Luxor, Egypt Friday and Saturday , February 21 and 22, 2020
The sunrise was exceptional this morning. Larry and I are so excited to be in Egypt for the first time.
Once out of the city of Safaga, there were lots of mountain ranges and plenty of sandy desert.
Our driver explained that 93% of all Egyptians live close to the Nile River....three hours ahead.
Car license plate
and these sleeping cats. Egypt has lots of cats.
Sugar cane fields were being harvested. We saw the harvest being done by hand...very labor intensive.
Egypt has many, many burrows and
horses that help with the farming.
All forms of transportation appeared down the dusty roads.
Once we approached the city, unfinished homes appeared everywhere. Rebar studs were left to add an additional floor. Entire families live in one complex....mother and father on one floor and sons and daughter in laws lived on the floors above. Daughters lived with their husbands families. Unfinished homes are not taxed until completed; there is no motivation to finish any structures because the owner has to start paying taxes when it is complete.
Karnak means fortified village and was began by King Senusret I. It comprises a vast mix of temples, chapels, and pylons dating around 2000-1700 BC . Karnak is known as being a part of Thebes. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
Because this complex was built over a period of 1300 years, under the guidance of multiple pharaohs, it reached an unprecedented size and diversity.
These columns were tremendous. The carvings on them were incredibly detailed.
The original paint still existed on the ceilings.
After reading about Luxor and seeing pictures in books, it was exciting to be here to experience it.
The pink granite obelisk was erected during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, the only Egyptian born Queen, in the 15th century BC.
This local gave us a little private tour in the oldest part of the temple.
Original paint remained on the ceiling and walls.
The columns were tremendous.
We left Karnak more educated about the history here.
Carol, our friend from Texas and I followed Emad, our guide, down the steps to the restaurant for lunch.....a huge buffet.
We all enjoyed our view of the Nile River while having our lunch. I can’t believe I am looking at the longest river in the world.
Egyptian military were present quite often during our visit.
After lunch our driver drove us through the city of Luxor.
We entered the Luxor Temple.
When entering Luxor Temple we passed by tremendous stone statues.
The graceful, well preserved architecture is distinguished by the many different gods Egyptians worshipped as well as the diverse cultures that have resided here.
While walking through the Luxor Temple we discovered many intricate carved statues, obelisks, and temple squares that date back to the 14 th century BC.
A real live bird perched
Painted colors from years ago still exist on some of the stone carvings.
A mosque was built above the Luxor Temple.
A 4 km road is in the makings between Karnak and Luxor, lined with human Sphinx...due to open next year. This road was covered by years of floods from the Nile centuries ago. The locals are excited to have it opened with the original human Sphinx lining it. It was really something to see.
What a colorful sight!
Emad, our guide, dropped us at our hotel, the Steigenberger Nile Palace.
After dinner we had a nice show .......
with an Egyptian belly dancer.....
and other entertainment. The local music was great!
The hotel had a display of Egyptian instruments.
We rode a small train trolley into the valley. This place was out in the middle of nowhere.
We entered our first tomb of the day, Rameses IV. KV 2.
This tomb is thought to have been entered long before the 1700’s, the time period is called antiquity, which probably means a long, long time ago. There is evidence of graffiti from centuries ago.
Exquisite art was painted and carved throughout the passageway. We were thrilled to see this up close. It was art works that we had seen right out of the textbooks.....REALLY COOL!
The Egyptian hieroglyphics were spectacular.
The colors on the paintings were phenomenal!
Even the ceilings were colorful.
A huge sarcophagus was still remaining in this tomb. Boy would I like to take a peek inside of it!
Years ago, Larry and I were fortunate to see an original mummy in the British Museum in London. We were fascinated, making our curiosity of Egypt even stronger.
After reaching the bottom, we found just a large room. We were told that sometimes the graves were robbed by the locals before they were ever discovered. If anything was found after the more recent archeological digs, it was placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
We really enjoyed the brisk climb back up.
King Tut KV 62
We saw the entrance into the tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922. At that time they were lucky to find the tomb still full of fabulous treasures. These treasures are now on display in the museums in Alexander and Cairo.
Tutankhamen known as King Tut, began ruling at the age of nine and died at the age of 19.
The second tomb that we entered was of Rameses IX KV 6.
T
It was getting late in the morning and the tourist crowds began to occur. We were so glad that we had come here early.
