December 20th
A 6a.m. wakeup call got us ready for this day’s exploration of the Valley of the Kings and Queens on the West Bank of Luxor. We awoke to find our ship beside 5 other cruise ships – all tied together at the dock. For the still mentally asleep, it was confusing as we walked out of our ship and then through the lobbies of 4 consecutive ships before disembarking. A short bus ride took us to see the Colossis of Memnon: 2 huge monolithic statues, standing (well, rather sitting) over 50 feet tall, slowly crumbling but still impressive. Then we drove onto the expansive Valley of the Kings. Though 62 tombs have been discovered so far, we saw active work being done to unearth more. Our ticket and time allowed for entry to only 3 tombs – we chose tombs 2, 6 & 11 as recommended by our guide. These were the tombs of Ramesses IV, IX and III – all were incredible in that the paint on the walls was still visible and in some areas vibrant though thousands of years old. Although each exhibit is carefully watched by a local “docent” and further by tourist police, we were amazed at the lack of control – some walls not covered by plexiglass and no attempt to correct for all the humidity brought in on the breath of the endless stream of visitors. We opted not to stand in the long queue for King Tutankhaman’s tomb, nor paying the extra fee. We were not disappointed in what we saw. There was no photography allowed so we broke down and bought a collection of postcards from the local vendors.
We next stopped at the Temple of Hatshepsut. It was overrun with local school children who were dressed in their finest for an educational fieldtrip with their teachers. They exuberantly greeted us in probably the only English they knew. It was interesting to note the office of the Polish Archeological Mission working on renovation and further archeological digs at the site.
Before we ended the days tour with a visit to the Valley of the Queens, we stopped at a certified alabaster factory to “help the local economy” as our tour guide Hossum suggested. We learned how to tell whether the beautiful vessels were made by hand or machine and also how to haggle to make a deal.
Later that night on board, we went to a "Bellydance Show" with a questionable belly dancer (there was more boob shaking than hip shaking) and a good whirling dervish who did miraculous tricks while turning, turning, turning. The band packed up briskly and was out the door before we knew what was happening -- they were on their way to their next gig on the next boat!
A 6a.m. wakeup call got us ready for this day’s exploration of the Valley of the Kings and Queens on the West Bank of Luxor. We awoke to find our ship beside 5 other cruise ships – all tied together at the dock. For the still mentally asleep, it was confusing as we walked out of our ship and then through the lobbies of 4 consecutive ships before disembarking. A short bus ride took us to see the Colossis of Memnon: 2 huge monolithic statues, standing (well, rather sitting) over 50 feet tall, slowly crumbling but still impressive. Then we drove onto the expansive Valley of the Kings. Though 62 tombs have been discovered so far, we saw active work being done to unearth more. Our ticket and time allowed for entry to only 3 tombs – we chose tombs 2, 6 & 11 as recommended by our guide. These were the tombs of Ramesses IV, IX and III – all were incredible in that the paint on the walls was still visible and in some areas vibrant though thousands of years old. Although each exhibit is carefully watched by a local “docent” and further by tourist police, we were amazed at the lack of control – some walls not covered by plexiglass and no attempt to correct for all the humidity brought in on the breath of the endless stream of visitors. We opted not to stand in the long queue for King Tutankhaman’s tomb, nor paying the extra fee. We were not disappointed in what we saw. There was no photography allowed so we broke down and bought a collection of postcards from the local vendors.
We next stopped at the Temple of Hatshepsut. It was overrun with local school children who were dressed in their finest for an educational fieldtrip with their teachers. They exuberantly greeted us in probably the only English they knew. It was interesting to note the office of the Polish Archeological Mission working on renovation and further archeological digs at the site.
Before we ended the days tour with a visit to the Valley of the Queens, we stopped at a certified alabaster factory to “help the local economy” as our tour guide Hossum suggested. We learned how to tell whether the beautiful vessels were made by hand or machine and also how to haggle to make a deal.
Later that night on board, we went to a "Bellydance Show" with a questionable belly dancer (there was more boob shaking than hip shaking) and a good whirling dervish who did miraculous tricks while turning, turning, turning. The band packed up briskly and was out the door before we knew what was happening -- they were on their way to their next gig on the next boat!
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