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Published: June 22nd 2006
Last night I enjoyed going along the Cornich in Luxor and taking one of the horse carriage around. I was able to see the Luxor Museum which is better organized and displayed then the main museum in Cairo. Also looked over the Temple of Luxor at Sunset.
Our group started the day early to beat the heat and crowds to the Valley of the Kings. There is no pictures allowed in the tombs and there is not much to look at above ground. Our guide took us to three tombs in the Valley which contains 63 tombs. We visited Ramses IX, Ramses IV, and Ramses III. You enter most of the tombs via large strait corridors although some you have to take stair to get down to. The first tomb we saw was incredibly carved and painted all along the corridor. The paint was very vibrant and colorful even after 1500 years when they were first put in the Valley of the Kings. The carvings and paintings are for the Kings journey to the after life. Although the carvings and paintings were wonderful the tombs no longer contained the statues and treasures that they once contained. The things that were
Cheap Tourist Transport
My cheap and fun ride from my hotel to the Luxor Museum and backnot stolen by theives have been collected and put in the museums.
After the Valley of the Kings we headed to an Alabaster Factory were we were given a tour and watched the workers shape the alabaster stones into vases, bowls, and other artistic items. At the factory there is no hassel to buy and it was a great place to pick up a piece of hand made items.
Moving on from the Alabaster factory we headed to the Temple of Medina Habu. I have to say this temple ranks as one of the top temples in Egypt next to Abu Simbel. The Temple is gigantic with deeply carved hieroglyphics and alot of the original paint is still visible. The temple at one point had been used as a coptic church and some of the hieroglyphics had been defaced.
Our group finished with the Temple we were treated to lunch at our guide Ahmed's house. His wife cooked a feast for us with lunch being the big meal of the day for Egyptians. The food was fabulous which consisted of rice, stewed vegetables, fresh baked bread, baked egg plant, beef, salad, and baklava to end the meal.
Our group finished our meal and said our thanks. We headed to a Papyrus making place were they used real papyrus and painted on them using water colors. The owner demonstrated how they made the paper and again we had the opportunity to buy some which I took advantage of.
After the papyrus place we headed to our final stop for the day which was the complex of Karnak. Karnak is the biggest Temple complex in Egypt and actually contains several temples and a lake. The Temples were beyond hugh and all of it was made out of lime stone. There is the Hall of Hypostles which contains 138 of the biggest pillars I have ever seen. All the pillar had hieroglyphics and there was some original paint in a few places. The complex also contained two gaint Obelisks with one weighting in at 120 tons. The obelisks were carved out of one giant single piece of rock. The complex is hugh and there is so much to see inside. There is restoration happening at the moment and one day the temples will be restored.
It has been an amazing day and I have seen most of
Colossus of Memnon
These are giant ancient egyptian statues on the way to the Valley of the Kings the famous ancient Egyptian places. Tomorrow we visited a free animal hospital for locals called ACE. Afterwards we take a six hour bus ride to the city of Hurghada on the coast of the Red Sea. Now I am going to rest up for the rest of my Egyptian Adventure. Good Night and Salam Alakum from Luxor, Egypt.
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Brenda
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More Great Pictures
Just when I thought I saw most wonderful pictures then you posted even more beautiful pictures. I can't wait for each day to read your journal and see more pictures. I am really happy for you. When your Mom told me about this trip and she was really worried I told her that you will be just fine and it would the trip of your lifetime. In fact, I will call her now to check on her. Take care and have wonderful time.