{"id":15097,"date":"2019-02-09T06:45:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-09T11:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=15097"},"modified":"2019-03-08T17:33:21","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T22:33:21","slug":"valley-of-the-kings-luxor-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/?p=15097","title":{"rendered":"Valley of the Kings – Luxor, Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday – February 9, 2019<\/p>\n

Last night, we spent a quiet evening aboard the Nile riverboat, Mojito, <\/em>which was\u00a0docked in Luxor.\u00a0 This morning, we awoke with enough time for a leisurely breakfast before meeting the rest of the group.<\/p>\n

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We saw hot-air balloons rising from the western shore of the Nile, so we grabbed our cameras and went out on deck to watch the balloons and the sun rise. \u00a0There were about a dozen brightly colored balloons moving very slowly.<\/p>\n

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When I looked across the Nile, there were all kinds and shapes and sizes of boats and sailing vessels. What an assortment! \u00a0There were dahabiyas, feluccas, motorboats, dhows, small ferry boats, tug boats, and a wide variety of commercial boats.<\/p>\n

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As was the\u00a0custom, The Mojito<\/i> was stacked along the dock with three other riverboats side-to-side. \u00a0If someone wants to go ashore, they have to walk through the middle of the other boats. \u00a0The boat on the end is expected to leave first. \u00a0However, if one of the interior boats wants to leave, the others pull away and they all reposition themselves. \u00a0It’s a time-honored system that seems to work for everyone.<\/p>\n

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We boarded a bus to take us to the western side of the Nile River where the Valley of the Kings is located. \u00a0We drove past the fertile farms of the Nile valley, but the eastern Sahara Desert lies just beyond the green fields.<\/p>\n

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The Valley of the Kings was used for burials from about 1539BC through 1075BC and contains at least 63 tombs beginning with Thutmose I and ending with Rameses XI. \u00a0The photo below shows the main walkway of the famous necropolis.<\/p>\n

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Noblemen as well as wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs were buried in the tombs. \u00a0Today, tourists buy tickets to enter the tombs to see the elaborate paintings and decorations which cover the walls and ceilings.<\/p>\n

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The tombs are well marked with the name of the king and a brief history and map. \u00a0We entered the tomb of Rameses IX:<\/p>\n

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The Valley of the Kings became famous in 1922 when the British archeologist, Howard Carter, discovered the intact tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. \u00a0The tomb is open to tourists, however photography was NOT allowed inside! \u00a0So, we posed for a photo outside King Tut’s tomb.<\/p>\n

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The interior of the tomb had been restored. \u00a0We saw the mummy of King Tut-Ankh-Amun which was inside the beautifully decorated tomb. \u00a0Here’s the plan:<\/p>\n

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Our tour guide, Maged recommended several tombs to see. \u00a0We also entered the tomb of Rameses III which glowed in lovely soft lighting. \u00a0The figures still retained color from the original 3000 year old paint.<\/p>\n

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We could have spent the entire day exploring all the elaborately decorated tombs. \u00a0They were amazing and spectacular!! \u00a0We also went into the tomb of Rameses IV – another incredibly beautiful tomb.<\/p>\n

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Entering, exploring, and seeing the fabulous interiors of the ancient tombs of the pharaohs was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. \u00a0It was incredible. \u00a0Unforgettable.<\/p>\n

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Next stop was the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. \u00a0Mortuary temples were erected near royal tombs to commemorate the reign of the particular Pharaoh. \u00a0When Hatshepsut took on the full powers of a pharaoh, she was only one of three women to take on a man’s role of pharaoh in 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history.<\/p>\n

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Looking toward the east from the top of the ramp leading into the temple, I could see the fertile Nile Valley just beyond the dry eastern Sahara Desert.<\/p>\n

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We passed several excavation sites which were being explored nearby. \u00a0Only a minority of the pharaoh’s tombs have been unearthed.<\/p>\n

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Later we visited an alabaster shop. \u00a0I would have preferred to stay longer at the Valley of the Kings and be able to see more tombs. \u00a0However, following someone else’s schedule is one real disadvantage to a tour group.<\/p>\n

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Our last stop on the western side of the Nile was a “photo op” at the Colossi of Memnon. \u00a0These are two massive stone statues of Amenhotep III erected about 1350BC to guard his mortuary temple. \u00a0The statues were damaged and the temple destroyed by Nile floods and earthquakes over many centuries.<\/p>\n

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We drove toward the Nile River passing fertile fields again on our way back to The Mojito.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Onboard we settled in for an afternoon and evening of cruising south on the river toward Aswan. \u00a0These are photos of other riverboats.<\/p>\n

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It was totally delightful to sit on the top deck as The Mojito<\/em>\u00a0cruised south along the Nile River. \u00a0As the sun set, we looked out at the shore and saw farmers and fishermen working as they had been over the last millennia. \u00a0Villages were made of mud bricks. \u00a0Animals were used to power farm implements. \u00a0Fishermen caught fish with hand-made nets. \u00a0We all felt like we were sailing through history.<\/p>\n

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The Mojito <\/em>cruised down the Nile with several other riverboats:<\/p>\n

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Enterprising salesmen rowed up to our boat and sold tablecloths and towels to the tourists. \u00a0It was fun watching them throw their goods up to the top level and bargain and exchange money – while moving down the river against the current.<\/p>\n

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Sunset over the Nile:<\/p>\n

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It was well past dark when we reached the Esna Lock about 33 miles south of Luxor. \u00a0The lock system is used for raising or lowering boats between stretches of water which are on different levels in the river.<\/p>\n

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We went out on deck to watch The Mojito<\/em> effortlessly cruise into and out of the lock and afterwards continue its journey to Edfu.<\/p>\n

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Today was a long day but overflowing\u00a0with amazing experiences!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saturday – February 9, 2019 Last night, we spent a quiet evening aboard the Nile riverboat, Mojito, which was\u00a0docked in Luxor.\u00a0 This morning, we awoke with enough time for a leisurely breakfast before meeting the rest of the group. We saw hot-air balloons rising from the western shore of the Nile, so we grabbed our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egypt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15097"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15222,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15097\/revisions\/15222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gallivantinggrandma.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}