Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 14

Luxor is a must see when you are in Egypt. It was more impressive than the Pyramids of Giza. Our top three favorites spots were the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Karnak, and the Habu Temple. Pick up a guide and car for the day while you are here. Just bargain at the airport when you land. We got a guide with car for 600 Egyptian Pounds for 4 people ($85). He drove us around and even recommended which temples for us to see. We didn't have Habu Temple on our list, but the guide recommended it, and it was one of our favorites. To give you a perspective on how old these structures are, both the Greeks and the Romans visited these temples as tourists over 2000 years ago. These temples were over ... read more

My life is now complete. I've ridden on the back of a pick-up truck with someone carrying an AK-47. Other than that Luxor still very impressive! Luxor or Thebes as it was known was at various stages the capital of Pharaonic Egypt. More recently it’s been better known as the hassle capital of Egypt, which would be quite an achievement! Things are supposed to have improved there and I’d say it’s about as bad now as the rest of Egypt. The sights are split between the east and west bank of the Nile with most of the town on the east side. Luxor temple and Karnak are both on the east bank and are easily accessible. The ruins at Karnak aren’t in great condition but the scale of the place is unbelievable. The temple is said ... read more

April 26 Once we arrived in Luxor we were wisked off to Karnak Temple on horsedrawn carriages where we met our guide Mustafa. This temple was used as a place of worship and was built upon by many Kings throughout the beginning of the 19th over 1300 years.The Great Hypostyle Hall with the gigantic columns was built by Seti I & Ramses II. Like many of the sights in Egpyt, they are still excavating today. On the way to Luxor Temple to Karnak Temple you will ride down a long road that used to be lined all the way with ram headed Spinx. After a a couple of hours walking around the Karnak temple it was starting to get really hot so we decided to hit the markets for a cool drink and a little shopping. ... read more

It is Friday morning and the day is beautiful. It is only going to be about 80 degrees today. Normally the temperature in Dendera is above 90 so we are thankful. Last night, our first on the boat was interesting. We enjoyed a late dinner, a sumptuous buffet meal consisting of several different salads, olives, cheeses and soup. To this was added fish, meat and chicken followed up by one of several sweets for dessert, coffee and tea. Our wait staff was very attentive being Johnny on the spot to fulfill your every need. Remember the boat usually has a passenger manifest of 150 we are only 48 so attention to customer need is very noticeable. We sat around chatting and I did some blogging but by and by I grew tired and headed up to ... read more

Luxor was stinking hot and we spent a few days there recovering from our illness. Luxor is beautiful especially along the waterfront and is basically a huge open air museum with temples, tombs and other ruins at every turn. Unfortunately it also has some of the worst hassle we have experienced, from felucca rides, ferry crossings, taxis and the annoying horse and carriage rides. On the flip side, the people are just trying to make a living and feed their family but it was hard to keep this in mind while being constantly followed and pestered. This was not helped by the fact that there were not as many tourists around as usual due to the flight disruptions from Iceland’s volcano. Travelling as a female here is quite demanding, the constant unwanted attention and sexist remarks ... read more