Luxor has the reputation of being the hassle capital of Egypt and is now clearly suffering the consequences of word of mouth from travelers. Most foreigners will visit Luxor as part of a package tour going in a bubble from their hotel to their bus to a site and barely interacting with the locals. It is hard to see how those that aren't linked to a travel agency struggle to make a buck, and we reminded ourselves constantly about the fact that although they can be a bit annoying, the touts are only trying to make a living, like all of us.
We flagged down a taxi to go to Hatshepsut Temple. After a back and forth negotiation that was almost comical we agreed on an acceptable amount and Said became our driver. From the parking lot we could see the set up, a 300 meter gauntlet of souvenir shops whose sales people were drooling at their prey (us) from the distance. We waited for a bus full of Russians to get out of their ride and tried to hide behind them. We succeeded.
At the end of the shops there was a check point for tickets and a small shuttle bus that would take you on a ride for the 1k to the base of the first of three terraces of the temple. We chose to walk instead of being part of the package tour that almost ran us over to jump on the shuttle and a few local kids joined us immediately.
They sell postcards and paper handkerchiefs and asked us for pens for school. As we always carry loads of pens to give away we gave them some. They grabbed us by the arms and we all came up with songs that made the 1k more fan, as the tourists went by in the shuttle looking at us with the "oh my God they are walking!" expression in their faces.
Hatshepsut was Egypt's most famous female pharaoh. She was married to her half brother Tuthmosis II, who was too young to rule when his father died. She reigned for 20 years and was portrayed as both female or male (including a false beard) on reliefs. Her own funerary temple, located at Deir Al-Bahri, is among the finest monuments of ancient Egypt and is surrounded by sheer limestone cliffs.
Unfortunately, over the centuries the temple has been vandalized and it is now in the process of being restored. Also, this site has the dubious distinction of being on the news worldwide when in 1997 terrorists massacred a group of tourists there.
The kids waited for us at the base of the temple when we exited at the end. It seems they had enjoyed the arm in arm walk as much as we did and we all walked back to were our taxi was waiting chanting "toot toot toot, Hatshepsut, we all go to Hatshepsut!".
Gaby
We flagged down a taxi to go to Hatshepsut Temple. After a back and forth negotiation that was almost comical we agreed on an acceptable amount and Said became our driver. From the parking lot we could see the set up, a 300 meter gauntlet of souvenir shops whose sales people were drooling at their prey (us) from the distance. We waited for a bus full of Russians to get out of their ride and tried to hide behind them. We succeeded.
At the end of the shops there was a check point for tickets and a small shuttle bus that would take you on a ride for the 1k to the base of the first of three terraces of the temple. We chose to walk instead of being part of the package tour that almost ran us over to jump on the shuttle and a few local kids joined us immediately.
They sell postcards and paper handkerchiefs and asked us for pens for school. As we always carry loads of pens to give away we gave them some. They grabbed us by the arms and we all came up with songs that made the 1k more fan, as the tourists went by in the shuttle looking at us with the "oh my God they are walking!" expression in their faces.
Hatshepsut was Egypt's most famous female pharaoh. She was married to her half brother Tuthmosis II, who was too young to rule when his father died. She reigned for 20 years and was portrayed as both female or male (including a false beard) on reliefs. Her own funerary temple, located at Deir Al-Bahri, is among the finest monuments of ancient Egypt and is surrounded by sheer limestone cliffs.
Unfortunately, over the centuries the temple has been vandalized and it is now in the process of being restored. Also, this site has the dubious distinction of being on the news worldwide when in 1997 terrorists massacred a group of tourists there.
The kids waited for us at the base of the temple when we exited at the end. It seems they had enjoyed the arm in arm walk as much as we did and we all walked back to were our taxi was waiting chanting "toot toot toot, Hatshepsut, we all go to Hatshepsut!".
Gaby
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