Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Pictures from Luxor, Egypt
The New Market, the Old Market, sunset on the Nile and our floating pool on the Nile.
Pictures from Luxor, Egypt
Balloons over the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Keith and I at the Colossi of Memmon.
Pictures from our Nile Cruise
Our view while cruising along the Nile and our boat, the M/S Stephanie.
Pictures from Abu Simbel, Egypt
The Great Temple of Abu Simbel and the Temple of Hathor. Our plane in the desert sand.
More on Egypt
Friday, June 25 – Today was a very early start with a 2:45 am wake-up call. We caught a 4:30 am flight to Abu Simbel where we spent the morning visiting the Great Temple of Abu Simbel and the Temple of Hathor. The temples were built by Ramses II around 2nd century BC and were discovered by chance in 1813. Both temples had to be moved in the 1960s to avoid the rising waters of Lake Nasser. They were quite impressive. After catching our flight back to Aswan (about 30 minutes), we checked out of our hotel and into our cruise ship, the M/S Stephanie. We would be spending the next 3 nights on the M/S Stephanie while cruising the Nile. We had the rest of the day free and after spending some time by the pool, Keith and I hit the souq – the local market. They had everything from spices to statutes, t-shirts to jewelry. Overall it was an entertaining experience as the quick tongued Egyptians tried everything to get you into their shops – with my favorite phrase being “we don't know what you're looking for, but we have it here.” After some dinner, we called it a night.
Saturday, June 26 - Our day started off with a beautiful felucca (canvas-sailed boat) ride on the Nile. The M/S Stephanie then left port. Cruising along the Nile is incredible. The river itself is a beautiful blue (unlike the Mekong which was brown and murky) and there is a constant breeze. Along the river is a narrow band of green lushness and lots of palm trees. Then, just beyond the narrow green band, and is nothing but vast harsh dry desert. It's quite a sight. Anyways, our first stop was the Temple of Kom Ombo, built around the 1st century BC. At one point in time the temple was used as a hospital and we saw carvings showing medical instruments, a wash basin and birthing chairs. We even saw the original “R” as in the Rx for prescriptions. We cruised for a bit more and then visited the Temple of Edfu. Edfu is apparently one the best preserved temples as it was buried for many of years. After the temple it was time for our themed dinner – Egyptian night where we all dressed up like Egyptians (I have to admit Keith's outfit was much better than mine). A good time was had by all.
Sunday, June 27 – The morning started off by going through the Esna Lock where we dropped down approximately 21 feet. By mid-day we had arrived in Luxor. Luxor was “[b]uilt on and around the 4000-year-old site of ancient Thebes.” Our first stop in the afternoon was visiting ACE, a non-profit organization providing free veterinary care and food for the animals of Luxor. It was a bit heartbreaking, but nice to know that such a spot exists in a place where animals are treated as nothing more than a commodity. The rest of the day was spent visiting the Temples of Karnak – a huge complex, both in square footage and height, that was added to over the course of 1500 years. It was certainly the most impressive temple we'd seen so far.
Monday, June 28 – We had another early start with a 5:00 am wake-up call. After checking out, we headed to our first stop in Luxor, the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings was an impressive sight with 62 different kings' tombs carved in and under a large mountain range (sadly we were allowed to take any pictures). The tombs date back to 1550 BC and the artwork inside them is amazingly well preserved. They were largely undiscovered until the 16th or 17th century and most likely the first people to discover them were thieves. Only the last tomb, the tomb of King Tutankhamen (King Tut), which was the last tomb discovered in 1922, was found with all it's treasures. Our next stop was the Deir al-Bahri or the Temple of Hatshepsut. It was a beautiful three level building carved right into a sheer cliff face. After the Temple we stopped at a local factory to see how they carve and shape different types of stone including alabaster, the predominant stone in Luxor. We briefly stopped at the Colossi of Memmon, two huge statutes standing 18 meters high. We then checked into our hotel and had the rest of the day to relax. We had a sunset dinner overlooking the Nile and then called it a night.
