Day 10 - Luxor

Mahmoud serves us breakfast on the roof again and it is a repeat of yesterday but with banana juice. We go downstairs to meet the new guide and discover that Ragab is going to take us anyway.  We walk down to the Nile again and ferry over to Luxor.


Ragab hires a cab and we go to the Temple of Karnak

This place is huge -- it is incredibly complex and impressive and covers a space of 1 mile by 2 miles (247 acres).  It was constructed over a vast amount of time and was the center of government for Egypt.  It is here that we see an amazing amount of columns and even some standing obelisks.

 Even with all the exposure to the elements, there is still color visible on columns and we are able to take pictures throughout the entire complex.  We could get lost here for days and absolutely love the beauty of the Sacred Lake within it's walls.  Oh to be able to see what it truly would have been like in it's full glory and filled with activity. Adobe bricks making ramps can be seen against one wall of the temple that was never finished by the Egyptians. This is a rare look into how they raised the stones to such heights.

From here, we go to the Temple of Luxor which sits smack dab in the middle of the city along the Nile.

The Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor are 2 miles apart and the Avenue of Sphinxes will one day once again go the entire distance between them.

There is a statue here of Ramses II (Ramses the Great) that is in very good condition (still has the serpent head) and accurately depicts what he looked like.

Ramses certainly did like his own image as he made sure to put it everywhere -- the logic falls apart to me though in that they are always in places where the general population cannot see them.  One would think he would have wanted it the other way around.  Hmmn.  This temple is also unique in that it has been used throughout time for religious purposes, including a Mosque built on top of the temple walls 

as well as a Christian church. The plaster and paintings that covered the Egyptian carvings are still visible. 

I am very warm and ready for a break so we ask the driver to take us to Tutti-Fuitti, a quiet little English tearoom with great scones and pastries.

After a nice break and snack, I am ready to go again.  The cab returns and we head back to the dock to grab a ferry and cross the river once again.  We return to the hotel to shower, rest for awhile, and then pack. We make arrangements for our hotel in Alexandria and head up to the roof to have some fruit and just relax.  Mister goes to settle up and the cab arrives to take us back into Luxor for our train.  The train is waiting when we arrive and we board instantly and make ourselves comfortable for the evening.  Dinner is served shortly after we leave and we climb into our bunks and crash.