Day 6 - How do you say goodbye to a boat?

This morning we had breakfast on the boat while watching hot air balloons fly over the Nile. What a wonderful way to wake up. We have several hot air balloon companies in the next town over from us, Woodinville, so we felt right at home watching them float peacefully by. After breakfast we met our guide Ala to go to the Valley of the Kings, driving through the country side full of men on wagons pulled by donkeys and palm trees swaying in the wind. As we were driving through the Valley, it reminded me a bit of driving through the mesas of Utah with such interesting rock formations.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take cameras into this location, but it would have made for some great pictures. The one picture most impressive was that we were the ONLY people there. I have no idea where everyone was, but it was very nice to walk around and try to imagine life back between the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties when the 63 tombs were to have been built. There were lots of guards in white uniforms around paired in twos sitting under any shades they could find. And then there were guards inside the tombs dressed in gallabias trying to point out various painted images for a bit of change in your pocket. Ala wasn’t allowed inside the tombs, so most of the time we were the only ones walking down the stairs into the burial chambers with all the various rooms. One of the tombs even had a mummified baby skeleton who was one of the children that had been buried with the pharaohs. Since the tombs were inside, the colours on the walls were remarkable. The ceilings were painted with stars and the clothes worn were brightly multicolored.

We left the Valley of the Kings for Valley of the Queens, with its most famous inhabitant, Queen Nebetnehat. So far, about 70 tombs have been found, mostly of queens, but also several princes, princesses and various members of the nobility. From here we headed to Deir el-Bahari, more famous now for the massacre that occurred there, then for being the stunning mortuary temple of Hatshepsut. Again there we were, with only a few tourists around us. Although it wasn’t as empty as the Valleys, it was still sparse. It saddened me that the massacre had caused so much damage. There was a sadness to this place that could be felt in the air that I hadn’t noticed in any of the other tombs. The guards in the gallabieas were bending over backwards trying to let us take photos of places we really weren’t allowed to see. But the views from the temple were fantastic since it was built with its back toward the mountain and facing the Karnak temple that can be seen way way in the distance, cut only by the green line of trees around the Nile.

On our drive back to the cruise ship, we made two stops. The first was our second tour of an alabaster store. We did buy a very small camel from this store as it was much better priced. Our seond stop was the Colossi of Memnon, which really took us by surprise. Here it is, the middle of the dessert and these two huge 60 foot statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, at one time standing guard to his mortuary temple. In it’s hayday, it was said to have been larger and more impressive then the Temple of Karnak, but over the years damage from the floods of the Nile and dismantling and reusing portions of the stones by other rulers has left nothing there.

Back at the boat, we said goodbye to Ala, as he was heading home to see his family and packed our belongings so we can catch our plane back to Cairo. He was a wonderful tour guide and the time spent with his was full of information. You can truly tell he had a passion for this subject and knew so much more about Egyptology then any of the other guides he had on the trip. We wished him well on this PhD studies and walked around Luxor on our own for a little while. We were on a mission to find a cash machine that would take our credit card since the doctor had depleted our cash funds the night before. We were unsuccessful finding an ATM machine, but we did get some great photos of the back of the Luxor Temple with its rows and rows of left over columns and stones. Back at the boat, we said goodbye to the captain and the staff who really were outstanding.

We were driven to the airport where we had an uneventful and peaceful flight back to Cairo. Back at the Marriot, we didn’t even bother with dinner since we were just too tired from the packed days of the temples and desert and water. We were going to meet Noha bright and early tomorrow for more of tours of Cairo, so called it an early night. We did end up with a nicer room this time since we checked in earlier. It was only two rooms from the end and had an incredible view of the Nile. I must say I enjoyed the views from the Nile on the cruise ship much more then I was enjoying the ones full of city pollution and the entertainment cruise ships that were permanently docked along these parts.