Day 3 - Luxor

We got up and 4:15am so that we could be down to breakfast at 5:30. It is a 9-hour time difference between Cairo and Utah. So 4:15am here is 7:15pm the day before in Utah.

Getting ready in Egypt is interesting. The water here could make us sick so we avoid ingesting it. To brush our teeth we use water bottles. It is a different place. We also take Pepto Bismol morning and night to avoid getting sick (I hate doing it.) Breakfast was a buffet on the second floor of the hotel. We have to be careful about what we eat so fruits and vegetables and really anything that is not cooked is out. We ate potatoes and bread for breakfast. Eric also had a little bit of sausage.

After our breakfast, we met our tour guide, Gladys. She is very nice. She has been a tour guide for 21 years and spent 4 years studying Egyptology at Cairo University. She also does a weekly television show in Egypt talking about Egyptian history. After our introduction, we got back in the van and headed to Cairo airport. It turns out that Eric and I and my parents are the only ones on this part of the tour, which is really nice. This time we went to the old airport, which is much smaller. We had to go through three different security checks to get on our flight. They were all pretty quick. We left the hotel around 6am for a 7:30am flight.

Old Cairo airport

Alison, Debbie, Blake, and Eric waiting at the Cairo airport. 

Our Nile Airplane. This was Alison and Eric's second new airline in two days.

Alison and Blake boarding the Nile air flight

The flight itself was very short (around 50 minutes). Before we knew it we were in Luxor for our first day of touring.

We drove through Luxor to get to the Valley of the Kings. We saw traditional farming houses and learned about the history of this place. Luxor was the capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom and has a good portion of all the monuments in the world (our guide said 30%). Interestingly a lot of farming is still done in nearly the same way it was done during ancient times. We saw many people pulling carts with donkeys and plowing their fields. It was fascinating.

A donkey walking by a Nile canal

Buildings on the side of the Nile canal

More buildings

More buildings

Ships used for Nile cruises

Our first view of the Nile 

Houses and buildings out by the Valley of the Kings

Ruins near the Valley of the Kings

Transportation taking us from the visitors center to the tombs

Valley of the Kings

Debbie at the Valley of the Kings

Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. We had a three-tomb pass and Gladys suggested a few for us. We were blown away by the grandeur of these tombs. The hieroglyphs were awesome. The first tomb we saw was King Tut. He wasn’t the pharaoh for very long so his tomb was really small. We learned that kings started building their tombs when they took power and continued building until they died. Once they died, the workers started a new tomb for the new King. We couldn’t take photos in King Tut’s tomb but the art was incredible and so well preserved. We were amazed by how vibrant the colors in the art were. His sarcophagus was on one side of the tomb and it was so beautiful and grand. It was pure gold and it was huge! His body was on the other side of the tomb. He was a really little guy!

Our second tomb was Ramses III. This was such a grand tomb. The hieroglyphs were incredible! When they started digging this tomb they realized it was going to run into another tomb, so after the long entryway, the tomb takes a right turn and then left. The art all around the tomb was awesome.

The third tomb we saw was Setnakht. The tomb was built by the Queen but she died before her husband and then the King took over her tomb. This tomb was one of my favorites because you could really see the development of the tomb. Once the tomb was dug, the workers would sketch the art with red ink, and then another artist would finish the sketch with black ink. Once the drawings were inked another artist would chisel the art out of the stone and they would finish with paint. The Queen died before the tomb was finished so most of the entrance is completely finished. As you work your way down the tomb there are a few drawings that are in black or red ink, but they are mostly finished. Towards the end of the tomb, the hieroglyphs are carved but not painted. And most of the hieroglyphs in the burial chamber were only drawn and not yet carved. The sarcophagus is still in the tomb and it’s huge! The art was incredible here as well. I said it felt like a spiritual experience in the tombs recognizing the ancient Kings in the place of rest.

Unpainted hieroglyphics 

Uncarved Hieroglyphics

The tomb 

Our final tomb was Ramses IV. This was the grandest tomb of them all. Like the other tombs, the walls were covered with hieroglyphs and other art depicting the afterlife. The ceiling in the burial chamber had a painting of the Goddess, Nut who would swallow and birth the earth every day. The sarcophagus was still in this tomb as well. We pondered whether aliens put it there because it was huge!

The ceiling depicts the Goddess Nut giving birth to, and devouring the Sun. 

The sarcophagus

Christian graffiti. Christians used to hide in this area when the Romans were anti-Christian.

