I was so excited to see Luxor.
October, 2006.
42-44 C.
The weather there was extreme.
We took a bus from Hurghada.
Hurghada is well positioned if you want to see both Cairo and Luxor.
Traveling trough the desert is not much of en experience.
It is deserted.
Few petrol stations, some motels and villages you pass by.
But when you reach near by Luxor, valley of the Nile shows itself with all the greenery.
Still no crocodiles.
Canals are bringing in the water into these villages.
Irrigation.
Providing them three harvests a year.
Which would be great if they were allowed to get enough water for all.
I was sad to hear that the egyptians downstream are held in the position where they can not have as much water as needed, even though the Nile is sufficient for all. It is carefully selected how much water will be delivered through the canals to the villages.
Meaning less water for crops, cattle and, of course, people.
In order that in the end they all are equally poor.
More south you travel, more african it looks.
Finally, after several hours on the bus, we have approached the Valley of the Kings.
See, above these colorful houses?
But first thing you get to see are two of these.
Even damaged, glorious they look.
Sitting there for thousands of years.
A stone carving place.
Where you get to see first hand how things have been done for centuries.
I bought a figurine there.
Turned out to be made of plaster, not stone.
But I like it.
A hawk.
Of course.
We managed to get to the Valley of the Kings when it was really warm.
I recall someone measured 44 C.
I also recall our guide mentioning the dreadful 1997 attack .
The stone was everywhere around you.
So warm.
But not humid at all.
Meaning you could handle such warmth easily.
I love these photos, haven't seen them for quite some time now.
Even though these are the photos of the graveyard.
The tombs were so colorful.
On the photo below you can see how it looks inside.
We were not allowed to take any photos inside the tombs.
Colors are amazing.
Some walls are covered in glass.
I was surprised to see that there are graffiti at the entrance but of soldiers from the past wars.
People signed their names and years when they were there.
And, apparently, the word is that the Egyptian government has its hands on most of the treasures buried in this valley, and that nothing else new is to be found.
But they keep it a secret and deliver it to the rest of the world only in case when the tourist come in lesser numbers to Egypt.
I liked Deir el-Bahari, Hatshepsut's temple.
All the other tombs were underground and the entrance to those is not much appealing as you can see :).
And yes, they were massive.
Especially the one of Ramses II.
But this one of Hatshepsut - it was glorious.
And in others - men were buried.
But this one was dedicated to the woman.
This woman.
And it is flaunting all it greatness above the ground.
Hawks at the entrance.
To see that these colors are still there after all those years!
Unbelievable.
We took a boat ride towards the Karnak.
Highlight of hat day.
Water and light breeze.
Take a look.
Beautiful isn't it?
And the scenery...
I have never seen anything like it before.
This one here is my favorite photo of that day.
Children by the river.
Soon, we have approached the Karnak temple.
You can see it here behind the cruisers.
You can see many colorful cruisers at Luxor.
And big hotels.
A lot of restaurants.
And it seems much more peaceful in Luxor then it is in Hurghada.
But way too warm.
We approached the temple in the afternoon.
It is huge.
And packed with people.
Crowd.
Wherever you go.
Karnak temple is a must see in Egypt.
I found it much more appealing than the pyramids.
Because of the history that is recorded all over its walls.
Each of these walls tells a story of one of the pharaons.
Some of these stories are rather bizarre.
Like these two that are telling about the persecution and extermination of the Jews.
Do come to Karnak, but accompanied by a guide.
Otherwize you will become just a random tourist taking bunch of cool photos.
Our guide had a wasp knowledge about the Karnak.
He knew what each wall represents, stories behind the statues and obelisks, how the temple was built, where the water was stored, how columns were lined up in order that at the specific day in the year ray of sunlight lightens only one of the statues.
And quite a big fellow he was.
The pillars at Karnak are amazing.
The great hypostille hall.
Take a look.
Did you know that out of 30 obelisks that were built in Egypt, only 7 remain in Egypt and four of those are in Karnak.
So far I have seen the one in London and Istanbul.
Besides those four that are in Karnak.
I also liked these at the entrance.
It is amazing how the time flies.
We stayed at this temple until the evening.
I was exhausted.
But it was worth it.
Some souvenirs on a way out.
And my second sunset in the desert.
Luxor turned out to be my last stop in Egypt.
Alexandria Cairo Hurghada Luxor.
Such a pitty.
Because the biggest treasures are there.
Not to mention the opportunity to cruise the Nile.
Next time I guess.
.................
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