Luxor

Day 1

Our guide arrived at 08.00 to take us to our first stop, Karnak temple. It’s a massive site and whilst it was already getting busy when we arrived the people are well dispersed. The first impression is awe-inspiring, even if the photo below had to be taken into the sun.

The entranceway is lined with sphinxes with the body of the lion and the head of a ram.

Inside the main gate, you quickly reach the famous hypostyle hall - well over a hundred pillars of colossal height, all carved and many still brightly coloured despite being c3,500 years old.

Plenty of hieroglyphs, carvings, obelisks and statues to explore across the rest of the site.

Then on to Luxor temple, different but equally impressive.

The Avenue of Sphinxes links the two temples. Ceremonial processions, including boats of the type shown in replica below, travelled along the avenue during the festival of Opet, to celebrate the Nile flood.

Back to the hotel and after a bit of time by the pool, a short walk across the road to a restaurant on the banks of the Nile for an early supper whilst we watched the sunset and the boats taking tourists out on the river.

Day 2

A quiet day, enjoying the hotel’s lovely gardens and the pool. The gardens look great by day and at night, when they are beautifully lit.

Late afternoon, we arranged a taxi to take us across to the West Bank to see Howard Carter’s house, which wouldn’t be included in our tour tomorrow. An interesting short excursion to end the day.

Back to the hotel in time for a buffet dinner in the garden, Diana looking rather more dressed up than me!

Day 3

This was our day to explore the West Bank - the city of the dead. A new bridge, opened about 7 months ago, made for an easy journey and our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. Hordes of people here, so there was a bit of queuing to get into the tombs and some of them were rather crowded inside, but not so much so as to spoil the experience. Three of the major tombs are included in the entrance ticket and you can then buy add-ons to allow you to access other tombs. Lots of people bought the add-on for Tutankhamen’s tomb, as you would expect, but we pretty much had the tomb of Rameses VI to ourselves - and it was the best!

Diana with our guide at the entrance to the valley, a general view of the valley, and Diana and I exploring underground.

Some pictures from the tombs - I took far too many and will sort more closely when we get back!

Next stop was the temple of Medinet Habu…

…then on to the Colossi of Memnon…

…before finishing our tour at the temple of Queen Hatshepsut - perhaps over-restored but very dramatic in its amphitheatre of hills.

A fabulous day, but we were glad to get back to the pool for an hour or so late afternoon to cool off! We have a taxi transfer to Aswan tomorrow, stopping at the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo en route.