Life & Style | Travel
Living king-size in Egyptian gallery of art and culture
Visiting the temples, tombs and valleys of an ancient civilisation is no less than a history lesson - but an enjoyable one
- By Rohit Ramesh Pillai, Special to Explore
- Published: 00:20 December 13, 2008
- At Philae Temple in Egypt.
- Image Credit: Supplied photo
Day 1
We reached Luxor, Egypt and checked into the Maritim Jolie Ville, a hotel on an island on the River Nile.
Since we were all very tired, we allowed ourselves an afternoon siesta first.
After waking up refreshed, we took a shuttle bus to Luxor town, taking snaps of the Luxor temple.
We were surprised how the Egyptians built such huge temples without any of the technology we have today.
Back at the hotel, we watched a bit of TV and decided to call it a day.
Day 2
We woke up at 5.20am and went to pay the hotel zoo a visit. We then checked out and boarded a ship called The Royal Lotus for a cruise on the Nile.
On board, we were welcomed with a refreshing drink and the itinerary for the day — a visit to two temples.
We first headed to the Karnak Temple — which, covering 65 acres, is the largest in the world.
It is also more than 4,100 years old. The ancient Arabs considered Karnak a fortress and called it Karwanak.
Karnak has 134 columns — more than any other temple in Luxor and two obelisks.
Next we headed to Luxor Temple, which is dedicated to Ramses II, the ruler of Egypt for 67 years.
The shrine is said to have been built in 332BC by Alexander the Great.
Day 3
We were scheduled to tour the West Bank. Our first stop was the Colossus of Memnon. Known to locals as el-Colossat or es-Salamat, these are two huge stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, originally designed to stand guard at the temple entrance.
Our next stop was at the Valley of the Queens, where wives of pharaohs were buried. The main attraction here is the temple of Hatshepsut, the stepmother of Pharaoh Thutmose III.
Her tomb is the deepest in the world. Next we headed to the Valley of the Kings, which has at least 63 tombs, including those of Thutmose I and Ramses X.
The chief attraction was the tomb of Tutankhamun, the only tomb with its treasures left intact. We returned to the ship, which then set sail for Edfu.
Soon we were near Esna lock. We were all excited to see the boat pass through the Esna lock. After this we called it a day.
Day 4
We were docked at Edfu and were to visit the temple of Horus and the Kom Ombo temple.
At the temple of Horus , the shrine has a boat made of gold, a replica of the original made by archaeologists after reading the inscriptions on the temple walls.
After the visit I retired as I was too tired.
Day 5
After packing our bags, we went for a tour of Aswan. We saw the High Dam and the Old Dam.
Then we caught a boat to the Philae Temple. We also saw the granite quarry, where rocks for the temples were cut.
With this, the tour to Egypt came to an end.
Rohit Ramesh Pillai is a student of Grade VII in Abu Dhabi Indian School.
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