Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Thebes, Egypt
We needed to get up very early this morning for our 4:30 departure. We descended the stairs of our hotel to an awaiting boat. It was mystical as we saw the golden full moon as it was about to set and its reflection on the very still Nile. It was peaceful as we crossed from the east side of the river to the west bank. Here a breakfast/picnic was awaiting us as we arrived in time to see the sunrise behind the city of Luxor.
Tables had been set up and a buffet breakfast, complete with omelet bar was ready. Native women were making homemade bread in brick ovens. The cool morning air was quite enjoyable.
After we finished eating we realized we were on a farm. There was the cutest dog tied to a tree and all of the sudden hot air balloons began rising on the horizon. There must have been a dozen of them. After a short walk we boarded our mini-bus and headed to the Valley of the Kings in Thebes.
The remote, barren Valley of the Kings was the Necropolis of the New Kingdom pharaohs. By digging their tombs deep into the Theban Hills the pharaohs hoped to stop robbers from stealing the priceless possessions buried with them. It was an unsuccessful strategy. Despite their hidden locations, every burial chamber was raided except for those of Yuya and Tuya and of course King Tut, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, its glorious treasures still intact. But for all that, the structures themselves remain their dramatic corridors and burial chambers stunningly adorned with symbolic accounts of the journey through the underworld.
Sixty-two tombs have been found in the valley. Our pass gave us our choice of three to enter. I selected the tombs of Rames IV, Rames IX and the tomb of Queen Tawsert/Sethnakht. This entire area is very active in excavation. There were dozens of men filling rubber buckets with debris and hauling it off. There were other men set up under the shade of tents sorting through piece of pottery and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle.
For one of our discoveries of the day we went to an Alabaster shop. These stops in shops that we make are threefold. One, we get to see how things are made by hand. Two, we are told how to decipher man-made vs. machine made items and of course three they want you to buy something. Pat will be happy to learn that I left empty-handed.
Our next stop was the Valley of the Queens. The name is really a misnomer because this area has the tombs of not only the king's wives but also their children and so there are princes there as well. We visited the tombs of two sons of Rames III. We were disappointed to find that they have closed the tomb of Queen Nefertari due to an increase in humidity in the tomb.
We visited the Colossi of Memnon which are two 60 foot high statues seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
We went to lunch at a local restaurant and afterwards, I could not resist taking a photo of a man and his three baby goats. I don't know how old they were but they were very young because they still had their dried umbilical cords attached.
After lunch we returned to our hotel for an afternoon break. I actually took a 1 ½ hour nap.
We visited the Luxor Museum, a fraction of the size of the one in Cairo but there were a number of outstanding pieces on display. I even found a book that Gail has at home and highly recommended on the items on display at the Egyptian Antiquities museum in Cairo. The man started at $50.00 but I got him down to $28.00 (less than Gail paid at Barnes & Noble). It will make good reading material on my long flight home in a couple of days.
After our museum visit we again got on horse-drawn carriages for our "Luxor by Night" discovery. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. As we set out we were again treated to the rising full moon. We were driven for over an hour through all of the small windy streets of Luxor. We went past the Luxor Temple which was all lit up and on the road next to the Nile. The best part was when we went through the souq which was barely wide enough to accommodate our carriage. We saw vendors of types. There were chickens in straw cages, spices, vegetables and everything in between.
At the conclusion of the ride, we went to a coffee shop on an outside patio. They brought a water pipe to the table so that everyone could try smoking it but I was the only brave soul. The tobacco they used was sweet tasting and reminded me of cherry blend. Everyone was taking my photograph. After visiting all of the Middle Eastern countries that I have, it was always something that fascinated me and now I guess I can cross it off of my bucket list.
As we were walking back to our bus we saw many tables set up with Backgammon boards with men seriously playing the game.
Well, I have to get to bed early because we are leaving Luxor at 6:00 to go back to Cairo. I am sure I will dream of this magical night.
- comments