Safaga, Egypt

The port city of Safaga was the gateway to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. We only passed through it on our way in and out of town so I can’t really say much about the city. It was a 4 hour one way trip to Luxor through the desert. We saw camels along the way but that was about all. We made the journey in a convoy of buses, each with its own armed security guard. There were police escorts and we didn’t stop for potty breaks or food. (There was a bathroom on the bus and the ship gave us a box lunch.) Every so often there was a security checkpoint were there were many armed guards and we would have to get clearance. As we approached Luxor we began to see small villages that looked like they were out of the biblical ages. Men were long robes and drove donkey carts loaded with hay or straw. The houses were made of mud bricks with a pen for the animals attached. There were oxen, horses, goats and donkeys grazing all around. Once we got to Luxor we drove directly to the valley of the Kings. This meant we had to cross the Nile River for the first time. Once across we made our way to the west bank of Luxor to the City of the Dead in desert mountains outside of the city. This was the very hot and dry mountainous area were the ancient Pharohs buried their kings. This burial site includes the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties of Egypt called the New Kingdom, roughly 1500 – 1070 BC. Here in 1922, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. On on way into the valley we passed Howard Carter’s home. When we got off the bus we were immediately aware of the heat. We were also aware that we were among literally thousands of other tourists wanting a chance to visit the Valley of the Kings!! (We had 16 buses in our convoy, but there were additional buses of tour groups of people from all over the world. Lots of Russian, Japanese, French especially.) As we slowly made our way to the Visitor’s Center for a real bathroom and a brief orientation of the site, we began to realize just what we were in for. Through the Visitor’s Center we were herded onto little trams for the short ride to the entrance. There was lots of chaos as the tour guides tried to keep some of the slower people from being trampled upon by the throngs attempting to board the trams from all sides. The Eyptian site attendants did their best but they seemed overwelmed by the volume of people. I should again mention that it was extremely hot. You could feel the sun just burning your skin and there was no breeze. (We later found out it was 104 degrees F) After the short tram ride we were led to the first tomb we would visit which was Ramses II. Our tour guide gave us each a ticket for the tomb and we made our way to the small opening where an attendant had to stamp the ticket before you could enter. Picture hundreds of people all converging on one small opening with one man at the entrance. It was a long, hot process. Once inside you walked in a quasi-line on wooden planks within the tomb to view the amazing hieroglyphics and artwork which looked in some cases like it had been painted yesterday. Did I mention how hot it was?? Several of our more senior but still hardy shipmates were having serious problems with the heat and a couple had to be taken out of the area. It was not a place for anyone with any sort of disability. The tombs were amazing but because of the heat and the crowds of people it was hard to spend a lot of time really absorbing all you were seeing. Overall though I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the experience. Later we traveled back to Luxor to visit the Temple of Luxor and Karnak Temple in the evening for a sound and light show. We had an Egyptian lunch buffet at a modern hotel in downtown Luxor before the light show. Then another 4 hr bus ride back to the ship. Actually the bus looked pretty good by then!