LUXOR- PAGE 1 OF 5
The MS Amy pulled into Luxor early afternoon. Andrew organized a "walkabout" to get us oriented with the town, major landmarks, etc. It was hot and humid and miserable! .....perhaps the worst weather we had encountered on the trip thus far! Mid way through the walking tour, Sarah and I decided to break away and find an internet cafe to catch up with email. We spent about an hour or so doing the email stuff (and enjoying the air conditioned comfort of the place!) before heading back to the ship. We were to spend that night on the ship.
Later that evening, we decided to attend the sound and light show at the Karnak Temple. The LP guide bills this as being the best sound and light show in Egypt. We got there on time, and the show started out well enough. It was indeed interesting to walk through the lighted ruins as the history was being narrated. Towards the end however, it was boring and we could sense that the producers of the show had just decided to prolong the show even if there really wasnt much to say! So, overall just a bit disappointing!
Now the cab ride back the ship was anything BUT boring or disappointing!! Andrew had arranged for one of his buddy cab drivers to shuttle us to and from the show. The trip to the temple was relatively uneventful. On the way back, another driver decided to cut Mohamed off. So Mohamed decided to overtake the guy and give him a earfull in Arabic! The only way to do this was to drive on the wrong side of the road! We were a bit terrified by this, to put it mildly! All the while, Mohamed kept reassuring us that "Puegot good car" and "lovely jobley"! We made it back safely, but I think the consensus was that the cab ride back was more fun than the sound and light show itself!
Avenue of ram-headed sphinxes at the Karnak Temple, Luxor.
We set out to visit the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens the next morning. I dont recall exactly, but I think our wake up calls were set for the ungodly hour or 4:30 am!! There were two reasons for this early start - a few in the group wanted to visit the tomb of Queen Nefertari. Only 150 visitors are allowed into the tomb each day, and the tickets are sold on a "first come first served" basis. The second reason was that the afternoon get very hot here!
The Valley is dominated by a large mountain with a natural "pyramid" at its peak. Since the pyramid was obviously considered to be good symbol, this may be one of the reason why the ancient Egyptians chose this location for their tombs.
I was struck by the stark, barren desert! I cannot recall seeing anthing green in this landscape! Arizona is considered to be "desert" in the US. However, compared to this desert landscape, Arizona is a veritable tropical jungle!