Luxor (Not the hotel in Vegas)
After a visit to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where we saw all the treasures from King Tut’s tomb, we headed south to Luxor. The city is smaller and much more touristy with touts everywhere pushing taxis, feluca and carriage rides, and tours. Luxor is situated on the East Bank of the Nile River, the same side on which the sun rises and where the temples are. The sunsets and tombs are on the other side.Our first stop on the east side was the Karnak Temple. It’s hard to describe without using similar adjectives to the pyramids, but this site is totally different and equally impressive at the same time. The columns in the hypostyle hall are towering and make you feel very tiny. The temple had many additions made by various Pharaohs, so the sum of all of their work has a big “wow” factor.
Next up was the Luxor Temple, which is right next to the Nile in the center of town. At one point in ancient times, the two temples were connected by a 3km long “Avenue of the Sphinxes” which were statues about 10 feet apart all along the street. A few are still left, but it must have been incredible to walk there. In addition to carvings from a lot of different periods, there is even a section built by Alexander the Great, spelling his name in hieroglyphics. Another interesting thing about the entry is a tall obelisk on one side. There is a base on the other, but the obelisk itself is missing. However, we found out we’d already seen it – it’s the one at the Place du Concorde in Paris!
Aside from the historical sights, we’ve been getting used to how things work in Egypt and starting to enjoy it. The taxis in Cairo were the oldest cars I’ve ever ridden in that were not “restored or antique.” However, they are always around when you need them and so cheap that I don’t know how they cover the cost of the fuel. The food is simple and good – I love the tahina and kebabs – and generally pretty inexpensive too. I had the best falafel sandwich I’ve ever had at a takeaway stand and it cost 1 Egyptian Pound (about 20 US cents) Eric was pretty jealous because his chicken sandwich cost 4 times that.
More soon from the West Bank Tombs, but first here’s my favorite carving so far. It’s sort of an ancient form of Excel with a listing all of the items and quantities offered up to the gods. Ahhh spreadsheets!
halftime
May 4th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Great photos! I wish I had a digital camera when I went. We’ll have to compare notes next time we meet—Travel Gurus.
Namaskaar.