Today if Friday, 31 March. We are in Luxor, on the Nile south of Cairo. We joined our cruise ship yesterday, and this is the first time that we have had access to an internet cafe. Thus the delay in messages is explained.
The pyramids at Giza were incredible, as was the light and sound show that night. It explained the history of each pyramid and the Sphinx, and lit them up so the view at night was pretty spectacular. We were staying in a hotel right by there and from the pool we had an incredible view of the pyramids. Pretty incredible.
We flew to Luxor yesterday. Flying over the Sahara let me see that is isn't just sand, but also rocky mountains. The green is only along the Nile and the rest is desert. The line is pretty drastic.
We went to the Temple of Karnak which took 1300 years to build. Some of these guys really liked themselves. Ramses chiseled everyone's cartouches out and replaced it with his. A cartouche is the way they would sign their names in hieroglyphics. The temple is huge, and it was pretty hot-90s- so after we got on the ship, we sat up on the top deck and watched the world as we sailed by. It was pretty great. Little kids kept yelling hello and waving. We saw sugar cane, papyrus, and date palms growing, as well as rice paddies. A lot of agriculture along the Nile.
We sailed to Dendera where we were moored for the night. I got sick, but Mrs. Calderwood went to the Temple of Hathor, the goddess of family and love. I will let her tell you all the details on that since I slept through it.
This afternoon we took a calish- horse and buggy- to the Temple of Luxor. Another incredible place. The temples were for worship, not tombs. We then went to the Papyrus Museum.
Tomorrow we will visit the Valley of the Kings and Queens. It is hot, but we are having a wonderful time.
Hope all is well. We will have tons of pictures to show you when we return, but the connection here isn't as fast as the one at home. Oh well. More when we can get on a computer.
