Ancient Thebes and the new city Luxor

We arrived in Luxor at about 9:15am and met our new guide Hossam who was waiting for us at the train station. He picked us up and walked us out to the tour van where we loaded our bags and climbed in. They drove us to the hotel we would be staying at which was the Sonesta St. George in Luxor. It was a beautiful hotel and I thought by far the nicest we stayed in while we were in Egypt. We checked in and went up to the room and settled in. Hossam told us we had a break and he would be back at 3:30pm for our tour of the temples. After settling in we went downstairs and hit the end of the breakfast buffet which was really nice and big. It was our brunch as our breakfast had been so early in the morning. After the buffet I was stuffed as was Leon and he went upstairs to go take a nap. I wasn’t tired enough to go to sleep so I went and grabbed a table down by the pool and journaled. Leon came downstairs and found me about 12:30 and said he was going to go get a massage at the spa and gave me the room key. I wandered through the shops in the hotel and then headed up to the room where I journaled some more and watched some TV. When Leon arrived back he took a shower then we headed out to see part of the city.

Our hotel was in the city center so we walked out the front door and headed along the street first to the right. We window shopped along the way and just took in the city. We eventually crossed the street and headed back the other direction. We got back from our city stroll about 3:00pm and ran up to the room for a quick break before going back down to meet Hossam at 3:30. Hossam was waiting for us when we arrived and when Leon went to do something Hossam told me he was warned that I was beautiful but that it still surprised him. From then on he started calling me Nefertiti. When Leon got back we got into the van and drove out to Karnak Temple and were dropped off with Hossam. The temple was packed full of big tour groups and we were dodging between them while walking through. Hossam did his tour thing which was really interesting and I unfortunately don’t remember much of what he said. But the temple was amazingly beautiful the walk down to the temple is through an isle flanked by sphinxes which used to stretch all the way to the Temple of Luxor. Leon and I laughed at 2 little puppies that were playing together among the ruins of a column in the outer courtyard. The first colonnaded area has giant columns that are each covered with hieroglyphics. It was really amazing to see. After our walk through with Hossam he gave us a half hour of free time to explore. Leon and I split up as he knows I like my space in places like this so I wandered around a little and did my meditation thing. I walked into one of the side temples that were built for Thutmosis the 3^rd which was lined with statues of the Pharaoh. After that I walked over to meet Hossam and Leon.

Hossam gave us the option of either going directly over to Luxor Temple and seeing it daylight then going to the papyrus factory or go to the papyrus factory then go and see Luxor Temple at night. We chose the second option and headed to the papyrus factory. We listened to the explanation of how papyrus is made a second time then wandered through the gallery. Leon was looking to get a big papyrus to commemorate this trip to Egypt. He looked around and found a couple he liked but nothing that really jumped out at him. So after a lot of looking and much debating we left empty handed and headed to Luxor Temple. Just driving up to the temple is was amazing to see all lit up with lights. We got dropped off and Hossam walked us down to the temple.

Once we were in front of the temple Hossam explained that the modern city of Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes which was the capitol of the Upper Kingdom. The east side of the Nile is the land of the living and the west side of the Nile is the city of the dead and had the Valley of the Kings and Queens. Luxor Temple was built by one of the Ramses, I think the 2^nd but don’t quote me on that. Outside the temple we looked at one of the last remaining standing obelisks in Egypt as well as the huge stone statues that stand outside. Even a night there were crowds of other tourist around which surprised me a little. And I hate to say I’m not sure the pictures came out all that great but it was worth it to see the temple at night. From there we walked into the inner courtyard and listened to Hossam’s information while walking through the outer portions of the temple. When Hossam gave us free time Leon and I walked into the Sanctuary area (the holiest of rooms that held the statue of the God or Goddess being worshiped). The sanctuary rooms were packed with people and there was a line to get in and out. After we came out of the sanctuary we -walked around a bit and an Egyptian guy pulled us over to a smaller anti-room and put our hand to a carving of an ankh and then to our forehead 3 times then to our heart 3 times. I’m not sure what that all meant but at the end he wanted money for it. I wasn’t surprised it’s like that at a lot of the tourist sights. I paid him a tip and then Leon and I split up. I wandered around and went to sit in a quite spot and meditated a bit then walked around the courtyard. I really like Luxor Temple and felt really comfortable and peaceful there, even with all the other tourists which is saying something.

We met back up with Hossam at the appointed time and were driven back to our hotel. He told us that he would meet us the next afternoon at 1:30 to go to the Valley of the Kings. Once back at the hotel Leon and I went to dinner at the Japanese teppanaki restaurant in the hotel. It was just like Something’s Fishy back home which was one of our favorite restaurants. Another couple joined us who happened to be from Manchester in the UK. They were on vacation in Luxor for 2 weeks. We had a really nice dinner and chatted with the British couple while we ate. Dinner was good but not quite Something Fishy. After dinner we went back up to the room and I jumped in the shower and by the time I got out Leon was in bed and asleep. I journaled for a little while then went to bed too.

The next morning I woke up at 9:00 and did a half hour of meditation. At 9:30am I got up and got dressed for the day and packed my stuff back up. Leon woke up just before 10:00 and got up and got dressed. We rushed down to the breakfast buffet and loaded up our plates to eat. Since the buffet closed at 10:30 we loaded our plates the first go around. After breakfast Leon went for another massage in the spa and I went up to the room where I journaled and watched some TV. When Leon came back he took a quick shower then we packed up and went downstairs to check out of the hotel. Once that was all done Leon went to check his email and I sat out on the terrace where we ate breakfast and journaled some more. I had a lot of catching up to do.

