Luxor – Valley of the Kings

Surprisingly, we slept until almost 10 o’clock today. We needed it, that’s all there is to it. However, it meant that we had to change plans and postpone the top 2 sights in Luxor until tomorrow.

We spent the rest of the morning walking around the property’s grounds, checking out life on the river, and waiting for the restaurant to begin serving lunch.

Meanwhile, I noticed an annoying hair on my camera lens, but quickly realized that it was on the inside upper mirror part. I tried to clean it out, but only succeeded in adding additional smudges and more hair, until I created a mess, making my Canon practically useless until I will be able to get it professionally clean. This caused me to depend on my smart phone for the rest of the day. If anyone can provide advise on how to obtain quality zoom photos from an android, please do, as each and everyone I took is of such poor quality.

Since we have to roll with the punches, over lunch we planned our afternoon activities, and decided to visit the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut. A bit of background for the uninitiated. During the time of the Pharaohs, treasures were being robbed from the pyramids in the north, thus, future burial sites were built away from any populated center, and well hidden under the mountains in the desert, where they remained, undiscovered, until the 19th century, when European explorers discovered, first one, then another, until a veritable city of magnificent tombs was unearthed. New burial sites are still being excavated today, including massive statues that only came to light within the last 5 years.

Old village outside the Valley of the Kings. The government evacuated all inhabitants approximately 10 years ago.

We visited three tombs today, including that of Ramses IV. No words nor pictures can explain the magnificence of these sights, and we were glad to have hired a guide to explain the meaning of the hieroglyphics and the spectacularly well-preserved drawings. I will just tell you that each King or Pharaoh selected his burial site immediately upon becoming monarch, and work also began immediately to excavate it and creating it in accordance with His wishes, illustrating the story of his life.

The tomb of Ramses IV

Tomb of Meremtah

One of the few remaining sphynxes that used to line the pathway to the Temple of Hatshepsut

Detail of the Temple of Hatshepsut

Burial sites of lower dignitaries uncovered in the mountains of Valley of the Queens

The faceless Colossi of Memnon, keep a lonely vigil over the Valley of the Kings

By the time we returned to our island on the Nile, it had turned quite dark and we sat for dinner, enjoying a savory local barbecue .

Sunset on the Nile

Local woman making pita bread in a traditional oven for our barbecue dinner

Bonus picture: Taken from yesterday's train ride, somewhere between Cairo and Luxor

Today was the first day we felt very comfortable wearing short sleeves. The temperature hovered around 75 degrees and the day was delightful. Please join us tomorrow as we will take you to the Temple of Karnak and Luxor Temple. Hopefully we will also get to spend some time in town and take in the local lifestyle. All the best until then.