Luxor Part 3

Ok, third and final section of our trip. On Friday, we went on a day cruise arranged through our amazing hotel. It left at 7am and returned at 7pm. The cruise covered 42 miles downriver (meaning north) to Qina near where the temple Dendera is located. It was quite early for us lazy bones who had been enjoying the sleeping in till whenever we felt like it (but getting up before breakfast was over, hey, we still have some priorities!) It was surprisingly chilly, the boat crew passed out blankets and beach towels to whoever wanted them. It took about 4 hours to cruise there, got some great pictures on the way. You'll notice on the third row down, end right picture is this Michael Jackson-esque person. When we stumbled on the boat at 6:45am, he was at the entrance filming away and telling everyone to smile and wave! We figured out that he was probably making a DVD of the "experience" and then whoever wanted to buy it at the end, could do so. He picked out some people, and then would film them exclusively for a while. Suckas! He was quite hilarious!

Once we arrived at Qina, we all piled onto tour buses, divided by language. Apparently there was a big Finnish group in attendance, they even had their own tour guide. There was also a French contingency and then the English speaking group. We had our own bus. Dendera is one of the most well preserved temples in Egypt. It is a favorite of researchers, archaeologists & scholars. The colors are amazing & still vivid. The structure itself is still standing, hardly any reconstruction. There are stairways, passages and roof access. All of which you can explore. There are sub-terrain catacombs, ladders leading up to secret offering rooms, and chamber upon chamber every which way you turn. I could have explored for days! We wandered away from the tour group. Hey, we knew where to meet. Besides, the guide was sub-par at best. I don't like tour groups anyway. I like to be able to wander, ponder and take pictures at my leisure. I do my homework before the trip, find out history, etc. and just take it for what it is once I'm there. There is also something else about sight-seeing that isn't in any guide book. You will reach a saturation point. You can only take in so much and then the cut-off point comes and no matter how many more sights or information you cram in, you will not care! That said, we were at Dendera for 2 hours and it was just enough time. Not too long, not too short.

Then it was back to the boat, lunch in the dining room as soon as we boarded and a 6 hour cruise time till Luxor. There was a pool on the boat as well. We brought swimsuits, but it was too cold. In the collage, you will notice there are two boys frolicking in the water. They were Finnish, I'm sure it felt like the middle of summer for them! After a beautiful sunset, the full moon came out and it was such a peaceful ending to our amazing 2nd honeymoon! Whew, I'm done. I sorted through over 650 pictures to pick out some of the best. I'm also putting some into albums on my Facebook account. Tip: If there is only one book you buy for touring anywhere in the world, it is the Rough Guide. It was invaluable! It has everything in it; recommendations for every budget for lodging & food, opening & closing hours of sites, their prices, history and synopsis of everywhere. Don't leave home without it!