The wall

One little wall -- one big controversy. Nevine El-Aref in Abu Simbel and Rehab Saad in Cairo explore the tug of war involving the government and tour operators over Abu Simbel's newest addition
It all started with the wall: a 1.7-metre-high iron and cement fence snaking around the Abu Simbel temple complex overlooking Lake Nasser. Completed only three weeks ago, the wall hasn't won much praise for its aesthetic qualities. The word "ugly" seems to spring to the lips of luxury cruise-ship owners, tour operators and guides when expounding on the structure.
It may seem like a small issue, but aesthetics are everything for Egypt's booming tourism industry. The wall has launched a furious debate over issues ranging from security, to preservation, to cruise operators cheating the government on ticket costs.
The Ministry of Culture firmly maintains that the wall will ultimately protect both the monument and the people who visit it, but those who have much to lose from the erection of the fence accuse the government bodies behind the ministry's LE9 million development project at Abu Simbel of threatening business on Lake Nasser and defiling the sanctity of the complex. An affronted Ministry of Culture went on to retort that the cruise boats, by anchoring directly in front of the temples, are both spoiling the superb vista and damaging the rocks against the shore.
The ministry also shot a final accusation at angry cruise operators: by docking on the shore in front of the temple, tour operators have been getting away with not paying the temple fees. Passengers simply disembark and walk straight to the temple. The ministry also claims that those spending the night on boats parked outside the temple complex are treated to a free performance of Abu Simbel's Sound and Light show, once again depriving the government of the revenue from ticket sales.
Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly that the fence would help tighten security over such a vast site. "Mobile and fixed cameras installed along the fence will keep the whole area under close surveillance and this will prevent illegal entry," said Hosni. To stress his point that numerous visitors at Abu Simbel were not paying customers, Hosni cited the example of a police report on one of the vessels, which bought tickets for 40 persons and then proceeded to admit 83.
The businessmen behind these tours, however, tell a different story -- and they too, provide their own documents. "We have all the documents proving that we pay all entrance fees, as well as all the necessary fees for the Sound and Light show, yet they [the Ministry of Culture] are calling us thieves," fumes Moustafa El-Guindy, owner of Eugenie and Kasr Ibrim, the first cruise boats to be launched on Lake Nasser questions this: "If we are thieves, then their employees are also thieves, because they allow tourists to enter without the proper tickets. And even if this is the case, will a fence solve this problem?"
Cruise operators are reeling from what they claim is an about- face by the government in its position on Lake Nasser cruises. Many describe the current position adopted by the Ministry of Culture as a "death certificate" for their businesses. El-Guindy recounts that when he first suggested launching a cruise on Lake Nasser a decade ago, all the governmental bodies supported him, starting from the president on down to current Minister of Culture Hosni and former Minister of Tourism Fouad Sultan. "I have written approval from Farouk Hosni permitting me to anchor in front of the temple," says El-Guindy. "I also have written approvals from previous secretary-generals of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA): Abdel-Halim Noureddin, Ali Hassan and current Secretary-General Gaballa Ali Gaballa. Why, after all these years, are they now saying they disapprove?"
On the issue of the Sound and Light show, El-Guindy is particularly indignant. He says that he and a number of other investors made an agreement with the show's officials to pay the full price of a ticket for every one of their passengers, whether they watched the show or not. "It is important to mention that about 95 per cent of the income of the [Sound and Light] show comes from cruise boats." To drive his point home, El-Guindy noted that travellers who come by bus or plane rarely stay overnight at Abu Simbel.
El-Guindy's argument is backed up by Mohamed Shafiq, managing director of the Sound and Light Company. "I do not have any problems with the cruise ships' owners; they pay for Sound and Light tickets for all their passengers, even if few of them actually watch the show from the ship's deck." Shafiq reiterated that almost all of the estimated 500 spectators who take in the Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel daily come from the cruise boats. Unfortunately for visitors in general flights and hydrofoils to Abu Simbel are only scheduled in the morning. "There is not one flight at night, and even the newly opened road between Aswan and Abu Simbel is closed at night," groaned Shafiq.
By the time the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1971, the whole of Nubia was inundated in water -- what became Lake Nasser. Fourteen of the great temples of Nubia were successfully transferred to higher ground for their preservation, the greatest feat of all being the transfer of the Abu Simbel temple complex, built by Ramses II, which originally sat on the bank of the Nile some 300 kilometres south of Aswan.
The creation of Lake Nasser sent many of these temples into oblivion, as they were difficult to reach. The advent of Lake Nasser cruise ships in 1990, spearheaded by El-Guindy, allowed Abu Simbel to become a key tourist attraction in Upper Egypt.
