Life About Town

There's more to Luxor than just really old monuments. Here's a few examples: 

Surprising Gems of another heritage

Inspiring Floor Tiles

Chinwag to Locals on the Corniche

Having a few friends over to dinner (no, they did not get up on the tables)

Changing Gears

All of us regretted departing our cruise on Miss Melodie, but on the promise of a donkey ride, we de-camped to Luxor and the New Emelio Hotel.  Luxor has an amazing collection of tombs and monuments and we knew this was to be our last hurrah as far as Nile based heritage sites went.  We had covered the East Bank quite well, so now prepared ourselves for a harsh desert necropolis, The Valley of the Kings.  Needless to say we were up and away early (4.30am) to ensure we were on our donkeys and first in line for these enormously popular “attractions”. 

Remember who's in charge now!

Let me tell you, despite the promise of a quiet road, lovely views and green fields, someone forgot to tell the donkeys that!  We learned how to drive, shout commandingly the necessary orders and hold on if the going got rough.  These sturdy little fellows almost bowed under the weight of the bigger lads, but shuffled along having committed the route to memory some years ago.  My being one of the least confident riders did not go unnoticed.  The boys who accompanied us made sure my quiet little fellow was occasionally nudged into action (moving not standing!) much to the delight of my fellow travellers.

Waiting to go in...

We had learned the torrid details of mummification at the Egypt Museum so prepared ourselves for the horrors of rock-cut tombs.  By the New Kingdom however, pharaohs had learned to hide their royal stash rather better than having a pyramid “signpost” to wealth and fame.  Still that didn’t stop grave robbers so by the time European travellers (our Grand Tour frontrunners) visited, only one tomb remained untouched.

Still waiting...

Now there are 21 highly decorated tombs to choose to visit.  Some are closed for resting (too many visitors), some cost a bit more (Tutankhamun) and others were still undergoing archaeological excavations.  So in the end, we visited Ramesses IV and one other that I forgot to note.  Spaces were cramped, decorations inspiring and we were certainly aware of the massive scale.  Yes, it was spooky too, despite large numbers coming and going.  Tombs and tourism on a grand scale! Photos were not allowed to be taken inside much to the delight of local postcard sellers, so I only have a few outside snaps of this desolate necropolis. 

Ancient trail of the workers

We then walked along the ancient workers trail for a fabulous view over the Nile valley and the Necropolis sites.  The Valley of the Queens was closed, so we kept moving on to Deir al-Medina, workers village.  The artists and craftsman certainly used their time well and there are some colourful and very vital works on their own tombs.  Whenever did they find the time?  We visited tombs of Sennedjem and Inerkhau.  I was rather fond of a small pyramid tomb we saw and wondered what the worker's king would have thought had he seen it. 

Deir al-Medina worker's tomb

We were met by our donkeys and saved a rather long stroll back to the bus.  Had I room, I would have stuffed mine into a suitcase to take him with me to Mt Sinai.  (We were all preparing ourselves mentally for our big ordeal - a long climb in the early morning darkness.)  Our tour stopped briefly at the Colossi on Memnon (New Kingdom) and although they don’t sing anymore, they are still a reminder of how magnificent Luxor, or ancient Thebes, must have been in the time of the Pharaohs.  Some of us made a beeline back to El Safa Bazar.  Nice silver and turquoise treasures awaited us there.  Not too far away, Aboudi Gallery offered enticing pieces too.

Remains of Temple of Amenophis III
The Colossi of Memnon are made of mud brick

Roll 'em out, its time to to go

Pomp & Splendour: Ancient Thebes

We arrived in Esna to take the lock through to Luxor only to find that it was closed for cleaning and that probably meant “lack of water” too.  So we bussed down to Luxor to visit the huge Karnak temple complex, including the Temple of Amun-Re.  Amun was the chief Theban deity of the New Kingdom and the site of Karnak was the great capital of Thebes. 

Amazing detail in the carving

This is an amazing complex loaded with additions and changes over time – meaning 2000 years.  Although we had guide & Egyptologist, Nagwa, somehow the dynastic pharaohs lost us all in a seeming jumble of (jaw-dropping) temples, sphinxes, obelisks, statues and ruins.  Hatshepsut, the first woman pharaoh, had a Red Chapel built to house sacred barks and Ramesses II built the Temple of the Hearing Ear.  We wondered how you could possibly worship the scarab beetle, loved the idea of a hippopotamus goddess and noted that even sacred geese had a sacred lake to play on. 

Scarab Beetle - Khepri, the dawn form of the Sun God Ra

A feeling of monument fatigue overtook us - we were slipping into dangerous overload, so a carriage ride around town was just the ticket.  Needless to say we bypassed an interesting silver shop and made a mental note for later.  We walked back to our bus parked near the Temple of Luxor (thankfully closed – our heads were spinning), so it was back to Miss Melodie for our last night aboard. 

Carving on Hatshepsut's second obelisk

Luckily we had been purchasing a great little guide book series, Egypt Pocket Guides written by Alberto Siliotti (2002, published by the American University in Cairo Press) over the course of the tour.  They are very informative, don’t waffle and have helpful illustrations, maps and photographs.  They also fit neatly into a handbag/day pack and are a handy reference before, during and after monument visits.  So when our little eyes started to glaze over with the incredible amount of information our wonderful guides bestowed upon us, we could fill in all those missing bits…. without appearing to be academics gone mad!

Ram-headed sphinxes

Our friendly driver