Valley of the Kings and on to Karnak in Luxor

 The symbol above is called an ankh. I loved seeing it everywhere so I bought a nice leather one to bring home and hang in my house. It means to have a long happy life. Take a look on the link. I learned here that King Tut's middle name is Ankh to represent this symbol.   Ankh symbol

Valley of the Kings and Karnak in Luxor were on this days agenda. I had no idea what Valley of the Kings was. It is located in a desert canyon. There are tombs all along a deep canyon for royalty including the Ramses and Tutankhamen. They are really amazing to see. The colors are still on the hieroglyphics. They told us some are poisonous if you touch them. You are not allowed to take pictures so I found some online to borrow. Here is a link to read more about this amazing place. 

Valley of the Kings

 The group took us to several places that we could buy souvenirs. This is a business that makes alabaster. We bought a nice vase here. We got to watch them making some of the vases. We also bought some figurines that open up to hold body organs. (In ancient days). Take a look on the link.  Canopic jars

 We also stopped at a Temple near the Valley of the Kings. So many treasures that are 1000's of years old. 

 As we traveled around Egypt we would run into lines of vehicles that were a couple  miles long blocking roads even. Guess what they were doing? Terrorists? Protesters? No, they were waiting in line to buy gasoline for their cars. It would take them all day to fill their cars up. The distribution is apparently difficult so there is a shortage. We should maybe take a lesson here. 

 Bull rushes along the Nile. 

 Just two years ago they discovered this alley of the Sphinx in Luxor which is 3 km long (1.9 miles). A donkey had a leg fall into a hole and bingo this is what they discovered. They are still digging it up. It is very long even passing under buildings which has caused controversy about removing them. I added a link because this is another fascinating place that you could spend days visiting. Karnak at Luxor

 We stayed at Luxor's Karnak past dark. It was so beautiful lit up at night. Karnak is a huge complex of temples, tombs and and obelisks. I did not know that Egypt is the only country that built obelisks. The ones you see around the world including in Paris came from Egypt. Nobody else was been able to build them. Egypt would like them back but it does not look like that will happen. 

Notice the obelisk in the background. It's twin sits in Paris on the Concorde plaza. 

Luxor Obelisk in Paris

Tomorrow a second day at Luxor.