Bedstemor's 85 års fødselsdag
( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 ) |
Oversættelse Freddy Pallesen
© 2004 |
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Det gamle Ægyptens historier og legender
har længe markeret sig gennem film som "Kleopatra",
"Mumien" og begejstret os kvinder med Omar Sharifs optræden
i "Lawrence of Arabia" og "Doctor Zhivago og senere i
tegnefilm som "The Prince of Egypt". Der er en vis mystik
omkring mellemøsten skildret for os i en meget ung alder, når
vi hørte godnathistorier som "Ali Baba og de 40 røvere"
eller "Sinbad Søfareren" - de fleste af os har en drøm
om at se pyramiderne.
Jeg var meget heldig at få muligheden
for 20 år siden sammen med mine forældre at komme til Ægypten,
men som 10 årig er der ikke så meget et barn kan huske.
Men dette år samles Familien Pallesen igen engang for "Matriarkens"
85 års fødselsdag. Det er tradition for familien at samles
og rejse til et eksotisk land - tidligere har det været Tunesien,
Marokko, Tyrkiet og Gambia - og nu for Bedstemors ønske om at
se Ægyptens pyramider, som hendes mand så for 50 år
siden.
Bedstemors tre børn, seks børnebørn
(Nikolai kunne ikke komme med), fire oldebørn og respektive ægtefæller,
alle tog sammen til det magiske Ægypten. Det er efterår
med varme dage og kølige nætter - en kontrast til den kommende
vinter i Danmark.
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Lørdag 13. November 2004
Afrejse til Ægypten
Vores familie måtte af sted kl. 3.30
for at nå flyet kl. 6.55; 4½ time senere ankom vi til Cairo
lufthavn. Jeg har en svag hukommelse om en meget varm lufthavn med komplet
kaos, med mennesker, der skubber for at få deres kufferter igennem,
råbende gennem en masse larm. Nu fandt vi en næsten ren
og ikke tætpakket lufthavn.Vi
Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal
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Den største af de tre, Kheops pyramide, er 146 meter høj,
920 meter i omkreds og består af 2,3 millioner stenblokke! Hver
blok var mindst en meter høj, så man kan forestille sig
hvor massive disse pyramider var.
Den næststørste Khefrens (Kheops søn) pyramide har
stadig noget af de glatte skinnende kalkstens dækning, som engang
dækkede alle pyramiderne.==>
Den massive solbåd, som engang bragte
faraos krop fra Memphis til Giza og de tre mindre Dronninge pyramider
står ved foden af den massive Kheops pyramide. Vi havde ikke mulighed
for at komme ind i gravkammeret denne gang, men jeg føler mig
privilegeret over at jeg var derinde, og stadig har nogle minder fra
begivenheden.
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Sphinxen
 Pyramiderne
rejser sig i baggrunden, mens den sider stille på det varme sand
under den bagende sol i 4000 år. Napoleons tropper brugte den
som målskive, så næsen og faraos skæg er for
længst faldet af og findes i British museum. Grækerne kaldte
den "Sphinx", som var basseret på en mærkelig
skikkelse med hovedet af et menneske og kroppen af en løve, som
ville stoppe enhver rejsende langs vejen med en gåde - hvis gåden
ikke blev gættet, blev man måltid for Sphinxen. Trængslen
af skarerne omringede Sphinxen og vi kunne kun bevæge os i gåsegang.
Gennem tiden ser det ud til, at turisterne må se Sphinxen på
længere og længere afstand. For 50 år siden kunne
Bedstefar røre ved Sphinxen og også klatre op på
toppen af pyramiden; for 20 år siden var Sphinxen hegnet inde
med et lille trådhegn, men jeg kunne stå tæt ved den;
nu ligger den i et stort hul, hvor besøgende kun kan se den tæt
på gennem zoomen på deres kameraer. 4 tusind år senere
bjergtager den stadig os alle.
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Tirsdag 16. november 2004 (start 2:30)
Ja, du læste rigtig - vi ventede
alle I receptionen kl. 2.30. I aftes diskede Bedstemors børnebørn
op med Spansk-Ægyptisk-Italiensk middag til hele familien. Dette
fulgtes op af en  larm
fra tamboriner, obo og trommer, der spillede til forlovelsesfest for
et Ægyptisk par I receptionen.
