Exploring the pharoah's old digs

Temple of Luxor at night
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Halloween found us in Luxor. Katherine was going to go as a belly dancer and Paul as a mummy, but unfortunately no one here has any idea what halloween is.

Luxor is an neat place, it was the capital of ancient Egypt for 2000 years. It has 2 v. important temple ruins, and the whole west bank of the Nile is dotted with thousands of tombs, including the famous valley of the Kings where the pharoahs were buried once they realized that big triangular masses of rock are maybe not such an inconspicuous place to store your treasure when you die.

Checking out royal graveyards

Detail, temple of Karnak (3500 year old paint)
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The temples were nice although not as well preserved as some of the ones we'd seen before. The West bank was great however. We rented bikes, ignored the motor boat drivers who told us the cheap ferry was broken or wouldn't take our bikes and were on the shores of the west bank by 6:30am. Going early is the only was to do it without melting, as the temperatures in Luxor are still 35+ in November. Riding through the palms and the fields to the valley of the Kings was great. Unfortunately the 300 tour buses that go there before us ruined the ambiance of the tombs themselves a little bit. Still, they were amazing, it's hard to believe that paint can remain so well preserved for thousands of years. We also saw the mortuary temple of Queen Hapshetsut and the valley of the artisans. The artisans built the tombs for the kings in complete secrecy and had their own village separate from the rest of egyptian society so they wouldn't leak the location of the tombs. Once a tomb was complete off with their tongues, thanks for the 30 years of hard service!