~Gator World Explorer~: Cardio Contiki and Dangerous Donkeys

Thursday, November 4th. Awesome! I woke up feeling 80% better with just a slight hint of nausea. :) And that was great because today we were off to the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, and our West Village Tour.

This morning was just like the others, early wake up call! I was up by 6am and jumped into the shower before my roommate woke up so I could enjoy my last shower on the cruise. I once again skipped breakfast because I wasn't in the mood to eat, I'm just not a breakfast person. While my tour mates were eating their breakfast, I took that opportunity to fix up my luggage and to back up the pictures on my camera. I then left my luggage by the front door (cruise personnel will take your luggage to the lobby) and was ready for the day's adventures!

Today was an exciting day to be visiting the Valley of the Kings since it marked 88 years to the date that Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb! Of course, leave it to someone like me to know that fact and Sherif was quick to capitalize on it, making me announce it to the bus via the microphone. The drive to the Valley of the Kings was quite scenic with great views of the Nile, farmland, villages, the mighty hills and cliffs of the valley, and finally Queen Hatshepsut's temple! Unfortunately, on this trip we didn't visit her temple or the Valley of the Queens but those are on my to do list for my next trip to Egypt.

When we arrived at the Valley of the Kings, I was very amazed at the large, steep cliffs and hills of the valley. I was now standing in one of the most important necropolis of the ancient world. Our visit to the Valley of the Kings included three tombs and we had the opportunity to purchase extra tickets, one for the tomb of Ramesses VI and another for Tutankhamen. Upon entering the valley, we boarded a tram that took us from the front gate to the tombs; Egyptians really love their trams. After the uneventful ride, Sherif gave us a brief history lesson and then took off power walking up the hill to our first tomb. Today was not only the hottest day of our tour (97 F/36 C), it was also the day that we got the biggest workout. The first tomb on our list was that of Thutmose III (aka Thutmosis III), a pharaoh who conquered almost 350 cities during his reign thus being called "The Napoleon of Egypt". Thutmose III was also the son of the famous Queen Hatshepsut. His tomb is set high in the cliff so you need to climb some 200 plus steps to reach the entrance. What makes this tomb unique is that it was trapped ala Indiana Jones style to deter tomb robbers who were in search of buried treasure. The tomb was very interesting; the walls were covered with depictions of the underworld and with inscriptions from the Book of the Dead. On two of the pillars, that were not completed, you could see the red grid lines that Egyptians used as a guide when painting and chiseling. The next two tombs, those of Ramesses III and Ramesses IV, were very simple and really didn't have that much in terms of paintings and inscriptions. One thing that did make the tomb of Ramesses III interesting is that when the workers were digging the shaft, they came across the tomb of Amenemesses so they had to change the direction of the tunnel and work around the existing tomb.

After visiting those three tombs, it was time to visit the tomb I was most looking forward to, that of Ramesses VI!!! Along with Seti I's tomb, Ramesses VI's is one of the most impressive at the Valley of the Kings because of the massive amount of paintings found inside including the famous vaulted ceiling painted with images of the night sky and the goddess Nut (pronounced newt). The tomb is basic in terms of structure but the amount of paintings and the details found in such paintings is quite overwhelming. The paintings depict stories from the Book of Gates, Book of Caverns, Book of the Dead, Book of the Earth, and a few other Ancient Egyptian texts. Another great thing about this tomb is that since it is an additional charge (35 LE/$6), few people visit so you can walk inside the tomb at your own pace without the hassles that come with hoards of tourists. Upon finishing my visit to Ramesses VI's tomb, I was off to see Tutankhamen's. This tomb also was an extra charge (100 LE/$17.30) but being Tutankhamen's it was packed! The tomb is the smallest in the Valley of the Kings since he died very young and there was no time to build a proper tomb. Despite being small, the size is impressive once you see the amount of items that were buried with the pharaoh (you can view the majority of the items at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo). Tutankhamen was buried inside four gold sarcophagi that in turn were placed in four giant wooden boxes; the four wooden boxes and the three outer sarcophagi are in the museum, the inner sarcophagus can be found in the tomb. Another interesting thing, one of the reasons why so many visit Tutankhamen's tomb, is that his mummy is on display, the only mummy displayed at the Valley of the Kings. All other mummies are in display at the museum in Cairo or in the basement of the museum awaiting identification. I'm glad I visited both tombs but I honestly preferred Ramesses VI's tomb; I actually wouldn't mind paying the extra fee to visit the tomb once again.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside the tombs but I will post a few images from Google's image gallery.

Between the visits to the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Karnak, we stopped to see the Colossi of Memnon. These statues are 60 ft tall and represent the great Amenhotep III. The statues guarded his mortuary temple which no longer stands since it was destroyed by the yearly Nile inundations. There are current excavations going on looking for the remains of the temple.

