Luxor Day 5 and 6

Our time in Luxor is quickly coming to an end.  Today we head back to Cairo to prepare for the last part of the school year.  It is hard to believe that it is April already and that there is really not that much more time for teaching before exams happen in early June.

But, I must recap the rest of our time here in Luxor.  After spending several days touring temples and tombs, we decided to give the kids a day off of exploration for time to relax by the pool.  It was amazing to have the chance to just sit and watch the kids play. 

Most people that come to Luxor, stay only a short time (2-4 days) before heading off to Aswan.  By rushing through the famous sites on these short trips, many people miss some of the "less popular" sites.  Since we were here longer than the average tourist, we were able to visit these sites, and are we ever glad that we did. 

Medinat Habu was rated very high on Trip Advisor.  While I do not always follow the top trends on Trip Advisor, there has been a couple of times that the top picks have been by far the best I have ever seen.  We went to Segovia in Spain because of Trip Advisor and it is probably the best place I have ever been.  Medinat Habu ranked number 2 for places to see.  It is often skipped by tourists for the more famous sites like Valley of the Kings.  But, Medinat Habu was the best preserved temple we had been to.  I was impressed by the depth and quality of the hieroglyphs and the carvings and cartouches were very clear.  There was not very much color, but, this temple did not need it.  We paid one of the guards to take us into some of the back rooms of the temple often off limits to tourists and got to see some of the most interesting stories depicted on the walls.  It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Then, we headed off to the Ramsseum.  This was the temple for Ramses II.  It is mostly in ruins, very small, and also skipped by most tourists.  During our time at the Ramsseum there were very few other people around and by the end, we were the only ones there.  We got some fantastic photos and had the chance to read up on what this temple was all about.  Apparently, when the Romans came to Egypt, they decided to take the good rocks out of the Ramsseum and move them to the nearby site to build Medinat Habu.  Basically, they turned the Ramsseum into a quarry.

Today, we head home, but, the trip to Luxor will be one to remember for sure. 

Medinat Habu

The side room we paid extra to see.

Kids at the Ramsseum

 Checking out the temple/