Luxor is the place to be when it comes to tombs. They still maintain their beautiful carvings and paintings even though most have been robbed of their silver, gold, gems, and mummies centuries ago.

One gem we did find in Luxor was Mo our guide. He toured us through The Valley of the Kings, The Temple of Hatshepsut, The Valley of the Queens, Karnak and the two colossus of memnon.

Mo is a great teacher. He educated us and quizzed us on Ancient Egypt, its symbolism, and the Pharos. He had answers to all of our questions and it was clear he enjoys his job. Our energy level was low from the train trip but still he kept us going with his genuine love of Egyptology.

I know in the previous Egypt post I wrote about how great Hanan is. I also tried to write about how important tour guides are but Mo and our driver actually saved us!

I had used Booking.com for several of our flights and hotel stays. I really like the app and how it organizes options and keeps our details saved. For our stay in Luxor I had booked a bed and breakfast that was cheap and had all the amenities I wanted.

Little did I know that the Hotel host lied about their location. They were over 4 km outside of Luxor! Four kilometers away from where they claimed to be. The host met us a couple of kilometers outside of Luxor and then drove his motor bike to lead us to the hotel. I couldn’t believe that we kept going further and further away! Our driver was shaking his head as he drove us past houses and farms. Apparently we passed through some very rough areas.

The ‘hotel manager’ also messaged me more than he needed to. They REALLY wanted to pick us up and they kept saying that. I guess they needed to do that in order to hide how far out of town they actually were.

We trusted Mo. When he said he didn’t feel comfortable dropping us there we went with it. Mo quickly found us a safe condo for the night and booked us in. We were VERY grateful.

The most epic part of our time in Luxor was the Hot Air Balloon ride. It has its very own movie and blog post here. I write this with a smile on my face but I need you to know that the kids felt a little betrayed by Mo when we booked the hot air balloon. I confirmed the cost and sent him our details (passport photos). Then he messaged back telling us the van would pick us up at 4:15 am!! There was a tiny revolt upon hearing that news. I’m not sure what the kids expected? It was a sunrise balloon ride. We needed to be at the balloon BEFORE the sun was up. Needless to say they have forgotten about the early morning wake up call and now just remember the glorious balloon ride.

The second day in Luxor Mo took us to Dayr al-Madīnah. It is an ancient Egyptian workers’ village which was home to the artisans who built the Kings’ tombs and did the artwork lining the walls. These workers also built tombs for themselves but they were not filled with ornate jewels and expensive metals. These tombs did give us a better idea of what the Kings’ tombs would have looked like. The colours and contrasts of the paintings in these rooms and hallways were not worn down by exposure. They were still vivid and bright.

Our final ancient site for the day was ‎⁨Medinet Habu⁩. It is has a few temples housed there but the main one is the temple of Ramsesse the III. The carvings on the walls depict his successes and his strength in battles. It is propoganda that has lasted the centuries.

One of my favourite details from Medinet Habu are the deeply engraved cartouches. A cartouche is the vertical oval design with symbols drawn inside it. It is a tells us which Pharo is being written about. These cartouches are a little different from others. They are carved deeper than usual because Ramsesse III was afraid another Pharo might come along and try to erase his name. Which is something that he had attempted. It is a strategy that has clearly paid off because we know his name today.

The rest of our time in Egypt was a relaxed time of eating at a local restaurant and fractically searching for a new safety razor for me. Boy did Mo take great care of us! I still use that razor.

So the take away from this post is that if you go to Egypt to see the Pyramids you need to come south to visit Mo the Valley of the Kings. This is where the artwork and beauty of ancient Egypt is presevered.

Next stop, Kenya!