Luxor, Egypt - 1 November

A 2:30 am wake-up call….AGAIN! I’m speechless. My agony was profound. What is it with going on trips and having 2:30 wake-up calls? I am so over it! We had to catch a 5:15 flight to Luxor this morning necessitating the painful hour. Fortunately, everyone was on the bus at the appointed hour (unlike the India trip) and there were no complications at the airport. A very painless process if you could ignore the hour.

We had a one-hour flight to Luxor and arrived at 6:15. We had a nice view of the sunrise during the flight. Once on our bus, Bahgat tried to give us an overview of the Valley of the Kings which was our first stop of the day. Unfortunately, half of the bus fell asleep during his talk so he had to give it again once we reached our destination. The Valley of the Kings is an isolated valley which the pharaohs chose for both symbolic and practical reasons. At this point, 62 tombs have been excavated in the valley, although not all of them belonged to pharaohs. This is also the place where Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered.

The valley is in a very stark location. It is primarily rocks and sand with little to no vegetation. After Bahgat’s second lecture, we started our tour with King Tut’s tomb. It was the smallest and least decorated tomb because he died after six years of rule and his tomb hadn’t been finished so they used the tomb of a high priest instead. We went into it and saw the beautiful artwork on the wall and his gold sarcophagus. It was magnificent. After that, we split up and choose which of three tombs out of the 62 was wanted to visit (that was all that our admittance ticket would allow). Bahgat recommended the tombs of Ramses III, IV and IX due to the detail of the hieroglyphics. They were amazing to see and the colors were still vibrant after 3000+ years. Photos weren’t allowed in the tombs so I can’t share the images with you but they were truly beautiful.

Back onto the bus for a short drive to visit the Temple of Queen Hapshepsut. Queen Hapshepsut was quite a piece of work. Since only males were allowed to rule Egypt she had to find a way to get the power of the throne. So through a dizzying array of marriages to half-brothers making others marry half-sisters (it's really confusing) and a power play over her stepson (who was really supposed to be the pharaoh), she wrested control of Egypt from the men and declared herself pharaoh. She also proclaimed that the gods wanted her to be a man so she dressed like a man during her reign of 20 years. She had this temple built to honor herself but, unfortunately, she did such a magnificent job of irking her stepson (go figure) that when he came into power after her death, he had all images and text destroyed so that she/he would not exist anymore. He did a very thorough job of it too. It is very difficult to find anything of Hepshepsut that has not been defaced or destroyed by the P.O.d stepson.

Nevertheless, the temple still stands even though images of her in the structure have been destroyed. We did our best to enjoy the beauty of the temple despite the blistering sun beating down on us. It was 9:30 in the morning yet we were all struggling with the heat. There was a snack shop where sodas were sold at an outrageous mark-up but everyone was desperate for a cold drink at that point and happily parted with their money.

Back onto the bus again for a brief drive to the Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi are a massive pair of statues built for a funerary temple for Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC). The Colossi sit in the middle of a corn field and have no other artifacts around them. We had our briefing on the bus due to the heat and then were given five minutes to take photos. Turbo touring at it's best.

Back onto the bus for a 45 minute drive to the Karnak Temple. The Karnak Temple is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, and obelisks dedicated to the Theban gods and pharaohs. Everything is on a ginormous scale – it is large enough to contain about 10 cathedrals. Karnak was the most important place of worship in all of Egypt during the height of Theban power and was called Ipet Isut, meaning “The Most Perfect of Places.” It is a very apt name because it truly is the most perfect of places. Bahgat gave us a wonderful overview of the Temple and led us around the complex for about an hour giving us details that made the site come alive for us. We were awestruck by the architecture of the temple. We were given 45 minutes to explore on our own and, despite the heat, reveled in every moment. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

When our time was up, it was 2:00 and we reluctantly headed back to the bus for our trip to the hotel for lunch. What is it with late lunches? We had received boxed breakfasts at 3:00 am but they had long since disappeared. Lunch was pretty good although anything at this point would have tasted good. Once our stomachs were full we got our room keys and settled into our rooms for the afternoon nap. The bliss! The naps were desperately needed and afterwards we almost felt human again.

At 5:00 we met in the lobby for a quick bus trip to the Luxor Temple. Bahgat wanted us to see the temple during both the sunlight hours and after dark when it was highlighted by the flood lights. It was incredibly beautiful and, like everything else, the history was fascinating. It was largely built by Amenhotep III of the Colossi fame. It sits on the sight of an older sanctuary built by Hepshepsut. Many other people added to it over the years including Ramses II, Tutankhamun, and Alexander the Great to name a few (we saw graffiti that Alexander the Great added to the wall).

At the entrance is an obelisk and space were another one is supposed to sit opposite it. Its twin was removed and was given to the French where it now resides in the Place de la Concord in Paris which I saw several years ago. It was fascinating to see the place where it is supposed to stand! Bahgat gave us a wonderful tour of the Temple for over an hour. At the end, the sun had gone down and the lights showcased the columns and ruins. It was so beautiful.

We returned to the hotel and had two hours to kill before dinner so Eileen and I spent part of that time shopping but the few shops in the vicinity were pathetic so we returned to the hotel and enjoyed a glass of Egyptian white wine and sat by the Nile enjoying the night. I love my life!

After dinner I went on a horse carriage ride around the city with some students. I was in a carriage with one other student and we were given the opportunity to drive the carriage as we toured through the back alleys, markets, and temples. It was a wonderful time.

By the time we returned to the hotel it was 10:30 and I was beyond exhausted. A hasty scrub of the face, teeth and feet and I was in bed. What a day!!!