Wednesday, April 18, 2018, Safaga (Luxor), Egypt

- April 22, 2018

The Temple Complex Of Karnak

We visited what many believe to be the largest temple ever built, Luxor’s ancient Temple of Karnak complex. We rode in a bus for 3.5 hours with our guide on a desert road to Luxor, the ancient city along the mighty Nile River. At the spectacular Temple of Amun, we marveled at the Great Hypostyle Hall, a forest of 140 ancient columns that once supported a towering ceiling. This massive complex, embellished over centuries by every major pharaoh, could fit the equivalent of ten cathedrals within its walls. We wandered among its well-preserved temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, pausing to gaze up at the 97-foot-tall Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, remarkably carved from a single piece of pink granite. We walked deep into the complex to arrive at the sacred lake, where ceremonial boats took part in the worship of the god Amun. We enjoyed lunch at a Hilton hotel before returning to our ship.

Due to the large number of pictures taken in Karnak, we will provide them in the next post. This post will contain pictures of our drive to and from Luxor, the Hilton Hotel beside the Nile River, and some of the city.

Mosque; these seem to stand out with their tall spires with loud speakers.

Two hours of sand and rocks along our three hour drive each way.

Lotsa Army check points along the way; reminds us of our many trips into Mexico.

New housing to get people out of slums.

Alfalfa.

Harvesting wheat.

Miniature railway cars for hauling sugar cane.

Sugar cane. Note tracks for miniature railway cars.

Lunch upon arrival in Luxor, before our tour of Karnak.

Our first view of the Nile River.

Beginning of our three-hour ride back to cruise ship.

Men in typical male dress (can take this two ways).

There were men with shotguns at the edge of nearly every town along the way. We meant to ask our tour guide about this but was never around her when we were thinking about it.