Luxor, Valley of Kings and Queens

I took an overnight trip to visit Luxor, The Valley of Kings and Queens from my cruise ship, as follows:

Luxor, the Tourist Mecca of the Nile Valley (2 day tour from Port of Safaga)

Today, our ship docked in Safaga, a major city along the Nile that servers as a popular port for accessing numerous Red Sea resort towns (for sunbathing and snorkeling coral reefs) and Luxor, for those wishing to visit ancient Egyptian sites such as temples, tombs and monuments of Karnak, the Valley of Kings, and Hatshepsut.

Departing at 8:30 AM, we (four American couples) embarked on a 3 1/2 hour journey through the Eastern Desert to the city of Luxor, where 75% of Egypt's ancient monuments are located. Dalia was our Egyptologist and tour guide who passionately described the history, culture, and sites we would soon visit.

The scenery consisted of large patches of desert with varying hues of tan and brown with mountains in the foreground, dotted with occasional Bedouin villages complete with camels, tents, and residents dressed in local Egyptian attire (The galabeyya, a traditional ankle-length gown worn by Egyptian men)

At 1245, we arrived at our first stop: the amazing Temple of Karnak, Egypt's most important ancient site after the pyramids of Giza. This immense Temple complex, dedicated to the king of gods, was so important that throughout the centuries, the each pharaoh made additions and changes to the existing buildings, seeking to outdo their predecessors and to make their mark on the country's most important temple. With its endless courts, halls, colossi, and huge sacred lake, the scale and complexity of the sprawling temple is overwhelming. We visited all the key sites, including the Great Hypostle Hall, the famous twin obelisks of Hatshepsut (including the broken toppled one), the Colossus of Ramses II w. daughter, the row of sphinxes at the entryway, and the statue of the scarab beetle.

Our tour guide was magnificent.

The heat was absolutely oppressive. That is all I'll say about that subject except I'm happy I purchased a wide-brimmed hat at our first rest stop. I paid too much, $20, but since tourism in Egypt has declined from 25million to 2million visitors annually, since the revolution ( and global economic meltdown), I surrendered to the seller's appeal to help him out financially.

Our next stop was lunch in a five-star hotel between 2-3PM. I ordered the mixed grill meal. They served soup, salad and dessert. I did not want the eclairs, so the waitress guided me to the dessert display and asked mewhich dessert do you prefer? Although I really did not want dessert, (I barely ate lunch because I was so overheated), I chose the chocolate triangle shaped item that turned out to be a delicious chocolate mousse!

Our next stop was to the Temple of Luxor from 330 until 4:45 PM

Dominating the banks of the Nile in the center of town, the Luxor Temple is an elegant example of ancient temple architecture. As with many temples, it is approached by an avenue of sphinxes, which stretched all the way from Luxor to Karnak. The obelisk was originally one of a pair; the other was removed in the early 19th century and we erected in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, a gift from Mohammed Ali to the people of France.

Fortunately, the sun had begun to descend, making this visit less painfully hot.

We arrive at our hotel, the Sheraton Luxor on the Nile, at 530 PM. We had planned to go on the sound and light show at Karnak; the group would meet at 615 in the lobby. However, we decided to relax at the hotel, instead. We were exhausted!

The Sheridan Luxor is an attractive resort hotel located right on the Nile River. The scenes are very tranquil and the sunset views are spectacular. I would stay here again!

Joel showered, ate food from the ship, and watch TV. I decided to explore the area on my own. After watching the sunset over the Nile from our hotel outdoor restaurant, I explored the area around our hotel after dark. I found little activity other than a few clusters of men here and there; horses, donkeys and taxis for hire; and a few open shops. I grew more and more uncomfortable as men kept approaching me to offer me rides or taxis. It was quite annoying and I wish I had someone to walk with me.

I came back to the hotel ambivalent about dinner. I wasn't quite hungry. But, I was afraid to go to bed without dinner. My dilemma was we had to get up at 4 AM for hot-air balloon ride over the Valley of Kings and Luxor. Yes everyone in our small group of 8 agreed to go on the once-in-a-lifetime journey.

