Luxor was for
me surprisingly not aforementioned Valley of the Kings or
temple of Karnak, nor the famous temples of Luxor or Deir al-Bahri.
Impressive as they all were, they paled in comparison to the graves
of the workmen's village of Deir al-Medina: in spite of their age
of some 3500 years, the paintings in the tombs of some of the
servants quite literally looked like they had been painted only
yesterday. The non-ancient highlight of Luxor was without a doubt the
Sunshine Project International: a British-run donation-based house
for children abandoned by Egyptian society because they come from
unwanted or illegal pregnancies. The British staff there is doing an
terrific job giving these children a home, a family and an education
and providing them with everything they
need to succeed in life, thus disproving the prejudice and
discrimination they receive from the Arab population. I encourage
anyone to check out their
website to see what a great job they're doing. And as I noted,
Sunshine is entirely dependent on donations, so if you can spare a
few quid, they can use every penny! Should you ever visit Luxor
yourself, don't hesitate to drop by them and to enjoy playing with
the children for a while, they're extremely
hospitable.
Egypt is an absolutely amazing country and
if anyone is considering it as a travel destination, I would say:
don't hesitate, just go! You will regret it if you don't. I know
I for one will be returning to that country sooner rather than later.
Solver: This summer we have something very interesting - Euro
2004 in Portugal. What are your predictions for the tourney, and
which are the teams (besides the Netherlands :D) that you like?
Locutus:
The teams I like are the teams that play good, attractive,
attacking football. The usual suspects here are France, Portugal and
the Netherlands (though the Netherlands is having an awful lot of bad
days recently) but almost every tournament has a surprise or two.
Croatia used to be a good team as well, but they've disappointed
recently. Turkey is another country that can provide plenty of
entertainment, but they didn't even qualify. When Spain is playing
well it's also a joy to watch, but usually they disappoint on major
tournaments. It's a pity Wales didn't qualify as I really liked
them.
As for predictions, I think in group A Portugal will go
the furthest, as the host always does well in these kinds of
tournaments and Portugal has a strong team to boot. I expect they
will win their group and at least get to the semi-finals, if not
further. Greece did very well in the qualifiers, even beating Spain,
but I feel they just don't have enough quality to succeed at Euro
2004, so I fear they won't make it out of the group. That means
it's between Spain and Russia to determine who gets the second spot
in the quarter finals. Both are teams that had a hard time qualifying
and both rarely get far on major tournaments, but I think Spain will
win this one: they've had a strong run in recent matches (Russia is
also unbeaten but it took a lot more effort) while Russia, though
solid, has a boring team -- it just misses that little bit extra that
brings success. But whoever wins the second place here will end up
playing France in the quarter final and won't have a chance
then.
The winner of Group B is the easiest to predict: that
little mishap of the last World Cup won't happen to France again
this time, I fully expect them to stand in the final in Lisbon on the
4th of July. Croatia has not performed well at all in recent history:
absent in 2000, lost to everyone but an abominable Italy in 2002,
barely qualified this time. I think they will finish
last in this group. Switzerland has performed very well
recently and I tip them as one of the potential surprises of the
tournament. It's a pity for them they're in such an awkward group
and their success will probably all hang on their match against
England. But conisdering England's poor run in recent matches, I
give the Swiss a chance of reaching the second round. I don't dare
put any money on it, but it wouldn't come as a surprise to me if it
happened. Either way, the 2nd placed team in this group will likely
play Portugal in the quarter final and I'm fairly confident
Portugal will make quick work of either team.
Group
C is the most boring group. Italy has its horrible catenaccio style
of play, Denmark plays very defensively as well and Sweden usually
isn't the most attractive team either. I don't know much about
Bulgaria, but statistically they are the weakest team and Eastern
European teams rarely play attractive football, so that doesn't
bode well. As for the outcome, I think Italy will win with ease
despite their trouble qualifying, and the second place will be for
one of the Scandinavian teams, where Sweden is my favourite: talented
players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kim Källström give
Sweden a decisive edge and if both are in form they will take their
team far (hopefully making the Swedish games enjoyable to watch as
well).
Group D has quite rightly been dubbed the group
of death. With a strong Czech Republic, a waning Germany and a
capriciously performing Dutch team (the last time they lost a
friendly was 5 years ago (against Brazil), but they failed to qualify
for WC2002 and had a tough time qualifying for this
tournament this group couldn't be less predictable. In
any other group I'd tip Latvia as a potential surprise of
the tournament but in this case they don't stand a chance against
such force. I hardly dare to make any predictions here, but if
I must I think the Czechs will win the group with the Netherlands
ending second. This means for the quarter finals
that we're in for a repeat of the Italy - Netherlands match
that the Dutch so undeservingly lost at Euro 2000, while the Czechs
will face Sweden. Again two very difficult calls to make, but I think
the Swedish and Dutch will come out on top here (though much will
depend on the form of individual players).
So if by some
cosmic miracle all my predictions pan out, Portugal will have to
tackle the Netherlands (a match I'm really looking forward to, if
it works out that way) and France will play Sweden in the semis. In
that case France will get to the final for sure and I expect Portugal
will defeat the Netherlands on home advantage. So my prediction for
the final is Portugal vs. France, which I think (and hope) will end
in a 2-1 win for Portugal.
Solver: Clearly enough, any nerd or geek has to read books,
and usually enjoys science fiction. Can you tell something about what
kind of reading you enjoy, what are your favorite authors?
Locutus:
I'm afraid I don't read much anymore, I'm too busy for that these
days. I'm a slow reader so books are way too time-consuming for me.
Occassionally I still read a history book, or something related to my
study, but aside from that not much. In fact, I bought the two latest
books of Micheal Crighton (Timeline and Prey) over the past few
months but havent actually gotten around to reading either one yet. I
used to be a big reader, I read everything I could get my hands on.
I'm pretty confident that I read every single children's book that
our local library has (not counting the ones they acquired after I
left primary school ;)) and a good portion of the 'adult' (not porn)
section too.
These
days, if I do find time to read, it's always in English (Dutch
literature is a joke and takes itself way too seriously) and usually
work from popular authors like Steven King, Michael Crighton, John
Grisham, Isaac Asimov, A.C. Clarke, J.R.R. Tolkien, H.G. Wells, etc.
Usually Sci-Fi, but I've been known to read
some classics (e.g. Shakespeare, Socrates, Marcus Aurelius or
Vergilius) as well. Michael Crighton (author of titles such as
Jurassic Park, Timeline, Sphere, Congo, Disclosure, Rising Sun,
Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, etc) is my favourite
author, I love his 'scientific' and yet very suspenseful style. My
all-time favourite book is usually whichever book I read last, but
since in this case that was the third part of the Harry Potter
series: nice books to kill an evening with, but hardly comparable to
the work of most of the authors I've mentioned earlier. So I'll
probably go with Lord of the Rings (as cliché as it may be)
instead, with Crighton's Andromeda Strain being a close second.
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