Our tour of East Luxor continues with a visit to another popular destination, The Deir-el Bahri, otherwise known as The Temple of Hatshepsut. Yep, it’s that woman-pharaoh I mentioned in a previous travelog. The Deir-el Bahri is probably the most significant of all the projects executed by Hatshepsut.

Unlike many of the other memorial temples, the Deir el Bahri is a temple complex that is actually carved out of the mountain. Yes, Hatshepsut had the temple be cut out of the sandstone bedrock, which explains how it managed to survive and retain most of its structure. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, Hatshepsut’s monuments were destroyed by her stepson, and Deir el Bahri was not spared. As such, many of its interior decorations and statues are no more.

After that our guide took us to visit an alabaster factory, where marble ornaments are handmade and sold. The owner explained to us the different types of marble crystals available and how those blocks of marble were carved into various items like pots, plates and statuetttes.

It’s pretty cool to see them work, but really, there’s nothing much to shout about. It’s marble, not like Malaysia hasn’t got any. Their goods were expensive too, so nobody actually bought anything. I went outside to see if I could snap anything interesting, and I sure did.

That sight gave me pause for a brief moment, thinking what it’d be like if I was the one squatting on the sand with the donkey behind me and some fat dude was taking a photo of me. I’d probably worry whether or not I’d get to eat lunch that day rather than worry if someone was snapping a picture of me.

Thus ends our tour of Luxor city and we went back to our cruise ship for lunch and some rest before we began our cruise along the Nile.

---

The Egypt Travelogs Series:

1. Cairo (The Great Pyramids)
2. Road to Alexandria (Asfour Crystal Palace, Lion Park Animal Hospital)
3. Alexandria (Qaitbay Citadel, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Montaza Palace Gardens)
4. Return from Alexandria (Local fruits and produce)
5. West Luxor (Temple of Karnak)
6. East Luxor - Part One and Two (Colossi of Memnon, Ramesseum, Temple of Hatshepsut, Alabaster factory)
7. The Nile - Part One and Two (Edfu Bazaar, Life along the along the Nile)
8. Kom Ombo (The Twin Temples of Kom Ombo)
9. Road to Abu Simbel (Shooting star, desert skies)
10. Abu Simbel - (The Greater Temple of Abu Simbel)
11. Aswan - (Unfinished Obelisk, Felluca ride)

---