Our first attempt to take a train from Aswan to Luxor was rudely interrupted by our getting kicked off of the "local" Train. For some reason travelers are not allowed to take these trains, they say it is for our own safety, but I think that it is so they can make more money by charging the tourists an outrageous price. We were able to jump on the next train 7 hours later and we were on our way.
Upon arriving, we were greeted by a slew of men wanting us to stay at their hotel. We kindly declined because this is one of the biggest scams we ran into. Taxi drivers along with random "touts" on the street would take us to a hotel and tell the person at the front desk that they guided us here and then demand a tip from it. Thus making our rate go way up! As we started to walk away one man followed us because we were going in the direction of the hotel he was trying to sell us. Then another guy walked up and the first guy punched him in the face and screamed at him in Arabic. We then said we are definitely NOT going to your hotel. A little bit of a weird experience, but I think we are so used to weird things happening that it doesn't phase us anymore. We really enjoyed ourselves in Luxor, aside from the Heat. It is amazing to think how old the ruins are here, and that they were such a powerful and advanced civilization. I have only one recommendation for Egypt: Do not go on a tour to Egypt, go on your own, explore it for yourself and try to really imagine the civilization with out being herded around the "important" sites.
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| This is at the Temple of Karnak |
As we are walking into the temple there is a row on either side of Ram sphinxes, pretty amazing what great condition they are still in.
this is all that was left over of a statue, for an idea of how big this statue was: my head just reached the toes. That Ramses really outdid himself with this one- too bad it fell apart...
Scarabe beetle- in Egyptian tradition the beetle is thought to be good luck
It was also said to help with fertility. This is me walking around the statue 7 times- that is what all of the local people said to do, I think they just like to watch the tourists make fools out of themselves.
We couldn't resist- These are the longest dread locks either of us have ever seen.
The Great Hypostyle Hall- 134 Massive pillars dedicated to Amun- Re
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| It was sad to see that when the Christians came through Egypt they hacked at the faces of a lot of the hieroglyphs |
The two birds represent the god Horus- the god of the sky. and the center is the Ankh the symbol for eternal life. This symbol is seen in most of the hieroglyphs.
This was interesting, this Christian art is painted over the Egyptian art.
I think this was the back entrance to the Temple, this doorway was quite big.
Me sizing up the columns from the great hall
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| This is Ramses getting ready to cut off someones head- I think this was to show how much power he had. |
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| Really? when you go to Luxor do not dress like the lady in white on the right side of the picture, it was horrible for the rest of us.... gross |
In front of the Temple
This is in front of the Luxor Temple, this is the foot that is missing its body.
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| Ramses and either his wife Nefertiti |
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| Ramses |
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| This is a statue of Ramses and his first wife when they were 13! |
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| The main walkway at Luxor Temple |
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| Rusty experimenting with the SLR in one of the tombs- It was completely dark in this room and he told me to run from one side of the room to the next and this is what came out. |
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| We found it interesting to see graffiti from explorers of the past... |
Valley of the Queens- Queen Hatshepsut's Temple
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| main walkway in the Luxor Temple |
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| hanging out in the courtyard of the Luxor Temple |
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| Rameses put his sculpture everywhere in the Luxor Temple |
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| A close- up of Rameses |
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| Queen Hatshepsut- You can still see some of the paint on the hat. |
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| This umbrella I purchased in London came in handy in Luxor to keep the sun off. |
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| Queen Hatshepsut's Temple |
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| Inside Hatshepsut's temple |
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| In front of Queen Hatshepsut's Temple |
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| The Colossus of Memnon |
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| Horus |
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| Me and Horus |
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| Colossus of Memnon |
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| We thought these slug hieroglyphs were interesting, i don't think of slugs when i think of Egyptian hieroglyphs... |
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| Front entrance to Temple of Karnak |
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| Ramses statue in Temple of Karnak |
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| Temple of Karnak |
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| Rusty in front of one of the pillars in the Great Hall |
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| Temple of Karnak |
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| One of the little rooms that they would worship in. Can you see Rusty in this one?? |
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| Temple of Karnak |
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| Yet another set of feet, however this one was still attached.. |
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| us in front of the sacred pool at Temple of Karnak |
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| In front of the temple of Karnak ruins |
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| The back entrance of the temple |
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| Rusty and the statues |
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| A pitch black room, rusty's face is hilarious. These rooms were a little eerie to be honest... |
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| Luxor Temple- Ramses statues |
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| In Front of the Temple of Karnak |
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| We rented bikes to ride around in Luxor, I thought it might be too hot, but it wasn't too bad |
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| Eating yummy Egyptian food. Beans, Hummus and chicken stew |
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| Rusty and the infamous foot |
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| Luxor Temple |
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| Queen Hatshepsut temple |
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| Ramses and Rusty |
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| An interesting Hieroglyph |
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| In the Courtyard of the Luxor Temple |
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| The Front of the Luxor Temple |
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| Ramses Head |
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| This walkway goes from the temple of Karnak to the Luxor temple. They are about a mile from each other and the walkway if lined all the way with ram sphinxes |
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| Our Trusty Bikes |
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