Denne morgen fløj vi til Asuan for
at gå ombord til et Nilkryds på 4 dage op til Luxor. Da
vi ankom, tog vi på en "felucca" (nilbåd) tur
på Nilen med en fantastisk panorama til "Tomb of Nobles"
(de overordnedes grave). Da vi kom tilbage fik vi vores værelser
på en fire etages krydstogt skib, der havde motionsrum, svømmebassin
og soldæk øverst oppe. Selv fra vores værelser i
bunden, havde vi en fantastisk udsigt til de små moskelignende
bygninger på toppen af de store sandbjerge med små huler.
Om aftenen havde vi mulighed for at besøge
byens lille souq (locale bazaar), hvor de solgte t-shirts, papyrusbilleder,
dynger af safran og tørret vellugtende lotusblomster, brun, rød,
gul og indigo bjerge af duftende krydderier - alt noget som nogle af
os tingede om - det dyreste køb var 25£ for papyrus billede
og billigst 15£ for en broderet t-shirt med hieroglyffer. Sidst
brugte vi 5£ til en hestevogn tilbage til skibet. |
 
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Onsdag 17. november 2004 (start 7:30)
Det ser ud til, at nogle I familien har
pådraget sig en maveonde. Vi andre undgik uvasket frugt, frisk
salat, rå grøntsager og drinks med vand fra vandhane. Dette
forhindrede os imidlertid ikke i at tage på sightseing.
Den ufærdige Obelisk
Hvis denne obelisk var blevet færdig,
ville det have været den højeste og tungeste nogensinde
fremstillet på 142 meter. Den ligger i et granitstenbrud, færdighugget
på tre sider, men opgivet da en revne viste sig i stenen. Det
er næsten umulig at forestille sig, hvordan de gamle ægyptere
kunne flytte selv en enkelt sten fra dette stenbrud, da dette sted er
ganske mange mile fra alle monumenterne, som er færdigfremstillet.
Uheldigt for Ægypten er de fleste obelisker blevet spredt til
andre lande - til Italien, England, Frankrig og selv Argentina - af
fremmede arkæologer gennem de sidste århundreder. Mange
af os havde ikke tid til at se hele obelisken før Adam ringede
med sin klokke, som han medbragte (for at genere os, tror jeg). |
 
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Den Høje Dæmning
 I
århundreder har Nilen styret Ægypternes liv - hvad enten
der var oversvømmelse eller for lidt vand, var det skæbnesvangert
for folket, hvis liv afhang af denne store vandkilde. Da Asuandæmningen
blev bygget mistede nogle af landsbyerne i det sydlige deres vandforsyninger.
For 30 år siden blev den nye Høje
Dæmning bygget, hvilket resulterede i den menneskeskabte Nasser
sø mod syd. ==>
Det betød, at mange mennesker måtte
flyttes, da landsbyerne og bopladserne blev oversvømmet, ligesom
også nogle af de gamle Ægyptiske monumenter som Philae templet. |
 På
sit højeste er den Høje Dæmning 111 m, 3,8 km lang
og 980 m bred ved foden.
Der er blevet brugt tre gange så
mange sten, som der var i Kheops pyramiden til bygningen af dæmningen.
Da dæmningen er militært område,
må man ikke bruge videokamera - hvis der blev rettet et angreb
på dæmningen kunne meget af Ægypten blive oversvømmet,
hvilket ville være en katastrofe for landet.
Efter kun 10 minutter "ringede"
Adam os tilbage til bussen igen.
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Philae templet
 Efter
den første Asuan dæmning blev bygget, var Philae templet
oversvømmet 6 måneder om året, og turisterne måtte
se templet gennem Philae søens mudrede vand. Da den Høje
Dæmning blev bygget, truede det med at oversvømme templet
for evigt. Templet blev da flyttet sten for sten til en ø med
et lignende landskab. Philae er speciel i, at den kun kan nås
med båd og at solnedgangen giver et spektakulært bagtæppe.
Templet, som er bygget til Isis (gudinden for kvinder, sexualitet og
renhed), var en af de sidste hedenske udsteder og på grund af
Isis popularitet, blev det også brugt af de tidlige Kristne. Templets
vægge og mange af søjlerne var fra top til fod fyldt med
hieroglyffer og billeder af Isis - mange af billedernes ansigter var
ødelagt af de tidlige Kristne, som anså de gamle Ægyptiske
guder for hedenske. Jeg havde en fantastisk eftermiddag med at vandre
ind og ud af gennem alle krogene og sprækkerne - besøge
Fødselshuset, Nilometeret, Faraos sengested og meget mere og
til stor morskab for familien, var jeg den sidste til at møde
op.
