Luxor - The West Bank

After a couple days in Cairo, we flew down to Luxor, site of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes. The area is full of spectacular temples and tombs. The modern city and two large ancient temples are on the east side of the Nile, while all of the tombs and several more temples are on the west bank. In this post we'll cover our day trip to the west bank.

The east side of the Nile river was home to the ancient city of Thebes, while the west side was home to the tombs and temples of the dead. This was not by coincidence, and is quite poetic, as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. The ancient Egyptians thus associated the west with death and the afterlife. To visit the west bank we arranged a tour through our hotel travel agency. We got up bright and early on Saturday and met our guide Adl in the hotel lobby. The travel agency arranged a private tour for just the two of us with an Egyptologist guide and driver for the day. Compared to a similar arrangement in America, this is very affordable. We also could have just rented a taxi for the day, which would have been about 300 Egyptian pounds ($17) but we decided to go with an experienced guide to delve more into the history and specifics of the sites.

Our guide, Adl, is a middle-aged Egyptian man. He's from Luxor and was trained on Egyptian history and Egyptology. Adl had a few fun ticks: first, he rolled his r's... a lot. It sounded like cartoon version of someone yelling underwater. Second, he used the term "my dears" a lot to refer to us. Is it possible that in all his years working no one ever told him that was a weird expression? Finally, Adl has some interesting thoughts. He made it clear he wasn't a fan of how some Egyptians haggle visitors, especially taxi drivers and souvenir sellers. Tourism took a huge hit after both the global economic downturn and the Arab spring, and Luxor's economy is just barely starting to recover. Part of the recovery is due to an increased number of Chinese tour groups. Back in 2002 when Paul lived in Egypt, he didn't see many Chinese tourists at all; now it seems like about half of the tour groups in Luxor are from China. Adl made it clear he wasn't happy with the tour group's habits (touching the walls of tombs, etc) and general lack of spending money or tipping. Some of his comments were a bit much, but he did a great job showing us sites and answering our questions.

The drive was about an hour from our hotel to the first site. There's only one bridge over the Nile near Luxor, and it's 7km south of town. Along the way, we could see people harvesting sugar cane. Adl told us this was the primary crop grown in this part of Egypt, and there were sugar refineries in the region. We arrived at the Colossi of Memnon first. These giant statues were completed in 1350 BCE and were dedicated to Amenhotep III. Despite their Egyptian origin, a Roman-given name persists today. The colossi were named after a Greek hero of the Trojan War, Memnon.

Two of the Colossi of Memnon, there used to be more along a promenade leading to shrines.

Colossus of Memnon

Next we visited the temple dedicated to Ramesses III at Medinet Habu. This temple was built around the mid 1100s BCE. Ramesses III was one of the last great Kings of Egypt. He was considered a mighty warrior and oversaw a period of endless warfare from invading people, always jealous of Egypt's location on the fertile gentile Nile. The constant warfare took its toll, and Egypt began to decline after Ramesses' rule. The period of warfare is reflected in the design of Medinet Habu, which has more fortifications than other temples found in Egypt.

David & Adl entering Medinet Habu.

Gates for days.

Only a few of the statues remain in the complex.

Some good coloration remains on the roof and in some of the more shaded spaces.

Come early in the day for the best lighting.

Colorful columns remain in the main hall.

The hieroglyph carving covers every surface. On the left are cartouches naming Ramesses. 

The columns are impressive, and shaped like lotuses and papyrus reeds.

Central courtyard.

I am Ramesses III! Behold my wonder!

Next we went to the Valley of the Kings. This is the famous site where 63 different tombs were constructed to house the remains of some of Egypt's great kings and their families over the course of 400 years (from around 1500 - 1075 BCE). Historically, photos have not been allowed in the tombs. Now, possibly due to the reduction in tourism since the revolution, you can buy a ticket to take photos without flash (photo tickets will set you back around $17). In retrospect, we probably should have bought a ticket, but Adl thought the price was highway robbery so we just went along with his opinion.

The cost of entry to the valley grants access to three different tombs. There are a variety that you can visit, and it depends on what's open that day or year (there were 11 open when we went). We ended up going to the tombs Adl recommended: Ramesses IV, Ramesses IX and Ramesses III. Adl described to us what we'd see in each tomb and then we took around 10-15 minutes to visit each one at a time. Additional tombs are available to visit for an extra fee. The ticket to visit King Tut's tomb, for example, is very expensive costing around $57/person. Likewise, a tomb in the valley of the queens, which we didn't visit, also has a similar surcharge. These costs are meant to reduce the wear and tear on some of these more fragile or popular tombs.

