Going from Luxor to Dhakla Oasis

I've had a great time here in Luxor visiting some of the many ancient sites that are scattered all throughout this area. Luxor was the capital of Egypt during the time of the pharoahs, and this was really where it was all happening (okay, not all, of course the Great Pyramids were pretty happening). But this is where the pharaohs lived, and died, and their tombs are all in the same area on the other side of the Nile a few miles away from here. The kings were all entombed in what is now known as the Valley of the Kings, 63 of which have been discovered. The wives of the pharoahs were entombed nearby at the Valley of the Queens. Except for a few exceptions, when a woman ruled as the pharoah because there wasn't an heir, or the heir was too young, in which case she also was entombed in the Valley of the Kings. King Tutankhamen, Ramses (there were a number of Ramses pharoahs), Seti, Nefertiti, etc. all lived here and were mummified and then laid to rest in ornately decorated tombs dug deep into the earth, and then covered over so that (so they thought) they couldn't be found.

One of the tours that I went on took me out to the Valley of the Kings, where you join the rest of the thousands of tourists that visit this area and hike up a barren canyon, and then go down into these tombs that are dug like perfectly square mine shafts, going at a slight downhill angle underground. We went down into three of the tombs, which gives you a good enough idea (not all of them are open to visitation anyway). Cameras are not allowed however, so unfortunately I don't have pictures of those.

Then we also visited Hatshepsut's Temple, which is in the same area on the western side of the Nile (the city of Luxor is on the eastern bank). Hatshepsut was one of the queens who took over as pharoah when her husband died (I forget which pharoah, I think it might have been one of the Ramses). The rightful heir, her step-son was too young. Besides she had ambitions of being in charge because she continued to reign after her step-son was an adult, until she died. Her step-son then took over as pharoah at the age of 30, but was so resentful of her step-mother not handing over power to him earlier that he had all historical traces of her removed. Although apparently not all, because somehow or other they were able to put the pieces of the story together and figure out that this temple was dedicated to her. Cameras were allowed there and I've posted some of those pictures already (see the link below).

Yesterday I took a day off from the temple-viewing and had a restful day walking around town a bit and uploading those photos. Then today I visited the massive and impressive Karnak temple, here on the eastern side of the river just south of the city of Luxor. I took tons of photos of that, but haven't had the chance to post any of them yet.

So tomorrow I'll be going west from here to one of the several oases in the western desert of Egypt, to the Dhakla oasis. I've heard good things about it from everyone who has been there and it sounds pretty interesting reading about it in the guidebook. For one thing, it will be nice to get away from the ever-present tourism in these more well-known spots along the Nile valley, and find a little more in the way of peace and quiet. Apparently there are hot springs near there. Not that you really need them during the day, it's still plenty warm, but at night it's supposed to be fun to sit there soaking in the middle of the desert, looking up at the stars. And it sounds great for hiking and general exploring. But, I promise I'll bring plenty of water and won't get lost! And besides I'll most likely have company as I'm headed that way with a small group of people. I'll be splitting a private car with three other travelers from my hotel: an American named Jeffrey, who happens to be from Portland and is also a dual American-Canadian citizen (!); a woman from Canada and another woman from Spain. I'm looking forward to seeing the desert landscapes on the drive there. It sounds like there isn't much in the way of civilization until you get to the oasis. I'll of course have more to say about that once I get there and see what it's all about...