You can go your own way (Luxor) - 15 April 2009

One of the optional activities on the trip is a hot-air balloon ride, which is hyped as the definitive experience of the trip. It's supposed to happen this morning, but it's expensive and Jen and I are both tired, so we elect to sleep in and skip it. Instead of getting up at some insane hour, like 4 am, we'll rest and meet up with the group for a donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings.

Karma is kinder to us than our companions, though. When we show up for the donkey ride it turns out that it was too windy, so they didn't get to go.

If you're a long-time reader of the blog you may be asking, "Why on earth would he even try to ride a donkey? He hates animal rides." And you'd be right, I do hate animal rides, and this one ended up being a doozy.

It started off well enough. I got on the beast without issue and, like the guides told us, he seemed to know the way to go. The constantly jostling was unpleasant, but endurable. Then, for no apparent reason the donkey decided he wanted to veer left, out into the road. He persisted in doing this for what felt like 3 hours, although it was probably only 45 minutes. I'm not ashamed to say that I took to handling the reins in a way that can only be described as animal cruelty - and even that wasn't enough. At one point one of the guides rode up to marshal my donkey back over to the right side of the road and asked me why I kept veering to the left. I was not happy.

Here we are after the ride, with our donkeys:

Figure 1: Real Smile

Figure 2: Fake Smile

After the ride people were petting their donkeys and asking the guides what the donkeys' names were. Someone asked me what mine was named and I said "I don't know but I call him ..." Well, since my Dad gave the URL of this blog to his Sunday School class this morning maybe I won't repeat what I called the donkey.

The Valley of the Kings is spectacular and even has my favorite feature - a model of the site in an air conditioned visitor's center:

With your ticket you are permitted to enter up to three tombs, excluding Tutankhamun's tomb. Tutankhamun's tomb costs an extra 100 Egyptian Pounds, or about $20 US, so we skipped it. As with so many attractions in Egypt you're not permitted to take pictures inside the tombs unless you bribe the guards. In this case, though, you'll also have to bribe the folks that check your camera when you leave. It seems they're actually serious about it here.

We visited the tombs of Thutmose III, Thutmose IV, and Ramesses IV. I guess we were just Thutmose'd out by the time we got to the last one. Our guide recommended Thutmose III, because the decoration is very simple, consisting of what I described in the journal as "stick figures."

We chose the tomb of Thutmose IV because it was off the beaten track and we figured it wouldn't be crowded. Not only was it not crowded, but we were the only people in it. Except for the "guard" who proceeded to tell us about the tomb and then demand a tip. *Sigh*

Ramesses IV's tomb was spectacular - intricately decorated with its vibrant colors still intact. There's one picture available on wikipedia.

After the Valley of the Kings we went on to Hatshepsut's Tomb. Hatshepsut is fascinating - a woman who became pharaoh of Egypt and ruled for almost 22 years. Here's the exterior of her tomb:

After the temple we were taken to an Alabaster shop. Since we're not trying to acquire more stuff to carry around, Jen and I stayed in the "car":

For our free/lunch time, we visited the Luxor McDonald's. Free Wi-Fi and blessed, blessed air conditioning. They had the A/C cranked so high that we were actually freezing after awhile. You can get the standard Quarter Pounder, but I figured why not live it up a little:

It was surprisingly good.

The day ended with the return train trip to Cairo. This time Jen didn't even touch the food.