"Nubia was not on the beaten track until I launched the Lake Nasser cruise," says El-Guindy. "All the temples were inaccessible and nobody thought of visiting them. There were no entrance fees for the Nubian temples. The lake, as a tourist attraction, was neglected for about 30 years. When I thought of the Lake Nasser cruise, people said I was mad and was going to lose my money. Now these temples have become important and are a source of good money for the country. Last year alone I paid about LE5.5 million in entrance fees for the Nubian sites on the lake for my two cruise ships."
The government originally professed that erecting a wall around the temple complex was a way of addressing security concerns and controlling the people who enter the complex. "One day we [investors] woke up to find a cement fence surrounding the temples of Abu Simbel. When we asked about the reason, we were told that new electronic fences would be built around all the ancient sites of Egypt as a part of a security plan," recalls El-Guindy. "Officials said that in Abu Simbel there could be an attack from the lake. But when we saw that the fence in Abu Simbel was destroying the scenery of the place, we started to complain."
At the time, Simon Laxton, managing director of Thomas Cook Holidays, sent a letter to Egyptian officials inquiring about the reasons behind the construction of the fence at Abu Simbel. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Weekly, detailed Laxton's concerns over why the fence was built and warns that tourism will suffer because of the project. "It is with amazement and disbelief that I have received some very sad news about Abu Simbel. I find it hard to believe reports that a cement wall has been built around the enclosure of the temples of Abu Simbel. I understood that this is to protect the tourists from an attack from the water. The whole concept of building a wall around the temple area to protect tourists is, I feel, very worrying. The government has been continuously issuing assurances that the terrorist problem is finally under control and that [terrorism] poses no risk to tourism in Egypt. Is this, therefore, not so? It would seem that there is, once again, a great risk and perhaps one would review our current commitment," Laxton wrote.
Later, the letter addresses the issue of cruise boats docking at the temple's shore. "There is news that cruise ships will not be allowed to anchor in front of Abu Simbel temples. If this is the case, why should we even go through all of this hassle to visit these sites? Why should we pay for the son et lumiere and include it in our brochures? ... In order to be frank with a country that considers tourism a main source of income, I believe that the government should reassess its stance and support our efforts in this situation, because this act will minimise our efforts and will negatively affect tourism."
El-Guindy says that when government officials felt that their security measures might have an impact on tourism revenue, "they changed their story and said that the fence was being built to deter the destruction caused by cruise ships." The controversy has exasperated everyone involved, but it is nowhere near resolution. Gaballa Ali Gaballa says that the whole debate is blown out of proportion, noting that passengers on cruises still have an clear view of the temples. "The fence is constructed on a lower level than the ship's last floor and deck. It is only 1.7 metres high; its first 60 centimetres are made of [cement] block ,while the rest is iron-mesh fence, which allows for an unobstructed view of both temples."
But the fence is not all that is controversial. Ayman Abdel- Moneim, the archaeologist responsible of the restoration and development project at Abu Simbel insists that these steps are necessary to put a stop to the harm being caused by the cruise boats. "Abu Simbel is an important historical monument, the sanctity of which must be upheld. It cannot be treated like a furnished apartment up for rent," Abdel- Moneim said furiously. He added that if the cruise boats continue to dock on the original rock of the area, in three to five years they will by anchoring at Ramses II's feet.
Which brings us to the problem of the docks. Starting in 1993, boats anchored on the rock right in front of the temple, a practice that has resulted in the deterioration of rock-face. To remedy the situation, the minister of culture explained that in collaboration with the Aswan governorate, a special dock has been set up for the cruise boats -- "but they never obey the law."
Down in Abu Simbel and in front of the very anchors that eat away at the majestic stone, Galal Hamed, deputy cruise director of the Kasr Ibrim ship, told the Weekly that vessel owners had refused to transfer their permanent docks to the newly erected one "not out of stubbornness, but because the new dock is not safe." Hamed claims the new spot is not suitable as a place for visitors to disembark, adding that experts who reviewed the safety of the new port attested that it is not efficient for steamers' anchoring.
The new port was originally part of Abu Simbel's fishing port and it is argued that its docks are too shallow to hold up the cruise ships' draft. Further, the smell of fish is rather prevalent -- a fact tourist operators feel will not wash down well with their five-star passengers.
There is also a whiff of double standard to the government's argument. "We anchor about 120 metres away from the temples, whereas Nile cruises between Luxor and Aswan anchor immediately on the rocks of some of the Nile temples, for example, at Kom Ombo or the Luxor temples," argues Nagui Erian, owner of the Prince Abbas cruise ship run by Thomas Cook.
