Took another armed convoy into Luxor on Saturday morning. It was great to be off the boat and able to walk upright again.
The heat here is just as oppressive as down south and it is bordering on unbearable. Siestas make sense in this country.
Luxor (once known as Thebes) is home to eight of the twelve highlights of Pharonic Egypt and used to be the capital once upon a time. I believe we saw six of the twelve sights here but am not entirely sure. My brain is frazzled by the heat but so far this is the place I like the best. It has more character, is less chaotic and crowded than Cairo, has modern shops and then there are the ruins. The only drawback (not including the heat) is the incessant harassment from vendors. I had to literally run away from one. It’s best to look at the pavement rather than what is going on around you lest someone thinks you may have shown interest in their wares. Not that pavement gazing really deters them.
First stop was the temples of Karnak on the East Bank (the land of the living). Karnak is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks, all dedicated to the Theban gods and to the greater glory of Egypt’s Pharaohs (borrowed that from the travel bible: Lonely Planet). It was the most important place of worship in all of Egypt during the height of Theban power and each successive pharaoh of the 18th and 19th dynasties added a room, hall or pylon. Today all that remains are ruins and there is not much colour on the walls due to exposure to the sun but you definitely get a good idea of the former grandeur of the place. The Great Hypostyle Hall was definitely the highlight with its 134 towering papyrus shaped pillars that cover an area of 6000 square metres. I can’t really describe what it was like except amazing. I couldn’t exactly work out what the rest of the ruins were – it is quite confusing without a guide and we only had 1.5 hours (a group decision that I was out voted on) to try and cover a site that is about 1.5km x 800m.
On the way back to our hotel we walked past the Luxor temple which is next to the Nile. We decided not to go in as it couldn’t have been better than what we had just seen plus we had spotted the golden arches and the lure of an air conditioned Mac Donalds was just too much to resist.
Sunday was West Bank day. All the tombs and funery temples are on this side of the Nile as it is where the sun sinks down into the underworld each evening. WE started the day nice and early with a hot air balloon ride at sunrise. It was great to get a birds eye view of the green fields and then dessert, although I wish we floated closer to the toms (we didn’t move much – I am not sure why as some balloons floated towards the dessert – probably paid more). Jon thought it was a bit scary as we were hovering above power lines for a while there. We almost landed on top of some Arab sleeping on his roof. He probably got a bit of a fright when he woke up to see us metres above his head.
We were dropped off at the Colossi of Memnon. This pair of 18 metre high statues are all that remain of Amenhotep III funery temple. Here we met the remainder of our group who slept in until 6.30am and set off to the canyon known as the Valley of the Kings. I had always imagined the dessert here to be sandy but it isn’t. Rather, it is rocky and reasonably mountainous. This valley contains 62 royal burial sites, including the tomb of Tutankhamun (separate entrance fee). Our ticket let us enter 3 tombs so we went into those of Tuthmosis III, Seti II and Ramses IV (I think). Each showed us something interesting about the way tombs were constructed. Apparently, 50 people worked on them at once broken up into 5 teams: diggers, polishers, drawers, carvers and painters (I think that is right).
Tuthmosis’s tomb was hidden high up in the limestone cliffs with passages at odd angles to deter thieves (didn’t work). It is the oldest tomb in the valley so the style of painting is that of the stick men variety.
Setti II died after reigning for only 4 years so his tomb was finished in great haste (they had 70 days after the death to round things up as this is how long the mummification process took). The start is carved and painted, then just painted and then sketched as they ran out of time.
Ramses’ tomb had an intact painting of the goddess Nut stretched out across the blue ceiling. By the time we finished up it was so hot we were roasting. Rumor has it, it was a mere 56 degrees. No wonder over the course of the day Jon and I drank nine litres of water between us.
Next stop, the temple of Hatshepsut (the longest ruling woman pharaoh and mother in law, step mother and aunty to her successor Tuthmosis II – go figure!). This temple is carved into the limestone cliffs of the Theban mountain. It is very impressive from a distance with three huge terraced courts. Up close though most of the carvings and paintings are gone. If you wish to die of heat stroke you can climb up over the mountain to the Valley of the Kings. We didn’t have a death wish.
Our guide managed to convince us after lunch to see Ramses III’s funery temple Medinat Habu. I am glad she did. The carvings here were phenomenal and were absolutely everywhere, almost making it in my opinion quite ugly. As Ramses III was a bit of a war monger, a lot of the scenes are you guest it… of war! This includes a tally of the hands and penises they chopped off the Syrians after one particular battle – Nice!
One just can’t completely grasp what these building would have looked like in their day. Huge, multi-coloured monuments with every square inch painted with various scenes. They would have leaped out at you against the back drop of the dessert. Mind boggling stuff.
Tonight, an overnight train to Cairo and then a van to Alexandria. Sounds like fun! (Lots of sarcasm in the last remark).
The heat here is just as oppressive as down south and it is bordering on unbearable. Siestas make sense in this country.