On our way out of the Valley of the Kings, there were shops to purchase trinkets. Egyptian vendors are very aggressive with their sales, something that I vividly remember from my last time in Egypt and still despise. Blake wanted to purchase a can of coke and the initial price quoted was $8. He bargained and got it down to $1. We were watching the transaction occur and it was hilarious.

Our next stop after the Valley of the Kings was an alabaster factory. They demonstrated how they hand-make alabaster vases the same way the ancients would have. It was really interesting.  We purchased a stone Sphinx and my parents got two alabaster vases. Blake loves to bargain. In the true spirit of hospitality, they gave us all coke (except for Eric who had water), and Blake got a few extra while he was bargaining. The coke was in glass bottles, which was awesome.

Me with an Arabic Coke

Our next stop was Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple. This was a monument to her. She was one of the few women Pharaohs. She shared the throne with her stepson who would have been King, except he was only 10 when his father died. She ruled for 22 years and was influential in relations with other nations. In her time she is depicted as a man because that is the way to look “presidential.” Unfortunately, that is still true in America. The temple was larger than life, as is everything in Egypt.

Sphinx outside the temple

View from the temple

Falcon statue 

Hieroglyphics in the temple

Blake holding up the columns

Alison standing like Hatshepsut

Statues of Hatshepsut. Originally there would have been statues at every pillar on both sides of the temple. 

Our next stop was lunch at a hotel. The location was incredible it was open air and near some farms. We enjoyed the ambiance while we ate. It was delicious! They brought out sun bread, which is bread that rises in the sun for several days until it is baked. This was served with tahini and cucumber sauce. They also brought out olives, tomatoes, eggplant, rice and vegetables, and chicken. It was delicious! For dessert, we had cream caramel, which is similar to a creme brûlée. We hadn't planned on eating much food in Egypt (so we would not get sick), but it was so good we couldn't resist.

Our lunch view

Our next stop after lunch was the Colossi of Memnon. One of the many incredible things about Luxor is that there are ancient monuments and temples literally next to the side of the road. These statues were guarding an ancient temple that has been excavated by the University of Chicago. They are both 22 meters tall.

Colossi of Memnon

The convenience store across the street from the Colossi 

Our next stop was the Karnak Temple via the Nile. We took a short boat ride to the East bank of the Nile. The Egyptians believed that when the sun set in this world that it was rising in the afterlife, therefore the East bank of the Nile where the sun rises is where they lived and worked, and on the West Bank of the Nile where the sunset is where they were buried. Since the Karnak Temple is for worshipping Gods, it’s on the East side of the Nile. The Karnak Temple was built over several hundred years and occupied 62 acres. The colonnade is spectacular. It’s the largest in the world. The columns are all huge and so grand! The temple was built for the God, Amun who is often depicted as a ram. The sphinxes in front of the temple have the body of a lion and the head of a ram. There is also a scarab that has magical powers. If you walk around it 7 times then your wish will come true. I did this in September 2009 and wished the Yankees would win the World Series. My wish came true, so I thought I would try it again. 2018 will be a good year for my Yanks!

The boat to take us across the Nile

Blake videoed the crossing of the Nile

The Nile

Karnak Temple

The Scarab. This is the largest scarab in the world.

We explored Karnak temple for a few minutes and saw more of the columns and obelisks. It was amazing. We also saw the Sacred Lake which is fed fresh water from the Nile. The priests would purify themselves in this lake before performing rituals at the temple. The High Priest in the temple would go to the Holy of Holies every day to make sure the statue of their God was attended to. Only Priests were permitted in the Temple, but once a year they would move the Statue to the Luxor Temple by boat for everyone to worship the statue of God. Rituals performed in the temple included feeding God 3 times each day and once they believed God was full they would divide the food among the Priests. Karnak Temple was definitely a highlight of the day.

A fallen obelisk. It was huge.

Our final stop was the Luxor Temple. This temple was significantly smaller but still grand. The two temples are 3 kilometers apart and in ancient times there was a row of Sphinx that connected the two temples. This temple was also converted to a Roman temple so there were random Roman columns, statues, and a fresco that were certainly not Egyptian. There were statues of Pharaohs and their wives including a statue of King Tut. Their enemies at the time were Africans and Asians and so they drew their enemies with their hands tied behind their backs under the feet of the Pharaoh. We explored this temple and spent time in the Holy of Holies before calling it a day and hearing back to the airport to fly back to Cairo. It was an incredible first day and we can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!

Statue of Ramses II

The mosque was built on top of the temple. Over the years this temple was covered by dirt and sand. When it was discovered and uncovered everything on top of it was torn down, except the mosque.

Statue of King Tut and his wife

The priests in this picture were confused about what Alison was doing

The holy of holies area of the Luxor temple

Sphinx avenue