West Bank Luxor

Back blip

A morning of sightseeing, visiting the West Bank for the first time. We were up and out early, picked up by the taxi driver who we got from the airport a few days ago. We were both glad to be out early as it was 30C by 9.30, by which time we were already leaving the Valley of the Kings. As Bb said, Tutankhamun's mummy is tiny and his tomb also, in comparison with many of the others, and one of the theories is that it's because his parents were siblings. However, it was still very impressive to be able to stand just three feet from it. There are no photographs allowed on the whole of the site, including the outside areas, which seems a bit extreme. We had also read that sometimes the guards and guides offer to take a sneaky picture for you, but then report you to security and you're then fined for having one in your camera! So were contented ourselves with just looking, knowing that we'd need to remember. This was a bit of a disappointment for Bb, who'd been hoping to recreate the shot of himself taken there in 1981!

We then went onto The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, which was hugely impressive, rising out of nowhere and worth the climb up the steps (seen in Bb's blip). By that time, the heat had kicked in and we declined the taxi driver's offer of a tour of more sites.

What I'll remember most about the day though was driving through all the little villages and catching a glimpse of the daily life going on: children going to school, fieldworkers bent double in the heat, and all the tiny little shacks selling alabaster souvenirs and trying to make a living out of nothing. Those things aren't shown in the glossy guide books.

Oh and surprisingly, a little shop near our hotel managed to source me a swimsuit ('Come back in 3 hours' ), which miraculously just about fits, so I'm now able to use the pool!