Now docked at Luxor

We are so busy, it’s hard to remember at the end of the day how it started! But today wasn’t as early for us as for the people going in the hot air balloon…but we did set off at 7.30, first to see the temple at Karnak - or complex, as it is a huge collection of temples and buildings and a forest of columns and SOO tall…I think it the most amazing of all the temples. Then off to the Luxor temple, which is also impressive, but not nearly as big as Karnak (though very tall - you just can’t imagine how that were build 2 - 3 thousand years ago. There was an Avenue of sphinxes the whole 2.5 kms between Karnak and Luxor temples…some of it is still there! And there is still colour visible in some places which is amazing. Originally they would have been fully painted and colourful.

Then back to the boat for lunch, and off again at 2.15 to see some fascinating sites on the West Bank. The West Bank is the burial side of the river, and is where the Valley of the Kings and the temple of Hatshepsut are (where we go tomorrow - more highlights), but today we visited the village of the artists who painted the Royal tombs (Deir el-Medina), and also the Valley of the Nobles. These are so interesting and they are fairly newly discovered…there is so much hiding under the accumulation of desert sand. They are still excavating and will probably find many more. The village of the artists was a secret place, as they were hiding the kings’ tombs underground so that raiders would not find them, so the artists were bound to secrecy and had to live separately so that no one could know. The guard inside the first tomb was very friendly and explained some of the pictures (which he wasn’t supposed to, but just to make sure we behaved!) and he took a group photo on the floor showing all our faces and the roof!

Both these places entailed walking up quite a steep hill, and climbing down narrow steep stairs and through low doorways, but it certainly was worth it. The colours in there - specially in one of the artist’s tomb (actually he was an architect) are still very vibrant…just amazing.

I keep saying everything is amazing, but it is!! The photos just can’t do justice to it, but you can get an idea of the enormity…Read more