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Night Location: Luxor, Egypt (on board Nile Cruiser)
Mummysode of the Day: Mum has been harassed by hasslers all day. They see her coming, move into her path and beg for her mercy. This evening following our night trip to the Temple of Luxor we were approached by a group of young boys. They took a particular shine to Mum and kept trying to remove her ticket out of her hand. Mum declared, "I'll be holding onto that thank you," in her no-nonsense teacher voice. We suspect that the boys wanted to resell her used ticket onto some poor non-suspecting tourist.
Finally off the train and boarding our new bus heading for the Valley of the Kings, we were soon very glad for our early start as it gave us some relief from the heat. Luxor is a very different city from Cairo. It is greener, cleaner and quieter. No longer are the streets piled with garbage and for the first time this trip we spotted a speed limit sign along with a sign encouraging seat-belt use.
We were the first ten people to arrive at the Valley of the Kings which was a really special experience. The ground and cliffs are all a unique chalky beige, a little like the old English safari suit. The cliffs are high and imposing and the slopes are covered in limestone rubble, making it seem impossible to climb. We were told that this valley holds 311 tombs, of which only 64 have been discovered.
It was quite a surreal experience to step foot inside our first tomb of Sety II. The tomb consisted of three corridors, an antechamber and the burial chamber. The wall decorations were not finished, however the first and second corridors had beautiful portrayals of the gods and goddesses and the pharaoh.
The second tomb of Septah was even more impressive as the walls were more complete. You could clearly see remnants of paint with shades of turquoise, lapis lazuli and red. The huge red granite sarcophagus dominated the burial chamber. We found out that the height of the burial chamber corresponded to the pharaoh's age at death and this is why the burial chamber was always the last room to be finished.
Our awesome guide told us many stories, the most intriguing being about something he called "the miracle tomb." This is the tomb of Tutmosis III, illegitimate son of Queen Hatshepsut whose sarcophagus is made out of a single piece of brown granite only found in Latin America, and to this day archaeologists do not know how the sarcophagus was placed inside the tomb as its dimensions are larger than any of the corridors. The tomb is still closed to the public for this reason.
The third tomb of Rameses III was the most spectacular. Down the first corridor were ten small chambers depicting beautiful paintings of fine pottery, funerary boats and gods and goddesses. This tomb was the most elaborate that we saw and also the longest. The paint in this tomb showed the most detail and the hieroglyphs on the walls were intricately carved and individually painted.
Last stop in the valley was the famous tomb of Tutankhamun. Amber was beside herself with excitement and gave the group an ancient history lesson. Unfortunately we were only allowed to visit the antechamber but saw the mummy of Tutankhamun and one of his three golden coffins on display.
Back in the bus for a short trip to Hatshepsut's temple. It was really hot here, thank goodness it's not Summer. Apparently it gets to be over 50 degrees here in the Summer. We were all wilting but were still impressed with the story of Hatshepsut and her determination to become pharaoh even though she was a woman. Her temple was beautifully decorated and grandiose, the only temple to be three stories high.
We had a quick photo opportunity at the Colossi of Memnon. All along the way our guide kept telling us about various antiquities he had helped to discover. Everywhere we go we are harassed by people wanting us to buy whatever they happen to be offering. The crazy thing is, if you were allowed time to browse we may actually spend money, instead you spend most of your time trying to avoid eye contact or dodge out of their oncoming path.
Last stop before boarding our boat was an Alabaster factory where we were taught the fine art of Alabaster carving. David and Gemma both had a go, it is harder than it looks. Mum bought a vase.
At last, the most welcome sight of the day, our boat! Upon boarding we were offered refreshments in the air-conditioned lounge and our guide explained to us that our rooms were slightly larger than that of the train - about half a metre. No one spoke as the shock of what we were in for sank in. There was an awkward ten seconds of silence and then the guide started to laugh. The rooms in fact are enormous and blissfully cold. We showered immediately to wash the stench from the train and the dirt from the desert off.
After a welcomed lunch and a siesta we were ready to visit the Luxor temple at sunset. This is a great time to see Egyptian sights as the heat has passed and the immense structures loom out of the shadow. We were surprised to learn that this is the only sight illuminated in Egypt at night.
Outside the temple is the matching Obelisk that now stands in Place de la Concorde in Paris. An avenue of sphinxes connects this temple with the Temple of Karnak. Throughout the temple, the columns tower above you and their capitals are representative of either open or closed papyrus flowers depending on when the sacrifices were to take place. Interestingly this 4000 year old temple contains a 2000 year old temple, built to honour Alexander the Great.
After an epic day, our boat and our beds were a welcome sight. We feel as though there is nothing left to see in Egypt but we know this is not true.
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