Songdoc

These are fantastic. Keep 'em coming!
Thanks!

progol

Nelson, thank you! I’m glad you’re really enjoying this! It’s so much fun for me to see the photos and read my notes as it truly was one of the most remarkable places we’ve been. And yes, the mummification images are something!

Ian, I’m SO excited for you! I haven’t even gotten to our dahabiya photos yet, but I’ll add that our dahabiya trip was one of the highlights - such a wonderful experience.

Songdoc, glad you’re still here and following! There’s more to come!

tripplanner001

Fantastic photos. I enjoy viewing these sites from your perspective.

progol

Thanks, tripplanner, both countries are so visual, but Egypt is especially so. It’s not hard to take halfway decent photos.

And I agree, it’s fun to see a place from another person’s perspective. You and your report were very helpful to me when we were planning.

Ian

Yes, we are finally coming out of our cave.

Direct flight (!) booked. Hotels mostly booked (but all changeable). Dahabiya booked.

So it looks like we are going . . . somewhere . . . anywhere. I haven't been on a plane since my last work travel flurry just before retirement in 2019. We are both a bit creakier now.

progol

Congratulations! That’s a great trip to entice you out of the pandemic cave!

progol

Saturday, November 5
Sights:

1. Medinat Habu temple
2. 2) Valley of the Nobles
3. Ramesseum

Today was an amazing day. Picked up by Mohammed at 8:30 and took the ferry to the West Bank, where we were met by Hassan, another driver.

Our first stop - and a very short distance - is Medinat Habu, a magnificent temple complex , known for the funerary temple built by Ramses III, there are also buildings by Thutmose III and Hapshetsut. It’s surrounded by mud brick remains, possibly Roman. But it’s a striking set of structures, with remarkable carvings of Rameses III (in battle and in victory over those he conquered). Every wall was covered with amazing details and great carvings. Those areas hat were painted were exquisite, especially the turquoise blue colors. The columns, topped with either lotus leaves or papyrus, were beautiful.

At the end of the visit, a group of young women (students, I think) asked to have their photo with me!

We really enjoyed our interactions with Mohammed, who turns out to be a fantastic guide. He relates history in stories and then shares great stories about his family. His grandfather owned much of the land around the Valley of the Nobles, though sold it when the government was excavating. He told us that his grandfather, and many others in the region, were tomb robbers. That’s just what people did. And he told us how his grandmother used to make rope and other things from papyrus.

On to the Valley of the Nobles - first stop was to see “AhmedArtist” who makes small carvings out of limestone in the traditional way. Mohammed told us that the artist has tools that were found inside the tomb. We bought a small piece, too.

The Valley of the Nobles is another under-visited attraction that has some fascinating and beautiful tombs. These tombs also feature scenes from daily life. The first one we visited, the tomb of Ramose, vizier under Amenhotep and Akhenaten, is intriguing because it was done during a period of transition, and the tomb reflects the 2 different styles. It had some beautiful carvings with some wonderful paintings of funerary scenes. I loved the scene of the girls crying. There are bas-reliefs of liqht rays from Atun, the sun god, with the rays ending in the form of hands. The tomb was unfinished, possibly because Ramose died prematurely.

We saw 2 other tombs, Userhat and Khaemhet, which also showed beautiful carvings and some paintings of daily life.

We aren’t done yet! We continued on to the Ramesseum, Ramses II’s funerary temple. It’s notable for it’s gigantic statue of Ramses that has fallen down. Although his tomb is in the hill, the temple was built to connect it with other memorial temples along the Nile. The fallen statue and its remains are what inspired Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias. The site has some good carvings but we really enjoyed the grafitti that Mohammed pointed out from the 1800s!

And the treat of the day - Mohammed had mentioned that he, along with some friends, have a papyrus shop on the East Bank. M and I had decided we wanted to buy a papyrus from him so we asked if we could go to his shop when we were done touring. We ended up spending the remainder of the afternoon with his friends and business partners, who made us feel incredibly welcome and treated us well. We spent several hours enjoying their company, and they treated us to lunch. We did buy a small papyrus but the pleasure of the afternoon was worth 10 times that.

Back at the hotel, we took it easy - tomorrow we are off on our next adventure: traveling on the Nile by dahabiya!

progol

Medinat Habu temple
















































Doing the Egyptian!

progol

Valley of the Nobles


AnmedArtist, traditional carver


Inside the Tomb of Ramose


Inside the Tomb of Ramose


Inside the Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose - the women mourning


Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose


Tomb of Ramose


I love the rays of sun turning into hands


Sun rays














Mohammed in the doorway of the tomb

progol

Ramesseum


Ramesseum overview








It’s a big statue!




















Our wonderful guide, Mohammed

progol

Good night, Luxor

zebec

That was a wonderful group shot of you with those women Progol.
And I hope that folks were buying something from Ahmed the Artist as souvenirs---his quality as shown in the image seemed pretty good, yeah?
Congrats on what seemed to have been a banner day.

I am done. the sahlab

progol

Thanks, zebec, yeah, those women were a delight and made me smile. And a wonderful photo, too. It’s one of the best parts of travel, those moments.

AhmedArtist’s work is wonderful - excellent quality. I love that he has some ancient tools (though I can’t imagine that he’s using them on our carvings).

It was a great day and Luxor won my heart.

tripplanner001

The Tomb of Ramose must be unique to have the columns inside a tomb. I haven’t seen or heard of it when I was in Egypt.

What is also fascinating is all the new finds that keep on springing up, especially in Saqqara. There must be as much laying in the sand in the area as the West Bank of Luxor.

schmerl

I don't know how many times I can say WOW!
You were so lucky to have your wonderful guide Mohammed. You really got to spend time with some locals that way.

progol

tripplanner, I hadn’t actually thought about it, but it’s true, I never saw columns like that in the interior of a tomb. Interesting observation. And I would so love to go back - Saqqara is really revealing a lot of new sites and artifacts and there is so much more in Luxor I’d love to return and see. Maybe someday…

schmerl, much as we felt bad for our first guide in Luxor (family issue), we were SO happy we met Mohammed! And believe me, I spent my entire trip going “wow”! I’m so enjoying losing this TR as it allows me the chance to relive the trip. And I’m finding it amazing to see how much we saw!

tripplanner001

I’ve thought of returning when the Grand Egyptian Museum opens. Could combine a visit to the museum with Saqqara.

progol

And it is said to be open by the end of 2023 - of course, it was supposed to be open by November 2022, so nothing is written in stone, so to speak.

I’d also love to add Alexandria, and return to Luxor with a visit to the new museum. I can dream for a while…

CaliNurse

“Truly amazing” describes not only your trip, but this trip report. Thank you!!. Glad you are enjoying reliving the experience, a reward for spending much time and energy posting photos and descriptions.

I don’t know if I’ll have the good fortune to make it there, but seeing your photos is a joy in itself!!

if you do a dreamed-of a return visit, have you thought of several days’
Airbnb type situation in Luxor?

After seeing the documentary, Saqqara for me is a must!!

Thanks again for this beautiful and motivating report

progol

Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying this! It may take me a while longer, but it’s such fun reliving the trip so I’m happy this is also inspiring you and others.

I’m not sure if I’d want to have ann apartment in Luxor - it’s nice to be looked after where it is so different. But I’d probably find a guesthouse on the West Bank if we were to go again.

I did see some very nice AirBnBs listed in Cairo on Zamalek island that I almost booked. I’d consider that in the future.