Luxor and Karnak

We were wakened on the overnight train from Cairo/Giza to Luxor with the sun rising over the lush agricultural lands on the edge of the Nile. The nights sleep wasn’t excellent, but it was better than if we’d been in the 2nd class seats! We had another “airplane-sque” meal of shrink-wrapped carbs (bread, PartyCake, croissant), jam and tea before pulling into the Luxor station at 7am.

We, wearily, piled off the train and headed for the street. I’d checked the map of Luxor while on the train so I knew, generally, where our hotel was in relation to the station. It was a relatively short distance, so we walked it in the cool, late-dawn/early-morning of Luxor. The light was beautifully soft and the streets were blissfully quiet. We walked away from the train station and directly towards the pillars of the temple at Luxor (1390-1352BC). The sun shone on our backs and on the side of the temple ahead of us. Hotair balloons were slowly rising from the Westbank. It was surreal to behold. (Hopefully Jack will post his stunning photo of this RSN)

We found the Mercure Inn hotel and asked them to hold our luggage until we could check in. This allowed us to head directly out and to the Luxor Temple. Well HELL, we were already THERE – what else was there to do until check-in time??!! We spent a long and quiet morning exploring the Luxor Temple and the Avenue of the Sphinxes. (Morning Luxor pix here) When we began, there were only a few early-birds at the temple, by the time we left to get some coffee (9am?) the crush of humanity and bus-tour sheep was mounting to epic levels. We took this as our cue to leave, get coffee and attempt to check in to the hotel.

Once checked in and settled, it was nap time! After nap time it was pool and lunch time. Mom, Kenzie and I got to the pool first. It was odd, it was a warm day (although with a cool breeze) yet NO-ONE was swimming! We quickly found out why – 55F pool water! Of course, we didn’t tell Steve this when he arrived, so his first (and ONLY) cannonball into the pool nearly gave him a coronary. 🙂 What is family for??!! Late lunch at the pool and then off to Karnak temple.

Karnak is about 3km north of Luxor temple and is MUCH more vast. It was a “work in progress” for much of the Middle and New Kingdom (2000 to 1000 or so BC – it was in use and being rebuilt/modified/added to by just about every pharaoh through that time!) We fulfilled one of Mom/Sara’s pipedreams and arrived at the temple in a caleche (horse drawn buggy).

Outside the temple was the typical chaos of touts, tourons and cheap vendors of crap. We bought our tickets and wandered towards the criosphinxes and the massive first pylon (or wall) of the complex. Our tickets were not ripped as we entered, and (due to the massive crowds of people) Steve suggested that we attempt to return another time. The light was excellent and Jack insisted that we^H^H he was going in. We all decided to brave the crowd and it was SOOO worth it!

Jack disappeared almost immediately, and mom, Steve, Kenz and I wandered, more-or-less, together. The sky was clear, the sun was setting, rosy light infused the walls of the temple complex. It was magical and peaceful, even with the thousands of other people that were there. As the shadows lengthened, a full moon rose over Karnak. I believe that all of us have just about the same photo of the obelisk of Hatshepsut with the full moon rising. The image was just too stunning to miss. We tagged along with a few “private tours” to gain whatever knowledge we could, as all we had were a few pages from Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide. One of the best views was provided us by “Glock boy”. He was, apparently, a personal security guard for a family touring the temple. The butt of his Glock poked out from between the back vents of his beautifully tailored Italian suit jacket! NS! But he showed us a view that was incredible!

Karnak pics here

We were eventually herded out with the rest of the masses in preparation for the Sound and Light show. We were tired and hungry, so we found Jack outside the temple enclosure and headed for the Corniche. As we arrived back in Luxor, the lights were beautifully illuminating the Luxor Temple – we’d come nearly full circle, sunrise to evening lights. Beautiful every way.