Thursday we visited the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank. These magnificent temples were built for the pharaoh's by his priests and subjects for his body and worldly wealth and the bodies of his wives and children to be laid in the decorated hidden tombs in the hills. We visited the tombs of Rames 111 & lV and Merenptah. These tombs have suffered great damage from treasure hunters, floods and mass tourism. Cameras weren't allowed in the area so we didn't get any pictures of the tombs.
The Al-Bahari Temple was a man-made monument - Temple of Hatshepsut. Rugged limestone cliffs hang over the temple rising above some 300 m above the desert plain. The temple was vandalized by Tuthmosis lll, removing his step-mother's name in the tomb wherever he could so that it became his tomb. Hard to believe that these beautiful structures were built so long ago and still remain today.
We ended our day with another horse and carriage ride though Luxor with Hamin. He showed us around stopping at some shop for souvenirs getting us a good price. Very nice man, feeling very sorry for all these people as tourism is down by a lot. Hopefully things soon ten around for these people. We had mint tea with Hamin before we left. There is a picture of Hamin doing sheesha.
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