The painted ceilings were so well preserved.
The sarcophagus here was quite unique.
We enjoyed walking out of the Valley of Kings.
Next we visited a stone carving factory with live demonstrations.
This structure is Al-Deirdre Al-Bahrain Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only female pharaoh of Egypt
Driving away from the Nile River, we found only dry desert mountains.
It took a Herculean effort to construct these temples and tombs. The size and weight of the rock is unbelievable
Another temple, the Colossi of Memnon, has recently been discovered under the muddy Nile River fields.Two massive statues have been refurbished to flank the entrance to Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. Although the temple itself was destroyed in an earthquake, these magnificent statues still stand guard today.
A field of drying tomatoes, a new kind of crop that Italians are wanting to import.
After a quick lunch upstairs...
Emed, our guide, took us across the Nile River on a boat.
Compared with the long walks over uneven , rocky and sandy surfaces and the numerous steps we climbed, boating on the Nile River was a completely relaxing luxury.
Carol, Larry, and I enjoyed walking through the Luxor Market.
This gentleman invited us into his shop. What a conglomerate of unorganized things. He was a lot of fun to talk with.
We enjoyed his maze of unusual sights....I don’t think there was room for one more thing.
We enjoyed his maze of unusual sights. I don’t think there was room for one more item.
We arrived back at our van at 2:30.... just in time for our 3 hour drive back to the ship.
It was great to see the Safaga Port. It is interesting that all the Arab ports have a control tower....most likely for security purposes.
With a driver and our guide and one other passenger, did we ever have a wild ride in Egypt? For sure!
The morning sunshine on the mountains beyond Safaga, Egypt (our port to call) was brilliant.
The ship arrived on time, but we had a nice little wait to pass through immigration.
Note all of the buses....yes, probably most all of the passengers were heading for Luxor, Egypt....a three hour drive. We had arranged a small group tour earlier. We quickly found our driver, guide, and one other passenger from our ship, Carol. We became quick friends as we headed for Luxor.
Once out of the city of Safaga, there were lots of mountain ranges and plenty of sandy desert.
Our driver explained that 93% of all Egyptians live close to the Nile River....three hours ahead.
Car license plate
We had many check points to pass through....each place had a tower with an armed guard....a gun stuck out of the window.
An armed guard greeted our driver at each check point.
Egypt has to be the King of speed bump countries....even on the four lane highways...about every couple of miles we had to slow down for a speed bump. When we asked what the speed limit was, we were told there wasn’t one....but the driver knew where he had to slow down....several miles before the check point. He told us that the guard stations were always eager to give out speeding tickets.
We stopped to stretch our legs and have a potty break....of course, there were plenty of souvenirs to look at....
We left the sandy mountain region, going into an area that had irrigation from the Nile.
Sugar cane fields were being harvested. We saw the harvest being done by hand...very labor intensive.
All forms of transportation appeared down the dusty roads.
Adobe or mud brick homes are along the man made irrigation system.
Once we approached the city, unfinished homes appeared everywhere. Rebar studs were left to add an additional floor. Entire families live in one complex....mother and father on one floor and sons and daughter in laws lived on the floors above. Daughters lived with their husbands families. Unfinished homes are not taxed until completed; there is no motivation to finish any structures because the owner has to start paying taxes when it is complete.
We first arrived at the Temples of Karnak....with a long row of ram sphinxes greeting us on both sides of the road.
Karnak means fortified village and was began by King Senusret I. It comprises a vast mix of temples, chapels, and pylons dating around 2000-1700 BC . Karnak is known as being a part of Thebes. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
These columns were tremendous. The carvings on them were incredibly detailed.
The original paint still existed on the ceilings.
After reading about Luxor and seeing pictures in books, it was exciting to be here to experience it.
This local gave us a little private tour in the oldest part of the temple.
Original paint remained on the ceiling and walls.
The columns were tremendous.
You should not drink the foreign tap water.
We all enjoyed our view of the Nile River while having our lunch. I can’t believe I am looking at the longest river in the world.
Egyptian military were present quite often during our visit.
After lunch our driver drove us through the city of Luxor.
We entered the Luxor Temple.
The graceful, well preserved architecture is distinguished by the many different gods Egyptians worshipped as well as the diverse cultures that have resided here.
While walking through the Luxor Temple we discovered many intricate carved statues, obelisks, and temple squares that date back to the 14 th century BC.
