Luxor and the Valley of the Kings excursion!

May 13, 2013
This was an incredible day – so hot I nearly died but so fascinating that I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
The excursion that we chose to take from Safaga, Egypt, was a 3 ½ hour bus ride to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. This one seemed to be the most interesting to us, but I’m sure the tours of the Giftun Island Hideaway, the Bedouin Experience, the Red Sea Submarine and Hurghada were also fun.
As a special note of interest, all of our excursion coaches thus far have been equipped with onboard restrooms. A lot to be thankful for!
We left the Mariner of the Seas early Monday morning to board one of more than 40 buses that were lined up waiting to take thousands of eager tourists away!
If I say it was a hot day, just know that we all now know why the people who live here cover up from head to toe. The sun can be brutal, so we splashed on tons of sunscreen, wore loose and baggy clothes and made the best of it.
Our bus journey took us over roads on barren mountains with wonderful vistas toward the awe-inspiring treasures of ancient Egypt at Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Our tour guide, Ghada, gave us the history of Upper Egypt – which, by the way, is in the south of Egypt. The northern part is called Lower Egypt. Yep, the Nile flows north so…you figure it out!
At the Valley of the Kings, our tour included a visit to three tombs. We paid extra to enter the Tomb of Tutankhamen, where the mummified body of the boy king lies. Even more impressive were the tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IV and Ramses IX. The hieroglyphs were spectacular and more impressive than I ever dreamed. For some reason I was later compelled to buy lots of Egyptian souvenirs!
We visited the magnificent funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and Deir El Bahari, said to be the finest building in Egypt and one of the most impressive in the world. We stopped to take photos of Amenophis III, also known as the Colossi of Memnon, still standing where they once marked the entrance to the temple by Alexander the Great 5,000 years ago.
We took a mid-day break for a sumptuous buffet lunch at the Sonesta Hotel in Luxor.
The Luxor Temple was also a great photo opportunity, but the greatest and most awe-inspiring attraction of the day was the Karnak Temple. The breathtaking temple awed us with its unique Hypostyle hall, the largest hall of columns in the world! The next thing we knew, we were amidst the Avenue of the sphinxes not far from the sacred lake. One can imagine that, in its day, it was a sight to behold. We were told that only the high priests lived in the temple, however.
So, that’s enough about our visit to Safaga, Luxor and the Valley of the Kings! We survived the heat and barely survived the merchandise vendors – but that’s a whole other story!
Tomorrow, we go to Aqaba to visit Petra in Jordan! Now that’s something you won’t want to miss!
See you back here soon!
Look for a link to Trilla’s Travels at http://www.ourtribune.com.

My friend Janet Wallace and I were amazed by the Avenue of the Sphinxes!