Thursday January 22 - Thebes

January 22 – Thebes
Another great day in Egypt!
Here was the itinerary….
5 am wake up call

5:30am pick up for the balloon ride over Luxor and the Valley of the Kings (optional)

7:00am – 12noon off to the Valley of the Kings and the Funerary Temple of Ramesses II

12-1 lunch at a roof-top restaurant near the Valley of the Kings

1-2 Tombs of the Nobles

2-4:30 Hatshepsuts Temple

5-6 Carriage ride around the city of Luxor

7:30 Dinner

Evening free to go to the market – or just rest
As you can see we are running all day!

Some of the notable events…

Sarah was REALLY excited to see Hatshepsut’s temple which was the subject of her Senior Thesis – we all enjoyed learning about how a woman was one of Egypt’s greatest pharaoh’s.

17 people went on the hot air balloon ride and said it was the highlight of the trip thus far.
We had a great time exploring the tombs of the pharaoh’s and noble’s - most people were struck by the amount of color and artistry present after 3,500 years.

Today was also a great day to see the local Egyptian people and we saw some great scenes for everyday life as well as some very difficult scenes with children working at the age of 5 or 6 – sometimes seeing the children experiencing harsh treatment. More on that this weekend of I have some free time.

Tomorrow is another long day with a 6:30 wake-up call the visiting the Valley of the Queens, Medinet Habu, Deir el Medina, and Karnak Temple…we then board a 9:30 pm flight to Sharm el Sheik – with an ETA at the hotel of 11:45 pm…then we have a day and a half of REST!

More on Saturday,
Bryan