luxor in a nutshell-part 1

Day 1-Tour Extravaganza

So sue us, we were tired and opted out of the suggested early wake up call.  Tony met us at the hotel at 8am which if you are going to the valley of the kings, is WAY to late. Trust me on this.  Skip your continental breakfast and get a move on it. You DO NOT want to be in the Valley when all 304 tour buses unload and wait in line with all those sweaty people, underground.  No central AC down there.  Back to Little Tones.  He looked like he just came out of an episode of the crocodile hunter. Khaki from head to toe. Not sure about his choice in pants however.  Really, corduroy in the dead of summer??!@# A step up from the wool clad Eqyptian soldiers but still a poor choice. I hope they were moisture wicking for his sake.  We toured  A LOT of places with Tony this day in addition to the VOTK, in fact, I am exhausted just thinking about it, so I will try to stick to the highlights.

Break on through to the other side-To get to the valley of the kings you have to cross from east bank to the west. Total contrast from the modest hustle and bustle of taxi traffic near Winter Palace. The West Bank looks like something out of ancient times magazine. Comprised entirely of fertile lands, mules, farmers, tall green stalks, thatched roofs, ox and plow. Holy cow! The Nile serves as the dividing line where green meets desert.

Alas, after a scenic drive, we made it to the Valley of the Kings. I am embarrassed to say I did not really have an idea to what this was (even though the name is pretty self explanatory) before our arrival to Egypt.  For those inquiring minds who care to know, The Valley of the Kings is a network of 63 underground tombs.  For over 500 years, this has been the primary burial grounds of pharaohs and royalty.  VOTK is a world heritage site and an archeological dream. As recent as 2008, two more tomb entrances have been discovered. Neat huh??  No photo taking is allowed here, so mental images will have to suffice.  Trip advisor has a great picture depicting the valley. Here you can see one of the many tomb entrances.  http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/2e/2b/c7/valley-of-the-kings.jpg  Your ticket will gain you entrance into 3 tombs.  They are rotated throughout the year so no one tomb is bombarded with masses of tourists and their perspiration. It's a preservation thing.  You can also buy a separate ticket to enter King Tut's tomb which by comparison to the others, is very shallow, narrow, and small and is the only tomb out of the lot in which it's original occupant still lays.  Throughout the years, tomb raiders have wrecked havoc on this place and the only visible treasure left is the writing on the wall.  Amazing to think that painted drawings and patterns have lasted the test of time.  They still look as vivid as the day they were painted on.  Beware of hawkers here as well.  To be honest, I am surprised there weren't some actually stationed within the tombs to try to sell you postcard pictures.  It's absurd.

Tony the guide and me-Carter House

After making our escape from VOTK hawkers, we made our way to the newly opened Carter House.  So newly opened, that NOBODY knew about it and we toured it all by ourselves. It was a nice change of pace given the amount of people we just left behind at the VOTK.  Howard Carter was an English bloke obsessed with Egypt. He was an archeologist and an Egyptologist most notable for his discovery of King Tut's tomb in the VOTK in 1922.  His home with original clothes, drawings, radios, etc was transformed into a museum. Cool to go to but something you can skip if you'd rather see anything else. How many homes of English men do you really care to tour? Unless David Beckham or Bear Grylls is having me over for tea and a showing, I'd say I met my quota.

Up until this point, Tony had far exceeded my expectations. He was an excellent guide.  Extremely well versed in the places he took us too. I was less than thrilled however, when he dropped us off at an alabaster shop.  Otherwise known as tourist trap central. Guides partner with these shops in hopes for a commission on pieces you buy.  It's really quite the show getting you involved in the whole alabaster pot making trinket world. Wow, did I really just travel all this way, sweating my buns off in this heat because women have to be covered to the nines, to check out alabaster figurines?? I was not happy to say the least and Tony's performance points went down by 1000.

I almost forgot about one of the coolest temples we went to.  It was the last stop on this tour. This one is not to be missed. Hatshepsut (aka. Hot Chicken Soup) was a modern woman built far before her time. She was a successful pharaoh reigning longer than any other woman. Hatshepsut's tomb is massive, artfully designed by a famous architect, Ineni.  Definitely give this place two mini thumbs up. Must see. Learn about her before you go, you will be even more impressed.

Hatshepsut's Tomb

one of many paintings within the temple

That's it for today kids. After a nice pasta lunch poolside, we laid low for the rest of the day. Check out Part 2 for day 2 and 3 of our Luxor experience- 6am tour of karnak (amazing), luxor temple, luxor museum, karnak night light show. day 3, leisurely, read by pool, almost called US Embassy when mom went missing, lunch, walk around before fly back to Cairo.