Blogs from Valley of the Kings, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 3

We got up relatively early today to be ready for our tour of the Luxor West Bank where the tombs are including the Valley of the Kings (where King Tutankhamen lies) Our guide, Mariel, and our driver picked us up around 8 am. We could tell right away we had a good guide as Mariel gave us some background while we drove down towards the bridge that spans the Nile. There is no bridge directly across to the West Bank (though it is less than 1 km away). Instead you have to drive North along the side of the river for about 5 km to the bridge and then head back up the other side. Our first stop was the Collosi of Memnon, two huge 18 meter tall statues which are virtually all that is left ... read more

Last Day on Sonesta Nile River Cruise December 29, 2008 After breakfast on board, we had an early start, leaving our ship at 7:30am with our bags in tow. We boarded a bus, crossed the Nile and toured the West Bank with our group. In ancient Egypt, the tombs were all built on the west side because the day “died” in the west, swallowed by the goddess Nutt. People lived on the East Bank where the sun was reborn each morning. We visited the Valley of the Kings and Queens, which included the famous Colossi of Memnon, three tombs of the Thebian rulers, and toured the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, the only woman pharaoh to reign in ancient Egypt. We then toured 3 tombs in the Valley of the Queens. The tour of the Valley of ... read more

Twelfth & Thirteenth Stop: Valley of the Kings & Luxor: Next along the Nile river was the fabled Valley of the Kings. Before entering the valley, we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon and Hatshepsut's memorial temple. The actual Valley of the Kings is a region where 500 years worth of Pharaohs and nobility from the "New Kingdom" were buried (16th - 11th century BC). The mummies of some of the most famous Pharaohs, including King Tutankhamun and Ramses II were discovered here. After years of theft from above ground monuments (i.e. the Pyramids), the Pharaohs decided to create their lasting monuments underground. The Egyptians take the "No Photo" rule seriously. Ryan was snapping away inside the first tomb and this elderly Egyptian man asked him to show him the camera and he just took it! ... read more

Early pick up at hotel for flight from Cairo to Luxor. The airport was a madhouse and we had an agent getting our boarding passes. Then hundreds of people pushed their way through the single security line to the waiting room. We were supposed to “listen” for our flight to be called and it was really just the guy at the door saying flight numbers. You had to be standing there to hear him. Buses to the plane then off to Luxor. Picked up and taken to the Ti-Yi. Many more tips along the way. It was still early and we did not have a cabin. We met our local guide, George, and he was not very helpful. All of a sudden he announced he was taking us to our first excursion to the Valley of ... read more

I have used my student ID all over. From Portugal for entrance into an art exhibit, to Egypt to entrance into King Tuts tomb. It was magnificent. You cannot take pictures inside the tombs, except for "Baksheesh", otherwise known as a tip. I had ny camer checked for illegal pics, luckily i pussed out upon first entrance. ... read more