The second part of our Egyptian adventure started with a very early flight to Luxor. Domestic flights in Egypt are at premium and need to be booked well in advance - particularly in the peak months. We were only travelling with hand luggage, so that does make things much simpler, and also curtails my shopping adventures. Early mornings on holidays are honestly not my thing and I will be seriously reconsidering that next trip !!
Again, I am not going to regurgitate the history of Luxor, but will summarise the places we visited and the significance of each. Our first stop was the grand Karnak Temple, with the most amazing thing about this site being the sheer size and magnitude of the buildings and the many questions on the ability to make these amazing structures so long ago. The archeologists definitely have their work cut out - there are millions of unknown pieces in the open air museum, waiting to be identified and then finding the places where they should be. Karnak Temple is one of the largest of it's kind and the amazing Hypostyle Hall with its 134 massive columns. some up to 21 meters high are seriously only believable when you walk amongst them.
Even in this peak period of October, the temperatures were very hot and during the middle of the day, it was unbearable and we were constantly hunting out the shade in the temples. Luxor Temple was another mind blowing experience to walk through and hear the unbelievable history behind these beautiful temples. Luxor temple is located about 3km from Karnak temple and they have discovered a large number of statues that line a road between the 2 temples. This will soon be open to allow people to walk between the 2 structures. The number of tourists in Luxor was astounding - it felt like there were only tourists everywhere you looked. Tourism is really the only industry - apart from archaeology !! The day before we were in Luxor there was a huge discovery of 30 new coffins, with the contents in near-perfect condition - amazing to know that items are continuing to be found and will be for years to come.
One of the adventures you can do while in Luxor is a morning hot air balloon ride over the Nile, tombs and Sahara desert. I have to say that this was absolutely stunning, albeit a bit scary to start with. The scenery and the perspective from the balloon was something dreams are made of. The peace and quiet as you float over the desert and then the farmlands and the river Nile makes for some stunning contrasts.
After our balloon ride, we were on the west bank of the Nile, so we then ventured to the Valley of the Kings which is a massive expanse of desert, caves and mountains. The limestone cliffs just seem to crumble constantly and the poor archeologists are working in this day in day out. The Tombs were stunning and in fabulous condition given they are over 3000 years old. We couldn't leave the Valley of the Kings without seeing the tomb of King Tutankhamen. His tomb was in such good condition when it was discovered that most to the items are available for viewing in Cairo and in other museums. His mummy is still there - what a small man he was !! Another ancient site that I never thought I would see in my life. All the tombs are buried under the ground, and finding your way down the narrow walkways in the heat with hundreds of other tourists was not my favourite experience. However, still definitely worth seeing.
The next two stops were the massive Temple of Hatshepsut and the Temple of Habu. Both temples were vert different in architecture and size but both as impressive as each other. After our early 4am start, we were ready for a nap and some lovely Egyptian food. I cannot say enough about the Egyptian food - it was amazing !
If you ever get the chance to visit Egypt, then take it. What a fabulous country !!
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