Two Days in Luxor

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There are a few sights around Luxor - Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple on the East bank, Tombs of the Kings, Queens, Nobles, and Hashephut Temple on the West bank, and Abydos where Osiris' head was buried after Seth killed him... Didn't do Abydos, which need a full day trip..

So.. my overnight train from Cairo was supposed to arrive at 7am in Luxor.. but it arrived only at 10am... so, went in search of a good place to stay.. the Nefertari had some pretty good comments in LP, walked there.. but was told room rate is fixed at 50LE.. wah.. so decided to try out the Princess Hotel (not in LP) recommended by another traveller..

When I arrived there.. i told him somebody recommended me.. and said i can get a room for 15LE (actually he said 20LE).. the staff was really friendly, and said, ok.. but he ran out of singles.. will give me a triple but will charge me only 15LE.. wah.. shiok.. put my things in the room, and he showed me to the rooftop.. and served me a welcome drink.. wah.. welcome drink siah.. macam 5 star hotel.. but the welcome drink was just a glass of shai (tea, i realized they pronounce as shai here, not chai).. but it's the thought that counts right?

Well.. while you are sipping the tea.. the hotel manager then come and talk to you.. tell you about the tours they have.. and tomorrow they going to visit the west bank.. and offered me a all-in-1 price of 165, tickets, transport, and english guide included.. i declined.. was thinking of biking to the west bank sights.. they reduced price to 130 eventually..

Got a bike from the hotel at 8LE.. i told the hotel guy while walking here i already enquired the price, 6LE.. but he said his bike better.. if you get a bike at the outside shops, when you return the bike, they will tell you this thing damage that thing damage and ask you to pay.. whatever.. dunno real or not.. whatever lah.. save me walking back out.. and i get to use it overnight.. on lah.. so he got a guy to bike me to collect my bike.. i rode on the spine of the bike.. down the streets of Luxor.. so lomantic.. and we ended up at the 6LE bike shop i enquired at!! doh.. stupid.. ok, pay 2LE extra to use it over night lah.. see it that way..

EAST BANK
East Bank has 2 main sights.. Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple.. there's also a museum, but i'm not totally hyped about museums..

Biked to the temple of Karnak.. it wasn't too far.. an easy 5mins - 10mins ride from the town.. passed by some semi excavated Avenues of the Sphinxes along the way.. the avenue of the sphinxes was actually a long road connecting the two temples in the past.. lined with sphinx statues on the side.. passing by other buildings such as the temple of Mut..

Then i saw this avenue of the sphinx that seemed to be bikable.. so i zoomed down a slope.. and happily start riding along the avenue.. sphinxes greeting me as i cycle along.. and then somebody shouted at me.. i turned around.. oh no.. police.. hehe.. he told me this is closed.. i shouldn't be here.. etc.. we started chatting, and we ended up having tea together at his rest post on top of one of the excavated walls with heiroglyphs... haha.. after a 10mins rest of talk cock and egyptian humour.. i bade him and his friends farewell.. he wanted to show me the temple of Mut, which is closed for restoration.. but i already had a good view of it at the resting post.. and my spider sense said baksheesh alert.. so i declined and continued on my way to Temple Karnak..

When I arrived at Karnak, i was first at first put off by the 50LE/25LE ticket.. but once i entered it.. woah.. i was very impressed by it.. especially in that great hall where there are 134 columns in total.. each towering maybe 30ft also.. you can feel the grandeur of the place.. of how it was like in the past.. One of best place to visit in Luxor imho.. highly recommended.. a must go! In the end. .spent about 3hrs or so in the temple grounds.. sat at the a corner of the great hall and did some reading.. real nice..

After Karnak, visited the Luxor Temple.. well, nothing much in Luxor Temple, but just want to visit so that I know whether the Luxor casino in LV is based after anything Luxor.. an interesting in Luxor Temple was the evidence of Roman architecture in its design.. quite interesting.. Entrance fee was 40LE/20LE..

When i got back to the hotel, the manager came and talk to me again.. told me his minibus is almost full.. so he can give me a superb reduced price of 120LE, and my two nights hotel stay will be free.. wah.. so after calculating the cost of tickets.. the luxury of having someone explain the sights to you.. air con minivan.. dun have to cycle.. ok lah.. on lah..

WEST BANK
The next day morning.. we departed from the hotel to West Bank.. Valley of the Kings.. Valley of the Queens.. Hatshephut Temple.. here i come.. (i realized later on the bus that we are not going to the Tombs of the Nobles.. but tombs are about the same i thought.. and you can't visit all of the 100+ tombs in west bank in a day anyway.. so it's ok lah)

We first went to the Valley of the Kings.. only 3 tombs were open for tourists.. entrance fee is 70LE/35LE.. The tombs are not that bad, visited Ramses I, III and IV.. Ramses I was really colourful, it's amazing how the paint stayed on after thousands of years.. Tuthakahaman's (sp?) tomb requires more money to go in that small space.. i think the fee was something like 100LE? not sure..

Then we went to Hatshephut Temple.. it's a temple carved right into the sandstone mountain behind.. looks quite impressive with the moutain backdrop.. however, what's left was mere more than just a facade.. as most of the interior were destroyed either in earthquake or war..

Next is the Valley of the Queens.. only 2 tombs were open.. Nefertari, supposedly one of the better tombs to visit.. is closed to the public now.. The 2nd tomb was pretty interesting.. it actually housed the mummy of a baby..

We went to the Collosi of Memnon next.. two giant statues built to safeguard the tombs.. Memnon is the name of a Greek warrior who fought in the trojan war.. the statues are named thus supposedly cos when the greeks came, they didn't destroy them cos they thought the statues looked like Memnon.. it is said that during sunrise, the statue on the right will give off a whurring sound when the sun's ray hits it.. and so it's special..

Got the bus to drop me off at west bank instead of back at the hotel on east bank.. took the local bus to the west bank village.. 0.25LE.. very small village.. East Bank more happening to stay imho.. sat by the river.. talked to some locals.. before finally taking the public ferry back to East bank.. ferry costs only 0.50LE i think.. but he charged me 1LE cos i have no change and cos he said i'm foreigner.. buggers.. alternatively, you can charter one of the small sailboats.. US$1 each way..


Some travellers i talked to later told me The Tombs of the Nobles were actually quite good.. tho not as big as those of the Kings, their tombs are real colourful, and have better art on the walls.. grr.. if i had known, i'd have the bus dropped me off near to the tombs and i'd have gone myself..

Oh.. today was damn bluddy hot! So hot that i had to take out the SAF Camo Mosquito Net and cover myself.. some tourists exclaimed "woah! camoflague!".. i responded, "woah! you can see me? Dang!"... actually it's really a good camo.. with that thing on, none of those people selling souvenirs came and "Japanese? Korean?" or "Ni Hao!" me.. haha.. it's my cloak of invisibility!

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Photos

My Triple Room
So much room... Clean too!

Guard Post on Avenue of Sphinx
Where i had shai with mr policeman and his friends..

Me With All Da Big Pillars!
Nice quiet place in a corner..

Entrance to the Tombs
One reason the tombs are located here is because of the pyramid looking mountain top at the back.

First Class Seats!
First class overnight train is luxurious enough.. 2nd class is comfortable enough..

The Great Hypostyle Hall
134 towering columns.. imagine the majesty then!

The Nile at Luxor
Taken from East Bank.. The upland area in the background forms the Valley of Tombs.

Luxor's Courtyard(?)
i think it's courtyard.. what else can it be?

Roman Architecture
Doorway leading to the back room of the temple