AL DEIR AL BAHARI TEMPLE

Or the place Queen Hatshepsut built

Arrived in Istanbul this afternoon (more of that later) after two great days in Luxor where we visited almost every damn monument and engraving we could find, I could have used a few more days there no problem. We scored a private guide again, a local guy called Hussan who knew almost every other person in Luxor and was a genuinely nice guy and a great guide. Well worth the money

First up we hit this temple, probably the most well known of all of Egypt's temples. Hard to fathom that 13 years ago over 50 people were brutally murdered there by terrorists, yet it does pass through your mind when you arrive. That aside it's an incredible spot and just behind that hill and to the right is the Valley of the Kings. Due to the no photo rule in there I'll just say that seeing the Valley of The kings was another of those boyhood dreams made into a reality.Entering a 4, 000 -5, 000 year old tomb is just a bit mind blowing, you have to do it one day. Try doing it without American, German or Japanese tourists as that is the my pecking order for worst tourists ever at this moment in time. It does fluctuate but generally only with those three. Give me cashed up newly rich Russians any day.

We also dropped into the valley of The Queens but again no pics, but some fantastic tombs. Such a shame they were all robbed. At least Tutts stash remains and that is fairly impressive - understatement. A busy morning with all three spots but we did start early and manged to navigate around the coach tours and their cultish sheep like occupants.

this lil guy was trying to sell us some crappy souvenirs, so cute and had a beaming smile