LUXOR: ANCIENT CAPITAL AND CITY OF GOD AMUN RA

Karnak Temple Luxor

Although there were protests in Luxor, the focus was the Egyptian capital, Cairo.  But, Luxor, the ancient city Thebes, was once the capital of Egypt  during the Middle Kingdom.  It lies in the middle  of Egypt across from the Valley of the Kings and Queens where the tombs of the pharoahs and their families are located.                                                                  

Thebes/Luxor was the city of the god Amon Ra and was the religious capital until the Greek period. Amon Ra's temple,the Karnak Temple Complex is located in the northern part of Luxor.  It is an incredible experience to wander through the huge temple and imagine what it must have been like in ancient times.  Although what we see is mostly white stone, in ancient times, the sculptures were brightly painted and the remains of this painting can be seen in some        
places.                                                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

     A tourist destination in Luxor, is the Karnak Temple Complex at night.  At first attending a light show in the temple seems a little hokey, but it is a really fantastic experience.  To wander through the ruins- the temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings amidst colored strobe lights, music and readings is a fantastic experience and I highly recommend it.                

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bubble_Boy_(Seinfeld)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Nile Tours are Back: cruising at Luxor

Feluccas on the NIle

One of the things starting back this week are Nile cruises.  We didn't do the official Nile cruise which involves a couple of days floating on the Nile anywhere between Luxor and Cairo. The most common are the 4-7 day cruises between Aswan and Cairo on large cruisers.  Some are the height of luxury and some are more modest.

We did, however, cruise on the Nile on a small, old-fashioned Egyptian wooden sailing boat called

One course of our multi-course meal

felucca.  Our sail was a two hour lunch cruise catered by a local luxury hotel and the food was outstanding.  Elegantly served by a formally-dressed waiter, course after course of Egyptian food was brought to us at a low table in the center of the boat.  It was impossible to eat all the food, but we tried.

After lunch the next order of business was sight-seeing along the river- scenes from everyday life along the Nile.  My favorite sights were the camels- not decked-out the way they normally are at the Giza pyramids or other tourist sights, but camels just going about their daily business. It seemed odd to see

Camels going about their day

 camels just casually standing around, mixing with other animals.

It's great that travelers, once again, are going to be able to share in this part of life in Egypt.

Egypt: Siwa revisited

Today I read that some major tour operators were reinstating tours to Egypt.  What a relief.   Egypt is such an incredible country with such incredible things to see.  Here is a photo I took last year in the Egyptian desert at an oasis called Siwa.  We stayed at an eco-resort, which means that we had no electricity, but lots of running water, and luxury minus the electricity.  Our three day stay was highlighted by a late afternoon jeep caravan into the desert followed by a candle-lit dinner on tables with elelgant candelabra and superb Bedouin cuisine.  It's wonderful to know that people are going to be able to again share in this desert experience.