2011 - Oasis Overland (Part 4 - Luxor)
A couple of days looking at the sites (and sights) in and around Luxor.
Sunday 13 March 2011 - Monday 14 March 2011
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2011 tiki tour
on nzhamsta's travel map.
Sunday 13 March - The morning trip was out to the Valley of the Kings. This is where a large number of tombs have been discovered, especially that of Tutankhamen. We had a good guide and were able to enter three of them (Ramesses VII, and I cannot remember the names of the other two). They are quite spectacular in their design and decoration. We could not take any photos inside the valley at all, which is quite disappointing.
The closest we could get to photographing the Valley of the Kings.
On our way back, we stopped at the Valley of the Workers. This is a complex of tombs and a city where the workers lived. A couple of the chief builders have built their own tombs and they rival those of the Pharaohs.
The Valley of the Workers.
Tomb in the Valley of the Workers.
The Colossos of Memnon.
A pile (well, eleven) of empty cruise ships tied up at Luxor.
In the afternoon, a group of us went out to the Sunshine Orphanage. This is a very well run place that is sponsored by Oasis. We had a tour around the place and met the kids in a football match on the lawn. They were great, no one remembered the score and everyone had a good time.
Dinner was at a restaurant on the other side of the Nile.
The city of Luxor from the other side of the Nile.
Tuesday 14 March – A morning kalesh (horse and carriage ride) to Karnak Temple. This is about three kilometres north of Luxor and is one of the largest temple complexes in Egypt. We had the same guide and again he was most informative.
One of our caleshes.
Karnak Temple's front door.
Rams at Karnak.
The unfinished front wall, along with the building stuff behind it.
More of the Karnak temple.
Modern day Egyptian workers at Karnak.
One of our calesh drivers.
The afternoon was free getting all the photos etc up to date, accompanied by a nice lunch and coffee.
At 3:00 pm we left for the long drive to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula. We stopped five hours later in Hurghada, a horrible beach resort on the Red Sea coast. We had time to kill so we ate dinner, played pool, had a beer or so and sat around in the bar of a hotel. At midnight we left there for the drive to Dahab. We had to stop at Suez as the tunnel is closed at the moment until 6:00 am. We finally got there about lunch time.
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