We set off past the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III to the general ticket office. A lot of statues have been discovered and re-erected here behind the 'Colossi of Memnon'.
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Today we went to Karnak in the morning. 3 hours or so is enough at one visit, especially when it is warm, so we were selective about what we viewed.
We set off this morning before 9a.m. Our first stop was at the new (2005) luxury west-bank hotel, al-Moudari. This is on the edge of the cultivation, about midway between the main, west-bank, crossroads and the Nile bridge. Angela acquired a copy of their brochure, which claims it is only 4 1/2 kilometers from the Valley of the Kings. We decided that was only possible as the ba-bird flies, the distance by road being at least twice as far. While the quality is undeniable, the remoteness and price of this hotel make it of only limited interest to Egyptology students. At the moment a double room inclusive of breskfast is about €185 per night, which includes a temporary 20% discount. After a very foggy drive up the M6 before dawn we located the correct carpark and checkin desk. The plane was an Airbus with 43 rows of 9 seats, so a capacity of about 380 people. My guess is that there were about 250 aboard, but is seems that most were going on Nile cruises. We were delayed about 60 minutes before takeoff, but with a fair wind we were on the tarmac at Luxor at about 4p.m., with a balmy 27°C and a brisk north-westerly breeze.
The excitement is building. Only the packing remains to be done. I've been checking the detailed weather forecast at AccuWeather. There are currently strong winds from the NW of force 4-5, which may be keeping the temperature down. These winds should reduce by midweek, so I hope we don't get any serious sandstorms. AccuWeather provides hourly forecasts for the next 72 hours, so I can see how the conditions are expected to vary through the first 2 days and nights. With luck I won't need to run the air conditioning at night - I hate the noise when I'm trying to sleep.
After a very foggy drive up the M6 before dawn we located the correct carpark and checkin desk. The plane was an Airbus with 43 rows of 9 seats, so a capacity of about 380 people. My guess is that there were about 250 aboard, but is seems that most were going on Nile cruises. We were delayed about 60 minutes before takeoff, but with a fair wind we were on the tarmac at Luxor at about 4p.m., with a balmy 27°C and a brisk north-westerly breeze.
The anticipation has set in. In less than 3 days I'll be back in Egypt. Angela and my wife are flying out from Manchester with Monarch on Monday. I've no idea yet what we are going to do for a week, or rather I've much too many ideas! Once again I'll be updating this Blog on a more or less daily basis, and I hope that Angela does the same with hers. We'll be staying on the west bank, but have yet to finalise hotels. I am assured that there is plenty of room even though this is high season. All week I have been reading a Blog by Su Bayfield. It was probably originally written as a diary, and she has edited it into chapters, one for each visit over the last 15 years or so, and is called Reflections in the Nile. Don't open it unless you have a lot of time to spare - Su has written and illustrated it very well. I've picked up one or two good ideas, although visiting out-of-the-way sites may be difficult next week as the security of sites is being upgraded.
I found a fascinating film of Luxor in about 1938, so I'm including it here. And here is one about Cairo. Rather than provide a new page, I've updated the existing one. Wednesday 10:10 Gatwick easyJet U2 8741 £279.09 incl bag (23 Mar) 09:00 Birmingham Thomson TOM 548 £302.00 incl bag (23 Mar) 09:55 Gatwick Thomson TOM 242 £232.00 incl bag (23 Mar) 09:30 Manchester Thomson TOM 668 £232.00 incl bag (23 Mar) 09:45 Manchester Tho. Cook TCX 528 £248.00 incl meal & bag (23 Mar) Monday 09:00 Manchester Monarch ZB 4620 £214.50 incl meal & bag (28 Mar) now £205.50 10:10 Gatwick easyJet U2 8741 (not currently running on Mondays) 09:10 Gatwick Monarch ZB 4176 £234.50 incl meal & bag (28 Mar) now £219.50 15:00 Heathrow Egyptair MS 762 £323.10 incl meal & bag (28 Mar) now £322.60 Wednesday 10:10 Gatwick easyJet U2 8741 £211.05 incl bag (30 Mar) 09:00 Birmingham Thomson TOM 548 £282.00 incl bag (30 Mar) now £252.00 09:55 Gatwick Thomson TOM 242 £232.00 incl bag (30 Mar) now £222.00 09:30 Manchester Thomson TOM 668 £212.00 incl bag (30 Mar) 09:45 Manchester Tho. Cook TCX 528 £253.00 incl bag (30 Mar) This information updated on 24 Mar at 11:00 and includes all non-stop flights from UK. Flights from Birmingham to Hurghada include:
Friday 10:25 Birmingham Thomson TOM 482 £212.00 incl bag (25 Mar) now £202.00 09:05 Birmingham Tho. Cook TCX 525 £238.00 incl bag & meal (25 Mar) This was updated on 23 Mar at 11:00 There have been a number of significant additions to my Luxor West Bank website, and I am including slide shows of photographs of many of the sites mentioned. I've also linked in relevant pages from the SCA to give details of opening hours and prices. Please let me know what more information you would like, and I will try to resource it.
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