Now it was time to visit the Temple of Karnak, not only Egypt's largest temple but the largest ancient religious site in the world. This temple is very, very impressive so Shane and I were not happy that we really didn't have much time to walk around. After a 30 minute guided tour with Sherif, we only had 30 minutes of free time which is definitely not enough. You need a good two hours to really appreciate this magnificent temple! Unlike other temples in Egypt, this one wasn't dedicated to just one god or built to memorialize just one pharaoh. The construction of the Temple of Karnak started during the Middle Kingdom and then, each pharaoh until the Ptolemaic period added to it. The most impressive portion of the temple is the Great Hypostyle Hall which consists of 134 gigantic columns, 12 columns have a height of 68.8ft (21 meters) while the rest measure 32.8 ft (10 meters). Seti I started the construction of the Great Hypostyle Hall and it was completed by his son Ramesses II. Portions of the roof still contain traces of color and one can only imagine how the Temple of Karnak must have looked with each column brightly colored in red, blue, white, green, and yellow pigments. Another interesting site at the temple are the two remaining obelisk, one being the pink granite obelisk pertaining to Queen Hatshepsut. This obelisk is currently the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth and it is also one of the best preserved. When Queen Hatshepsut died, her son Thutmose III ordered that her obelisk be covered in stone hence preserving the structure. (There was a lot of drama between Hatshepsut and her son. When Hatshepsut's husband, Thutmose II, passed away she assumed the throne and left her son to be co-regent for a little over two decades. Until recently, when her mummy was identified, it had long been rumored and believed that Thutmose III had murdered his mother. Thutmose III and his son Amenhotep II went to great length to remove evidence of Hatshepsut from the temples of Egypt.)

Funny aside: At the Temple of Karnak, there is a giant stone scarab and you are suppose to walk around it 7 times making a wish at the end of each lap. So yes, my tour mates and I had fun walking laps around the giant beetle making wishes. I'm still waiting for those wishes to come true!!!

Once we wrapped up our site seeing in Luxor, we visited a local restaurant for lunch. Elisa, Sarah, and I opted not to eat so we sat together in a separate table. My stomach was still acting funny so I really didn't wish to spend money on a full meal when all I was going to be able to eat was the pita bread. Either way, a basket of pita bread was brought to our table so I stuffed myself with that for free!

After lunch, we returned to the cruise where we had the option of either staying and relaxing or doing the West Village tour. Once again, I wasn't going to miss out on anything so I went on the tour. Those doing the West Village tour boarded this motor boat to cross the Nile which can be best described as a journey getting high on boat exhaust. By this point, I had ridden on several boats but this was by far the worst. I did have the opportunity to get some great pictures of the Temple of Luxor in the distance and pictures of sailboats on the Nile. Once we finished crossing, it was off to our next mode of transportation: camel, donkey, or donkey cart. Shane, Angele, and I picked the donkey cart and that turned out to be the adventure of a life time!!! I was sitting in the front, Shane in the middle, and Angele in the back. Our donkey cart driver handed over the reins and told me to "drive the donkey". It wasn't too bad until our guide decided to hop off and go to the store leaving me in charge of the donkey cart!!! At this point my donkey decided to be a total ass (pun intended) and started trotting all over the place. I tried turning the donkey so it will go straight but instead it made it sharp right cutting off a motorcycle and almost knocking over the driver. Again, I tried turning the donkey but now it was headed towards a ditch that led to a canal. At this point, Shane and I were both trying to get the donkey to stop but it was just having too much fun. Finally, the guide returned and offered us some of the chocolates he had purchased at the store. By this point, I had enough of donkey driving so I switched with Shane and let him drive. All the while, Angele was in the back just grateful she survived!!!

Now that our donkey was under control, Shane, Angele, and I were able to sit back and enjoy the scenery. We were now passing through this village where we got to see first hand how people in Egypt lived. The roads were not paved and houses were very rundown. Quite a few were not painted and some were missing windows and doors. Others, on the other hand, were very nice with fresh paint and some landscaping. There were a lot of children playing in the streets and when they saw us they would wave and smile. Our donkey ride ended at the house of one of the locals. This guy was a lawyer but had to work two jobs to make ends meet and his house was rather run down. He spoke to us for a few minutes regarding life in Luxor and about family life in Egypt; then we had the opportunity to walk around the house. The house had a stone oven where bread was made every morning, a small kitchen, two bedrooms, and a backyard with some chickens. I took pictures of the kitchen and of the oven but for privacy reasons, I did not take pictures of the bedrooms. Walking through that house really gave you a sense of appreciation of everything we own and everything we take for granted. While Egyptians seem to be happy and content, poverty is very prevalent throughout the country especially in the rural villages. Afterwards, we walked through the village on our way back to the boat. Again, we got an up close look at the homes and how people live. And at times, someone will step in a giant pile of poop (camel, donkey, goat, sheep, dog, etc) since the roads were not paved and animals walked all over the place. We did see a lot of sheep, dogs, donkeys, and camels on this trip! When we boarded the boat, I took the opportunity to take some last pictures of the Nile and Luxor and to reflect on everything I had experienced the last couple of days. I couldn't believe it was already Thursday, almost the end of my trip!

When we finished crossing the Nile, we boarded our cruise for the final time to grab our luggages since tonight we will be heading to Cairo on the overnight train. On the way to the train station, we stopped at a local grocery store were we had the opportunity to buy food and snacks since once again we were warned not to eat the dinner on the train. I purchased a coke, almonds (brand name was Camel), and M&Ms, all very nutritious. After our shopping, we headed to the train station and then unto the train. Lisa and I were assigned Car 5, cabin 17/18. The only difference I noticed was this time around the fleece blankets were blue instead of red (yes, I tend to remember small details like that!). Lisa went to bed at around 8:30pm and by 9:30pm I was also in bed. There will be no club car party for me because I was beyond exhausted and just wanted to sleep! I think all those sleepless nights were finally catching up to me because throughout the day, I kept nodding off while on the bus and boat. Then at around 10pm, Angele knocked on my door wondering why I was not in the club car. I decided to go to the club car for a few to see what was happening but after 10 minutes, I went back to bed. I was sound a sleep for a while until the train braked and I fell off the bed. Thank God I was in the bottom bunk and after that experience, I slept closer to the wall because apparently, I was sleeping way to close to the edge. My 6th night in Egypt had come to an end.