Today we are off to the Valley of the Kings and are very excited. We had breakfast and met with the group nice and early to beat the other traffic. It seems that they also had the same thing in mind as when we arrived there were buses already parked. Hoda collected our tickets and lead us inside then told us about the Valley. The Valley was chosen to be tombs of the great Kings rather than having individual pyramids to hide the tombs from robbers. The mountain had a natural pyramid point at the top which was significant to the Egyptians as it point towards the Gods and protects the Kings.
It was incredible to be surrounded by huge mountains and smaller mounds around us with elegantly decorated entrances and rooms. There are a total of 63 tombs in the whole of Valley of the Kings and our main entrance ticket allowed us access into 3 tombs. We saw Tuthmosis III , Ramesses IX, Ramesses III of the nine available to the general public. Again we were not allowed to take photos inside, but here are some photos of photos.
We also paid 50EGP for entrance into the combined tombs of Ramesses V and VI. This was by far the most decorated and for us most enjoyable experience of all of the tombs.
We pushed through ‘Valley of the Vendors’ to the carpark, and that alone was an experience! The first leg of this trip is literally a corridor of 20 vendors within 10 metres and they hound you and follow you another 30 metres to the stalls harassing you to buy stuff. From a short distance away we saw glimpses of Graham being escorted by a vendor holding cat statues and crying ‘meow, meow, meow, meow’ near his ear and no amount of him shrugging the catman away would make him leave his side. Once catman was convinced Graham was not going to buy anything, he quickly jumped to another couple not in our tour, and followed them down to the carpark. Graham had made a life long friend which was great entertainment for our group.
Animal Care Egypt (ACE)
After our very quick dash through the Valley of the Vendors we boarded our minivan and Hoda took us to Animal Care Egypt (ACE) a vet clinic for donkeys and horses who were mistreated by their owners. It was good to see the animals were being cared for, but the state they are when entering into the place is quite sickening. Unfortunately Egypt don’t have larger animal care organisations like Australia’s RSPCA, but ACE is certainly a start for Egypt.
After ACE we had lunch with another local Intrepid Tour Guide. We were greeted at the minivan by some local children living in the street. Sha-aaa is a Day Tour Guide and very knowledgeable about Luxor. The meal she prepared for us was delicious; tomato sauce salca, baba ganouch, baked chicken, stuffed peppers and eggplant, hibiscus tea. It was lovely traditional Egyptian meal. It was great to see Hoda and Sha-aaa talking. They have very different view of living: Sha-aaa has very traditional and conservative values, and Hoda is a free open-minded spirit. We had a really nice afternoon. As we were leaving Denise gave some lollies the children who waved us goodbye.
Afternoon tea and Dinner then Train
Back at the hotel we without a reserved room from 4pm filling in time until our minivan to take us to the train station to board our carriages at 10:15. To pass the time bye, we walked to the shop down the road to get food for breakfast and drinks for on the train. Graham, Helen and Richard joined us for tea and cake in an English Breakfast cafe then we hung around the lobby for almost two hours. We had showers in Hoda’s room while she went to meet with her friends for Ramadan and we met up with the group for our final dinner together at 7:00pm. Hoda met up with friends for Ramadan and we decided to join the group for our final dinner together at the Italian Restaurant down the road at 7pm.
Ev was beyond tired by the time we boarded the train. During our shopping expedition, we found some Bourbon Creams. Dan bought it for the name, and then created a jingle for it, as you do. We had a good tummy laugh for almost 10 minutes recording multiple takes to get the final version just right. It was so funny, but we must have sounded like a crazy couple to the other passengers. After our entertainment, we opened the connecting door between Nikky and David’s cabin and Dan had some drinks and reminisced about trip highlights. Ev feel asleep around 11:30pm and Dan stayed up until 1:00am
Oh, good times!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
It was incredible to be surrounded by huge mountains and smaller mounds around us with elegantly decorated entrances and rooms. There are a total of 63 tombs in the whole of Valley of the Kings and our main entrance ticket allowed us access into 3 tombs. We saw Tuthmosis III , Ramesses IX, Ramesses III of the nine available to the general public. Again we were not allowed to take photos inside, but here are some photos of photos.