Since they were sealed for so long (with no damage from sunlight), even though most were robbed at some point, the tombs are all generally brightly colored and full of hieroglyphs. The artifacts that survived the pillaging were taken to museums in Egypt and around the world. These tombs are a highlight of any trip to Egypt and shouldn't be missed. While there were a lot of people there, it wasn't super busy. There were a few large tour groups, but we weren't rushed or crowded. Our guide told us it used to be packed, sometimes with lines up to 30 minutes to get into some of the tombs. There's been a clear decline in tourism, even though it's currently the high season (since it's not too hot yet).

Disneyland style fake trains to take you up to the Valley.

3D map showing the valley and the depth/layout of the tombs.

The view below the model. Some were dug quite deep into the mountainside.

Typical scene sans the throngs of tourists.

No organized tour is complete without them forcing you to go to some shop with locally made goods. In total, we were set to visit three throughout the day. We were only actually interested in one of these, the alabaster and stone work shop called Amon Ra. Here we learned how Egyptians used to create pottery before starting a 20 minute haggle fest with the shopkeeper for one small alabaster pot and a couple basalt scarab beetle trinkets. David was horrible at the haggling process and the entire experience made him uneasy. Paul, on the other hand, seemed to know what he was doing (thanks to living in Cairo before). He insulted the size of the pot, only budged slightly on price each go around and used his limited Arabic and Egyptian knowledge to his advantage. The shopkeeper was playfully flustered and walked away multiple times, occasionally ignoring Paul to focus on the obviously less confident David. Eventually, Adl joined in and thought the entire process was hilarious.

In the end, Paul talked the shopkeeper down on the alabaster pot from 750 EGP to 245 EGP. Paul still thinks he overpaid. David wasn't so lucky and ended up getting two handmade beetles for 800 EGP. The initial combined asking price was 3,000 EGP... so overall we paid 1/3 the asking price...I guess it could have been worse. Honestly the bargaining is half the fun (at least Paul thinks so).

Paul showing us how ancient Egyptians used to drill holes to make the center of masonry jars.

After a bit of shopping, we visited the massively reconstructed Temple of Hatshepsut. Of the around 600 Egyptian kings only approximately 7 were women. This tomb was dedicated to her and was flanked by a series of temples. Constructed in a completely different design, over the millennia rock-slides destroyed most of the complex. This site is somewhat controversial today, as Adl pointed out, because it has been almost completely reconstructed. Only about 5% of the complex is original. The Egyptian government invited the Polish Academy of Sciences to reconstruct the site, and while likely a good reconstruction of what it would have looked like, the practice of complete reconstruction is no longer done in Egypt.

Hatshepsut's got nothing on us!

In hindsight, I'm sure she would agree that building a temple by the cliffs was a bad idea.

Heavily recreated monuments. 

The setting is scenic.

The front had a very unique design for a funerary temple.

For our last site on the west bank, we chose between visiting the Tombs of the Nobles or the Temple of Ramesses II. This temple was the motivation for the Shelley poem Ozymandias, which was very tempting. But, considering how much we enjoyed the tombs, and that Paul had already visited the temple back in 2002, we opted to visit the Tombs of the Nobles instead. This collection of hundreds (or more) of tombs housed the remains of wealthy families, artisans, soldiers, priests, etc. Our ticket allowed for the entry of one tomb and Adl selected the tomb of Ramose, a prime minister. While modest compared to the tombs of the kings, it was interesting to see the clash of artistic styles in this incomplete tomb. Part of the tomb displayed traditional pharaonic iconography. The other half, left incomplete, had iconography from the short reign of Akhenaten (the heretic king). Again, no pictures were allowed, so you'll just have to take our word for it. Also visible in the tomb were unfinished carvings, including a grid made from iron oxide that was laid out on the wall. It was really interesting to see how the process worked, so we recommend visiting this tomb in particular.