Luxor (once known as Thebes) is home to eight of the twelve highlights of Pharonic Egypt and used to be the capital once upon a time. I believe we saw six of the twelve sights here but am not entirely sure. My brain is frazzled by the heat but so far this is the place I like the best. It has more character, is less chaotic and crowded than Cairo, has modern shops and then there are the ruins. The only drawback (not including the heat) is the incessant harassment from vendors. I had to literally run away from one. It’s best to look at the pavement rather than what is going on around you lest someone thinks you may have shown interest in their wares. Not that pavement gazing really deters them.
First stop was the temples of Karnak on the East Bank (the land of the living). Karnak is a spectacular complex of sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks, all dedicated to the Theban gods and to the greater glory of Egypt’s Pharaohs (borrowed that from the travel bible: Lonely Planet). It was the most important place of worship in all of Egypt during the height of Theban power and each successive pharaoh of the 18th and 19th dynasties added a room, hall or pylon. Today all that remains are ruins and there is not much colour on the walls due to exposure to the sun but you definitely get a good idea of the former grandeur of the place. The Great Hypostyle Hall was definitely the highlight with its 134 towering papyrus shaped pillars that cover an area of 6000 square metres. I can’t really describe what it was like except amazing. I couldn’t exactly work out what the rest of the ruins were – it is quite confusing without a guide and we only had 1.5 hours (a group decision that I was out voted on) to try and cover a site that is about 1.5km x 800m.
On the way back to our hotel we walked past the Luxor temple which is next to the Nile. We decided not to go in as it couldn’t have been better than what we had just seen plus we had spotted the golden arches and the lure of an air conditioned Mac Donalds was just too much to resist.
Sunday was West Bank day. All the tombs and funery temples are on this side of the Nile as it is where the sun sinks down into the underworld each evening. WE started the day nice and early with a hot air balloon ride at sunrise. It was great to get a birds eye view of the green fields and then dessert, although I wish we floated closer to the toms (we didn’t move much – I am not sure why as some balloons floated towards the dessert – probably paid more). Jon thought it was a bit scary as we were hovering above power lines for a while there. We almost landed on top of some Arab sleeping on his roof. He probably got a bit of a fright when he woke up to see us metres above his head.
We were dropped off at the Colossi of Memnon. This pair of 18 metre high statues are all that remain of Amenhotep III funery temple. Here we met the remainder of our group who slept in until 6.30am and set off to the canyon known as the Valley of the Kings. I had always imagined the dessert here to be sandy but it isn’t. Rather, it is rocky and reasonably mountainous. This valley contains 62 royal burial sites, including the tomb of Tutankhamun (separate entrance fee). Our ticket let us enter 3 tombs so we went into those of Tuthmosis III, Seti II and Ramses IV (I think). Each showed us something interesting about the way tombs were constructed. Apparently, 50 people worked on them at once broken up into 5 teams: diggers, polishers, drawers, carvers and painters (I think that is right).
Tuthmosis’s tomb was hidden high up in the limestone cliffs with passages at odd angles to deter thieves (didn’t work). It is the oldest tomb in the valley so the style of painting is that of the stick men variety.
Setti II died after reigning for only 4 years so his tomb was finished in great haste (they had 70 days after the death to round things up as this is how long the mummification process took). The start is carved and painted, then just painted and then sketched as they ran out of time.
Ramses’ tomb had an intact painting of the goddess Nut stretched out across the blue ceiling. By the time we finished up it was so hot we were roasting. Rumor has it, it was a mere 56 degrees. No wonder over the course of the day Jon and I drank nine litres of water between us.
Next stop, the temple of Hatshepsut (the longest ruling woman pharaoh and mother in law, step mother and aunty to her successor Tuthmosis II – go figure!). This temple is carved into the limestone cliffs of the Theban mountain. It is very impressive from a distance with three huge terraced courts. Up close though most of the carvings and paintings are gone. If you wish to die of heat stroke you can climb up over the mountain to the Valley of the Kings. We didn’t have a death wish.
Our guide managed to convince us after lunch to see Ramses III’s funery temple Medinat Habu. I am glad she did. The carvings here were phenomenal and were absolutely everywhere, almost making it in my opinion quite ugly. As Ramses III was a bit of a war monger, a lot of the scenes are you guest it… of war! This includes a tally of the hands and penises they chopped off the Syrians after one particular battle – Nice!
One just can’t completely grasp what these building would have looked like in their day. Huge, multi-coloured monuments with every square inch painted with various scenes. They would have leaped out at you against the back drop of the dessert. Mind boggling stuff.
Tonight, an overnight train to Cairo and then a van to Alexandria. Sounds like fun! (Lots of sarcasm in the last remark).
(Note: Pics are all out of order. Karnak is the last 3 pics)
1 comment:
Loving the photos Jon & Karyn. Bit of "beam me up scotty" pic here. I am sure you will welcome the clean ablution facilities in your hone country on return. What would holidays be if it were all sites and no sewage!!
Stay safe from the Ecoli!!
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