Feelin HOT, HOT, HOT

Day 4

Alright, this Minnesotan is not made for this heat. I cannot even imagine what it was like two months ago. Today we think it was sitting right around 100 degrees. Good lord, that is hot and I do not care what anybody says about it being a dry heat. 100 degrees is 100 degrees- period. We woke up early and visited the Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately, this was one of the locations that prohibits the use of any cameras inside the gates. This is understandable, but disappointing to not be able to share pictures with al of our family and friends and the images will only be kept in our minds. There are 5 tombs that are available to view, and 3 are included in the price of the entrance ticket. To see king tut’s tomb it was 100 egyptian pounds and to see Ramses VI it was 50. Mohammad told us that we could do both if we wanted to, but he has been in both and he said that Tut’s tomb and not as elaborate and big as Ramses VI and if he had to pick one it’d be Ramses- plus all the things that were found in the tombs were on display at the Cairo museum that we are going to in a few days so we’d still be able to see all the goods. We both went into Ramses VI tomb and it was VERY impressive. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the color- the original colors on the hieroglyphics are still on the walls. In the tombs, especially Ramses VI, it was very bright and colorful. You cannot even imagine how much work went into these tombs. From floor to ceiling in very small print there are millions and millions of drawings and painted figures that all tell a story. I am getting good are reading these drawings and today I read one that said, “Man it is hot in the tomb, I wish it had air conditioning”- I know…impressive right? I went into 2 of the 3 free tombs as well and they were wonderful. I opted to not go into the last of the 3 because it was a squat, duck, and climb hot tomb, and when at 9 in the morning it is already in the 90’s and you are claustrophobic, it would not have been the right decision to make. I knew I had made the right decision when I saw Brad face as he walked back to the shaded that I was relaxing in.

After the valley of the kings, we went to Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple (say that fast). It was where queen hatshipsut rules and lived while she was queen. It was built into the mountain side and you may have seen this in pictures at one time. Very impressive to view. There are three levels to this temple, all accessed by steep ramps and hundreds of stairs. While we had been drinking a lot of water and trying to stay in shaded areas when possible- it was not pleasant or shade accessible at the temple. The climb up to the second level, almost leveled me. Brad is lot more used to the heat and is very tolorant, unlike myself. It was a bit too much for me and I was very grateful that this was only a 1 hour stop because I was done at that point.

After the temple we visited an alabaster school.store and had a demonstration on how they make vases and bowls and other alabaster figures and also the different types of alabaster. It was interesting. We walk around the shop a bit, in a hassle free environment which was very nice. We did not make a purchase mainly because we did not want to lug around a heavy object for the next few weeks 

After that we had made on pit stop for pictures of the Colossi of Memnon before we headed back to the ship for lunch and a free afternoon. We truly enjoyed the free afternoon. We took a nap and then went downstairs to the gift shop to purchase our costumes for the Egyptian themed party tomorrow night. We will be having traditional Egyptian food for dinner and afterwards having singing and dancing demonstration in the party and we will all be wearing traditional costumes and dress. We were warned that tonight as we go through the locks in Esna, there will be “pirates” trying to sell us our costumes and other things from the side of the boat while we are waiting to get through the lock. Apparently the row their tiny boats up to our ship and toss the various sale items to us and we toss them back money. A good way to get a cheap costume, but Brad and I did not feel like the hassle so we just bought one at the gift shop. Let me tell you how good we are going to look….amazing. Brad has this really cool turban and robe. I have a robe/dress with sequence and beads all over it in the picture of nefartari on it and this cool beaded head wrap. Should be interesting…

Tonight we have a candlelit dinner which we will be dressing up for. This will not be a buffet style dinner and so we are looking forward to this. We have met so many nice people of this trip, most are from Australia and there is actually quite a bit of Canadians on this tour. Last night we met a couple that were also on their honeymoon that got married a day after us and they are from Pennsylvania. So far it has been amazing adventure, tomorrow will be another action-packed day.