Luxor, Egypt

We arrived in Luxor (to a little snow on the ground thanks to the Mercure hotel) two days before Christmas and the ladies ran the gauntlet of hotels to secure us a nice little place just off the main street. The price was good, the rooms were clean and they even hooked us up with some WiFi to enjoy some family time on Christmas day. Things were turning out good. We hit the streets of Luxor immediatly and found ourselves once again wandering ancinet columns and statues, marveling at the history of the great Pharoahs. Luxor has been a destination for tourism since the idea of tourism began. Even during the Greek and Roman periods, people from all over known world flock to Luxor to marvel at the sights. The temples around Luxor are actually comprised of three different areas. There was Luxor, Karnack to the north of Luxor and across the river on the west bank Thebes or what the ancient Egyptians called Wasset. The first day tours took us to the Temple of Karnack and the Temple of Luxor. Build primarily by Ramses II and Amenhotep III, the temple of Luxor is thought to be not only a temple but also the location of a great festival lasting anywhere from 11 to 22 days(depeding on who was the Pharoah at that time) at which the king or Pharoah was transformed into a divine being. The temple at Karnack may lie mostly in ruin yet the sheer size of the compound and structures that remain make it one of the most impressive sights in Luxor. Built during the height of the diety Amun Ra, the temple is the largest temple complex ever build by man and is the achievment of many generations of Pharoahs and labourers. Its construction continued right up to the time of Alexander the Great where it ground to a halt, never to be fully completed. The first Pylon standing 33m high was the largest of the Pylons of the temple yet never reached its proposed height. The second day in Luxor we were awoke to the delight of morning prayer at 4am. As it turned out, the hotel happened to be in a prime location to receive prayer at high decibels, making it almost impossible not to miss. It was Christmas morning! We jumped up and ran to the Christmas chair to see what was left underneath! (this will all be made clear in the next special edition Christmas blog) We spent the day taking it easy on Christmas and the following day made the trip to the west bank to finish our tour of Luxor. We hit up the valley of the kings, the tombs of the nobles, the impressive (thought totally rebuilt) temple of Hatshepsut who was one of the most famous and important female phaoroahs of all times and finished with a stroll through Medinet Habu built by Ramses III. Each sight was unique and wonderful in its own right though some of the more popular were packed with tourists. Several hours later and all templed out we retreated to our hotel to organize our next move. Into the desert we go!


Pics
1 - is that snow?
2 - Temple of Luxor
3 - Gates of Karnack
4 - wandering the pillar in Karnack
5 - Jeff takes a little soccer break with some locals
6 - Gates of Medinet Habu
7 - Koshiary (a pasta, rice, lentil Egyptian fast food type dish) at a restautant. Delish!
8 - Temple of Hatshepsut carved out of the cliffs
9 - Produce in the market, Yams anyone?