Amma in Egypt – Part 9 – Luxor
Valley of the Kings
After breakfast we went to the west bank of Luxor. Some details of Luxor at http://www.luxorguide.com/
We had to go deep into the desert to discover the Valley of the Kings. I had a chance to step onto the dessert sand here….it was an amazing feeling. I was actually at the Sahara dessert…..the largest dessert in the world.
This is the place where generations of Pharaohs and noble were buried in great splendor, housed in crypts cut into the cliffs. The treasures of the burial chambers of great kings and queens have long been looted by ancient Egyptians and visitors over many centuries.
Yet there is a magic in the tombs of the great kings even after 5000 years the paintings retain their original colors and tell the story of the civilization gone by. There is a gigantic temple of queen Hatshepsut, the woman Pharaoh to have ruled Egypt.
They are still excavating the valley of kings and finding a lot of tombs of the kings. One such tomb had the mummy of king Tutenkhaman. To see this mummy we had to pay 100 pounds entrance. Inside was ….a dark…small looking….mummy…the whole body was wrapped completely with white cloth. Only the face and legs were visible…. We are still wondering if all that was worth the 100 pounds….hmm..whatever…we saw a mummy…that’s all counted…..that’s what you are supposed to see in Egypt…isn’t it??
On our return we took a photo stop at the Colossi of Memmon. These two giant statues are all that remain of the mortuary temple of Amenophiss III.Next we went to the east bank of Luxor where we visited the famous temple of Karnak. The majestic avenue of Ram-headed Sphyx’s, the colossal statue of Pinudjem and the sight of its sacred lake will leave you awestruck.
After lunch we went back to the hotel and we took some rest. Then we went to the sound and light show again at Karnak temple. After the show, we went back to the cruise for dinner. It was the last dinner and it was very horrible. We went back to the hotel and slept.
Since we had been late after the Esna lock….we had skipped some sight seeing on that day. Everything was jam packed for the last day….and so we were dead tired.
Next day morning we checked out of the hotel and came to the airport. From Luxor, we came to Doha, Doha to Chennai and Chennai to Bangalore. At last, Wednesday afternoon, we reached home safely.
Except the last day dinner, all the other days food was very good. Especially the Indian food served in the cruise was very good. We thank SOTC for this.
I want to thank S who told me about the SOTC travel. We enjoyed out trip because of her and SOTC.
