An early 5.30am wake-up call got us started on our first excursion from our Nile cruise boat, The Grand Rose. It was a little too early for me to be honest. Despite careful eating and pro-biotics to boost my friendly bacteria, I had a spell of Pharaoh’s Revenge during the night and was a little lacking on sleep. I left Jonno to breakfast with the rest of our shore party and I decided that facing food a little later in the day would be a good option.
By 6.30am we were on the coach. Almost all of our excursions would have an early start so that we could avoid the heat of the day and the busy times at each location. A 15 minute coach transfer later we arrived at Luxor Temple.
Luxor Temple
The temple lies east of the Nile and when it was constructed (approximately 1400 BC) it was actually on the banks of the river during flood season. Nabil, our Egyptian guide, reeled off tons of information which was a bit overwhelming to be honest but the abbreviated version is as follows. The temple is unusual in that it is not dedicated to a particular god or king. It is instead dedicated to the renewal of kings and may be where many of the kings of Egypt were crowned.
Nabil constantly referred to the Pharaonic period which we had not heard of before. After some questions and a little self-research we discovered that this period spanned about 3000 years from 3000 when the first kings ruled Egypt through to Roman rule which started around 332 BC. When the Romans arrived the temple became their fortress and they governed the area from here. There were a few Roman modifications to the original temple.
Our guide walked us through the accessible areas pointing out significant hieroglyphics. There was a lot of damage to the statues and carvings but it seemed that every available square inch of stone had been used to display either people, places or writings. In only a few places could we see the original colours that the walls would have been within the temple. In almost all places the colour had faded due to sun exposure.
Before we headed back to the coach, Nabil pointed out an avenue of sphinxes . There were only about a dozen on each side of the wide pathway but originally there would have been hundreds if not thousands on each side lining the route from Luxor Temple to our next stop, Karnak Temple. There is currently work underway to reinstate these sphinxes (or sphinxi?) which will probably involve demolishing a few buildings but it will be a very impressive feature.
Karnak Temple
We were suitably overwhelmed by Luxor Temple but not having had a comparison that was easy to achieve. However when we arrived at Karnak it seemed to be in a different league. It is a temple that each of some thirty Pharaohs added to over their years in power. The size of the place was overwhelming. This was what Egypt is all about.
The sandstone for the temple was transported from a town a mere 100 miles south down the Nile. Many marvel at the pyramids but seeing the Hypostyle Hall where 134 massive columns tower between 10 and 21 meters above you is staggering. Each with a diameter of 3 meters, it defies all understanding. In his best high-speed English, Nabil explained that the first stones are laid at ground level then ramps of sand are built so the next tier can be added and so on. Due to their proximity, they must have built the central columns first and worked their way out but it still seems crazy that stone can be lifted that high up ramps of sand.
Like Luxor, many of the higher inscriptions were defaced. Nabil explained that this was done by Christians who wanted to prove that the Egyptian gods would not strike them down and maybe also to attempt to destroy the afterlife of former kings. Most of the lower inscriptions were in tact due partly to the fact that these were buried in years upon years of sand deposits protecting them that have now been cleared.
We could clearly see the work that had started to link the two temples with the avenue of sphinxes from Karnak looking back to Luxor Temple. It will certainly have the wow factor once complete.
Papyrus Factory
En route back to our floating hotel we stopped off at a papyrus factory. Egyptian hospitality is to offer a drink to visitors and we were offered a choice of mint tea, hibiscus tea or Egyptian coffee before watching a demonstration about how papyrus is prepared and used as parchment. This was followed by each of us being more or less personally escorted around the store to see what we would like to buy. The “hard-sell” had begun.
It is difficult to admire or point things out to each other without the sales staff thinking you want to buy. Before you know it the picture is wrapped and in your hand bag. We have a sneaky feeling that Nabil get’s a bit of commission or a year’s free supply of papyrus for taking us there. Some of our fellow travellers did buy but our usual reply that “we don’t have a wall to hang it on” resulted in blank expressions.
