All Over Down Under

02/16/2026

01/26/2026

Egypt is such an incredible destination. I would love to repeat this entire trip. ANYONE WANT TO GO WITH ME ???
With thousands of years of history, at the center of humanity ancient civilizations, there are not enough books and documentaries to prepare you for actually being there. Our group was blessed to have Hesham guide us these past two weeks and share so much more then what I have shared in my (21) FB post.

01/26/2026

After a busy morning we still had two more stops before heading to the airport and a flight from Luxor back to Cairo. First was Temple of Queen Hatshepsut who ruled from 1490 to 1469 B.C. Next was Colossi of Memnon where two giant stone statures of Pharaoh Amenhotep II have stood since 1350 B.C.

01/26/2026

A short distance from Valley of the Kings we stopped in a village to visit the Abo el Komsan Alabaster factory and shop to see local artisans at work and browse their show room.

01/26/2026

More Valley of the Kings....

01/26/2026

4AM wake up call to head to Valley of the Kings! Generations of pharaohs and noblemen are entombed here in cliffside crypts. So far some 62 tombs have been discovered and we were able to enter 3 of them. Long narrow shafts lead deep into the cliffs with side chambers elaborately decorated along the way. At the end is a sarcophagus that the pharaohs embalmed body was encased in. Over centuries of time most tombs had been plundered by grave robbers. The tomb of Tutankhamun managed to escape discovery until 1922, when it was found virtually intact, with its contents now on display in the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

01/26/2026

After the tour of Karnak we were able to check into our Luxor hotel before setting off again to Dendera to visit a temple dedicated to goddess Hathor, goddess of love & joy. Construction began during the reign of Nectanebo I and continued into Roman times. This is where the famous 'zodiac', that now resides at the Louvre in Paris came from. Note many of the earlier archeaologist came from France and England and took precious Egyptian artifacts home with them.

01/26/2026

This morning we disembarked from the Royal Lotus at Luxor. With our bags stored in the bus hold we set off to visit Karnak Temple. For over 2000 years pharaohs added their own touchs to what has become an impressive open-air museum.

01/25/2026

After passing through the lock we reached Luxor where the boat docked for the night. A late afternoon tour took us to see Temple Luxor.

01/25/2026

After the early morning tour at Edfu we had the afternoon free to relax as our boat continued north to Luxor, transiting a lock at Esna.