Luxor is infinitely cleaner and more resort-like than the disaster known as Cairo. The weather was warmer, sky was definitely more clear and the Nile was legit noticeably cleaner.
This leg of the trip definitely encompassed more of the "education" as I'll call it - The Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple were all visited in these 3 days.
Valley of the Kings:
This might be my favorite place that we visited in Egypt. All the famous kings were buried here, including the tomb of KING TUT! I was ridiculously amazed at how well kept all of the insides of the tombs were. I mean seriously, it's been 5,000 years since these tombs have been made and parts of them could pass as if they were made this year. Most of the colors of the wall are super vibrant - and to think all of this was painted with natural material. I was seriously standing there staring at the hyroglyphics and drawings, wondering how it was possible that was actually there in person, admiring stories drawn 5,000 years ago (on the ceilings too nonetheless!) underground in a tomb where there were no lights. Ridiculous.
Outside King Tut's tomb!
Inside the King Tut tomb
So the other tombs we saw: Tuthmosis III (climbing loads of stairs), Ramses IV and Ramses II. Personally, Ramses IV's tomb was the most breathtaking. After crossing a long corridor into the main part of the tomb, every square inch of this place was covered with art - gorgeous art that still looks great.
Valley of the Queens - similar to the Kings but a lot smaller. The differences were pretty obvious - the colors used were more feminine. Queen Nefertiti's tomb apparently was the most well kept tomb of them all, but because they wanted to preserve it they charge $20,000 for a small group!
We were leaving Valley of the Queens and a guy selling souveniors shoves some stone with Egyptian designs and hiroglyphics into two of our faces and asks for 0 Egyptian pounds. We told him we weren't interested and kept walking, which led him to eventually bargain down with himself until he hit 1 Egyptian Pound. "Dude, 1 Egyptian pound is $0.20. We should have just bought whatever the hell it was he was trying to sell."
So we got on a horse carriage that night because they said it cost 1 Egyptian Pound per person. What they didn't tell us was that they were taking us to a shopping center and wouldn't let us leave until we bought some papyrus! It was so crazy - there were children who almost climbed up on the carriage asking for money, and the driver would hit them with a stick to keep them away!
We got back to the city center and hit up Luxor Temple at night. Probably one of the best decisions of our life. Normally this isn't the type of place you would visit at night as a tourist, but since they illuminated spectacularly, I felt we got more out of it going at night and exploring all the different areas! It was so relaxing just hanging out there
So we faked a friends birthday at a nice little restaurant along the Nile. The entire restaurant crew - including the cooks and management - came marching out with one plate of fruit and one plate of sweets and sang and danced Happy Birthday - EGYPTIAN STYLE! It was like our own private little party - they even closed the doors and we were practically the only guests in the restaurants anyhow. Seriously, I was amazed at how fun and accomodating they were to our "birthday celebration!" I couldn't imagine anything like that happening in Cairo - but I guess that goes for the difference between any large city and it's surrounding suburbs.
Happy Birthday Kyle. from the Egypt crew... literally
The new ad for Magic Horizon Hot Air Ballon
Valley of the Queens - similar to the Kings but a lot smaller. The differences were pretty obvious - the colors used were more feminine. Queen Nefertiti's tomb apparently was the most well kept tomb of them all, but because they wanted to preserve it they charge $20,000 for a small group!
We were leaving Valley of the Queens and a guy selling souveniors shoves some stone with Egyptian designs and hiroglyphics into two of our faces and asks for 0 Egyptian pounds. We told him we weren't interested and kept walking, which led him to eventually bargain down with himself until he hit 1 Egyptian Pound. "Dude, 1 Egyptian pound is $0.20. We should have just bought whatever the hell it was he was trying to sell."
So we got on a horse carriage that night because they said it cost 1 Egyptian Pound per person. What they didn't tell us was that they were taking us to a shopping center and wouldn't let us leave until we bought some papyrus! It was so crazy - there were children who almost climbed up on the carriage asking for money, and the driver would hit them with a stick to keep them away!
We got back to the city center and hit up Luxor Temple at night. Probably one of the best decisions of our life. Normally this isn't the type of place you would visit at night as a tourist, but since they illuminated spectacularly, I felt we got more out of it going at night and exploring all the different areas! It was so relaxing just hanging out there
So we faked a friends birthday at a nice little restaurant along the Nile. The entire restaurant crew - including the cooks and management - came marching out with one plate of fruit and one plate of sweets and sang and danced Happy Birthday - EGYPTIAN STYLE! It was like our own private little party - they even closed the doors and we were practically the only guests in the restaurants anyhow. Seriously, I was amazed at how fun and accomodating they were to our "birthday celebration!" I couldn't imagine anything like that happening in Cairo - but I guess that goes for the difference between any large city and it's surrounding suburbs.