Like we mentioned, all tours end up in shops where you're supposed to buy mostly lame stuff. The final stop on our tour was meant to be a paper shop as well as a glass/perfume store. After displaying the least amount of interest possible in the perfume store, we opted out of going to the paper store altogether and instead had Adl and our driver drop us off in Luxor city center at a koshary restaurant they recommended called Bondok. We climbed up to the restaurant's roof and had a late lunch of yummy koshary with tomato sauce and spicy vinegar. Afterward, we went to a small shop, called Habiba, to look for more souvenirs before heading back to the hotel. The shop has a variety of crafts made mostly by local women. We'd recommend a visit for some high quality no-haggling souvenirs.

So, to take an organized tour or not? Overall, it's probably a good idea. Since the revolution, tourism in Luxor has dropped dramatically. People have been hard hit in the hospitality trade here, especially. Taxi drivers are aggressive to the point of extreme annoyance and vendors are pushy as you pass their shops. It's possible to arrange a driver for the day for a pretty low rate, maybe even a few hundred pounds... but they would not provide any information or context for your trip. You'd still have to pay for your entry fees for all the sights, which were covered by our tour. Taking a tour allows you to shut off most of your brain and just take in the sights.

Koshary #2 of the trip. Delicious!

Back at the hotel, we watched sunset by the pool. The weather here is amazing! If you go just a couple kilometers away from the Nile it's dry, rainless, lifeless desert. Luxor gets only about 1 mm of rain per year. Blue skies with low humidity dominates. In the winter it's warm and sunny during the day and at night it cools off and is breezy.

Time for some R&R.

David's basic and he knows it.

Sunset shadows for days.

Sun setting over the Valley of the Kings across the Nile.

Dear older adults, please don't use your ipad to take pictures. It's weird.

Going... 

...and going...

...and gone!

Goodnight Egypt!

For dinner, we ate at the Indian/pan-Asian restaurant in our hotel, Silk Road. It's pretty random and very expensive by Egyptian standards... but not really by American. We wouldn't recommend going out of your way for it, but if you're staying at the Hilton, give it a go if you need a break from Egyptian food.

Overall, the day was really great. It was wonderful to see the world famous monuments and tombs, and easy to see how the world fell in love with ancient Egypt as these relics were being rediscovered by the West in the 19th and 20th centuries. A trip to Egypt isn't complete without a trip to Luxor.

Cairo Day Two - Mosques Across Centuries

We started our second full day in Cairo with a quick breakfast on the hotel roof, then took an Uber to the Gayer-Anderson Museum. This museum hosts a small collection of Middle and Far Eastern items collected by Gayer-Anderson, who was a British major in the Egyptian army in the early 1900s. When he died in 1945, he left his collection to the Egyptian state, which turned it, along with his house (actually two adjoined 17th century houses), into a small museum to showcase the works. It's a nice place to spend 45 minutes or so, with a number of interesting rooms and a great view from the roof.

From here, we went right next door to visit the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, which is the oldest intact Mosque in Cairo, dating from 879 CE. It's also the largest mosque in the city by square footage. Today it's not really used as a mosque and is more of a museum. You can enter, walk around and climb the minaret to get views of the city. The design and layout are similar to the Mosque of Amir Ibn al As, with a large open central courtyard. Since it's not an active mosque, there are people here who are happy to part you from some money to give you special shoes to walk through the grounds and also to make a donation to upkeep.

View of a minaret through wooden screens on the roof of the museum.

One of the courtyards in the Gayer-Anderson museum.

The exterior wall of the mosque of Ibn Tulun, and an adjacent mosque.

Another view from the museum roof.

The interior courtyard of Ibn Tulun. It has a simple but beautiful style.

View of the minaret from the center of Ibn Tulun. It's Samarran in style, very unlike later Cairene mosques.

Sunlight streaming through the roof of the mosque.

David with the minaret. You can walk up to the top.

Paul on the roof.

Looking out over the city from the top of the minaret. It was another hazy day, but the view was still great.

The view toward the citadel, with the 19th century mosque of Muhammad Ali.

And the view to the 14th century mosque of Saltan Hassan and 20th century Al Rifai mosque.

The mosque of Ibn Tulun is really large, as you can see from the two people on the roof.

Panoramic view.

Paul walking up the minaret.

