Lotus Hotel Luxor

... for a 30min ride through farmland to near the Valley of the Kings.<br><br>Our guide took us into the Valley and we visited 3 tombs, those of Ramses IV, Ramses VI and Amenhotep II. The paintings inside the tombs are amazing and still in good condition, vivid colours.<br><br>The next stop was the workers village and the tombs of Sennedjem who was an artist and Inerka who was a servant in the valley of kings. Their tombs are painted just as ...

... we brought ear plugs! We arrived in Luxor at 6am and our hotel was there to pick us up! We stayed at "The Bob Marley House" such an awesome place!<br>Bob Marley paraphenalia everywhere! The guys who own and run the place are super nice!<br>They pride themselves on a no hassle, no asking for baksheesh (tips) environment. They have a free dinner for guests on friday evenings, free pick up from the train station or airport. The owner got us a cheap cab ride to and from ...

... we needed to buy our ticket for the night train to Cairo, we were going to buy the tickets yesterday when we first arrived but were told by fellow travelers that you will expect to pay at least 168LE (you can get from Aswan to Cairo for this price) but if you go on the day first thing in the morning you should get it for only 110LE, so naturally we did. <br><br>With tickets in hand off we headed for the local ferry over to the west bank. Even before ...

... one afternoon. However the heat at this time of the year makes fleeting visits the best option!!! <br><br>The Valley of the Kings is impressive (didnt bother with King Tutankhamuns or Rameses tombs but I was informed that they are good- no cameras allowed in any of the tombs though :( ) We visited Seti II, Rameses IV and Thuthmosis III - all very ...

... is the destruction of many of the pharaoh&#8217;s statues and removal of her face from paintings. This was done after her death by her son who she had long held from the position which he believed was rightfully his.<br>Following the temple we visited the Memnon Colossi overlooking green fields. The temple and some of the statues has disappeared but we were still able to experience the enormity of the structure. We then travelled back to the quay ...

... of taking us to a place downtown near the hotel, we traveled by bus for about 45 minutes. Our route consisted of driving to the outskirts of the city to a spot with a great view of the Pyramids... only then we made a left and headed in the opposite direction. We drove and drove and drove for about 15 minutes through some pretty ratty outskirts of town before we got to a resort like place which boasted that it had a casino as well. We were herded to an outdoor ...

... the Colossi of Memnon - two huge statues on the way to the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Valley of the Kings. After a history lesson from our guide, who was nowhere near as good as Mustafa, we wandered the Temple of Hatshepsut, or as Mustafa told us to help us pronounce it "Hot chicken soup." The colors inside the temple were extremely well preserved - bright blues, yellows, reds. While we were at the temple, it started to rain! Well, it was more of a ...

... somehow able to produce a variety of 50 flowers in the desert, they have the claim to fame for their perfumes.  So did I buy some?  Of course!  I didn't feel stupid at the time, but after realizing how much of scam I was led to believe, I became quite angered that I now have to lug around four small bottles of perfume.  Well at least my house will smell really nice for the next few months!   Anyway, I digress.  After the perfume shop we went to the riverside and boarded a ...

... the Hittites, Syrians and the Sherden Sea Pirates (who sound much like the Somali pirates we have now) so perhaps he is entitled to a little egotism.. One of the benefits of having a well-connected guide (who we presume greased the right palms) was being given the thrill of entering King Tut's tomb (and some other's) in the Valley of the Kings with no other tourists present and being allowed to take photos.  King Tut was even there!  Yes, his mummy was there and open ...

... beverage, a period of travelling that had taken me through Ireland, Portugal and Spain, until I had last had a completely dry day somewhere in Russia or Scandinavia. Even in Egypt during Ramadan it was pretty easy as a tourist to find beer in the afternoon or with dinner every day and, now I was feeling less crook, it seemed a shame not to continue the run for at least another day. There were plenty of small shops around the main intersection outside the ...