Since our trip over the Christmas break to India, we have mainly been traveling to places within Egypt. We are trying to visit all the places on our "wish list" before our departure at the end of June. Most recently, we flew to Luxor in southern Egypt along the Nile. Luxor is famous for its historic ruins, tombs and temples of ancient Egypt. Many, many tourists visit Luxor and it was quite evident when we were there. Tour busses, and Nile cruise ships were everywhere. Probably the most famous site there is the Valley of the Kings and of course the tomb of Tutankamon.
We stayed at a small hotel that looked out to the Nile and the main part of Luxor. The open air roof top restaurant gave a great view of both. While there, we hired a driver to take us to many of the sites. Valley of the kings is set in a canyon outside of the Nile valley. It was supposed to be a place to hide the bodies of Pharoahs along with many of their belongings. All the tombs were found and looted except for Tutankamon. The tombs were dug into the mountain, many of them with several chambers. After thousands of years, the paint showing everyday life as well as their spiritual beliefs still remains on the walls and ceilings. Cindy, Creede and Asa paid extra to go into the tomb of Tutankamon where they were able to see his mummified remains. He was very young when he died, but the amount of possessions found inside his tomb was staggering. We have been to the national museum in Cairo where many of these possessions are now. It takes at least an hour just to see all of them. I can only imagine what would have been found in the tombs of rulers who lived much longer lives. After visiting more ruins, the impression that I was left with was that the level of sophistication of a civilization so old and one that lasted so long makes me think that our "modern" world is just a brief moment in time in comparison.
Next, we are off to the Red Sea. Our time here in Egypt is almost over.
