Luxor

May 8, 2010 - 8:30pm
We woke up early again today to check out of our hotel and begin the trek to Luxor. I was sad to leave our nice hotel, but excited to see new things.

We stopped at two more Phaeronic temples in Aswan on the way - Kom Ombo and Edfu. Today was another brutally hot day, so it was good we got to Kom Ombo early, but Edfu was right around noon - ouch! Kom Ombo was really massive - everything here is - but has been basically destroyed. The floors still exist, but some walls are only a few feet high. This temple was dedicated to two gods - Horus and his evil brother Sobek, and was unique in that way. Despite its destruction, Kom Ombo was cool because it still had some paint on its walls and reliefs. The temple was so destroyed because of its proximity to the Nile and its exposure to flooding.

Kom Ombo.


























Edfu was located much farther from the Nile, so it's still in incredible shape. It was so hot out, so we welcomed the shade of the temple. It was amazing how preserved it was! I was getting so nerdy about finding cool things to photograph. We re-created a scene of the pharaoh holding the hair of his enemies, about to smite them with a mace. It's pretty awesome. Edfu was cool also because it's another temple dedicated to Horus, but it was built during a time of unrest, so some cartouches meant to display the pharaoh's name were left blank.

Recreating the pharaoh.

Edfu.

After we finished with Edfu, we got on the bus again and headed to Luxor, where we are now. The hotel is gorgeous! It has free wi-fi, but only for google (weird!). At least I can check my gmail finally!

On the way to the hotel, we saw 3 camels riding in the back of a pickup truck - twice. Their heads were swiveling around pretty serenely, except for when they were picking on each other. Oh, camels. We saw the second truck as we waited at a train signal with a ton of other traffic for a train that never came. That's Egypt!

Three camels in a truck.

Six of us went to eat at the Restaurant Esquire for an early dinner at 4. The owner and his brother were so fun! Isaac is a Coptic Christian, and confirmed that yes, he does decorate a Christmas tree and eat eggs on Easter. Drinks were buy one get one free, and were 30 pounds apiece - $5.50. I didn't partake because I've already been a little dehydrated already today, but we stayed for hours and had the whole place to ourselves! I had tahini and a coke, which always comes in recycled bottles. Awesome.

Tomorrow's my 21st birthday! I'm excited to see what sort of festivities we come up with.

May 9, 2010 - 4:45pm
Today was exhausting, but incredible! The schedule changed, so we ended up visiting the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple (the Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple), and the temple of Ramses III (the Habu Temple or Medina Habbu) today, instead of the temple of Karnak and the Luxor temple - those have been moved to tomorrow. It was a scorcher today at 105+ degrees (though I don't know exactly what temperature it was. Maybe it was even as hot as 110 - it sure felt that hot!). All I know is we were sweating more than ever today.

First up was the Valley of the Kings. Because of the delicate nature of the tomb paintings (!), photography was not allowed. Boo. I think I was able to enjoy the tombs more without my camera, though. Plus, it was a great deal hotter inside the tombs, so it was good to keep the flow of people moving, and it was good to not be carrying the extra weight (besides my 1.5 liter water bottle). We visited 4 tombs in the Valley of the Kings - the shared tomb of Twosret and Setnakhte, the tomb of Ramses I, the tomb of Thutmosis III, and of course, the tomb of Tutankhamun. The tombs were remarkable. Thutmosis III's tomb was my favorite, even though it was located high on a mountain and involved lots and lots and lots of stairs. In some places, the ceiling got really low, and I had to duck my head a little to keep moving. This may have been the first time I was truly happy being short! It was so worth it! The painting was in pristine condition, and it was so colorful! It all just took my breath away - or maybe that was the heat. King Tut's tomb was tiny compared to the others, because he died unexpectedly and was largely unpopular as a pharaoh. It's interesting to envision this tomb stuffed with all his treasures (we'll see those later when we visit the Egyptian Museum in Cairo). His mummy was in the tomb, unwrapped and in a glass box for all to see. I was surprised at how small he was.

It was so hot in the tombs that our skin actually felt cooler when we were back outside! King Tut's tomb was much cooler than the others, which was certainly a relief.

After we all dragged ourselves back onto the bus, we went to an alabaster "factory" where they sold handmade stone work. This was called the Abo El Hassan factory, and we got a demonstration of their techniques before being unleashed in the shop. Their work was stunning, and was guaranteed real, unlike some of the stuff you can find in the bazaars.

Next we went to Hatshepsut's temple, which was just breathtaking. Lara and I walked around and got all nerdy about it - I finally found someone as nerdy as me regarding Egypt! Yay! Even though it was approaching noon and was blindingly hot, Lara and I kept exploring the temple and taking pictures. How amazing to see something I've studied so much about in person!

The Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple, or Hatshepsut's temple.

Paintings at the temple.


























When we finally pried ourselves away, we headed to the temple of Ramses III. We were so exhausted at this point, but the guide pushed us on, and boy, was it worth it! The temple itself was surrounded by fortress walls that attest to the warrior strength of the pharaoh. Inside these walls was a magnificently preserved and unique temple. The colors were vibrant on the walls and ceilings, and the carvings were so deep! When the Coptic Christians lived in the temple during their time of persecution, they were able to burn candles in the reliefs, they were so deep! The temple was incredible, despite my sheer exhaustion.

Smiling reliefs.

Painted sky in the temple.

Birds on the colossi.

The final stop was a quick photo-op at the Colossi of Memnon (named by the Greeks after Agamemnon). Before they fell to ruins, the colossi had small holes with which they used to "sing" using the wind. Sadly, they don't sing anymore. They were absolutely covered in birds today, which I thought was really funny.

We had the bus drop us all off so we could finally get some lunch. I had koshary, which was amazing! It's a combination of rice, pasta, lentils and caramelized onions, served with tomato sauce. It was totally delicious, and just what I needed. Afterwards, we trekked back to the hotel and jumped in the pool (which is on a barge floating in the Nile - cool!).

Tonight, we're going back to the Esquire for birthday festivities. I can't wait! Best birthday ever! Also, the drinking age here is 21, so I am turning a significant age here after all!

The hotel just delivered a beautiful birthday cake to my room! It smells and looks so good! Yay!