6. Hot Air Ballooning & Valley of the Kings - Sept 30th
Today we are up super early to make a 4:55am pickup time by the hot air balloon company. We meet up with Mibo (pronounced Meeboo) and we walk along the boat to pick up more guests on other cruise boats. Once everyone is collected, we pile into a small van and drive out to the ballooning staging area.
This is by far the largest group of balloons taking off that I’ve ever seen. We had gone ballooning in Morocco last year, but the operation this morning seemed to be double the size. Each of the baskets hold 16 people plus the pilot and my estimate is that there were at least 40 balloons and an average number of 4 ground crew per balloon (the balloon companies puts up about three balloons with their teams so they have a team of 12 to be ground crew and manage customers. We arrive before sunset and I experience a noisy (the burners to heat the air are deafening), chaotic mess. In reality, its kind of organized with organizers managing, forming and directing balloon groups, getting waivers signed, and making sure tourists, who are busy taking pictures and videos of the balloons being filled aren’t getting in the way. In addition, ground crew are busy getting balloons into the air, attaching baskets, arranging basket groups in a balanced format and helping them get into their assigned basket.
Each basket is rectangular in shape and is separated into 5 sections. There is a center cockpit for the pilot which extends widthwise across the basket. Each of the corners of the basket are divided off and 4 people fit into the corner sections. As we take off, the ground crew stabilize the basket and makes sure it doesn’t tip as the balloon approaches buoyancy. It doesn’t take long before we’re up and away.
Our balloon being filled. I’m always surprised how much noise the burners make.
In the foreground, Judith is busy grilling a young boy trying to make dollar, as to why he isn’t in school. He says he will be going later.
We manage to climb ungracefully into the basket. Our section mates are from England on a week long jaunt. Their flight is only 5.5 hours long so these types of short excursions are very common.
We are airborne. The little boy is left standing there pondering his interaction with Judith.
There are lots of balloons in the air.
When we lifted off, I see there was another balloon lying right underneath the one carrying us up and away. In fact all the of the balloons had another one lying directly underneath. I saw ground crew working hard to get that second balloon in the air; a truck with another basket drove up and that was quickly unloaded and hooked onto the balloon. Other crew were working to get ballons inflated and riders were being organized to climb into their baskets when instructed.
In less than 10 minutes from this shot, all of the balloons on the ground had lifted.
We managed to see the sunrise.
On one of our passes we notice two ginormous statues. I learn later that they are the Colossi of Mennon, built 3400 years ago. The statues are of Amenhotep III and show the pharoah sitting, with his hands on his knees, gazing at the sun.
I see other buildings and later discover they are part of the Valley of Kings which we will see this afternoon. We drifted around for about an hour. The pilot announced we reached a maximum height of 3,000 ft., but there were other balloons higher than us.
Balloons everywhere.
When we land, the pilot begins to aim towards some barren fields. There is a ground crew of 8 or so following us and the pilot throws out a line for them to help guide our balloon into the correct spot. We assume the “crash” position for landing which we received instruction before take off.
The ballooning companies get us back into the shuttle buses and we are brought back to a central drop off place in Luxor. It’s on a stretch of street closer to town so its a crazy mess of white Toyota Hyack shuttle buses, large tour buses, passenger cars all loading and reloading for about 500 people and about 100 more drivers and guides. It’s a wonder that our guide Osama can find us in that crowd and that we can then find our driver and vehicle.
We dive into the boxed breakfast that we were given this morning from the Soleil cruise ship and pick a couple of things to eat. The majority of the food is donated to our driver.
We drive over to the Valley of the Kings and begin exploring. It’s been warm here about 38 degrees and the humidity makes it feel a bit warmer. When I step out of the car, it feels like the glass blowing shop at Toronto’s Harbourfront from years ago.
The Valley of the Kings is a valley near Luxor, where for nearly 500 years, rock cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and important nobles from around 1539 BC to 1075BC. The Valley is known to contain 65 tombs with chambers ranging from a simple pit to over 120 chambers for sons in the tomb of Ramses II. Most of the tombs were robbed in antiquity, not long after they were inhabited.
Our entry ticket allowed us to see only 3 tombs. The first one belonged to the children of Ramses II, one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs who reigned for 66 years from 1279 to 1213 BCE. He had a lot of children (at least 100), so this is the largest tomb discovered. It is a family mausoleum. Ramses II was known for his military conquests and monumental architecture.
Although the tomb was known for many years having been robbed in antiquity, the first western exploration was in 1825 and chambers 1-6 were uncovered. In 1995 there was an extensive exploration project known as the Theban Mapping Project and the remainder of the tomb was uncovered.
Over the centuries, this tomb as suffered the fate of other low lying tombs. Thunderstorms cause flash floods in the valley which resulted in the tombs to be filled with rubble and mud washed down from the surrounding hills. While some of the children have been identified (maybe 3?), most could not be identified because the bones and coffins were completely mixed up from flooding and grave robbing activities.
