We arrived by our minibus in Luxor after disembarking from our felucca on the Nile some 4 hours earlier. After we checked into the Emilio Hotel, located near the Luxor Temple, we toured the Karnak Temple which had a series of sanctuaries, kiosks, and obelisks, dedicated to the Theban triad, but also to the pharaohs of the 18th to 20th dynasties—1570 to 1090 BCE.
Great Hypostyle Hall
Deeply carved hieroglyphics at Karnak were done to minimize vandalism.
This was the largest and best preserved and restored of all of the temples we have seen so far. It also was the ending of the 3 km paved walkway connecting it to the Luxor Temple and adorned along the way with human-headed Sphinxes that are currently being restored.
After this amazing tour, we returned to the Emilio Hotel for some free time. Some took advantage of the rooftop pool and I headed out to see the nearby bazaar.
As I left the hotel, I was greeted by a big, buff guy who looked like he came out of the Golds Gym, sporting a mohawk haircut. He claimed he wanted to practice his English and show me around. I declined his offer, but he kept tagging along. I stopped at a store for some guava juice and then began looking for a barbershop. Of course, he led me to one that had three barber chairs in the place that looked quite ancient. I forgot to ask about the price and I ended up paying 600 pounds plus a 50 pound tip--$21USD-- and later I found out from our guide, Hady, that I should have paid just about 100 pounds.
I thought the guy would leave me, but he stayed like a lamprey and chatted with the three barbers while I got my haircut. After I paid up, I began walking back to my hotel, and that is when he began asking me for money beginning with 50 pounds and ending with 10 pounds. I repeatedly told him no, and as I entered the hotel, he unleashed a string of Arabic which I assume was not a compliment.
Our group gathered to have dinner at the nearby Lane Al Sahaby Lane Restaurant where we enjoyed rooftop dining as the sun set.
At 6 AM the following morning, four of us, took off for a hot air balloon ride over the Luxor antiquities. Our shuttle bus took us to the ferry boats across the Nile to the west side, where we again boarded another shuttle bus to the balloon launch site Already there were several dozen hot air balloons that were a loft.
Hot Air Balloon Flight Over Luxor-- YouTube Video--9 minutes.
Our hot air balloon was inflated with the gas burners, and the basket held 16 people. Some of the pictures and videos were taken by the fellow who charged me $10 for taking my picture and videos of our ascent and arrival.
It was a great experience as the sun rose and we drifted over many of the Luxor ruins that we would later explore on the ground. I especially enjoyed it when our pilot turned off the gas, and we just drifted quietly over the landscape below.
After landing, the hot air balloon crew drove us to the rendezvous point with our Intrepid group at the café across from the two Colossi of Memnon that represented Pharaoh Amenhotep III.
We begin our tour with a visit to the Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut which has been largely reconstructed and was a funerary.
On all of the statutes, when the arms are crossed it signifies that the person was dead and the ones with arms at the sides signify that the person depicted was alive. It was also interesting that many of the women's statutes sported beards to signify more authority.
We then drove around the mountain to the Valley of Kings where we explored many tombs of the pharaohs, including the tomb of Tutankhamun.
We visited four of these tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The first one was the tomb of Tawosret/Sethnakht at the top of the Valley. We then visited the Tomb of Rames IX, Tutanktnamun, and Rameses IV. There are currently 18 identified tombs in the area, but many of them are still being researched and restored.
They had an interesting 3-D model of what it looked like underneath the mountain with the passages to the various tombs displayed.
After Kasia shared a photo bomb picture of Hady’s flag doll at Abu Simbel that resembles me, we took a picture of it with me and Hady in the Valley of the Kings.
We returned to the hotel, and some of us headed down to the Luxor Temple, which was just a few blocks away.
Matt and I returned to the hotel afterward by walking through the bazaar. It was just a block away and in the shade. We were given several offers by the many vendors to purchase all sorts of goods. I settled for a carton of mango juice.
That evening we took the sleeper night train from Luxor to Cairo. For me, it was a comfortable night of sleep, and we arrived in Cairo after 10 hours on the train.
Snack store for the train trip.
Train dinner
Train arrival at the Giza Train Station, Cairo
Our shuttle bus took us to the Pharaohs Hotel where Hady had arranged to have a a few rooms so we could refresh ourselves with hot showers and some rest before taking the afternoon flight to Amman, Jordan.
Eight of us continued on to Amman, Jordan, but Katrina and Nick, from the US, continued on their one-year travels to Bosnia and Serbia.
As we boarded our shuttle bus to the airport, we also said our goodbyes and thanks to Hady, our Egyptian Intrepid guide, who made our Egypt adventure special.
We then boarded our 1 1/2 hour flight on the Royal Jordanian Airline passing huge swathes of desert land before arriving at the Amman, Jordan airport where we were met with Intrepid Tour reps. who took care of our Jordan Immigration, and arranged for our shuttle busses to the Signature Hotel where we met our Jordanian guide, Thaer Musa.
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