Painted colors from years ago still exist on some of the stone carvings.
A mosque was built above the Luxor Temple.
A 4 km road is in the makings between Karnak and Luxor, lined with human Sphinx...due to open next year. This road was covered by years of floods from the Nile centuries ago. The locals are excited to have it opened with the original human Sphinx lining it. It was really something to see.
What a colorful sight!
After dinner we had a nice show .......
with an Egyptian belly dancer.....
and other entertainment. The local music was great!
Larry and I took a quick walk down the street before heading for bed. We were approached by the last of the carriage and taxi drivers who wanted one more evening rider. Without a sidewalk to keep us out of the road, we quickly changed our mind and headed back to the hotel.
After breakfast our driver took us over the only bridge in Luxor to the West Bank of the Nile.
This morning we visited Valley of the Kings where magnificent tombs of Kings, noblemen, and their families were discovered.
We rode a small train trolley into the valley. This place was out in the middle of nowhere.
Steep mountains surrounded us.
The entrances were often a narrow passageway down.
We entered three tombs of the 1500 Egyptians that have been discovered buried here.
We entered our first tomb of the day, Rameses IV. KV 2.
This tomb is thought to have been entered long before the 1700’s, the time period is called antiquity, which probably means a long, long time ago. There is evidence of graffiti from centuries ago.
We went way, way down into the mountain. Larry and I cautiously trudged down the antiquated stairways.This was not a easy walk for those who had bad knees. Carol, our friend that was traveling with us on our excursion, turned around before she got to the bottom.
Exquisite art was painted and carved throughout the passageway. We were thrilled to see this up close. It was art works that we had seen right out of the textbooks.....REALLY COOL!
The Egyptian hieroglyphics were spectacular.
The colors on the paintings were phenomenal!
Even the ceilings were colorful.
Years ago, Larry and I were fortunate to see an original mummy in the British Museum in London. We were fascinated, making our curiosity of Egypt even stronger.
We were told that around 75 workers carved deep into the desert rock, richly decorated and filled these tombs with treasures for the afterlife pharaohs. Why so few workers? To keep the tomb a secret. The Kings were afraid that the word would get out and their treasures would be stolen. Many times the workers would spend their whole life devoted to preparing the tombs. Once an Egyptian became king, the work began immediately on the tomb....just digging out the mountain rock was a tremendous job.
After reaching the bottom, we found just a large room. We were told that sometimes the graves were robbed by the locals before they were ever discovered. If anything was found after the more recent archeological digs, it was placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
King Tut KV 62
We saw the entrance into the tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered in 1922. At that time they were lucky to find the tomb still full of fabulous treasures. These treasures are now on display in the museums in Alexander and Cairo.
Tutankhamen known as King Tut, began ruling at the age of nine and died at the age of 19.
The second tomb that we entered was of Rameses IX KV 6.
The last tomb that we entered was Merenpthah KV 8.
T
It was getting late in the morning and the tourist crowds began to occur. We were so glad that we had come here early.
The painted ceilings were so well preserved.
We enjoyed walking out of the Valley of Kings.
Next we visited a stone carving factory with live demonstrations.
This structure is Al-Deirdre Al-Bahrain Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the only female pharaoh of Egypt
Driving away from the Nile River, we found only dry desert mountains.
It took a Herculean effort to construct these temples and tombs. The size and weight of the rock is unbelievable
Another temple, the Colossi of Memnon, has recently been discovered under the muddy Nile River fields.Two massive statues have been refurbished to flank the entrance to Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple. Although the temple itself was destroyed in an earthquake, these magnificent statues still stand guard today.
After a quick lunch upstairs...
Emed led us from the boat down the busy streets of Luxor and gave us time to explore the markets
.
Carol, Larry, and I enjoyed walking through the Luxor Market.
We enjoyed his maze of unusual sights....I don’t think there was room for one more thing.
We enjoyed his maze of unusual sights. I don’t think there was room for one more item.
We arrived back at our van at 2:30.... just in time for our 3 hour drive back to the ship.
Larry got some unusual shots of Egyptian life when we stopped for gas.
Watch where you step...there is no clean up after the horses.
It was great to see the Safaga Port. It is interesting that all the Arab ports have a control tower....most likely for security purposes.
With a driver and our guide and one other passenger, did we ever have a wild ride in Egypt? For sure!
