Luxor

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There is so much history to see at Luxor that it is easy to get overwhelmed. We were lucky to have 3 full days to explore here, but after the first two we got pretty much tombed-out!

Day 1 started with a tour of Karnak Temple. Simply amazing! You really have to go there in person to appreciate it all. What we found the most impressive, aside from the size, was how much colour remained in the artwork. It would have been mind-boggling to see it in its prime 3000 years ago. We followed up Karnak Temple with a trip to our favorite fast food joint overlooking Luxor Temple.

That evening we decided to see the Luxor Temple lit up at night. It was probably the highlight of Luxor for us. It's so much more majestic looking at night. We were happy to finally put our cumbersome tripod to good use.

Day 2 we rode donkeys to the Valley of the Kings. Sounded fun in concept and it definately was. Although 90 minutes is a long time to spend on a Donkey... Jordan's highlight was getting pushed off by the lead donkey as his tried to overtake for the lead. The leader had a bit of an attitude that way. At Valley of the Kings we entered 3 of the 64 tombs that have been discovered there. Ramses I, III, and IV. The tombs were very impressive, but you sort of get the idea after going into 3 of them. The most impressive tombs were either closed for restoration or required extra money to enter. Following the Valley of the Kings we visited the Temple of Hapshepsut which was about when we decided that we'd had Ancient Egyptian overload.

Day 3 was spent relaxing and catching up on laundry and internet. 2 full days in Luxor is probably enough for most people excluding the most enthusiastic archaeologist types.

We're looking forward to heading down to Aswan and Abu Simbel before crossing into Sudan. Oh yeah, we still don't have a truck...

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Photos

Ramses II
The imposing statue at Luxor Temple.

Donkey ride
We're still hurting from our donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings.

Sphinx
From Luxor Temple.

Pillars at Karnak Temple
The size of pretty much everything at Karnak is impressive.

Obelisk
Huge obelisks at Karnak.

Valley of the Kings
This'll have to do for photos because you can't take pictures inside the tombs (not that we could really do it justice anyways).

Guess where?
Yup, there's one in Luxor too. We're terrible, but so is Candice. We're not alone in our cravings.

Comments

[shaafee]

very nice
keep it up.