The tomb has a long passageway covered with with hieroglyphics and scenes of daily life.
As you go further down into the tomb, the colours painted in the tomb become more vibrant.
Note the colours on the ceilings. This paint has been here over 3,200 years.
There are many chamber rooms off the main hallway, but were not open for viewing.
Typical wall scenes inside the burial chamber.
We left this tomb and went to Tomb KV6, Ramses IX.
This tomb was significant because it contrasted with the previous tomb. The archeological evidence and the poorer quality of the decorations suggest that the king died unexpectedly, long before projected, so the tomb was rushed.
The wall decorations are sparse.
We travel down a steeper section to get to the burial chamber.
Scene inside the burial chamber. The wall decorations were very sparse.
The next tomb was Tutankhamen 1332-1323 BCE. This was the only near intact tomb found in the Valley of Kings and was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Once found it took another 10 years for this tomb to be explored. It requires a separate entry ticket to get in. I think the idea was to limit the number of people going in to reduce the effects of hoards of people shuffling in and out, but since there were hoards of people shuffling in and out, it’s more likely a case that people will pay extra for this tomb.
The tomb is located underneath another tomb (KV9) resulting in a steep path to traverse. It is smaller and less decorated, likely because of his premature death at 19. Despite robbers entering the tomb twice soon after he was buried, most of his goods remained intact.
The tomb’s entrance was low and excavated into the floor of the valley. Subsequent flooding dumped debris over the opening and concealed it.
After the initial stairs there was long incline to negotiate.
Scene inside one of the chambers.
A tour of the ante-chamber walls.
There were several chambers in the tomb. This is the main burial chamber. The roof is vaulted, which is an unusual design.
Many of the ceilings were decordated with painted stars on a dark blue background.
We finished at the Valley of Kings. It’s been another scorcher of a day and we’ve spent a lot of it outdoors or navigating through hot humid tombs. My weather app indicates its102 degrees F.
Our next stop is the Temple of Hatshepsut. When I saw this building in the air via our hot air balloon ride; it looked like a large government office.
The mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut is one of Egypt’s most majestic and historically significant monuments. Pharaoh Hatshepsut was one of the most successful rulers in Egypt. And she was one of very few female pharaohs.
The temple has 3 grand terraces connected by rams. It is set against towering cliffs, and was designed to be a powerful symbol of a queen who ruled as a king.
Inside the temple. Egyptian monarchs have had a long history of constructing monumental structures to honour gods and preserve their legacy. There was lots of imagery on the interior walls to detail these topics as she is depicted as the daughter of a powerful god Amun
The temple has undergone restoration as subsequent pharaohs sought to erase her memory by destroying the temple.
Our next visit was to the Temple of Medinet Hapu, a mortuary temple for Pharaoh Ramses III, one of the more famous Egyptian kings. The temple is considered to be an architectural masterpiece due to its beauty and good state of preservation.
The temple is surrounded by a huge wall of mud bricks with two guard rooms. In the middle of the wall is a great gate surrounded by two towers with terraces.
Judith walking through the outside wall.
This is the first pylon (gate). After this is the first courtyard, then the second pylon nad then the second courtyard.
Then there are 3 halls of columns, chapels and other rooms. Located within the complex are the royal palace, royal stables and administration rooms. It’s a big place and we explore it all. Much water was drank.
One or the two courtyards. The temple decorations show Ramesses III in military scenes, as well as scenes of hunting,
The final visit for the day was to the mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III
These are the remnants of a structure that used to be the largest funerary complex in the Luxor area. The Colossi of Memnon are the two large statures of Amenhotep III and his family guarding the entrance. The statues are 59 ft high.
Because the temple was built close to the Nile, it was subject to annual flooding causing the structure to decay faster than if it didn’t sustain flooding. In addition, earthquakes have caused most of the destruction.
We return to our cruise ship and find some towel art.
A Swan with rose petals. I guess this type of art is standard whether you’re cruising to Alaska or out on the Nile River.
We’re bagged. It’s been a full day and it’s not even 1:00pm. Our boat is sailing today to Edfu.
We have a late lunch at around 2:00pm. That’s late for me, but lunch here is usually around 3:00.
Me lying on my bed watching the Nile roll by.
A river scene.
I initially thought these were fishermen, but it was definitely strange what was going on here.
This is a typical cruise boat.
We both have a siesta nap before we head down for dinner at 8:00 pm. Normally I would work on my blog, but I wasn’t able to keep my eyes open. Maybe it’s the hot weather that’s zapping my energy.
When we came back from dinner around 9:40, this had appeared. It’s very clever.
We were invited to see a belly dancing display in the lounge, but both of us decided to pass on that for more sleep, despite napping most of the afternoon and knowing that the dancers would be dragging up victims from the floor.
Comments
Post a Comment