A lot can happen on days that start before dawn! This was one, and it started with a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. Something I’d never done, but did with hundreds of others in what seemed like dozens of balloons – it was outstanding.
We left the hotel in the night, crossed the Nile again by boat in the dark, watched balloons rise from flames as the sky turned, and rose up into the breaking sun. The shadows of the myriad balloons dotting the mountains was magical. The green fields next to the beige desert. Glimpses of temples and tombs. The grandeur in defying gravity. The whole thing was a blast…!
Some of the group were scared to be on the edge – an opportunity for me, albeit not without some trepidation. The photo ops were many – as you can see…
In addition to the temples and the tombs were flocks of birds, buzzing ultralites, and the shared exhilaration of doing something fun, even magnificent. The roar of the flames contrasted with the silence of floating on air. I could do a better job of editing these pix, juxtaposing them better, but voila. Enjoy! Eventually, the balloons all came down, successfully, but what a start to the day – floating above the Valley of the Kings in Egypt….
After making our way back to the hotel and having breakfast, we went back to the Valley of the Kings to explore the tombs below the surface.
Like all these Egyptian posts there is so much history behind my photos that I must leave it to you, dear reader, to explore. The age, the length, the complexity – all defy the scale of American history, and rarely gets its due in World History – as those subjects are taught in high school.
This batch starts out with transparent model of the Valley of the Kings that shows where all the tombs are under the ground relative to each other. There are nine that are open to the public, but we went only to three. Afterwards, I paid extra to do to two more. While they are similar, they are each unique…
The hieroglyphics are poems extolling the virtues of the kings buried in each tomb. Since many had been raided, new tombs used various techniques to fool tomb raiders, thwart theft, and protect their treasures…
Hassaan regaled us with tales, but each is the tip of an iceberg of history. The tomb of Seti is particularly deep, colorful, and has parts unfinished which show the process of creating the painted bas relief carvings that cover the walls. Learn more about the Valley of the Kings tomb by tomb…
Though exhausted, I saved the best for last – the famous tomb of King Tut. While the story of Howard Carter is fascinating, and the sarcophagus I saw in the Egyptian Museum (tho’ not allowed to photography) is amazing, see the actual mummy – the body of Tutankhamun was breath taking…
On the way back to Luxor, we went to a stone carving workshop with a significant gift store. Perhaps another tourist experience, but interesting, nice hibiscus juice, and cool stuff…
We went to yet another temple, this one with the largest statues, and afterwards went to lunch at a local family’s house. Perhaps the best food I’d had thusfar, along with some good conversation…
And no, I wasn’t done yet. After taking a shower, I walked to the Luxor Museum for more, and it was nice to view objects with descriptions and far fewer fellow tourists. In addition to some great sculptures removed from the tombs and temples, this museum features two well preserved mummies! Let’s start here…
More from the Luxor Museum, including the two mummies…
Much more from the Luxor Museum…
I’ll end this post with some miscellaneous photos from my fellow Intrepid explorers gathered from our WhatsApp group (actually delivered to my photo stream).
This batch leads with one shot a fellow traveler took of Luxor Temple, and my last pix of Egypt, including this train’s club car (not as cool as the first one)…
After the Luxor Museum, we met in the lobby and headed back to the train station for another overnight trip back to Cairo. I slept well, showered back at the hotel, and got ready to fly to Amman Jordan for the second phase of the tour. We said goodbye to four of our group and six of us headed to the airport. At this writing, we’ve joined six new people for our travels through Jordan….