Blogs from Valley of the Kings, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa

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Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings September 12th 2022

Our time on the Nile had now come to an end as we arrived in Luxor...we disembarked, jumped in our van and were off and running to visit one of the sites I was most looking forward to: Valley of the Kings...the name conjures up all sorts of magical visions; the various tombs, archaeological digs spanning centuries, King Tutankhamun (of course!) and the mysteries surrounding them all, what more could you ask for?? Our first stop en route was the Colossi of Memnon, a site with two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III...having stood since 1350 BCE, the twin statues stand guard at the entrance to Amenhotep's memorial temple, which in its day was the largest and most opulent temple complex in Ancient Egypt. The statues contain Roman-era inscriptions in Greek and Latin, dated ... read more
Lovely K and I
KV11-Ramesses III
Entrance/Exit to KV9-Ramesses V & VI

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings January 25th 2022

Day 9 for us started nice and late! There was a contingent that got up at the crack of dawn to catch a balloon to travel over the Valley of the Kings. We enjoyed the luxury of a lie in! Then after a delayed breakfast because the balloon participants arrived back late, it was on the bus to go to the Valley of the Kings. The Greeks named the Egyptian capital area around Luxor ‘Thebes‘ so this burial valley is also known as the Theban Necropolis. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile. To get there we boarded a boat and went for a ride along the Nile to cross to the other side. Once at the site it was off the bus and onto a cart to get down to the tombs ... read more
Valley of the Kings
Coloured art in Tomb 96
Temple of Horus

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings December 1st 2021

28 Nov (Toujours à Louxor) Lorsqu'on s'éloigne des précieux Temples de Louxor, les rues de la ville se hantent rapidement de la bruyante vie habituelle des égyptiens. Cafoullis total. Assis sur des couvertures rapiécées, au ras des routes, les fermiers venus de la campagne, et puis les plus pauvres de la ville aussi, vendent des mottes d'oignons ou d'échalottes, des rangées de verdoyante laitue, de persil et d'aneth ou des assemblages de bananes déjà bien mûres. Parfois, on en voit vendre des poussins à l'unité, ceux-ci piaillant d'incompréhension alors qu'ils se font échanger sans délicatesse comme on achèterait un sac de petites limes. Un peu au dessus, des fruiteries multicolores et des vendeurs d'épices, de noix et de pois chiches brillent sous l'éclairage ocre de leurs petits espaces commerciaux. Puis, tout au fond du tableau, de ... read more
Mausolée
Mosquée 1
Mosquée 2

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings October 4th 2019

Once again, trying to avoid the brutal heat, we had another ridiculously early morning for our much anticipated visit to the Valley of the Kings in the West Bank of the Nile. Because of the early wake up call, I managed to catch a glimpse of the hot air balloons over the West Bank at sunrise. We had made a reservation to participate that same morning, but it had been unexpectedly cancelled by the company a couple of weeks before the trip. We found out after we got to Egypt that there had been an accident, apparently bad enough for TripAdvisor to feel obligated to cancel it. We were thinking of rescheduling there, but our Tour Director, Amr Hassan, was definitely opposed to it saying it was dangerous, plus the early time might have conflicted with ... read more
Luxor
Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings October 4th 2016

We had another early morning this morning, with breakfast at 5 am. We left the boat at 5:30 for the drive over to the West Bank of the Nile. Our first stop was the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was a female pharaoh, who ruled for around 20 years circa 1460 BCE. She was able to hang on to the throne, despite being a woman, because she invented a story, accepted by the high priest, that she was in fact the result of a divine birth (she was the child of a god, and so was a god herself). Hatshepsut's temple is in a dramatically beautiful location, at the foot of rugged limestone cliffs. It would have been even more amazing in its time because it would have approached by a sphinx-lined causeway, and there would ... read more
Remains of deserted village
Tombs in the hillside
Hatshepsut's Temple

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings March 14th 2016

The west bank of the Nile River near and through Luxor is where most of the dead peeps are buried….The east bank is where the living reside. This is because the ancient Egyptians focused on the sun and therefore built living establishments and temples where the sun rises and tombs on the west side where the sun sets. Cool logic! So we went to the west side to visit the Valley of Kings where a bunch of pharos are buried or were buried including King Tut himself (sidebar: Tutankhamun means Tut, and then the ankh which is the symbol of life among other things, and amun is the god! Very cool to learn that!). Lots of other tombs around but we were only allowed to visit three of them…and no cameras allowed. Not a problem in ... read more
only three level structure in ancient egypt
neat
used to be water feastures everywhere i guess

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings May 4th 2013

Today we join the cruise...but before we do we are going to see The Valley of the Kings. The Collossi of Memnon was our first stop. It consists of two enormous twin stone statues of pharaoh Amenhotep III and was built in 1350 B.C. In 27 B.C. it was damaged by an earthquake. Next we traveled to Habu Temple and then to Queen Hatshepsut's temple. It was in in great shape and I think is one of the prettiest temples we've seen yet. Now to the Valley of the Kings...We were able to go in three funerary temples. Ramses II, Ramses III and Ramses IX. It was amazing how many royals were buried in this valley. Their temples were empty and some were very plain while others were colorful. King Tut's tomb was one of the ... read more
Colossi of Memnon
Colossi of Memnon
Donkey and cart

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings April 18th 2013

Our first stop today was the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. We had to drive a little way out of town and into the desert before weaving our way through the mountains to get to this famous valley. The site itself does not look like much. Big rocky sandy mountains and nothing really resembling ancient royalty. The site was used as an ancient burial ground for the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt between 16th-11th century BC. Our guide advised us that about 64 burial chambers have been discovered. He told us that when a king started his reign, valley workers would start carving out the king's burial tomb. Over the period of his reign, they would dig and dig and dig until the day that the king died. At such time, the artists/carvers would arrive and ... read more
P1010822
P1010824
P1010830

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings January 20th 2013

We had breakfast this morning watching the balloons floating over the West Bank of the Nile which was very atmospheric. There is something very restful about watching balloons hanging in the sky. It's nice to see the balloons floating over Melbourne on the odd occasion that I see them, but it was spectacular to see balloons floating over the West Bank of the Nile with the mountains that surround the Valley of the Kings in the background! After our breakfast we left for our visit to the Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately no photography is allowed in the Valley of the Kings so we had to leave our cameras on the bus. We might have to download a few images from the internet or buy some postcards?! Just behind the entry to the site there is ... read more
Hatshepsut Temple
Hatshepsut Temple 2
Hatshepsut Temple 3

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings November 15th 2012

I awake at 7.15 with a call. Fuuuuck! We were meant to be leaving at 7.15! I chuck on some clothes and hurry down to reception. Everyone is there, I apologize for my lateness. They're all good suprizingly. They tell me to grab some buns etc from Reception for breakfast and before we know it we are on our way. First up is Valley of the Kings. We drive past Luxor temple on the way. I find out on the way that they missed me on the wake up call list. Ahhhh! I see!! As we arrive at valley of the kings it's breath taking, so huge! We head in the entrance and are told we are not allowed cameras. Lame. Our pass only allows us to enter 3 temples. So we enter two of the ... read more
Tombs!
Hypostyle Hall
The Two Statues




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