Nur el-Gurna Hotel Luxor

... him my name and he laughed.) <br><br>Our tour guide Hoda told us that all the pharoahs etc were buried on the West bank and lived on the East bank because the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. So this is why the Valley of the Kings which is essentially, a mass of about 62 desert tombs of ancient Egyptian kings and their families etc. The sand it is on is naturally formed into the shape of a pyramid which is another reason this ...

... was 49 C since we drove by a clock that also flashed the temperature. We all cheered at seeing the 49 flashing on the screen. Unbelievable. It felt that warm. We were glad to retreat to the (powerful) AC of our hotel.<br><br>We had a few hours of downtime for much needed showers and naps before heading across the river for a camel ride through the farms and villages on the West Bank. It was nice that we knew what to expect from the camels this time. Some ...

... each. With the ticket you get entry into 3 tombs of your choice, unfortunately for us only one of our first choice was actually open. Horemheb, which we started with had to be our favorite. It was not that it was the most beautiful, which it very well may be, it was the fact that you see the different layers of the process on which the hieroglyphs were carved, all those many years ago. From the rough outline to the masters hand. In some places you can ...

... in the ticket both area we cycled over to the valley of the Queens which did not seem that impressive so we didnt go in. Then my contact lense decided to flip around the back of my eye which was fun!<br><br>Then Zeya and I clcled all the way back to go to Hatshepsut. This was a very impresive temple and we enjoyed our time here, resting from the heat at the hottest part of the day. Zeya didnt want to go onto Seti I but I did and it was my personal ...

... someone choosing Petra or the Pyramids to go to Petra because Petra has the benefits of landscape that the Pyramids simply don't have. That is part of what makes the Pyramids impressive, since they are build in the middle of the desert with nothing around and it is impossible to even imagine how they got the stone there, but it also means there's sort of less to see overall at the spot. Still amazing though. <br><br>A little girl just didn't get that I didn'twant ...

... for the company, Ali, to sit at a cafe and drink tea and talk. After that, we did some shopping. It was a late night (haggling takes forever!). We drank sugar cane juice at a jewelry store. The next day, we woke up around 8am for breakfast, then were sailing all day. We spent most of the morning on the sundeck catching up on journals, talking, reading, and writing post cards. While we were hanging out on the sundeck, three little boats came up and attached ...

... so far.  I have certainly seen my fair share of temples, hieroglyphs, and statues.  Though it has been somewhat repetitive, I am still in awe of the fact that these temples were built 3-5,000 years ago!  The Egyptians certainly were advanced in the areas of art, architecture, geology, religion, politics, and many other areas.    On day's 6 and 7 we saw the unfinished obelisk, which really was cool!  The way the Egyptians thought to dig through solid granite and ...

... and is certainly not the culture in all poor countries. On the East bank, in Luxor itself, the highlights were the huge and magnificent temples of Luxor and Karnak with their profusion of superbly executed sculptures and hieroglyphics. Karnak was (is?) inhabited by the God Amun, who during the annual Opet festival was ceremoniously transported down the Nile by barque for a conjugal visit to his consort Mut in Luxor Temple.  After consummation, Amun was carried back to ...

... lucky. I don't think it ever got above about 42 or 43C. Still, it's impossible to drink enough water to stay hydrated. <br><br>The Temples of Karnak and Luxor Temple were both cool. We explored each for a while until we couldn't take the heat any longer. The following day we did Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's Temple and Medinat Habu (Temple of Ramses III). The three tombs we saw in the Valley were each striking ...