Hatshepsut Temple

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

Valley of the Kings

The valley itself is nothing special, just a rocky desert canyon which was hot and dusty (even in mid-November) and crowded with busloads of package tourists. But once inside the tombs the reason this place is so special becomes quickly apparent.

Both Gaby and I had studied about the Valley of the Kings, especially the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb, so we were both really excited about going there and seeing this place in person.

From the town of Luxor we took a taxi across the Nile, through the verdant agricultural lands created by the river to the west bank. From the ticket booth at the entrance you are driven by tram to a separate building where we bought additional tickets for King Tutankhamen's tomb.

The Valley of the Kings (or Kings Valley to the locals) is the final resting place of the Egyptian royalty. The valley has 19 tombs of which entry to 2 tombs is extra and various of the others are closed at any specific time for remodeling or preservation. The tombs are incredible. World class stuff. As they were cut into the mountain the tombs have not suffered from the elements like most other ruins and this shows as when you go in the amazing reliefs and hieroglyphics are well preserved and still retain their original bright colors and feel. They certainly don't look like they were created 3500 years ago.

We entered the first tomb and they hole-punched our entrance tickets. When Gaby took a picture of one of the walls a guard came running and asked to confiscate our camera as no pictures were allowed inside. Gaby refused to give up our camera but agreed to erase the photos.

We loved the tombs and were enjoying ourselves when we entered the fourth tomb and were advised that the entrance ticket only counted for entrance to 3 tombs and our day there was over. But the guard at the fourth tomb let us go in and look around in exchange for a small monetary "gift". We were quite unhappy about this situation as we were never advised when we bought our passes that they were for only 3 tombs (as we would have done things differently) and anyway why only let people see 3 tombs out of 19?

Lastly we visited King Tuts tomb, which we had purchased tickets for separately. You have to climb down like 30 steps, deep into the earth and it is hot and still inside. His burial chamber and mummy are still in the room but in comparison to some of the other tombs in the valley it was much smaller and the decoration much less ornate then many of the other tombs. We had always wanted to see King Tuts Tomb so it was worth it for us but if you don't go in dying to see King Tuts tomb I would say think twice beforehand.

In summary I would say that The Valley of the Kings itself is amazing and a can't miss site. The experience of climbing into the mountains into these gorgeous tombs is unforgettable.

Steve

Luxor Temple

After a super long day of traveling we woke up in a wonderful hotel and after several hours of rest we were ready to hit the town. We had both studied about Luxor in school and the closest we had come to see something similar so far was in Vegas, at the Luxor Casino! But now we were going to be able to see the real thing with our own eyes.

Luxor has so many things to see that it certainly deserves several days, so we had to be pretty organized to be able to cover as much as we did.

The town was easy to navigate and although we walked most of the time, we took several taxis and even a carriage to go around. The first thing that can't be denied is the fact that the Nile River cuts the city in two, and it adds a decor of feluccas (sailboats), yachts and fishing boats that add life to the terracotta color buildings. So much to see, where to start but by visiting the amazing Luxor Temple where just walking through the avenue of the sphinxes makes you feel like a triumphant Roman coming back from another conquest.

The Temple was originally built by Hatshepsut but Amenhotep II (grandfather of Tutankhamen) greatly enlarged it and then Tutankhamen, Ramses II, Alexander the Great and various Romans contributed to its expansion. The Romans constructed a military fort around it that the Arabs later called "Al-Uqsur" which means "The Palaces".

It was just amazing to walk around this structure that goes back to 1300s BC. I literally turned Japanese there and couldn't stop taking pictures. The 24 meter high pylon with Ramses' II military exploits, the colossal statues of Ramses II, the pink granite obelisk (only one is here, the other one is at the "Place de la Concorde" in Paris), the Great Court, hundreds of reliefs, columns with lotus bud tips, huge statues, papyrus columns, and the list goes on, everything captured with my camera. It is just an amazing experience.

We were there for hours and finally the sun set and the lights came on and it was even more beautiful as the shades almost gave life to the sculptures and statues.

