thibaultintheworld: AA15 - Day 6-7: Luxor, Capital of Ancient Egypt

Arriving in Luxor, we headed straight to our hotel. The Royal House Hotel (not recommended) was located in the southern part of the Eastern Bank of Luxor. A quick shower later, we were all back in the bus, on our way to Karnak Temple, in the center of Luxor.

Panorama shot of Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple is basically a mixture of temples built during a +1000 year time scale by various Pharaos during various Dynasties. This makes this place, and Luxor (Or Thebes as it was called back then) on of the oldest and most important aerchological sites of Egypt, Africa and the World actually. I could go on for hours about this beautiful, and hot, hotspot but I will just put up some pictures. interested? Hit the links above!

After the Karnak Temple, we had a short stop at Luxor Temple. These two temples, 2kms away from each other, used to be connected through a road with sphinxes at each side. I had an awesome dinner at KFC (sorry local restaurants!) and headed to bed.

Our second day in Luxor we spent on the Western Bank of Luxor. Just a couple of impressions: Impressive, Amazing, Breathtaking and Unreal Hot. We started of at 7AM with a visit to the world famous Valley of the Kings. With 64 discovered tombs, this complex is one of the biggest legacies of Ancient Egypt. It is a must do when visiting Egypt. You can visit three thombes, which change during the year. Next to that, if paying extra, it is possible to visit the original thomes of Ramses XI and world famous Tutankhamun. I can go on for hours about the Valley of the Kings. Besides that fact that the hyrogliphs in some thombes are of outstanding quality and that the precision of design, drawing and total result of the thomes, and their entrances, are of simply amazing, it must be said that is is ridiculously hot! Do yourself a favour and bring enough water. More info on the Valley of the Kings: here.

Next we headed to the Hatshepsut Temple complex. Literally the hottest place in Egypt, yes sir! Walking to the, newly rebuilt/restored, temple complex, dedicated to (female!) Pharaoh Hatshepsut, is a true walk through history with as an apothesosis the incredible view you have from the top of the temple over the temple, the farm lands near the Nile and Luxor in the far end.

One and a half day of Luxor were concluded with a dinner on the rooftop of a restaurant with view of the Luxor Temple and a walk throught the local souq. On to Hurghada!

_Safe travels!

Karnak Temple