Temple of Hatshepsut

So after checking the tour guide prices of $250EP each, we decided to go it alone for the first day in Luxor.

  We took the ferry across the Nile for $5EP and then on the other side got a cabby for the day for $150.EP, he took us to 4 sites and then back to our boat but as usual with all these guys it never ends up what they agreed on so I think it ended up being $200EP, whatever!

Our first sight was The Valley Of The Kings, you are not allowed to take any pictures here which is understandable.  This is a huge area on the West Bank of the Nile where the burial grounds are dating back to 1037 BC.  I think there are 62 tombs here in total, we picked out 3 to visit, plus we paid $100EP each extra to go into Tutankhamans tomb,  what I found most fascinating is the length and depths that they took to hide these tombs underground, it varies but you seem to go down really deep, around corners, then down again and bingo there is the tomb, some are 656' deep.  Tutankhaman of course was mummified and so has a glass top on him, very creepy, I would hate the lights to go out while your down there, and its hot, really hot like hot yoga hot.

The Curse of Tutankhamun: 

Howard Carter dug for five seasons in vain, before discovering Tutankhamuns tomb on 4th November, 1922.  He and his financial backer Lord Cararvan entered the tomb secretly on the night before the official opening, and  apparently stole several items from the more than 1700 precious objects buried inside.  Lord Cararvan died the following year from an infected mosquito bike, and this was the beginning of the myth of the Curse of Tutankhamun, as several deaths followed of people connected with his excavation.

You can see several of these treasures in the Luxor museum and they are amazing, such good artists, gold, wow.

Next stop, Hatshepsut, if you cant remember how to say this just ask for "hot chicken soup" it works.

The location of the temple and the ramps that connect the terraces make this one of the most striking monuments in Egypt.  The mortuary temple at the foot of the 300-m (984') high rock face was built by Queen Hatshepsuts chief of works, Senmut.(see the top picture for the overall view of this)

More  than 500 graves of officials, high priests and nobles have so far been discovered.