Egypt: Day 3 - A Little of History (and Luxury) in Luxor

After breakfast, JC and I rented a car (with a driver) to head over to Valley of the Kings to see for ourselves the tombs and chambers of pharaohs and royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom. The term ‘New Kingdom’ might be confusing to most of us ordinary folks, as this actually represents a period from some 25 to 30 centuries ago. Real historic stuff, you know, heh! ;) JC had wanted to rent a bike and cycle from the hotel all the way to the Valley and back but I sort of vetoed the idea because our hotel location is at one end of Luxor while the Valley is on the other end, across the Nile. Not my fault, because JC was the one who did the selection and booking for our hotel in Luxor. If we’re going to be Indiana Jones, might as well do it in style, ha ha!

We had flown into Luxor with EgyptAir the night before and checked in into our 3rd hotel in Egypt, Sheraton Luxor Resort, late at night. Unlike in Giza and Cairo, we didn’t get upgraded this time around but we still totally loved our hotel room. The room is more like a suite with 2 queen-size beds in a small villa or bungalow that has 8 rooms, each with its own separate entrance. We had initially booked just a night at the hotel to leave the possibility of either moving to another hotel in Luxor or flying back to Cairo the next night but we loved our room and their breakfast buffet, so we decided to extend our stay at the hotel for another night, right after breakfast.

Valley of the Kings was a bit underwhelming despite it covering a large area and having some 60+ tombs and chambers. The feeling was probably due to the fact that these tombs and chambers are located underground so you don’t really see much above the ground other than some unassuming rocky hills and small entrances to these tombs. Apart from that, not all tombs and chambers are opened to the public.

The tomb of Tutankhamun, which was only discovered early last century and made Valley of the Kings a must visit place in Luxor, is rather small (at least the area that’s accessible to the public) and lack the grandeur one might imagine of his tomb after seeing all his golden treasures at the Egyptian Museum. Add the fact that no photography is allowed inside (cameras and mobile phones have to be left at security check at the entrance gate), public visitors probably might not remember much about their visit to the Valley of the Kings, apart from just having visited the place.

Nevertheless, this UNESCO World Heritage site is still a must visit if you're ever in Luxor.

We left Valley of the Kings to explore the nearby Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut but not before our driver making a quick stop at a souvenir shop, much to our annoyance. We however realised that the driver was just trying to make a living; and that at least he didn't pretend that the shop is some kind of a museum, like what had happened to us with the Papyrus Museum back in Giza.

So off we went into the shop for a quick look. However, there was nothing quick about the “trip” into the shop as JC ended up asking questions about this and that, particularly about their wood & marble products, ha ha! #facepalm

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut was more my kind of place when compared to Valley of the Kings, as you can see the architecture even from afar. And what’s better is that photography is allowed here. Woot! Woot! You can see the temple's being restored and that there’re still ongoing excavations around the area. I guess when you're talking about places with a very long history like Luxor, there would always be a new discovery from time to time. 

We also stopped by Colossi of Memnon, 2 huge statues of a pharaoh, on the way back to the hotel.

Late in the afternoon, we didn’t have anything much planned so JC and I thought we should just get out of the hotel and explore the nearby area. We however didn’t manage to walk far as we were approached by a young man just outside of the hotel gate asking if we would like to go on a felucca boat ride, watching the sun set on the Nile.

My first instinct was just to say “la, mashkoor” (no, thank you) and continue on walking but JC asked him “how much?” instead. He stated his price and JC counter offered before he quickly agreed on the price.

That turned out to be probably the best bargain of the day. Watching the sunset with just the three of us on the felucca, we couldn’t have ended the day exploring Luxor on a more luxurious note.

Have you been to Luxor, Egypt before? What do you think of it?

If you haven't, is it in your bucket list of places to go?

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Further Information:

Valley of the Kings - by National Geographic

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut Wikipedia

Colossi of Memnon Wikipedia

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Going to Luxor, Egypt? We recommend Sheraton Luxor Resort for your accommodation requirements there. For other www.RambleAndWander.com blog entries on Egypt, click here.