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 Kom
Ombo
Skibet sejlede fra Asuan kl. 15.45 efter
en eftermiddag tilbragt med solbadning og øldrikning (typisk
dansk med solbadning og øl). Vi sejlede 48 km. nord for Asuan
til Kom Ombo - den gamle by med tilbedelsen af krokodilleguden Sobek.
Den gamle by er for længst forsvunden og krokodillernes eksistens
på de nærliggende sandbanker er blevet jagtet til udryddelse.
I solnedgangen besøgte vi Kom Ombo
templet, opført til både krokodilleguden Sobek og Horus,
den falkehovede himmelgud og Isis søn. Selvom vi ikke havde tiden
til at fordybe os i  dette
tempen, var det både imponerende og sælsomt med store projektører,
der belyste templet. Der var en brønd med vand og en afsats halvvejs
nede, hvor krokodiller gennem en gang blev lokket ind fra Nilen med
menneskekød, og den største krokodille blev fanget og
mumificeret som et offer til Sobek. Ved kapellet for Hathor (Horus hustru)
var der en Amerikaner, der udbrød "Gud, jeg troede jeg skulle
se krokodillestatuer!" - latter - Kapellet indeholdt to krokodillemumier
fundet i templet.
Vi returnerede til et lille cocktail party
før middagen, givet af skibet for at introducere de ansvarlige
for personalet og for at gøre vores tur behagelig.
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Tirsdag 18. november 2004 (start 7.00)
Gennem natten sejlede vi fra Kom Ombo til
Edfu, et lille regionalt center for sukkerrørshandlen, besøgte
Horus templet og sejlede videre til broen over Nilen og slusesystemet
ved Esna.
Horus templet
 Dette
er det mest komplette tempel i Ægypten, et Græsk-Romansk
tempel, helt bygget efter gabing at Blue Bell (The Shire)
15. March 2009 10:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments
This weekend Andy and I decided to explore a new climbing area in the Sydney Area (We are running out of places to climb within Sydney and sometime Sydney is too long a drive). This time we decided on a small area called Blue Bell in the Southern part of Sydney in the Heathcote National Park. Once we arrived we had to find the access to the cliffs. The carpark is almost on the top of the cliffs near houses, but the area doesn't get a lot of traffic so there is no good tracks. Eventually we found our way down with some a lot of bush bashing. We decided to start on a couple of easier climbs on the Mini Wall where there was some grade 16 climbs (and 10/11's). They were far from being grade 16. The first two climbs (Anika 16 and Nathan 16) were harder than what they were graded at. Both Andy and I were finding it hard and agreed that the climbing felt more like a 18 or 19...and we were both thinking "what the fu.. is wrong there!". We then looked at who had graded the climbs and it turned out to be the same person a Jason Lammers. We decided that this may be one very dangerous Wanker and decided to take other climbs that he'd graded with caution (Next day I found another website describing the climb as being a lot harder...this guy graded it as a 6a = 19). After this we moved to the main wall and did another climb at the same grade (Sparky 16) and this turned out to be really nice a cruisy and this would potentially be a good lear-to-lead climb for someone who is comfortable in the gym.  After this we moved onto a bit harder climb (Heathcote 18) graded by the same idiot Jason Lammers. Someone who is only just comfortable at this grade would be in real trouble here. The top move is really delicate; in fact so delicate that Andy were totally unable to complete the move and bailed after a a number of attempts (and a lot of falls). I then tried the climb and eventually after a couple of falls managed to complete the move...and boy that is really balancy. You hand on to this slobing groove and then do a high stepup. you then balance your left hand up the wall until you reach a good hold up very high (as Andy put it: "A typical Rene move"). I would grade it as a 21 move...three grades harder that the wanker graded it. We had a look at the climb next to it (Screaming Cookatoos 18) and decided to do this on a top rope given that the top move looked dubious and that we hadn't had much luck with grades. Lucky that because the top move it really reachy and fairly thin. It would have taken a lot of commitment and knowing exactly where the only good hold is (which isn't great) to be able to complete it and then you still have to put a plate on the carrot bolt and clip it from this position before moving to the anchor. They really should have put a ring bolt here and they could have put the bolt a bit lover so it could be clipped from below protecting this move better. By the way this area is a weird mix of Ring bolts, fixed hangers, ringbolts, gear, chain anchors, ring bolt anchors and topouts....great job guys!!! Anyway we had a really good day but we didn't dare try any of the many 19, 20, 21's (which is my comfortable lead limit) in the area as most of them were graded by the same guy. Without including these climbs the area is too small to return to in the near future.
