At the entrance to Luxor Temple there are impressive statues of Ramses II and one obelisk (the other was sent to France as a gift and is in the Place de la Concorde). Inside is the Mosque of Abu el-Haggar sitting on top of part of the temple. It is considered an historic building, so it has been allowed to remain. We saw several archeologists doing restoration work within the temple.
As with the other temples, there was an overwhelming amount of massive columns, carvings covering every square inch of temple columns and walls, huge statues, and Aki's information. We spent an hour and fifteen minutes here. As we left, there were some beautiful trees with yellow flowers that Aki said were Tacoma trees. There were also lots of dom palm trees.
From the temple, the van took us through crowded streets to the Luxor Museum. Across the Nile we had a beautiful view of the Valley of the Kings and Queens about 3 miles away. There were no photos in the museum, so I had to take some notes. Impressive was the statue of Amenhotep III that was excavated in Luxor Temple (Aki was there when they found it!). National Geographic has funded and built an expanded section of the museum which contained two mummies. We spent about an hour here. It is a beautiful museum and quite well done.
We took a carriage ride back to the boat for lunch at noon which was a set menu with a couple of choices for each course. I had the mezza (tahine, baba ganoush, kofta, and diced potatoes), leek and potato soup, stuffed hamour fish (incredibly good fish, a kind of grouper from the Red Sea), and for dessert a date/banana tart.
At 1 we took a ferry over to the west bank where our van picked us up. It was a party boat that was just for us. Apparently there isn’t a bridge close to where we were and where we needed to go, so using a ferry was the solution. We drove through Gorna, the town near the Valley of Kings and Queens. It was interesting to note that many homes had paintings on the front showing the owner had been to Mecca with pictures of planes, boats, donkeys, and Mecca. This pilgrimage brings great honor to anyone who has made it, so the memorialize it on their homes.
Our first stop was at the Valley of the Queens where we went into the tomb of Amun-her-khepeshef. This tomb was beautifully painted. There was a box near the entrance with the skeletal remains of a fetus that was determined not to be ancient. There were lotus paintings all along the cornice. As usual, there were the huge lines of vendors all trying to sell items.
From there we went to the Valley of the Kings. We had to leave our cameras on the van which was a shame. We took a tram up to the entrance to the valley. We went into 3 tombs. The first was Ramses IX. On the ceiling was a rare painting of a frontal face. It was badly distorted which shows that ancient Egyptian artists could only do profiles well. On the ceiling of the rear chamber is a painting of Nut swallowing the sun at night, going through her body to emerge at sunrise. In most tombs there is a prolific display of the Book of the Dead.
The second tomb was King Tutankhamen. This costs extra (part of our tour), so there was no one else in there. It is one of the smallest tombs, but the mummy is still there. Aki says it is to be removed and placed elsewhere. Aki told lots of stories about the paintings of the priest Ay opening Tut's mouth to release his soul. Ay was already wearing the crown before Tut was mummified. The 12 baboons on the far wall indicated the months of the year. There was a boat with a large scarab to carry Tut to the next life. No one can remember what the third tomb was. That is the problem without a camera.
From the Valley of the Kings we went to the temple of Hatshepsut. We took a tram from the entrance to the bottom of the temple. This is a pretty impressive temple that we could see both from the boat and our hotel. I went with the group to see a few things, but I was about temple/tombed out. So I went back to the tram parking and chatted with some vendors. One little 10-year old (Haysim) kept trying to sell me a 'homemade' doll that looked awful. Instead I paid him 10EP ($1) to pose for a photo. I did chat with a vendor who was selling fake papyrus (banana leaves). He was a delightful man. Most of the vendors will ask where we are from, and when we say the US, they will say they love Obama. Anyway, after a nice chat, we rode back on the tram with the vendor and Haysim. The vendor gave me a small soapstone scarab as a gift when we got on the van.
The van took us back to the ferry which took us back to the Sun Boat IV for our last night on board. We had 3 hours to rest, sit on the deck, pack, and get ready for dinner.
At 8 we had our final dinner on board which was a set menu with choices. I had an awesome avocado salad with a tomato aioli and balsamic reduction, a great cappuccino mushroom cream soup, grilled tenderloin (which wasn't too tender) with potato wedges, broccoli and Gorgonzola sauce. The dessert was a flaming baked Alaska (Egyptian style) carried out by the waiters.
At 9:50 we had a performance by a belly dancer. The best part of that was watching John and Andrew dance with her. The most impressive part of the show was the whirling dervish. That was really cool especially the skirt of the costume that swirled out and over his head. After the performance, we went up on deck where the Valley of the Kings and Queens and Hatshepsut's Temple were all lit up. It was quite impressive. We packed, showered, and were in bed at 12:30.
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