First rain in 30 years

I had been touring the ancient monuments of Egypt and had just completed a 3 day Nile River cruise from Aswan to Luxor. We docked on the Eastern bank of the Nile late in the afternoon and I was anxious to stow my belongings in a hotel so that I might take advantage of the few remaining hours of daylight and explore the ruins of Luxor temple.

The grandest, largest ruin, however, is Karnak and it would have to wait for the following day. I had been dreaming of pouring through Karnak most of my adult life and it seemed fitting that tomorrow was my 65th birthday gift to myself.

The following morning I hired a local man and his car to navigate the streets of Luxor. The first stop was not Karnak Temple Complex, however. The hotel had a poor excuse for a restaurant and I was starving. As we neared city center it started to rain and the driver/guide began laughing with a wide grin plastered on his face.

When I inquired as to why, he told me this was the first rain he had ever seen and he had no idea it could rain so hard. To me, however, it was just a light gentle rain, not at all like the rains I was used to. The driver was perhaps 30 years old and I couldn't imagine how he could be experiencing his first rain at that age.

After a decent breakfast, sans ham, bacon or sausage (Muslim country), the driver took me to Karnak Temple Complex. He wanted to be my guide through the complex, but I shunned his offer. I don't like to being herded around like a sheep. When touring, I much prefer to spend whatever amount of time I require in order to fully take in things which draw my attention. Thus I travel, and explore on my own.

I spent the entire day at Karnak Temple Complex and it was the finest birthday of my life.

Re: First rain in 30 years

Hi baker man . It was a long while ago now but I did a cruise from luxor to aswan and back and went to the luxor temple too. Did you go to the valley of the Kings ? I loved that holiday . We visited so many places I can't remember all now . There was one in which was a huge scarab beetle , probably about 12 feet in length , people would walk 12 times around the scarab beetle making their wishes , I did too ( still waiting for it to come true ! )

The only major problem for myself and friend was being women we couldn't walk anywhere without being hastled by men aggravating us surrounding us trying to sell their wares . It was so bad we had to ask a man from the ship to walk with us then we were left alone . As a last resort one day I covered my face with a shawl across my mouth leaving my eyes only and they stayed away from us .

Glad you enjoyed your holiday too

Re: First rain in 30 years

Oh, yes I visited The Valley of The Kings while at Luxor. When I was there in 2007, I was allowed to go into only 3 tombs /day. I went into Pharaoh Tutankamen's tomb and 2 others. I wanted to go into KV5 but it was closed. I also visited Hatshepset's Temple, the Colossi of Memnon and the Ramasseum.

Some of the tombs are open exclusively for V,I.P.'s

Do you still have all of your tickets to the various sites ?

Re: First rain in 30 years

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Bakerman.

We spent two weeks in Luxor a few years ago, staying on an island in the Nile. We visited all the ruins, Karnak Temple was amazing. My favourite visit was to the Valley of the Kings where we were able to visit three tombs, including King Tuts which isn’t open to the public every day.

We also took a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings at 6.30am .... it was an amazing sight from the air.

Re: First rain in 30 years

Hot air balloon ? Oh, my. I wish I had known about that. I surely would have taken that ride.

Re: First rain in 30 years

I don't have any tickets to the sites I visited . It's about 10 yrs ago now . It really was the best holiday of my life , our cruise ship had only 30 people on board for the first 4 days . I'd definately do it again . We visited the unfinished obalisque and got left behind , our coach left without us and we were stranded for 45 minutes until the guide realised he was two short on the coach , that was a scary 45 minutes for us , when we saw the red coach returning in the distance we were so relieved .

Re: First rain in 30 years

There is a little known true life love story associated with Queen Hatshepset and her temple. Perhaps some day I'll share it.

Side note. The Muslims of Egypt do not refer to Queen Hatshepset by name (Muslims, you know how they are).
My ticket says Deir Al Bahari Temple. Not Queen Hatshepset's Temple.

Re: First rain in 30 years

I can relate to that. I very nearly got left behind at Kom Ombo. My boat moved while I was touring Kom Ombo and I had one heck of a hard time locating it in the fleet of other boats. I dashed on board just as they were taking the gangplank away.

Re: First rain in 30 years

We also visited all the sites about eighteen years ago ( time goes so fast) Karnak, Edfu, Valley of the Kings, Hot chicken soup and then down (or up) to Abu Simbel, I remember visiting one temple under armed guard; all accessed from The Crown Prince river boat. The boat was only a couple of months old so it was in excellent condition.

We also visited the Pyramids and managed to go inside which was fantastic.

Here's a pic of the Crown Prince.

Re: First rain in 30 years

We didn't go near Cairo , so couldn't do he pyramids , maybe that's another time for me . I hear the Cairo museum is fascinating . I love ancient Egypt history . When I went into the tombs In valley of the king's and saw the beautiful art and paintings and the vibrant colours I was amazed . Oooh now I'm feeling I want to return