Next, to keep the mosque theme rolling, we took an Uber to the 15th century Mosque and Mausoleum of Qaitbay. It's in the Northern Cemetery, a very poor area of town, and is well off the tourist radar. When we got there the gate was shut, but walking around the area we ran in to a random British guy from Cairo who told us we could just take our shoes off and go in. The building is considered the pinnacle of Islamic architecture in Egypt. It's a small space, but with beautiful wood carving and painting, and a spectacular carved stone dome and minaret. It's a quiet space lit only through small skylights, creating a sense of calm broken only by the gentle noise of pigeons. That is, until the caretaker came back and yelled at us for coming in while the gate was closed. Oops. There were also some ongoing renovations, and we were unable to climb the minaret. This was also the case when Paul visited in 2008. While this mosque is a bit out of the way its worth checking out if you have any interest in Islamic architecture. Also, it's featured on the Egyptian one pound banknote!

Clothes dry quickly on the line in Cairo.

One of the roads leading to the mosque of Qaitbay. A lot of the buildings in the area are on top of medieval tombs. 

Just some goats hanging out in the street.

Looking straight up at the interior ceiling (below the dome) of the mosque of Qaytbay.

The interior is small but dramatic.

Intricate woodwork with ivory inlay.

There is refined detail everywhere, including carved stonework and Arabic script.

Close-up of the ceiling, with intricate painted interlocking wood pieces.

The dome is carved stone, with overlaid geometric and floral patterns.

The dome is probably the finest example of stone carving in Cairo.

The red and black stone work above the entrance.

The minaret is also very elaborate.

At this point we were getting hungry and decided to go somewhere a little more laid back and caught another Uber to the Garden City area, just south of Tahrir Square. This neighborhood has curvy streets, tons of trees and is home to some nice restaurants and the US Embassy. The Embassy is a monumental fortress, looming over the neighborhood. For lunch, we went to a Lebanese restaurant in the neighborhood named Taboula. The food here was really excellent! The table next to us was full of American embassy workers, so it felt a bit odd to be here. But we highly recommend the hummus, kibbeh, and fattoush.

Maybe we ordered a little too much food. But YUM!

With lunch under our belt we took a stroll back towards the center of town via the American University in Cairo Bookstore. To enter, you have to go through a metal detector, show identification and sign-in. The bookstore has a big collection of English-printed materials, including a large collection of material on the history and culture of Egypt, Cairo, Islam, and the Arabic language. We bought a couple small books to take home as gifts.

From here, we decided to take a stroll through Tahrir Square back to look at the Nile in the daytime. The air pollution hangs thick over Cairo. Move over, Mexico City, there's a newly crowned king of bad air quality on our trips! The river here is very wide and inviting. People were strolling along the banks on the corniche. There were several boats out on the river as well.

The facade of AUC, where Paul attended back in 2002. The University has a sprawling new campus out in the suburbs.

Well that's an interesting name for a book.

Hazy view over the Nile.

Since it was still relatively early, we decided to catch an Uber to the Islamic Art Museum, which was still open for another few hours. This museum, which was damaged in a terrorist blast at the nearby police station, reopened a few years back with improved exhibits. Items with a red dot on their explanation were damaged by the blast and repaired. It was very sad to see some centuries old pottery super-glued back together. The museum is well curated and there are numerous fine example of wood carvings, pottery, stone work and tapestries. Islamic art is very focused on geometric figures and calligraphy, since representation of humans is generally frowned upon in the Muslim world.

A device for finding which way Mecca is.

An early astrolabe and other astronomical devices.

The courtyard of the Islamic Museum.

An example of stone carved Arabic script.

After running around all day, we were pretty tired, so we caught another Uber back to the hotel for a nap before venturing out for dinner at Eish and Malh. This cafe features live music, a variety of drinks, desserts and Italian food. Paul had a pizza while David had a fried chicken cutlet with "mozzarella" cheese and some mixed veggies and potatoes. The live music was unexpected and pretty great! The singer was mostly singing soft American pop songs and had a great voice. The food was just ok. David described it as if a capable chef had once read a book about Italian food and then did his best. :) I think it's impossible for them to get some of the ingredients they need. Overall, we'd still recommend it - seems like a nice place to hang out and have coffee and snacks.

We found an Atlanta shirt in a shop window, and Paul was wearing his Atlanta shirt. It was very "excelient."

So ends the first leg of our Egypt trip in downtown Cairo. From here we fly down to Luxor for a long weekend to visit the ruins of Luxor, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, before returning to Cairo and a trip to the western desert.