We met Hossam at 1:30 in the lobby and jumped in the van to drive out to the Valley of the Kings. Luckily the weather was cooperating with us so it was only 80 degrees and had been about that the entire trip. Not to hot and not to cold. When we got to the Valley of the Kings entrance Hossam went to buy the tickets and Leon and I watched a short video on the opening of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the King’s back in the 1920s. The video was really short so by the time Hossam came back we had watched the entire thing. We walked out of the entrance building and jumped on the tram that drove us up to the tomb entrances. Our ticket allowed us to visit 3 tombs in the Valley although 4 were open. The 4^th tomb was King Tut’s tomb but it was an extra ticket to see that one. Leon and I considered it but were told that King Tut’s body had just left to go back up to the Cairo Museum. So we missed it by a matter of days. Hossam said just the tomb wasn’t really worth paying to see as the tomb was finished in a rush because King Tut died so young. So we took his advice and visited the 3 others.

The first tomb we visited was for Ramses the 9^th. It was amazingly well preserved and you could see the paint used to color the hieroglyphics. I liked seeing how colorful the tombs were and it gives you an idea of what the temples looked like once upon a time. I’m sure all of Egypt was much more colorful then what we see today at the ruins. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures in the tombs but I did buy a pack of postcards with pictures of the tombs for people to see and to remind myself what they looked like. So if I figure out how to post pictures there won’t be any of the tombs. The second tomb was for Ramses the 3^rd and was well preserved but not as much as the first tomb we saw. The last tomb was for Ramses the 4^th and it was really well preserved too. The big room that held the sarcophagus had a huge ceiling mural of Knut the Goddess of the sky. We had seen copies of the scene in all the papyrus shops and that made it even more exciting to see the original. After we finished the 3^rd and final tomb we walked down to the tram and rode down to the entrance/exit building. We even made it through the gauntlet of hawkers and back to the van.

From the Valley of Kings we drove to the Valley of Queens and up to Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple. It is one of the few remaining building that Hatshepsut built during her reign that survived Thutmosis the 3^rd who took the throne after her. It was really beautiful, built into the side of the cliff in 3 levels. The bottom floor is just a colonnaded hall which we skipped as it wasn’t in good condition. We walked straight up to the 3^rd floor and walked around the temple to Horus a temple she built to prove her legitimacy to the throne. She was the first female ruler to rule Egypt as the Pharaoh. All the Pharaohs before and after her were men. She was not well liked by Thutmosis the 3^rd so when he took control of Egypt he destroyed almost all of her temples and statues or destroyed the cartouche that said her name so people wouldn’t know who she was. There is very little surviving of her reign. The second floor the temple has a middle section devoted to her and two small side temples. The temple to the right is devoted to Hathor, Goddess of music and merriment, and is symbolized by a sacred cow. The temple to the left is devoted to Anubis the God of mummification, and is the jackal headed god. Each section of the top floor and 2^nd floor were well preserved and I could still see the colorful paint used to decorate the hieroglyphics. I got some really good pictures not only of the temple and pained hieroglyphics but also of the cliffs around the temple. It was really beautiful setting for the temple.

After we finished up at Hatshepsut’s temple and made it through yet another gauntlet of guys trying to sell tourist junk. Once back in the van we drove to the Colossi of Memnon, the Colossi and pretty much just 2 big statues of figures sitting on thrones or chairs. Once upon a time the Colossi were guarding the entrance to a temple which is now gone either destroyed by weather or more likely dismantled and the stones used to build something else. So, all that’s left is the 2 random giant statues. I got some pictures before we climbed back in the van and drove to a local papyrus factory shop that is famous for being visited by President Jimmy Carter. The store is called Nefertary Papyrus Institute and I recommend it to anyone looking for papyrus prints in Luxor. The owner was amazing and really helpful showing us his stock. After much discussion and debate Leon bought a beautiful 1.7 meter long papyrus print of the coronation of Nefertary. It really is beautiful and has amazing detail. Once we finished up at the Nefertary Papyrus shop we went to another smaller shop and we each bought some presents and I bought myself a bottle of lotus oil perfume which I got a really good deal on. I got it for half the price the guy in Cairo wanted so yeah me. Now I just need to get it home in one piece.

When the shopping was done we ran back to the hotel and picked up our bags then went with Hossam to his favorite coffee shop which was open air. We all got drinks and a shisha (hookah) to split. We only had a half hour so we sat and talked and got to know Hossam a little better. It was his treat and a very nice one. When our time was up we drove to the train station and checked to wait on the platform. Hossam ended up leaving us with his friend a fellow tour guide that had an American couple that was going to be in the cabin next to us. So we waited and talked with the other couple and when the train arrived we boarded it and settled into our car. We had dinner on the train and again the food was decent but nothing to write home about. After dinner we settled into our bed and I read until about 11. Unfortunately I had caught up on all my sleep so I wasn’t very tired which caused me to not be able to sleep through the noise and movement. I think I ended up sleeping a total of 2 hours but all in little half hour cat naps. The train guy came around and woke everyone up at 4:45am and I got dressed and organized my stuff then had breakfast which came around at 5:00. After breakfast and 2 cups of coffee we arrived back in Cairo at about 5:45am.