Luxor and the Valley of the Kings

This morning we disembarked from our yacht Asiya and say goodbye to the captain and his crew.  We were very well taken care of in the 4 days we were cruising the Nile.  It was quite an experience cruising in a beautiful yacht with just a small group of fellow passengers.  Indeed we were able to stop at many small villages.  A bigger ship would have a hard time doing it.  This afternoon another group of OAT travelers will board the yacht and sail in the opposite direction to Aswan.

Instead of starting with the Luxor and Karnak temples, our tour leader decided to start us in the Valley of the Kings.  It is a very large area on the west bank of the Nile River.  It is said to contain 65 tombs and chambers of kings and nobles.  It is a daunting task to visit all the tombs so with our ticket we were told to select 3 tombs plus one that we all go to - King Tutankhamen.  This is the most famous archaeological site and a must-see for everyone visiting Egypt.  It was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, a British archaeologist.  Much of the priceless objects of King Tutankhamen's tomb were moved to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and now to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.  Below are pictures that were taken of King Tutankhamen's tomb plus an explanation of the tomb.

King Tut's mummy

Locations of tombs in the Valley of the Kings:

Here is a better map in the Wikipedia article:  East_Valley_of_the_Kings_Sketch_Map_(Topo).png

We were allowed to visit 3 other tombs.  Each was crowded and it was a hot day.  After a while each tomb looks similar.

Hot and crowded

We followed up our visit to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. the first female monarch, who ruled Egypt for 20 years in the 15th century BC.  She was considered one of Egypt's most successful pharaohs.  

Our last stop for the day is the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III

We finally checked into Luxor's famous Winter Palace, a historical hotel that was the site of the announcement by Howard Carter when he discovered King Tutankhamen's Tomb in 1922.  Winston Churchill and Agatha Christie have also stayed in this hotel.  

Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor

Pool

Beautiful lawn