There was a lot more to see and we knew we were going to enjoy Luxor very much.

Gaby

Sinai to Luxor

In Egypt we were pressed for time. We had only 2 weeks to see the country and because we had fixed dates down the road we could not push our flights back any more. Thus our plan was to take the 6am bus from Nuweiba across the Sinai to the town of Suez, then find a way to go south as far as possible with the unlikely goal of getting to Aswan in the south by that evening.

We caught the 6am bus which cruised the beautiful Gulf of Aqaba and from the beginning it became clear that we weren't going to be breaking any land speed records. First, our bus was a piece of junk. Second, the bus was traveling on a windy country road and, Third, because of the Sinai's position next to Israel and the uneasy situation between the two countries we were continuously stopped at military checkpoints and had to show our passports.

It was shocking for us to see mile after mile of Red Sea resorts along the road abandoned as the principal vacationers (the Israelis) have stopped coming to Egypt as they fear being kidnapped if they stay in the Sinai. The views were dominated by the striking blue of the sky, the reddish rocky desert and the aquamarine water. Later, as we left the coast the desert became sandy and we started driving through miles of tall dunes.

We arrived at the infamous Suez Canal and another series of roadblocks/checkpoints and we were getting the idea that Egypt was very worried about the safety of its roads. We drove in a tunnel which passed under the canal and emerged from the other side. Up on the side of the canal was an entire squadron of solders armed to the teeth with heavy-duty weapons. It looked like they were worried about the safety of the canal.

We arrived in the town of Suez and immediately bought tickets for another bus going south. We had just enough time to grab some food before the next bus left. The bus was filthy and slow and exhaust came into the bus from a hole in the floor.

We continued along at a snails pace and had huge rest breaks at every stop which confirmed that our day would be a long one. We continued in the desert along the gorgeous Red Sea and passed an unbelievable amount of unfinished resorts which blocked our views of the beaches. Along the way the sun went down and it got dark.

At this point the bus ride stopped being fun. The teenagers behind us blasted music from their cell phones, we sat over the engine, which overheated everyone in the back of the bus and exhaust kept pumping into the inside from the hole in the floor. I eventually had to leave Gaby at the open window and sit in the front next to a stranger because I was getting a headache from the exhaust.

We arrived in Luxor at 12:30 in the morning and found a hotel around 1:00. It had been an 18 1/2 hour travel day on two different buses. We were filthy, tired and hungry. It would not go down as one of the funner days of the trip but we got to see a lot of Egypt and came close enough to our goal of getting from one side of the country to the other.

Steve

Nuweiba

It was love at first sight. We had been looking for a place like Nuweiba since the beginning of this trip. We were ready for a few days of "no Roman Ruins" and sand squeezing through our toes as we walked barefoot on the beach.

Everybody seemed to be going to Sharm-el-Sheikh or Dahab (also along the Red Sea Coast) but we didn't want anything to do with big resorts or western style accommodation for a while, we wanted a hut on the beach, and oh! we got one!

Our door would open to an amazing view of calm blue waters and sandy beach, a few hammocks and Saudi Arabia's and Jordan's mountains in the distance. Steve loved getting up and putting on his swim trunks and would go running towards the water for a morning swim.

We needed that. A few days of reading, swimming, sleeping under mosquito nets and socializing with cool travelers who like us, didn't want to leave Nuweiba either and ended up staying longer than expected.

Our walks along the beach were wonderful, we met the local fisherman and suffered through another incredible sunset.

At the same time it was quite tough to see so many resorts half way built and so many shops struggling to make ends meet. Nuweiba used to be the #1 destination for Israeli people and since the terrorist attack at the Sharm-el-Sheikh resort they basically stopped going to Egypt and this had a devastating effect on the local economy. We were also told that there are Iranian cells operating in the Sinai that kidnap those Israelis that do decide to cross the border and exchange them for political prisoners.

But back to our own little world, we had a great situation in Nuweiba, with a huge common area with restaurant, books and magazines, games and great company, even massage!

We could have easily stayed there for a month and I'm sure it wouldn't have been enough.

Gaby