Along the way we moved through the locks at Esna. We first navigated through the old, not functioning locks, which looked like something out of the late 1800s. We then moved along with three other ships through the real locks. We estimate the water level dropped about 20 feet during the transition.
We arrived in Luxor around 5 pm and being dedicated bloggers went in search of an internet cafe. We found the cafe, and after making a few postings, Craig and Jim went to the Cleopatra Cafe to catch some World Cup action.to be confused with Stella A The photo below shows the fly doing the backstroke in Craig's glass of Stella, which we decided was the go to Egyptian beer. Stella is an old Egyptian beer which is now a subsidiary of Heineken.
Craig and I got split up from Nancy and Jacob so we went on our own horse cart ride to the market. It turned out to be quite an adventure. Our driver's name was Mohammed.
Traffic lights are interesting in that they have countdown clocks which help drivers time their approach to intersections. I suppose if you are driving a horse cart this could be important information.
As we moved toward the market, the neighborhoods lost any semblance of "tourist" and became more or less purely local. Here's a local shop with a great deal of merchandise out on the dusty street. Unfortunately it was getting dark so we don't have photos from the best part of the tour.
We were directed to a papyrus shop (there are only about 10,000 of these in Egypt) and made a few small purchases. In the background you can see the huge stacks of various pictures produced on papyrus. They had everything except an Elvis on black velvet.
The next morning we got an early start and headed straight to the Valley of the Kings. No cameras allowed. From there it was on to the Hatchepsut Temple, shown below.
Our guide told us this temple was a "fig"....a fake, restored by a Polish group from bits and pieces. We thought it was pretty impressive for a fake. Our guide said it was OK for us to call it "Hot Chicken Soup" since most of us had a hard time with the name. Jacob was appalled by this, which just encouraged us to say it all the more.
Traffic lights are interesting in that they have countdown clocks which help drivers time their approach to intersections. I suppose if you are driving a horse cart this could be important information.
As we moved toward the market, the neighborhoods lost any semblance of "tourist" and became more or less purely local. Here's a local shop with a great deal of merchandise out on the dusty street. Unfortunately it was getting dark so we don't have photos from the best part of the tour.
We were directed to a papyrus shop (there are only about 10,000 of these in Egypt) and made a few small purchases. In the background you can see the huge stacks of various pictures produced on papyrus. They had everything except an Elvis on black velvet.
The next morning we got an early start and headed straight to the Valley of the Kings. No cameras allowed. From there it was on to the Hatchepsut Temple, shown below.
Our guide told us this temple was a "fig"....a fake, restored by a Polish group from bits and pieces. We thought it was pretty impressive for a fake. Our guide said it was OK for us to call it "Hot Chicken Soup" since most of us had a hard time with the name. Jacob was appalled by this, which just encouraged us to say it all the more.
These guys are in the temple ruins next to the Hatchepsut Temple. This is another huge temple that will be rebuilt in the near future. Craig likes this picture because the guy with the shovel is digging in the sand and can obviously enjoy a lot of work for a long time.
On this day we got a little tired of being approached by the "staff" member clad in their gallabiyahs whose sole function was to hustle tips for performing generally worthless "favors". We took to avoiding them at all costs. Here Jim is getting ready to play hide and seek with one around the columns.
We haven't wilted yet, but we are starting to smolder coming down the long ramps of the temple.
From there it was on to the stone carving factory. This one came complete with the live demonstration outside the front door. They were completely coordinated and would perform the specific steps of stonework as the big boss told his story. Jacob was called into action to turn the crank of the tool that carved out the inside of vases.
Next came the Valley of the Workers. We visited two tombs there and were fascinated by the juxtaposition of the tombs directly above the ruins of the village.
On to the Colossi of Memnon, that would be two Colossuses. They really looked like something created for a Disney attraction, so huge and looking like they would collapse at any minute.
This side of a Collosses still had some colors to show off after the thousands of year. Of course there was a guy directing you over to that side to make sure you didn't miss it (and didn't miss the chance to give him a tip).
On our way back from the west bank of the Nile to the east, we saw this huge banner of President Mubarak, complete with his dark shades. We decided he was trying to look like a mobster or perhaps a tough guy movie star, like Sylvester Stallone.
On this day we got a little tired of being approached by the "staff" member clad in their gallabiyahs whose sole function was to hustle tips for performing generally worthless "favors". We took to avoiding them at all costs. Here Jim is getting ready to play hide and seek with one around the columns.
We haven't wilted yet, but we are starting to smolder coming down the long ramps of the temple.
From there it was on to the stone carving factory. This one came complete with the live demonstration outside the front door. They were completely coordinated and would perform the specific steps of stonework as the big boss told his story. Jacob was called into action to turn the crank of the tool that carved out the inside of vases.
Next came the Valley of the Workers. We visited two tombs there and were fascinated by the juxtaposition of the tombs directly above the ruins of the village.
On to the Colossi of Memnon, that would be two Colossuses. They really looked like something created for a Disney attraction, so huge and looking like they would collapse at any minute.
This side of a Collosses still had some colors to show off after the thousands of year. Of course there was a guy directing you over to that side to make sure you didn't miss it (and didn't miss the chance to give him a tip).
On our way back from the west bank of the Nile to the east, we saw this huge banner of President Mubarak, complete with his dark shades. We decided he was trying to look like a mobster or perhaps a tough guy movie star, like Sylvester Stallone.
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