 |
| Thutmoses III (primative drawings on the walls) |
 |
| Thutmoses II (similar to drawings in the Thutmoses III tomb we saw) |
 |
| Ramses IV picture of the King being carried in the afterlife on his boat with the Gods. (Often boats were used in drawings as the River was the fastest mode of transport at the time.) |
 |
| Ramses III picture of the three headed Snake that protected the King in the afterlife. |
We also paid 50EGP for entrance into the combined tombs of Ramesses V and VI. This was by far the most decorated and for us most enjoyable experience of all of the tombs.
 |
| The Ceiling of Ramses V & VI. Picture is the rising of the sun and moon Gods stretched in the middle from left to right. |
 |
| King Ramses offering flowers to one of the God's. |
We pushed through ‘Valley of the Vendors’ to the carpark, and that alone was an experience! The first leg of this trip is literally a corridor of 20 vendors within 10 metres and they hound you and follow you another 30 metres to the stalls harassing you to buy stuff. From a short distance away we saw glimpses of Graham being escorted by a vendor holding cat statues and crying ‘meow, meow, meow, meow’ near his ear and no amount of him shrugging the catman away would make him leave his side. Once catman was convinced Graham was not going to buy anything, he quickly jumped to another couple not in our tour, and followed them down to the carpark. Graham had made a life long friend which was great entertainment for our group.
Animal Care Egypt (ACE)
After our very quick dash through the Valley of the Vendors we boarded our minivan and Hoda took us to Animal Care Egypt (ACE) a vet clinic for donkeys and horses who were mistreated by their owners. It was good to see the animals were being cared for, but the state they are when entering into the place is quite sickening. Unfortunately Egypt don’t have larger animal care organisations like Australia’s RSPCA, but ACE is certainly a start for Egypt.
After ACE we had lunch with another local Intrepid Tour Guide. We were greeted at the minivan by some local children living in the street. Sha-aaa is a Day Tour Guide and very knowledgeable about Luxor. The meal she prepared for us was delicious; tomato sauce salca, baba ganouch, baked chicken, stuffed peppers and eggplant, hibiscus tea. It was lovely traditional Egyptian meal. It was great to see Hoda and Sha-aaa talking. They have very different view of living: Sha-aaa has very traditional and conservative values, and Hoda is a free open-minded spirit. We had a really nice afternoon. As we were leaving Denise gave some lollies the children who waved us goodbye.
Afternoon tea and Dinner then Train
Back at the hotel we without a reserved room from 4pm filling in time until our minivan to take us to the train station to board our carriages at 10:15. To pass the time bye, we walked to the shop down the road to get food for breakfast and drinks for on the train. Graham, Helen and Richard joined us for tea and cake in an English Breakfast cafe then we hung around the lobby for almost two hours. We had showers in Hoda’s room while she went to meet with her friends for Ramadan and we met up with the group for our final dinner together at 7:00pm. Hoda met up with friends for Ramadan and we decided to join the group for our final dinner together at the Italian Restaurant down the road at 7pm.
Ev was beyond tired by the time we boarded the train. During our shopping expedition, we found some Bourbon Creams. Dan bought it for the name, and then created a jingle for it, as you do. We had a good tummy laugh for almost 10 minutes recording multiple takes to get the final version just right. It was so funny, but we must have sounded like a crazy couple to the other passengers. After our entertainment, we opened the connecting door between Nikky and David’s cabin and Dan had some drinks and reminisced about trip highlights. Ev feel asleep around 11:30pm and Dan stayed up until 1:00am
Oh, good times!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-ev/collections/72157624677997272
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