Good morning!
Starting the blog early today, as we are watching more than 20 hot air balloons launching from the West Bank of the Nile! Our very first balloon ride was here 23 years ago, with Hod Hod Suliman – and we find that he is still in business! (We feel that longevity is a really good thing in a balloon master!). I remember being absolutely terrified of heights at the time (not that I’m better now …) and the British couple we went up with kept asking how high we were. I definitely did NOT want to know! As long as I felt we were below the mountains, I felt fine – but we were flying MUCH higher than that over the Valley of the Kings! I remember saying at the time: We do NOT need to know how high we are! At which point, Hod Hod grabbed my hands and told me most emphatically to: BREATHE! I found it helped. I guess I’d been holding my breath – and when you’ve got an hour’s balloon ride in front of you, that’s definitely not the thing to do! To emphasize the fact, my best friend Jay got me a bracelet that I wear every day, which says: BREATHE! I have found that doing that on a regular basis is really helpful!
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| All views from our room |
There must have been two dozen balloons in the launch this morning – kinda like Albuquerque. But I think the folks in the balloons may feel a bit disappointed because the winds did not take them west to the Valley of the Kings; they stayed, instead, very close to the Nile. Oh well!
Even though we didn’t get to sleep until after midnight, we were up around 7 am this morning. (Except, of course, for those couple of times that cramps in my feet woke me up … I’m discovering that I really have issues when I don’t drink enough water, and as yesterday was such a car-centric day, I didn’t want to keep making stops on our way to Luxor.). Today is definitely going to be an easier day than yesterday, although I think we’re going to make some arrangements with a travel agency for a car and driver to get us over to the West Bank. We have an “official” tour scheduled next Monday (our last day in Luxor) to tour Dendara and Abydos, but there’s quite a few touring days between now and then!
So – up, washed and dressed (or almost, anyway!) and down to breakfast! More later!
m
xxx
Interesting breakfast! Beef bacon. Actually wasn’t bad, but of course them I’m the one who thinks pork comes from a cow, so what do I know?! Our room attendant came about 9 am, at which point we decided that we were basically ready to go out, so out we went.
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| My breakfast |
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| R's breakfast ... although once he tasted the bacon, he did go back for some! |
We got a taxi right in front of the hotel, with a very nice driver, named Abdul to take us to the Luxor Museum. Abdul asked if he should wait for us at the museum; that’s standard practice here, I guess, so that they can have the fare on the way back. In this case, though, Abdul was very kind and not pushy in any way – such a relief! We agreed that he should wait for us.
Turns out that tomorrow is a National Holiday of sorts here in Egypt – I’m always running into them wherever we go … Revolution Day is a national holiday in Egypt that is observed on January 25th. It marks the start of the revolution in 2011 that led to the resignation of General Mubarak. The public holiday is a paid vacation for all civil servants in ministries and governmental institutions as well as the companies affiliated to the public, business and private sectors. However, for some reason, I’m also reading that it may be celebrated on Thursday, the 26th… whatever! But, apparently Mrs. Sisi, the wife of the current President of Egypt, is coming into Luxor tonight – so quite literally, there are police everywhere, and people cleaning up all sorts of places! There are some lovely old-fashioned black lampposts along the walkway next to the Nile. There were people with spray paint cans touching them up! Reminds me of the time we were in Manhattan at the same time as the Pope and Presidents Obama and Putin. Talk about a traffic snarl…
We’ve now reached the Museum. From our last visit, 23 years ago, I remembered that the Museum was exceptional – well, it was, it is, and it has only gotten better by an expansion completed in 2004. Truly a first-class, world-class institution. (As the old Michelin Guides would say, “Merit un detour”.). I know that there have been days when Robert has taken a lot of photos … well, today may top them all! The collection is beautifully curated, incredibly presented and really professionally lit. Truly, a pleasure to walk around! So … here we go!
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| In front of museum |
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| Ahmentoep III |
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| Ahmenhotep III |
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| God Amun with King Tut features 1347-1336 BC |
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| Pharoah Sesostris III 1878-1840 BC |
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| Sphinx with King Tut features 1347-1336 BC |
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| Crocodile God Sobek and Amenhotep III 1403-1365 BC |
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| Pharoah Thutmosis III 1490-1436 BC |
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| God Amun & Goddess Mut on throne of Seti I 1224 |
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| Stele of Thutmosis III |
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| Amazingly huge fly necklace in gold |
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| Read caption below |
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| Nebro, Ramses II General with his symbol of office |
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| Read info below. Nice to see things coming together! |
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| King Mentuhotep III 2010-1998 BC |
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| Stele of Queen Hatshepsut and her husband, Thutmosis II 1480 BC |
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| Pharoah Akhaton (the Heretic) |
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| Goddess Hathor 1405-1367 BC |
I think I was right – 134 photos, but then he has been (at my request) also taking photos of some of the captions, to help me actually remember what we saw. Thinking I will post now (I was up until midnight last night) and we’ll see how dinner goes!
Oh! Abdul was patiently waiting for us when we exited the museum. And, he was so pleasant that we've hired him to take us to the West Bank tomorrow while we explore the wonderful Temple of Hatshepsut, the Ramesseum -- the Temple of Ramses II -- and the Colossi of Memnon! Very much looking forward to it!
Lots of love,
m
xxx
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