Cruising The Nile

Today all of our exploring was done in the early morning. We woke up, ate breakfast and took a trip to the west bank of the Nile. Our first stop was to the Colossi of Memnon.
At one time these great statues of Amenhotep III were the gateway to a temple that no longer exists. It was destroyed by earthquakes, pillaging and flooding of the Nile. The statues are the the only things left....From this location we headed to the Valley of the Kings. This was a spot on a mountain side where many kings and queens were buried including, Ramses II (exhibit closed), Ramses VII and Tausert (one of the few female rulers of Egypt). These tombs were beautiful. They are trying to preserve the colors in the tomb, so no pictures are allowed . Some people tried to snap pictures, but their cameras were promptly confiscated (HAHA!!). There were way too many to explore......From there we went on to an alabaster factory where they taught us how they make handmade figurines, vases and tablets. We left the factory, after bargaing for a couple of items and headed to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This temple was truly amazing (sorry pic wouldn't upload). Hatshepsut built all of her stautes complete with a beard to show her power and she ruled until she died....From here it was back to the boat for lunch and to cruise down the Nile to Esna. When we pulled into Esna the ship was bombarded by salesmen in rowboats!!! They were throwing items, such as Egyptian style dresses, onto the ship and asking us to buy them. People were throwing these items back and forth for at least an hour. These men tied ropes to the ship and followed us for what seemed like miles. We then cruised some more down to Edfu where we are docked for the night. We had dinner and concluded our night with bingo....most of the day was spent onboard the ship travelling....