Page 64 - Turkey & Egypt 2020

Instead of sailing down the Nile today, we went on the bus to explore the Valley of the Kings,
known as the "Gateway to the Afterlife"; which provides a window to the past. Many of the
tombs within the valley were once filled with an abundance of antiquities. Though many suffered
at the hands of grave robbers, others thankfully remained unscathed. Next, was a visit to Deir el-
Bahari, the mortuary temple of ‘Pharaoh Queen’ Hatshepsut. Rising out of the desert sands in a
series of terraces, it’s an incredible sight to behold. On the way back to the river Nile, the road
passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep
III. However, on the bus we found out that Sharon and Ron had organized flights to fly out from
Cairo tomorrow morning. We also found out that the Cairo airport is definitely closing after
midday on Thursday. With a lot of hard work & texting backward and forward between Catherine
(Sil’s daughter in Brisbane) & Silvana, they managed to book new tickets to get out of Egypt. (Nile
Airway from Luxor to Cairo the next morning $455.00/ and Cairo - Abu Dhabi- Sydney for
$2500.00 on Thursday b4 midday) We left the group on the boat that afternoon and booked into
the Karnak's Mercure Hotel near the airport, this way we could get there quickly in the morning.
We thought that was the best chance to get to Cairo and back to Aust.