Luxor & the Valley of the Kings

20-21st Sept

Watching the Nile swirl in eddies & flows, the great volume of water, always moving, it made me think it is a great analogy for the movement of life. Never resting, appearing calm on the surface at times but moving underneath, sustaining life for thousands of years. Until the building of the great High Dam & the flooding to create Lake Nasser, the Nile would flood & displace thousands of people.

Nile-o-meters built at the temples indicated the level of the Nile, and consequently the taxes collected by the priests were set for the coming year. If the Nile was high, it indicated a prosperous year & therefore higher taxes, a low water level the transverse was true.

Mon/Tue 20-21/9  

Arriving in Luxor, we relaxed by the pool for the afternoon. I indulged in a mani-pedi, and a full-body scrub & mud wrap.  You don't want to be shy or self-conscious for that one! Off to bed early, because yet again an early morning wakeup call for our balloon ride!  

Tues morn we were picked up & taken to the dock for a short ferry ride across the Nile to the West Bank.  We serenely floated above Hatshepsut's Temple. Beyond the temple lies the Valley of the Kings, our destination later that morning.  Having the Chief Test Pilot on board made both Jamie & I feel extremely safe & confident.  After a very gentle landing in one of the surrounding fields, we were whisked to see the imposing Temple of Hatshepsut, which acts as an entrance way to the V of the Kings.  Hatshepsut was the only female that acted as Pharaoh, so go girl power!

Arriving in the Valley, we chose to visit the tombs of Ramses I, III, & IX, but first visited the tomb that sits directly above Tutankhamen's, that of Ramses V & VI. Extraordinarily bright in colour, there was no-one else visiting the tomb at that moment. It made the entrance & descent quite surreal, as you could imagine a royal mummy being carried by his loyal subjects into the heart of the burial chamber.  All the mummies have been removed, but Tutankhamen's mummy is still in his burial chamber so we decided to let him rest in peace...