Karnak and Luxor

Because we had a 7:30 am flight from Cairo to Luxor, we awoke at 3:30 am to shower and finish packing so our bags could be out of the room by 4:00 am. We went to a nice cold breakfast at the Cairo International Hotel Semiramis on the Corniche. There were fresh fruit, breads, cheeses and juices. We were on the bus and rolling by 4:30. We bid goodbye to the Cairo coordinator, Mohammed, and our bus driver, Emam, with gratuities for jobs well done.

Ruins of the Temple of Karnak

We were at the Cairo airport in Heliopolis in about 30 minutes since there was no traffic at that hour. We made it through check-in and security without incident. Security at all Egyptian airports is strictly enforced since there is always an elevated risk of terrorism. We passed through security as soon as we arrived at the airport then again as we neared our assigned gate. Everyone had to remove shoes, jackets and all items with any metal. Fortunately, the lines (one for men, one for women) moved quickly, and we made it through the process quickly.

Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak

Everyone in our group was pleased to learn that we had been upgraded to business class for the one hour flight from Cairo to Luxor. It was really nice having the extra room; we had so much that we could stretch out. It was too bad that we had those seats for only a one hour flight. The flight attendants brought juice, tea and a breakfast of three small sandwiches. The flight was smooth, and we were landing at the Luxor airport before we knew it. We picked up our bags at the carousel and reported to the bus. We had a bit of a scare when one of the men from the Albany, NY group was missing, but he had mistakenly exited the secure area and was unable to get back into the airport. Once found, the bus left for Karnak Temple Complex.

Ramses II at Karnak

On the bus we learned that the region around Luxor holds one third of all known ruins in the world. In addition, new ruins are being found every day here. We also learned a bit of the history of the area and what we would see there. Having someone with the education, experience and skills of Eman leading the trip is essential since there was little signage inside the Karnak complex.  We also noticed that, unlike in Cairo or Alexandria, we did not have a bodyguard with us in Luxor.

Hatshepsut's Obelisk at Karnak

Eman purchased our tickets for admission to Karnak, and we had the QuietVox on so we could hear her descriptions of what we were seeing. She took us to the map of the complex and showed us the two axes, east-west and north-south, that defined the area and how the structures grew over time. We started our visit at first of pylons on the east-west axis which is just past a row or avenue of sphinxes with lion bodies and ram heads. This first pylon was never finished and still  had a lot of the mud bricks that made up the ramps allowing materials to be carried to the top of the structures. There were no carvings on this structure, but it was in the best condition of any pylon.

Karnak Sacred Lake

We walked through the pylon to a large courtyard where Eman pointed out features of the complex and how it was constructed from the Middle Kingdom, through the Ptolemaic Period and into the New Kingdom from 2000 BC until 30 BC. We walked to the large statues of Ramses II that were in amazingly good condition and through halls of columns that were highly decorated with hieroglyphs and cartouches. Evidence of vandalism that had taken place over 100 years ago remained, as well as, destruction caused by weather, flooding and subsequent ruling pharaohs.

We continued on to the temples of Ramses II and Ramses III. Like other temples we have seen, these structures were covered in carvings telling stories of the ruler’s life and deeds. One of the walls has evidence of early Greek and Coptic Christians covering the hieroglyphs with mortar or plaster and painting scenes over the walls.

Karnak first pylon showing mud ramps

We walked around the sacred lake then around to some of the unrestored areas of the ruins before making our way out through the gauntlet of vendors selling clothing, books, postcards and cheap souvenirs.

The bus took us the short distance to Luxor Temple, a much smaller complex than at Karnak. Built by Amenhotep III in the 18^th Dynasty, about 1400 BC, this temple has some great statues and beautiful panels of hieroglyphs all to honor Hatshepsut and Ramesses II.  Luxor Temple was dedicated to Amun, Mut and Khonsu.

Luxor Temple

Although the temperatures were in the mid-80s, there was a light desert breeze so we didn’t feel too uncomfortable. We saw that tomorrow’s weather in the Valley of the Kings is forecast to be in the mid 90s so we will remember to dress appropriately.

After leaving Luxor, we boarded the bus to drive to the dock area where we got our rooms on the Steigenberger Legacy ship and went to lunch. The ship has a full passenger load of 120 representing several travel agencies from multiple countries. This ship isn’t as “luxurious” as other ships we have been on with Viking in Europe and Asia, but it is certainly very nice and well suited to our needs. We would far rather get a better rate than to pay more for expensive surroundings on the ship.

Mary at pillar

Lunch was pretty much the standard buffet fare for river cruise ships. Everything was quite good, and we enjoyed chatting with our fellow passengers. After lunch, Mark, Mary and I decided to go into town for a walk. We went past a grade school that was dismissing and saw the hordes of children streaming out just as in any school in any country. Many of the students that we saw wanted to engage us in conversation so they could practice their English. A few approached us for money. We were horrified to see the children jumping on the backs of moving trucks and hanging on the bumpers of cars. We just hoped that no one got hurt. We moved on from the school to another part of town, past carriage drivers looking for paying passengers. One especially persistent driver followed us all through the town on our walk. We had to tell him that we would be in town on Tuesday and would certainly look for him for a carriage ride.

We ended up in an Egyptian McDonalds restaurant where Mark ordered a dessert as much to see the menu as anything. We had to chuckle at menu items like McFalafel and the lack of bacon, ham and sausage on breakfast items. We came back to the ship through the phalanx of street vendors and prepared for our outing to the Luxor library to hear the evening speaker.

This gentleman speaking to us is not involved in the archeology aspect of the ruins at Luxor but in preserving the current state of the artifacts for at the sites. The government is not attempting to restore anything but rather to prevent further degradation from weather or human intervention. His photographs and talk were both very interesting.

We returned from the library to the ship where we were able to get on the internet and have dinner of Egyptian, European and American choices. After we ate, we sat on the observation deck and chatted while Mary and Cindy played cribbage.