PREFACE: Lot's more water has and ports have been covered since the Suez Canal post. As I write, we are in Muscat, Oman on the fourth and final leg of our cruise. Having been here less than a week ago and having covered all we wanted to see then, we stayed in the delightful air conditioning of the ship. It is the high 80's outside!!
Luxor's excursion made for a loooong day! We left for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Luxor at 7:45am, yes, with a "WC" stop along the way!! Our first destination was the huge Luxor Temple with the two colossi statues of Ramses II.
A closer look at the wall shows the hieroglyphics engraved in the stone walls.
Inside the temple, more gigantic columns and statues are enough to make a "big" girl feel petite! I like that!
Still inside the courtyard but looking back toward the entrance, we were told about the building(s) on the right. This Temple dates back to 1400BCE and like all really old buildings that have fallen into ruins, the ruins were filled in with other rubble, dirt, trash, etc. The mosque on the top was what had been a "church"/place of worship in the early days. The folks building the mosque had no clue that they were building on what had always been considered a "holy place".
From the temple, we were off to lunch at a hotel. Regent is careful to not take us anywhere that may not have the same standards as we do regarding the food. Egypt is not one of the cleanest countries in the world, nor is it the most health conscious. Deserts did look great!
After lunch, we walked out back and realized the hotel, The Nile Palace, was set on a bank of the Nile river!!
Next stop, Valley of the Kings! We were not allowed to take pictures, and our guide warned us we would not be able to take cameras inside the grounds, so, the only picture is the entrance from on the bus!
On our way back, we made a brief photo stop at the mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Al Qarana, Egypt. Just went to Wikipedia to confirm this picture is what the camera said. I LOVE my new camera! Fascinating article! Click the link a couple of sentences back if you care to read.
Interesting side note: Queen Hatshepsut was the only woman to rule as a Pharaoh.
I was more fascinated with the caves than the temple itself!
We made a quick photo stop 5 minutes here. According to the camera, this is the Theban (Thebes) Necropolis at Al Qarana. The temple itself had been destroyed by an earthquake many many years ago
The colossus on the left is blocked a bit by reflection in the window of the bus. We didn't get off. It's amazing the ruins archeologists and anthropologists are finding in this area on the banks of the nile.
From there, we settled in for our three hour drive back "home" to our ship waiting in the port at Safaga. A nice ending came when we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Nile.
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Luxor's excursion made for a loooong day! We left for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Luxor at 7:45am, yes, with a "WC" stop along the way!! Our first destination was the huge Luxor Temple with the two colossi statues of Ramses II.
This picture of Tom (he's the guy on the right!) gives a better clue as to just how colossal these statues are!
A closer look at the wall shows the hieroglyphics engraved in the stone walls.
Still inside the courtyard but looking back toward the entrance, we were told about the building(s) on the right. This Temple dates back to 1400BCE and like all really old buildings that have fallen into ruins, the ruins were filled in with other rubble, dirt, trash, etc. The mosque on the top was what had been a "church"/place of worship in the early days. The folks building the mosque had no clue that they were building on what had always been considered a "holy place".
Have LOTS more pictures of the temple and maybe after we're home, I'll add more. Internet on the ship is slower than molasses on a cold winter's day!
From the temple, we were off to lunch at a hotel. Regent is careful to not take us anywhere that may not have the same standards as we do regarding the food. Egypt is not one of the cleanest countries in the world, nor is it the most health conscious. Deserts did look great!
After lunch, we walked out back and realized the hotel, The Nile Palace, was set on a bank of the Nile river!!
Next stop, Valley of the Kings! We were not allowed to take pictures, and our guide warned us we would not be able to take cameras inside the grounds, so, the only picture is the entrance from on the bus!
We ventured inside the three tombs our guide had selected for us. Well, I did 3, Tom did 2. Totally fascinating. Below is a picture from inside one of the tombs. No, I didn't take it, it's copied from Wikipedia "Valley of the Kings".
On our way back, we made a brief photo stop at the mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut in Al Qarana, Egypt. Just went to Wikipedia to confirm this picture is what the camera said. I LOVE my new camera! Fascinating article! Click the link a couple of sentences back if you care to read.
Interesting side note: Queen Hatshepsut was the only woman to rule as a Pharaoh.
I was more fascinated with the caves than the temple itself!
We made a quick photo stop 5 minutes here. According to the camera, this is the Theban (Thebes) Necropolis at Al Qarana. The temple itself had been destroyed by an earthquake many many years ago
The colossus on the left is blocked a bit by reflection in the window of the bus. We didn't get off. It's amazing the ruins archeologists and anthropologists are finding in this area on the banks of the nile.
From there, we settled in for our three hour drive back "home" to our ship waiting in the port at Safaga. A nice ending came when we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Nile.
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