Is the fence and alternative dock at Abu Simbel an affront to the tourism industry? It depends on your point of view. The concept of the cruise itself depends on a stunning view that serves Abu Simbel as a backdrop to remarkable sunsets and candlelight dinners. "The whole marketing of the trip depends on this image. All the brochures and flyers that we distribute depend on the photo of our cruise ships in front of the temples," El-Guindy notes.
But the Ministry of Culture has held fast to its position. "I will only remove the fence if the cruise ships move far from the temples," said Farouk Hosni in no uncertain terms. In response, some investors feel they may have to pull out. "I sold everything I have in order to make my dream of cruise ships on Lake Nasser come true," says El-Guindy. "I had a cruise ship on the Nile that I sold to build up my Lake Nasser project and now it seems that everything is collapsing. The day that I am removed from the front of [Abu Simbel] is the day that I will declare my two boats are for sale."
A three-day cruise on Lake Nasser begins in Aswan: the first night is spent at the Aswan port and the second day features visits to small Nubian temples on Lake Nasser relocated during the building of the High Dam. These include Qertassi, Beit El-Wali, Wadi El-Sebou, Dakka, Maharraqa, Amada, Derr and the tomb of Pennut, in addition to the temple of Kalabsha, the largest Nubian temple. For these to be visited, cruise ships anchor in the middle of the lake and use zodiacs. The third night is the climax of the trip -- Abu Simbel. As far as El-Guindy is concerned, "Without us Nubia will die."
Which may be at least part of the point of the development plans for the area -- to alleviate the dependency on cruise ships. According to Hussein Mokhtar, head of the Information Authority Office in Abu Simbel, an alternative docking position for cruise ships is a good decision since it will spur the development of alternative tourist attractions. "It will no longer be 'Good morning Abu Simbel,' and 'Good-bye Abu Simbel'. Transporting tourists from the new port to the temples will give them the opportunity to see the forgotten city of Abu Simbel, with its Nubian-style houses and traditional coffee shops." Tourists will no longer be confined to the inside of their cruise ships and will be directly connected with the city's inhabitants. Adel Fekry, a Spanish tour guide, agrees, adding, "This will enable small businessmen to open enterprises in the city."
Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui recently held a meeting with SCA representatives, security officials, hotel owners and cruise ship operators to discuss means of developing the tourist city of Abu Simbel. In the meeting, El- Beltagui pointed out that a cabinet decision forbids boats anchoring in front of the Abu Simbel temples. He also asked the owners of cruise ships to take steps towards establishing an alternative dock approved by all the concerned bodies. He stressed that cruise ships are only allowed to anchor in front of the Abu Simbel temples as a temporary measure, until the new dock is completed.
According to Abdel-Mohayymen Mohamed Saad of the Ministry of Tourism-affiliated Tourist Development Authority (TDA), investors are happy with this decision and approve of it -- a statement categorically denied by El-Guindy, who claims, "We did not even attend the meeting. We boycotted it."
El-Guindy seems to think that the Ministry of Tourism is using private investors to solve their own problems. "All of the hotels of Abu Simbel suffer from very low occupancy rates. Cruises enjoy occupancy rates that range from 50 to 60 per cent, while hotels receive only 5 per cent. To get out of this problem, it was suggested that a dock for cruise ships be built in front of a hotel," claims El-Guindy. He again stressed that none of the cruise ship owners will approve the new dock because of the long walk between the hotel and the temples -- 30 to 45 minutes. Nagui Erian, who owns the Prince Abbas cruise ship, is equally furious about this idea. "How can I anchor in front of a competitor's hotel? How can I bring him my guests? He is promoting himself at our expense."
"What a mess," sighs Gaballa, who, despite all the controversy and discrepancies, continues to argue that the aim of the development project is to protect important monuments and provide excellent services to the site's visitors. He went on to detail the effort being put into Abu Simbel, including restoration of the temples' internal reliefs and engravings. A small visitors' centre has also been built at the foot of the temples, equipped with a lecture and cinema hall where documentary films on the salvage operation and the relocation of Nubians to new homes in Egypt and the Sudan will be screened.
Leaving the bustle of controversy aside, one enters the temples of Abu Simbel in search of serenity, only to be disturbed by the loud voices of tour guides and their clients reverberating against the ancient walls. Taking in the legends of the battles fought by Ramses II, one fears that the grand remains of those legends may not survive the modern battles of profit, bureaucracy and conflicting interests.
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