Another highlight of Egypt was the daytrip to Luxor. I've been to Cairo, but never to Luxor and Rob wasn't really interested in braving the crowds and dirt of Cairo -- so we headed to Luxor. We left our kids back at the hotel and spent a LONG but fascinating day in this ancient Egyptian capital. It was incredible. I learned so much and was absolutely mesmerized by the grandeur and sophistication of the pharoahs of ancient Egypt.
Rob and I overlooking the Nile.
The modern and the ancient. This bridge carried lots of modern toursit buses, but horse-drawn carts are also still in use.
The Colossi of Memnon. These two whole pieces of stone (at least they used to be one piece until they were destroyed by an earthquake) were dragged hundreds of kilometers to finally rest here. They still don't know exactly how the Egyptians did it.
My husband. Isn't he sexy?
One of the many temples built into the stone mountain above.
Workers at the "Alabaster Institute". Basically, this was a stop on the tour to try to get you to buy alabaster. Fortunately, they weren't as pushy as I thought they would be. It was fun to watch the artisans work. We ended up buying little cats of green glow-in-the-dark alabaster as night lights for the kids.
An example of some of the beautiful images carved into the walls of the temples we saw. The Valley of the Kings was even more impressive than this, but we were not allowed to photograph it. The Valley is full of tombs of most of the ancient kings -- it's where King Tut's tomb was found. The pictoral stories on the walls of the tombs is beautiful and incredibly well-preserved. In the Valley, the authorities didn't allow street sellers. However, a few somehow slipped past them. As we were leaving, suddenly we saw a street seller in front of us sprint past an Egyptian policeman (to avoid being caught). The policeman had his AK47 but didn't shoot. Instead he half-heartedly ran after the guy, then gave up quickly and radioed a policeman further down. The streetseller managed to run past him too and out the door before he was caught, fined or jailed. It was hilarious to watch the chase. Especially because the streetseller had a smirk on his face as he slipped past.
I had to take a picture of this because it is a picture of Queen Hatshepsut's mother pregnant. I identify.
Gigantic female images at the Temple of Hatshepsut. Wow, she was quite the powerful queen -- but not loved by her son, who tried to destroy this temple after she died. I hope my children don't try to destroy my creations after I die!
In front of the Temple of Hatshepsut.
So lots of people offered to take photos with us, but really wanted money for it. This policeman offered to take a photo with us and we thought he wouldn't expect anything because he is a policeman. But, we were wrong, he wanted money too!
Back across the Nile for lunch. It was nice to be in the shade. I can't imagine this place in the summer!
A view across the Nile.
Luxor Temple. It doesn't look so grand here -- but once you enter you get lost in the gigantic columns. This was my favorite temple by far. The sheer grandeur of the place is overwhelming.
Just a few of the columns.
See the people in the background. This gives a sense of the size.
Rob decided to take a snooze on one of the columns, after a long day of touring. He can ride a bike forever, but he tires out when it comes to sightseeing.
The giant row of lions outside the temple.
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