CRUISING THE NILE

EGYPT - FEBRUARY 2010


"DEAPARTING LUXOR/THEBES - The ships start moving one after the other and the view of the Luxor Temple accompanies us for a while"


"LEFT BANK, RIGHT BANK, FELUCCA, SHIP & BRIDGE..."


"CONTRASTS - Resort sold in UK, suburbs of Luxor, factory and village"


"PALM TREES"


"GREEN NILE"


"THE DESERT IS SO CLOSE"


"MINARET"


"SHIPS & SHIPS - Overpassing while in the pool..."


"THE BEST - My choice of the best pictures on this section of the cruise"


"À L'ABORDAGE"


"ESNA LOCK SYSTEM"


"BRIDGE LIGHTS"

GOODBYE LUXOR

EGYPT - FEBRUARY 2010


"AMARCO II - The ship that we used to cruise the Nile River, from Luxor to Aswan, has definitely an identity problem: it's known as Amarco II, Antares or the Nile Express... But it was a nice choice!"


"FELUCCAS - The traditional wooden sailing boat with its rig consisting of one or two lateen sails, are usually able to board around ten passengers and are still in active use as a means of transport in cities like Luxor or Aswan"


"THE WINTER PALACE HOTEL - Located south of the Luxor Temple, the five star hotel was built in 1886 on the Nile banks"



"THE WINTER PALACE HOTEL GARDENS - In 1996, the Pavilion, a 4-star annex, was built in the rear of the tropical gardens of the Winter, close to the swimming pool.


"FRONT TERRACE - View towards the Nile River"


"PREPARING FOR SUNSET"


"THE SUN IS SETTING"


"SUNSET WITH PALM TREES & FELUCCAS"


"TWILIGHT"


"LIGHTED FAÇADE"


"WINTER PALACE BY NIGHT - The Palace has 5 restaurants, but only two in the main building: the 1886 (French) and la Corniche Restaurant (international)"

THE VALLEY OF KINGS

LUXOR, EGYPT - FEBRUARY 2010

Visitors are not allowed to carry cameras to the Tombs' site. So, there is limited coverage of that part of the trip on the Valley of the Kings... We could think that the reason was that they would like to sell their own pictures and make some money out of that, which, of course, would be fair enough... No, there were no decent books of pictures to buy!! So, you keep the visual memories until your German friend (Alzheimer) attacks...


"MORNING BALLONS and the house of Howard Carter, the English archaeologist, noted as as the primary discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamen"


"LAND OF THE DEATH - Tombs of Noblemen"


"HATSHEPSUT - Meaning «Foremost of Noble Ladies», was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt and lived from 1508 B.C. through 1458 B.C. The Temple of Hatshepsut, located beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the west bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings, was designed by the architect Senemut and is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra"


"HATSHEPSUT - This was also the site of the Luxor Massacre that took place on 17 November 1997. Around 8:45 a.m., six assailants, armed with automatic firearms and knives, and disguised as members of the security forces massacred 62 people. With the tourists trapped inside the Temple, the killing went on for 45 minutes"


"PHARAOH"


"HAWK, HATHOR & THE SACRED COW"


"HEAD OF PHARAOH HATSHEPSUT - The Double Crown (North and South Egypt) and the traditional false beard have been stripped from the sculpture. It seems that many images portraying Hatshepsut were destroyed or vandalized after her death, allegedly «by Amenhotep II at the end of the reign of Thutmose III, while he was his co-regent, in order to assure his own rise to pharaoh and then, to claim many of her accomplishments as his» (Wikipedia)"


"HIGH RELIEF"


"PAINTINGS"


"HATSHEPSUT"


"HATSHEPSUT IN OSIRIAN POSES"


FACADE"


"THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Here we may see the left one as the one on the right was covered for restoration work"


"BACK TO LUXOR"

LUXOR

LUXOR TEMPLE - FEBRUARY 2010


"FROM KARNAK TO LUXOR - The Avenue of the Sphinxes, or Sacred Way, once connected the two miles from Karnak to Luxor Temple"


"FAÇADE - The temple, located on the east bank of the River Nile, was founded in 1400 B.C. Known as "the southern sanctuary", the temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut. The missing obelisk on the right hand side of the entrance can now be seen at Place de La Concorde, Paris"


"ENTRANCE COLONADE - With the giant statues of Ramesses II"


"THE FIRST PATIO - Ramesses II, Ramesses II and some few others... The Pharaoh wears the double crown of High and Low Egypt"


"HYPOSTYLE ROOM AND COLONNADE"


"AMENHOTEP III COURT"


"TEMPLE, CHAPEL, MOSQUE"


"RELIEFS - Including the ithyphallic Amun"


"FIRST PYLON AND OBELISK as seen from the ship"


"VIEWS OVER THE TEMPLE"


"TEMPLE AT NIGHT"


"AT NIGHT, FROM THE RIVER SIDE"