Happy Birthday Kyle. from the Egypt crew... literally
So come 5am, it's time to head off to our $100 hot air balloon ride over Luxor. On the boat over to the other side of the river, the balloon director informed us of the different ways the hot air balloon could land: hitting the floor and being dragged 30 feet or 50 feet, or hitting the floor, the basket falling sideways, THEN being dragged 30 feet. Ummm, as long as we didn't fall out I guess.. that's fine.
The view over all of Luxor was absolutely gorgeous! Everything looked so green and trimmed, it was kind of weird to think that under all this housed history that was over 5,000 years old! We caught the sunrise on a clear day, smelled the CLEAN and FRESH Egypt air, and floated directly above the Nile.
The view over all of Luxor was absolutely gorgeous! Everything looked so green and trimmed, it was kind of weird to think that under all this housed history that was over 5,000 years old! We caught the sunrise on a clear day, smelled the CLEAN and FRESH Egypt air, and floated directly above the Nile.
The new ad for Magic Horizon Hot Air Ballon
I didn't realise that we were actually trying to land - I thought we had just gone too low and were floating in a farmer's sugar cane crop. He didn't look happy about it and actually was actually holding a crop cutter in his hand while yelling at our balloon director, causing everyone working around us to come running with their children, wives and animals. I guess they do these kinds of landings pretty often, cuz the entire neighborhood was actually there to pull our balloon down and stabalise it so we could all climb out. We did tip them well when we left, but I'm pretty sure neighbors in the states wouldn't put everything down for a common cause - ESPECIALLY since we were in the middle of their crops!
The entire farm coming to help :)
Melts my heart!
I'd have to say I was thoroughly impressed with how much they run to help each other and value relationships. I think it was actually right then that I decided I wanted to visit more small African villages to experience how close-knit communities really were, and how everything they do is to benefit the group. Mark my words - I'm going to volunteer for a month in an African village one day. You just wait and see.
And that's the end of Luxor.
LODGE-istics
LODGING
Nefertiti Hotel
For less than $10, this place is the place to be! Rooftop bar, literally in the middle of town (you walk outside and you're in the bazaar). The staff here are all super friendly, and the daughter Meriem of the guy that runs this place is super cute!
Valley of the Kings/Queens, Queen Hatshepsut
We got this tour arranged for us by the guy who runs the hotel. Our tour guide was his brother. Should be pretty easy to book one of these through whatever hostel/hotel you're staying at.
Hot Air Balloon Ride:
Magic Horizon Hot Air Balloon
Don't let the website scare you.. if I had seen it before we went, I probably would have been frightened too. The people are super friendly, our balloon couldnt go the first day because of the weather - but they offered the refund the money then, or pick us up again the next day. We chose to try again the next day and I'm glad it worked! Plus, we got a free T-shirt!
ISIC Card
If you have an ISIC card, definitely bring it to Egypt. If you don't and can get a hold of one, it'll probably be worth it for you to purchase one for $20. You get 50% off to ALL the museums, tombs, and temples. They don't cost TOO much to begin with (I would less than $5 for each site), but since we were visiting so many, the savings really did add up.
The entire farm coming to help :)
Melts my heart!I'd have to say I was thoroughly impressed with how much they run to help each other and value relationships. I think it was actually right then that I decided I wanted to visit more small African villages to experience how close-knit communities really were, and how everything they do is to benefit the group. Mark my words - I'm going to volunteer for a month in an African village one day. You just wait and see.
And that's the end of Luxor.
LODGE-istics
LODGING
Nefertiti Hotel
For less than $10, this place is the place to be! Rooftop bar, literally in the middle of town (you walk outside and you're in the bazaar). The staff here are all super friendly, and the daughter Meriem of the guy that runs this place is super cute!
Valley of the Kings/Queens, Queen Hatshepsut
We got this tour arranged for us by the guy who runs the hotel. Our tour guide was his brother. Should be pretty easy to book one of these through whatever hostel/hotel you're staying at.
Hot Air Balloon Ride:
Magic Horizon Hot Air Balloon
Don't let the website scare you.. if I had seen it before we went, I probably would have been frightened too. The people are super friendly, our balloon couldnt go the first day because of the weather - but they offered the refund the money then, or pick us up again the next day. We chose to try again the next day and I'm glad it worked! Plus, we got a free T-shirt!
ISIC Card
If you have an ISIC card, definitely bring it to Egypt. If you don't and can get a hold of one, it'll probably be worth it for you to purchase one for $20. You get 50% off to ALL the museums, tombs, and temples. They don't cost TOO much to begin with (I would less than $5 for each site), but since we were visiting so many, the savings really did add up.
No comments:
Post a Comment