Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 9

And on to Luxor...which I ımmedıately prefer over Aswan and Cairo. I think because it's a raw poor area once your off the main streets and for some reason I like places like that. Today's dose of sight-seeing was Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Workers. Valley of the Kings is my favourite "ancient site" so far. All are obviously amazing to see, but the tombs here are very colourful and there's lots of them. I feel sorry for all these Pharohs though - all that effort that went ınto building theır tombs and now they're dug up and shipped out to museums with all theır treasure on dısplay for tourısts to look at! My head is full of Egyptian gods and kings and I'm wondering which Pharoh was the one who put Joseph ... read more

The mighty Nile River is the longest in the world, originating in Uganda and flowing through several African countries, before it meanders through Egypt to the mediterranean sea. The annual Nile floods have sustained Egyptian civilisation for thousands of years, and the black sediment left after the floods has provided fertile soil for the people of Egypt in this desert country. A visit to Egypt isn't complete without a cruise on the Nile to visit the magnificent temples, and it's been a dream of mine for some period of time. So as we prepare to set sail, dear reader, let's quickly bring the journal up to speed. We left off in Cairo after returning from the Sahara, from where I boarded an overnight sleeper train for the journey south to Upper Egypt, and my first port ... read more

Hi everyone!!! Internet access is back!!!!! It's Wednesday, 2/2 at 12:30pm. We are safe and sound waiting in the Luxor airport for our flight to London. We were able to get our flights rebooked direct from Luxor to London without having to go to Cairo. thank you Stuart and Jenn!!!The airport here is not busy at all. We have no idea what Cairo airport is like. The rest of our group is headed there. We have not have any problems at all. There is military all around. We have been visiting temples in Luxor. I'm going to post this quickly in case we lose the internet. I hope your enjoying the snow at home! We are to arrive in Atlanta Thursday afternoon - hopefully. I should be home sweet home by sometime Thursday night. Pictures and ... read more

I've been home awhile but want to capture the final days in Luxor. On Monday, we took the bus to the Karnak Temple. This was the largest of the all the temples we visited. The Street of Sphinx that started at the Luxor Temple ends here at Karnak Temple. There were military trucks by the entrance. As we approached the first pylon (entrance) there was new excavation going on. They found bath houses. The pictures show 2 sets of round rooms with individual bath tubs in them. One was for men and one for women. The temple was amazing. This temple has the longest hall in all of the temples in Egypt. The Spy Who Loved Me was filmed in the hall. There is an area with column built to represent a Thicket of Papyrus. We ... read more

Finally turned on the news last night. Internet never came back on, so no information there. Luckily, CNN was still broadcasting in our hotel room. Chaos in Cairo and Alexandria. Tanks in the streets, mass demonstrations, looting and roaming gangs in the suburbs. Reports of protesters and security forces killed. Mubarak appointed his former chief of Egypt's security service as Vice President, a position that hadn't existed for a number of years. Fears of the old guard staying in power have sparked the continuing protests. It was predictable to me. Yesterday's jubilation about the revolution seemed premature. Cell phone service returned, so I called my mother (who the hell knows how much that call is going to be) to tell her we were alive. She was, of course, relieved to hear our voices and said she ... read more