Valley of the Kings

Egypt is a magical land, there is no other way to explain how we fit so much in a day! Like the setting of the sun, today we traveled west, across the Nile, to the land of the dead. Fourteen adventurous members of our group began their day at 3:30 a.m. to watch the sun rise over the Nile in a hot air balloon. They returned to the hotel and the whole group took a boat across the Nile to visit the Valley of the Kings. In the valley we visited multiple tombs that had beautifully painted walls.

My personal favorite was the tomb of Ramses IV. Next stop was the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. After a brief summary of her life, we were able to explore the temple on our own. Today was hot, and we were all grateful to enjoy a delicious lunch beneath a tree full of birds providing our musical entertainment. During the heat of the day, we had a much-needed break at our hotel.

Thanks to generous donors, we were all able to enjoy the Sight and Sound Show at Karnak Temple to finish out our evening. As we watched the lights against the temple walls, we heard the story of Egypt. It’s been a long day, and we have another early morning wakeup call. We just found out that tonight the time changes in Egypt, so it’s one less hour of sleep for us!!

–Amber Casler
Final level