Sightseeing in Luxor

Friday 5-9-08:

Wake up at 5:30…shitty. Breakfast at the new hotel…shitty. On the bus and off for a day of sightseeing. First stop, Valley of the Kings. We were allowed to pick 3 tombs to see with the pass we had, and there was also the optional pass to see King Tut’s tomb, which I bought. We arrive at the Valley of the Kings, and get a ride on a golf cart up to the tombs from the main building. Sean, Matt and I decide to go off by ourselves after being sick of sightseeing with a massive group for the last week. We go to our first tomb, Rhamsees III, and it was pretty cool. We walk in this small door and instantly there are hieroglyphics everywhere. There are hallways, and rooms everywhere all filled with ancient hieroglyphics and surprisingly there was still a lot of color left on the carvings. Next stop we went to was Tethmus III. This one was crazy. We had to walk up a huge flight of stairs just to get to the entrance, and then we had to walk down a steep entrance ramp just to get to the start of the tomb. It was hotter than hell inside. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how in the world people found these things…Unbelievable…the inside was similar to the previous tomb, hieroglyphics everywhere…next stop, King Tut’s tomb…so many times I have read about this in Nat Geo, and I have always wanted to see it, and I finally did…very moving. The entrance to the tomb was nothing special, and the tomb itself wasn’t that far underground. Apparently he died at a young age, so they had to use a makeshift tomb for him because they hadn’t finished his actual tomb. But anyways, we get inside the tomb, and the only thing I see initially is his sarcophagus. So I spend about 5 minutes just staring at this beautiful sarcophagus. It was just like you always saw in National Geographic, the gold and blue pharaoh with his hands crossed. Then all of a sudden I turn around and see a glass case…inside the case is the preserved body of King Tut…I couldn’t believe my eyes…I feel like every day there is something else that I see that I cant believe…anyways they have the preserved body of the king just hanging out in the tomb, so cool to see it. Then I went into Rhamsees IV. Another tomb very similar to the others, hieroglyphics everywhere and the fact that the color was preserved all this time was amazing. Then all of a sudden one of the Arab workers yells at me accusing me of taking pictures, and I get really pissed off. He tried to grab my camera, and I was like HELL NO, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! He told me to leave to leave the tomb, and that he was going to confiscate my camera, I told him to F off and that he wasn’t going anywhere near my camera. Luckily after a few minutes of bantering, Mo Taslim, my fluids professor, talked to the guy and everything was settled…so that was an exciting…I noticed that my ticket still had one more hole punch to go, so one of the guys who was clipping tickets must have messed mine up…so I luckily got to go into another tomb. Rhamsees the VII…I went in and the carvings and hieroglyphics in this tomb I think were my favorite. There was a carving of the solar boat that was so vivid, and the tour guide gave a great description of its significance. Stayed for a while just looking and then it was time to leave. Back on the bus and off to Hatshepsuts tomb. Her tomb is about a 5 minute drive just around the mountain from the Valley of the Kings. She was not allowed to be buried with the kings so instead she decided to make a MASSIVE tomb for herself just on the other side of the same mountain…A great photo op here…the place was massive, with huge sculptures everywhere. We walked around for 30 minutes or so and then it was time to leave…Next stop on the docket was the Ramesseum Temple. This temple was very similar again to all the previous temples we have seen although the location was very cool. It was set right at the bottom of a mountain, with ruins behind it, which made for great pictures. Unfortunately, my battery died after about 10 minutes at the temple so I was SOL for taking pictures…I didn’t mind at all though, I was so burned out from taking pictures. So I just walked around and enjoyed it…back on the bus and one more stop to go before the day was done. Just down the road a few hundred yards were the Colossi of Memnon, two huge statues that were used to guard the entrance to the Ramasseum Temple in ancient times. We get out, stare in awe for 5 minutes at these massive beautiful statues, get haggled by some merchants as usual…Back on the bus, back to the hotel and I took a quick nap. Then I read the book until my head wanted to explode, and went out with some of the group to the Luxor Temple, which is right down the road from our hotel. The Luxor temple was again, very similar to all the other Temples, but still very very cool. We went at dusk and the lighting was awesome, I took some great shots…then we decided we should all go out to eat in a massive group, 23 of us total. We get to the restaurant and they welcome us in, quickly set up a massive table and we ate like kings for dirt cheap. 3 beers, a plate of pasta, and some great conversation, and I was ready to crash. Walk back to the hotel, hang out in the room for a bit, edit some photos and pass out…Temple Karnak coming up tomorrow…

Peace

-Al