The hotel restaurant looked appealing but I didn't want to dine alone so I ordered a Middle Eastern appetizer plate from room service. I paid $10 in cash. I had a nice long hot shower and slept like a baby. We slept from 8 PM until 4 AM-the required eight hours of sleep.

Getting ready was easy the next morning because I had only one change of clothes.

At 5 AM, we left the hotel for the experience of a lifetime.

They handed us a bag breakfast since we were up too early to enjoy the hotel's bountiful buffet breakfast overlooking the Nile. We took small vans; to a ferry; to the other side of the river; to more vans; to a vast area to meet our hot air balloons. There were at least 10 gigantic multicolored hot air balloon setups (in the middle of the dessrt) in various stages of preparation. At each site, there were teams of men assembling a hot air balloon complete with 16 passenger basket, the balloon, burners/“fire-breathing dragons”, and helium. Groups of passengers clustered around each site.

There was such excitement in the air as we watched our team assemble our balloon. The pilot introduced himself and provided safety instructions and specific directions on how to position our bodies for a safe landing. One of the men lifted me up and bored me into one of four quadrants in the passenger basket.

Here are some of my observations/thoughts:

the views were magnificently breathtaking. It was indescribably tranquil!

We watched the sun rise slowly over the Nile as we rose higher and higher. The colors were spectacular.

It was really hot, as the pilot periodically pumped more fire from the burner into the balloon. We were right next to the firing mechanism.

The pilot pointed out different sites including the imposing Hatshepsut Temple in its stunning setting at the foot of a sheer limestone cliff, rising from the desert plain in a series of imposing terraces; The Temple of Ramses II (Ramsesseum; and the Colossi of Memnon (which we visited later, up close and personal).

The image of multicolored balloons (close but far enough away) was majestic and the images of some balloons in front of the firey, orange, rising sun were stunning!

We responded to our signal to assume our landing positions. We enjoyed a flawlessly smooth landing!

After we climbed out of the basket, the workers began to sing and drum; the men grabbed one of us girls and danced with us; yes the videographer was recording the $20 DVD. It was really corny, but fun. Of course, a few Bedouin men and boys also met our basket with hopes of earning money for photographing them with their donkey.

We all agreed we had made an excellent decision. The entire experience lasted from 5 AM to 7 PM.

A sunrise, hot-air balloon-ride over Luxor, The Valley of Kings, and the Nile River, is a lifetime experience NOT TO BE MISSED!

Our next stop was the Valley of Kings, the necropolis where pharaohs had buried their tombs deep into the hills, in hopes of preventing robbers from stealing their priceless treasures within. Of course, every burial chamber was eventually looted except for only those of King Tut and 2 others.

The entry price entitles you to visit three of the eleven open tombs. Our guide chose for us the tombs of 1)Sety II, 2)his wife/and usurper, 3) Ramses III (With its bas-reliefs of two blind harpists in one of the side chambers). We all agreed we preferred the tomb of the wife of Sety II.

Each tomb has dramatic corridors, burial chambers stunningly adorned with symbolic accounts of the journey to the underworld, and ritual paintings to assist pharaohs in the afterlife.

A visit to the mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut was next. This was another impressive site-the site of the first Temple and to tomb connected to the Valley of Kings. We climbed all three tiers and saw all of the colorful and well preserved statues, paintings, and chapel of Anubis, at this centuries old structure (1475BC).

Our lunch buffet was good.

We made one final quick stop at a stone factory for Michael Wendler to purchase an obelisk. Just prior to this, while walking through the bazaar in front of Hatshepsut Temple, I spotted a lovely, white, 14-inch, alabaster obelisk. I offered to pay five dollars. The vendor proceeded to follow me back to the bus. Beginning with a price of $25, $20, then $ 15. (his final offer), then $12, then $10, ( his real final offer) then $7s, and then, I heard the magic words. OK five dollars. I turned around and handed him the five dollars. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't give him more.

Our long journey back to the ship was bittersweet as we were leaving a city that houses some of the most revered ancient sites in the world. In addition to small sandstorms, we actually ran into a couple of rain showers, something that is virtually unseen in the desert.

What a great two days!

Karank temples, valley of the kings, Deir El Bahari , Colossi of Memnon, Luxor temple .