After Cairo we flew to Luxor and stayed in an even fancier 5-star hotel right on the Nile which had all the comforts of home except drinkable water. We went to the Valley of the Kings, which include the tombs of Rameses III, IX, and King Tut. The hieroglyphs again were astonishing, and I met King Tut's mummified, shriveled little body. Yep, right before my very eyes. We also went to Hatshepsut's temple and the Rameseum in the morning. Beautiful!
In the aftenoon we rode a felukah (boat) across the Nile to ride camels. The weather couldn't have been better. We rode camels into the country side for over an hour, with the sun setting behind the palm trees, the guides teaching us Arabic, and my little 10-year old guide gave me some sugar cane to chew on. The scenery was so beautiful. Our ride back across the Nile took a long time because there was no wind for our sail boat, but that just means we saw the last of the sunset and then the city at night along the river. We all sang songs and were practically giddy with happiness.
The next day we went to Karnak and the Luxor temple. We got there from our hotel by both motor boat and horse-drawn carriage! It is one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world, and very understandably so! Here's us in one of the largest rooms in the world among 134 huge columns.
Again, I was able to jump among them before getting in trouble by the tourism police. Whahaha!
The BEST part of the day though, as awesome as our morning was, was when those of us who didn't want to shop went walking around Luxor. We were strolling down a picturesque alleyway and came across several boys sitting on the side. We asked them if they had a ball, and even though we don't speak Arabic and they don't know much English, we began a game of soccer right there and played for probably an hour. They were creaming us, so I decided to put my pitiful soccer skills away and let the boys take over while I made friends with the younger kids who had turned the tournament over to their teenage brothers. I'll never forget little Muhammad's face as he excitedly told me the score (that was in his favor) in english that he was ecstatic to use. The whole street came alive, mothers peeking out the windows and relatives of every sort watching from the behind the laundry that hung above us. Even a father couldn't resist playing with us for a few minutes. Each little boy was so happy and it made my heart sing. As wonderful as the sights were in Egypt, making those children happy pretty much topped all for me that day.
The next day we went to Karnak and the Luxor temple. We got there from our hotel by both motor boat and horse-drawn carriage! It is one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world, and very understandably so! Here's us in one of the largest rooms in the world among 134 huge columns.
Again, I was able to jump among them before getting in trouble by the tourism police. Whahaha!
The BEST part of the day though, as awesome as our morning was, was when those of us who didn't want to shop went walking around Luxor. We were strolling down a picturesque alleyway and came across several boys sitting on the side. We asked them if they had a ball, and even though we don't speak Arabic and they don't know much English, we began a game of soccer right there and played for probably an hour. They were creaming us, so I decided to put my pitiful soccer skills away and let the boys take over while I made friends with the younger kids who had turned the tournament over to their teenage brothers. I'll never forget little Muhammad's face as he excitedly told me the score (that was in his favor) in english that he was ecstatic to use. The whole street came alive, mothers peeking out the windows and relatives of every sort watching from the behind the laundry that hung above us. Even a father couldn't resist playing with us for a few minutes. Each little boy was so happy and it made my heart sing. As wonderful as the sights were in Egypt, making those children happy pretty much topped all for me that day.
It seems like you split up into small groups, is that right? How many went to Egypt? I wish I could have been in Sedona for your phone call!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's incredible that tourists are allowed to walk around, sit on, jump to these priceless columns of hieroglyphs. In America, they would be surrounded by plexiglass and cordoned off.
ReplyDeleteIs there really tourism police?
And, uh, sorry about not helping you pursue soccer skills in your youth.