Tombs, Temples, and Statues, Luxor Egypt

We took our first group tour to the Valley of the Kings (where King Tutankhamun was found, and one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world), a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles (and despite the name, the Valley of the Kings also contains the tombs of favorite nobles as well as the wives and children of both nobles and pharaohs, meaning that only about 20 of the tombs actually contain the burials of kings.)

The tombs were much larger and longer than we expected, like the tomb of Hatshepsut (a powerful lady Pheroh), which is over 200 metres from the entrance and (down a spacious twisting tunnel) the burial chamber is 97 metres below the surface. (These 4 pics from internet as we were asked not to bring in our cameras to help conserve the tombs).

Excavations are still happening today...

 

 After the tombs we saw Habu: the Temple of Rameses III... it was quite large.

Everything there was large.

 Along with well-preserved carvings/pictographs of people serving the gods, or playing paddy cake!

 Also stone statues, and the image of slaves sacrificing one hand to the King/god. Why one hand? They say it was because you can still work, but you can't easily fight.

Our final stop was to see the Colossi of Memnon.

Wren and I are typically not into group tours, but this one was quite affordable, very easy, and totally awesome!

Karnak in Luxor, Egypt

Today we visited the Karnak Temple Complex, which was the main place of worship in the 18th Dynasty. But before we even got into Karnak, we were mobbed by kids asking where we are from, what our names are, and asking, "photo?". Wren performed rope tricks while I posed for pictures with them.

The entrance was lined with these great animal sculptures.

Inside Karnak were statues and carvings.

 

Strange figures.

Hieroglyphs/pictographs.

 

Huge, tall columns.

Giant structures and statues... these on the right are just the legs!

Broken stuff that used to be huge and tall

Us trying to capture the right moments.

And generally having a good ol' time.

There were always a gaggle of dudes there trying to show us around, or tell us things about the place for money, which was definately distracting and quite annoying, but in the quiet moments together, we took in the solid peacefulness of all.

Goodbye Dubai, Hello Kuwait and Luxor!

We took a flight, Christmas day, from Dubai that stopped over in Kuwait. While there we changed out AED (Arab Emirate Dirham) for Kuwaiti Dinar. The guy gave us back too much so we returned to give it back and he was so, so grateful. It feels extra good to do the right thing as a foreigner and be a good rep for your country.

They have smoking rooms in their airport!

Getting in line for the plane was crazy... there's 2 lines with no distinguishing signs, and they go into one single line with a screening device that the dude doesn't even look at. Then we're hurried into a bus that waits to be full to drive us to the plane. Walking down the isle is a sea of eyeballs staring at me... very few women on the plane, and no other honkies like us. We find our seats, but there's a dude there and he won't move, so a flight attendant seats us in back of plane. The attendants are overly generous and nice. The give us free headphones, serve us food first, and give us more than seconds and offer us even more!

 Off that flight, we are told to get our visas, and wait 20 minutes for the visa guy to show up. While waiting, we meet a nice guy, Veer, who called himself a Third Culture Kid, because he was born in Kuwait, to Indian parents, and now lives in Canada. After we get our visas, we are escorted out by "tourist police" who help us get a cab. It was 1:30am, and the cabbie still knocked on doors and asked for directions from  people along the way. Here is Wren getting shafted 5 pounds for our ride in this old subaru-style rig.

 But we make it to our sweet hostel, and it's great there. The clerk, Amr, is playful and funny. We like him and the general easy feel of the place.

 Merry Christmas from Luxor, Egypt!

Tis the night before Xmas

 

Twas the night before Christmas

And we're in Dubai

Our hotel bed is jankey

So its on the floor we lie.

We two are obvious tourists

We both have silly hats

Take pictures of things like street signs 

And can't stop admiring the feral cats.

We visit Burj Khalifa

The worlds tallest building, they say

View the Burj Al Arab

And dip our toes along the way.

We've taxied and we've trammed,

And we've bused and we've train-ed

We've traveled countless miles

Without snow or a drop of rain.

Christmas across cultures

There's still holiday here

Jingle bells blends to the music

Of the Mosque's call to prayer.

 Tomorrow shall be Christmas

But all I need is here tonight

Wren and our adventure

Is my Christmas Eve delight.

You say Dubai, I say hello

We are off the Cruise ship and in Dubai!

Notes on Dubai:

It is part of the United Arab Emirates, and in 2012 was said to be the most expensive city in the Middle East (which, ironically, we have a pretty inexpensive hotel, whose bed frame is so bad, we move the mattress to the floor at night).

Or friend Poki was here this year for a 10-week performance stint, which included performing at a party where Paris Hilton was DJ-ing.

It hosts the current "worlds tallest building" record (Burj Khalifa: 2,722ft)...  with past favorites, Sears Tower (1,730ft), World Trade Center (1,776ft), and the Chrysler Building (1,046ft).

Another notable building in Dubai is the Burj Al Arab that is nestled atop the Persian Gulf (which we dipped our toes in).

Another notable for Dubai is their huge malls (one has an indoor ski area with lifts and all!). But our favorite thing to do was watch the candy-makers... they give free samples!

 We also checked out Suq Madinat Jumeriah, where it smells of incense, and many of the shops are jam-packed with trinkets.

Wren and I took busses, trams, and subways, and most have "ladies only" areas which I thought was super awesome. Many times on the subway, Wren would be squished in with the men, and I'd be seated easily and un-cramped with other ladies.

United Arab Emirates dirham.

 Sending postcards from Dubai!

It's almost Christmas!

 3 days of saying hello to Dubai, then on to Egypt!