April 10

4-10: Great Googly-woogly! Our trip yesterday from Safaga on the Red Sea to Luxor on the Nile was a marathon! 15 hours! But well worth it. The buses left Safaga about 7 in the morning in a convoy with armed guards at the front and back - each bus even had its own armed guard! First we went up through these stark rock mountains and into flat sandy desert. As we neared the Nile there started to be many irrigated fields. Lots of sugar cane grown here. But their method of harvesting is so primitive - out in the fields cutting it by hand and putting it on small carts pulled by donkeys. Then they get it to a small train that takes it to a central place for processing. And all of the houses are unfinished - because until they finish them they do not have to pay taxes! A lot of the places that were occupied looked unlivable to us. Once we got to Luxor our first stop was the Temple of Karnak which was just amazing. We’ve seen pictures and heard of the size BUT until you are standing among the 134 columns it is hard to imagine! Our guide was an Egyptologist who told us more than we really needed to know - he was very interesting but what with the sensory overload the information overload was almost too much. The statues and columns are so huge - and even thought he place itself is a ruin - so much of it is in tact. Even the undersides of some of the crossbars on the columns still had vivid paint on them - after 3500 years! It really is mind boggling. After the Temple of Karnak we went to a fancy hotel for lunch which was good - had a local beer - Stella. After lunch we went across the Nile to the Valley of the Kings which is where tombs of many of the pharaohs were located. It is barren desert mountains and the tombs were carved into the solid rock of the mountains. This is all what was called Egypt’s New Kingdom which is later than the pyramid era (1500BC -1100BC as opposed to 2500BC) - the mountain does have a pyramid shape so they didn’t feel the need to build pyramids. The tombs were all painted elaborately inside - and of course had been filled with all kinds of riches BUT those are not there any more - either stolen or in various museums. It was SO HOT and SO DRY that it was almost a killer - glad we weren’t there at the hottest point in the day. From there we went back across the Nile to the Temple of Luxor. It was also fantastic - amazing in size. And the statues are amazing in their detail - especially when you take into account the size -how do you make toes or knees that big! After the Temple of Luxor we headed back to Safaga - once again in an armed convoy. Got back to the ship about 9:30 and then of course had to stand in a long line in order to get back on board. All in all a LONG day but absolutely worth it. Now we are looking forward to the Suez Canal tomorrow and the pyramids on Wednesday!