Tuesday, June 29 – Today we had most of the day on our own. In the morning, we went to Luxor Temple, another beautiful temple in the center of Luxor and saw the Avenue of the Sphinx, two long rows of sphinx that connect Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple (and which are still in the process of being excavated) approximately 2 km apart. We then checked out the souq – the new market and the old market. They were in sharp contrast as the new market catered to the tourist and the old market catered to the locals. After tramping around in the heat all morning, we went back to the hotel where we spent the remainder of the day lounging around the pool. As an aside, the pool was actually a converted barge the floated right on the Nile. In the evening, we all gathered to fill out a survey and have dinner. We arrived back at the hotel around 9:00 pm where the temperature outside read 107 degrees. I then headed to bed while Keith spent the rest of the evening with our guide Walid at a local coffee shop, watching the World Cup and smoking out of a shisha.
Saturday, June 26 - Our day started off with a beautiful felucca (canvas-sailed boat) ride on the Nile. The M/S Stephanie then left port. Cruising along the Nile is incredible. The river itself is a beautiful blue (unlike the Mekong which was brown and murky) and there is a constant breeze. Along the river is a narrow band of green lushness and lots of palm trees. Then, just beyond the narrow green band, and is nothing but vast harsh dry desert. It's quite a sight. Anyways, our first stop was the Temple of Kom Ombo, built around the 1st century BC. At one point in time the temple was used as a hospital and we saw carvings showing medical instruments, a wash basin and birthing chairs. We even saw the original “R” as in the Rx for prescriptions. We cruised for a bit more and then visited the Temple of Edfu. Edfu is apparently one the best preserved temples as it was buried for many of years. After the temple it was time for our themed dinner – Egyptian night where we all dressed up like Egyptians (I have to admit Keith's outfit was much better than mine). A good time was had by all.
Sunday, June 27 – The morning started off by going through the Esna Lock where we dropped down approximately 21 feet. By mid-day we had arrived in Luxor. Luxor was “[b]uilt on and around the 4000-year-old site of ancient Thebes.” Our first stop in the afternoon was visiting ACE, a non-profit organization providing free veterinary care and food for the animals of Luxor. It was a bit heartbreaking, but nice to know that such a spot exists in a place where animals are treated as nothing more than a commodity. The rest of the day was spent visiting the Temples of Karnak – a huge complex, both in square footage and height, that was added to over the course of 1500 years. It was certainly the most impressive temple we'd seen so far.
Monday, June 28 – We had another early start with a 5:00 am wake-up call. After checking out, we headed to our first stop in Luxor, the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings was an impressive sight with 62 different kings' tombs carved in and under a large mountain range (sadly we were allowed to take any pictures). The tombs date back to 1550 BC and the artwork inside them is amazingly well preserved. They were largely undiscovered until the 16th or 17th century and most likely the first people to discover them were thieves. Only the last tomb, the tomb of King Tutankhamen (King Tut), which was the last tomb discovered in 1922, was found with all it's treasures. Our next stop was the Deir al-Bahri or the Temple of Hatshepsut. It was a beautiful three level building carved right into a sheer cliff face. After the Temple we stopped at a local factory to see how they carve and shape different types of stone including alabaster, the predominant stone in Luxor. We briefly stopped at the Colossi of Memmon, two huge statutes standing 18 meters high. We then checked into our hotel and had the rest of the day to relax. We had a sunset dinner overlooking the Nile and then called it a night.
Tuesday, June 29 – Today we had most of the day on our own. In the morning, we went to Luxor Temple, another beautiful temple in the center of Luxor and saw the Avenue of the Sphinx, two long rows of sphinx that connect Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple (and which are still in the process of being excavated) approximately 2 km apart. We then checked out the souq – the new market and the old market. They were in sharp contrast as the new market catered to the tourist and the old market catered to the locals. After tramping around in the heat all morning, we went back to the hotel where we spent the remainder of the day lounging around the pool. As an aside, the pool was actually a converted barge the floated right on the Nile. In the evening, we all gathered to fill out a survey and have dinner. We arrived back at the hotel around 9:00 pm where the temperature outside read 107 degrees. I then headed to bed while Keith spent the rest of the evening with our guide Walid at a local coffee shop, watching the World Cup and smoking out of a shisha.
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