A Cruise to Edfu
We arrived back at the good old Grand Rose in time for a late lunch before setting sail south to Edfu. I gave lunch a miss and just stuck to water to be 100% sure that things had settled down. It had been a fantastic first day experiencing some of what Egypt has to offer. It was everything we had been expecting and more and it was only Day 1.
Being able to say that last sentence is quite a relief because when we travel conservatively and, by comparison, this was quite an expensive trip all those questions come into your mind: Will it be worth it? Is it going to impress us? The answers are 100 x YES!
23/04/2019
JWalking 
Loved going through the pictures of this site. Thank you for sharing!
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No! Thank you for viewing.
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Wow. Looks like such an amazing place.
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Overwhelming – been using that word a lot about Egypt!!
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Bloomin’ awesome. What a place and what a trip. Shame they have to cram in what is quite obviously a sales pitch. It does look a tad warm.
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Worth the hard sell to see all things papyrus. It takes so long to soak it and make it. It’s a wonder they ever had any to inscribe. It was warm – hence my bush tucker hat!
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Looks and sounds absolutely amazing. No wonder you were overwhelmed but I’m so glad it lived up to expectations. Egypt is one place that has always fascinated me. Enjoy!
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Fascinating and overwhelming. My two favourite words about Egypt – and maybe hot!
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Awesome shots of a great place to visit guys. 🙂
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Top destination. How can we follow that?
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👍🏼😊
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A trip to Egypt, must be one of the experiences of a lifetime. To be surrounded by such history and mystery must be amazing. Glad you found it worth it!
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So so pleased we went. It is one of the few countries in the world that truly fascinate us. There are things we still don’t understand about just how they did things.
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The numbers don’t mean a thing, do they, Jo? You have to be there to experience it all. Stuff of dreams, though I’m still not sure how I feel about reconstruction and man’s constant tinkering. But I guess otherwise these places would be lost to time. 🙂 🙂
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I am the same but at least the Egyptians seem to be trying to preserve and maintain their valuable artifacts.
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I think the hard sell pitches spoil such trips but beyond that, it looked absolute fabulous!
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It’s an art to not make eye contact and be hassled especially when you know what a difference a few pounds make to them.
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A bit of a double edged coin I suppose. Helping on the one hand but buying something you don’t actually want or need on the other!
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Absolutely. A real dilemma.
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It’s great to know the expense was worth it on this trip. I think there are some places where joining a tour is the only way to see them safely. How amazing to see these ancient sites.
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For us such a huge chunk of our budget but worth it to be safe have have a guide to get the most of every visit
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Fantastic photos! I’d love to go to Egypt and see all the ancient tombs and monuments – they look amazing! I love history…
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If you love history you will love Egypt. It took us a long time to get there but it was worth the wait. I think it made us appreciate it more.
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Extremely impressive. Had plans to go there twice before but never made it. Great to see your pictures.
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Shame you didn’t make it. It certainly would bowl you over.
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Thanks. A great reminder of our own trip there many years ago.
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Hope it brought back happy memories.
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Looks amazing, and pleased to see you and Jonno are living life to the full, as you always do. I marvel at how much you pack into just 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week, yet you still manage to do justice to reading and commenting on a myriad of other blogs. How do you find time to sleep? Don’t you just hate those pesky with the hard upsell in those tourist places.
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Thank you for your really positive comments. Doing our blog is like reliving the moment and we just want to share other people’s adventures too
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Early mornings means quieter and cooler!
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The perfect combo!
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Getting sick abroad is awful. Hope you were back to normal quickly.
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Takes a lot to stop me. I am too impatient to be a patient?
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How beautiful are these!
Luxor was on our list to visit when we’ve visited Egypt last year – ready and eager to explore – but then Covid-19 stopped us in our tracks and we had to head back to South Africa.
But, thanks to you, we have now seen some of the beauty we’ve missed 👍🏻
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What a shame about your trip. So pleased we can give you a snapshot of some of Egypts stunning artifacts.
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