28. February 2009 08:13
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Instead of a christmas present Kim gave me tickets for the opera. This year for the Magic Flute by Mozart.  It was different from most of the other operas I've seen in that no-one dies in it and it wasn't one of this big tragegies. She had gotten us some good seats with a good view of the stage...and we had a really nice evening out.
23. February 2009 08:18
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
The NSW government currently provides a rebate for anyone insulating their house ceilings.I had already considered doing it anyway as it does cool down the house during the summer and keeps it slightly warmer during the winter time.  So I spent 5-6 evenings crawling around the roof cavity spreading out the insulation bats. Some of the ceiling was really hard to get to.
14. February 2009 08:02
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
What can I say? I don't like going out on Valentines Day, but I still enjoy a romantic evening out...so this year we decided to celebrate Valentines day evening before (And I gave Kim flowers the day before that...and they were so fresh that they kept for two weeks). We went to a nice little restaurant at Balmoral Beach called the Watermark.  The food was really nice, the scenery was really nice (slight drizzle), the Wine was fantastic (Canonbah Shiraz 'Drought Reserve' 2004)...and lastly my beautiful wife was gorgeous as always.
5. February 2009 08:35
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Yeah...summer in Sydney. We have fantastic beaches here in Sydney and unfortunately we don't use them enough (Water is too cold). We did however manage to get to Maroubra beach a couple of afternoons this summer. 
31. January 2009 08:24
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
Every year in Januar and February there is a big festival on in Sydney with different entertainment provided for free by the city and different sponsors. It is hard to make time to see everything, but we did have time to go and see the the Opera in the domain.  We went there with Berry and his wife and had a nice evening. 
26. January 2009 06:51
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments
This weekend Andy and I were supposed to have been going to Nowra to climb Saturday and Sunday, but the Australian weather dictated otherwise with 42 degrees in the shade Saturday.
Instead we changed the plans and went to Dams Cliffs in the Blue Mountains Sunday. This area is easily accessible, mainly in the shade and had got some great moderately graded climbs.
This was great as May also could join us. She had a really uncomfortable climb in Nowra with some friends some months ago and was afraid of getting back leading climbs (from her own words she was afraid to die). Nowra cen be very different and intimidating to someone going there the first time. We had a 7.30am start and she was half asleep when we picked her up and slept most of the way in the car.
When we got to the cliffs we decided to start on an easy warmup called"The Sisters of Fatima 16" and we asked May to do the first lead and she did a really good job. After this she seemed to have gotten over her fear.
We then moved over to a more moderate climb called "Shadow of the Goat 19" where I did the first lead...pleasant enough. We continued to "Truancy Officer 20" which I also led but which we decided was far easier (probably a 17).
After this we decided to stay in the 20+ territory and moved to a climb called "Vasco Pyjama 22" and Andy too the first lead.
At the second bolt he reached the Crux (The most difficult section on a climb) and after a number of tries coming off every time he bailed. When he got down he said "This climb has got Rene written all over it, it is a move that is in your territory!', so I was up next. I got up to the same section, and had a look at it a saw 2-3 possible ways through the section, but decided to go for a very long and very balancy reach first and managed to stick the top hold in the first attempt without falling off.
After this section the rest of the climb was easy. Both and and May then toproped the same climb (This is where the rope has already been placed on the top of the climb...which I had just done) and may cruised through the same section, but Andy still struggled. I honestly think that despite it being a long reach this is one of those climbs where it is an advantage being short.
After this we could decided what to do next. I was keen on doing another climb next to it called "Friendly Fire 22" but was worried about getting stuck half way up and not being able to clean it. One of the women climbing in one of the other groups said that if I'd just climb the previous one then this would be a lot easier (Looked a lot harder to me) so I decided to give it a go and lead it.
I was glad that I did, because the section that looked really difficult from the ground turned out to be sustained but now massively difficult once I got up there...this just proved that you should just jump on any climb that looks remotely climbable and is well protected regardless of its grade...they are just subjective numbers anyway.
After this we decided it was time to head back to the Big Smoke even though we were still strong enough to do another climb....it was getting late!
Download video of Rene Climbing at Dam Cliffs
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The Citadel in Cairo |
| Lunch on the Nile |
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