PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DYING TO GO to the West Bank of Luxor for 3500 years. The Valley of the Kings, where the sun seems to set, is where the tombs of Egyptian royalty can be found. And Thebes Hotel is the ideal base to explore ancient sites both near and far. Fahd treated us like family right from the start. He drove me to the ATM to top off our cash supply and even took me for coffee on our last morning.
Fahd, making a go of it despite Covid; Thebes Hotel
I feel just like Aladin
We had been to Luxor before and after checking in decided to walk over to the Colossi of Memnon and the Ramesseum to get our bearings. It’s heartening to see that, like in Pompeii, excavation and restoration of the sites is on-going.
Can you dig it? Archeology continues
Colossi of Memnon
Ramesseum
Fahd arranged for a taxi on Tuesday to take us to the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut, aka Deir al-Bahari, and Medinet Habu. We decided to skip the Valley of the Kings this time—the same tombs were open, photos are not permitted and nothing much had changed since our last visit except the cost.
Shrine to Hathor, Temple of Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut as Osiris, God of the Dead
Temple of Amun, Medinet Habu
But we had enjoyed Deir al-Bahari so much that we wanted to return. It's a little confusing since the mortuary features Hatshepsut as Osiris, god of the dead, Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of fertility and Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead. Gods aside, it’s hard to believe that so large a site could have lain forgotten under tons of sand for more than 3000 years until Howard Carter, Mr. King Tut himself, uncovered it in 1903.
No "Up, up and away" this year
We took a pass on the early morning balloon ride in Luxor, something we’ve been looking forward to for 15 years. But after seeing them lift off behind Thebes Hotel and watching the YouTube video, we realized they don’t pass over any of the temples as we had hoped—and the high-voltage pylons looked problematic. After our fantastic flight in Turkey we would have been terribly disappointed.
