Took a quick flight from Cairo to Luxor and was greeted by my friend and tour guide for this leg of the trip Ahmed a.k.a Prince. Prince treated me with that great Egyptian hospitality throughout my stay….he was my photographer and historian…he’s the best.
Day 1
First day in Luxor it was like night and day in comparison to Cairo. Less people, less traffic and they actually obey traffic laws (lol). First stop was Luxor Temple which is located on the east bank of the Nile River. There were many giant columns and both standing and seated statues of Kings and even a Queen in this temple. There were carvings and drawings that still remain. It’s amazing that this work has lasted this long and today we get something from the store and it’s broke next week (smh).
Next stop included a tour of Karnak temple which is massive. Looking up at the columns within this temple makes you feel tiny for sure and somewhat hard to wrap your mind around how these large stones were raised to such heights without the use of modern tools. The amount of craftsmanship and intensive labor that was needed to build these temples, truly artists at work. As my tour guide noted the works took pride in their work and were compensated. The attention to detail is incredible.
Day 2
Started off shaky…without going into detail I got a little sick, this was a first….despite not feeling the greatest I pressed my way and with a 4am calling time it was off for my sunrise hot air balloon ride. Never been up in an hot air balloon before so what better place than in Egypt seeing the sun rise in the Valley of the Kings. I love a good sun rise and sunset so this was right up my alley and it did not disappoint.
After such an early morning I was back in my hotel room to catch-up on some sleep before heading off to my final stop in Luxor. The Valley of the Kings which included visits to the tombs of Ramsey’s VII & the IV. After visiting the inside of the tombs the thing that stood out to me as I admired the detailed carving and painting was the intentional defacing of the people. I mean it was obvious that intentionally the faces were scraped off and the rest of the painting left intact. Know I had heard people speak of this before but to see it for myself was another thing. People will do anything to try and rewrite history and I’ll just leave it at that. The Egyptians were African though not European and not Arabic….just saying (Melanin)
Along with visiting the Kings I had to make a stop at Queen Hatshepsut’s temple. She is the only Queen who was buried in the valley of the Kings. Queen Hatshepsut is generally regarded as one of the most successful pharaohs. She was badd y’all, meaning good!!!
I enjoyed my time in Luxor and my time in Egypt it was a real life history lesson. Walking amongst history was truly amazing. I’m a descendant of Kings and Queens!!!!!! #truestory