December 28, 2009 Cairo to Luxor and the Temples

We were awakened at 5:15 for our 5:45 breakfast. I did not sleep well, due to the 8-hour time change. We had excellent omelettes and fruit. After packing and assembling in the lobby, we were led back out to the main road and the bus under an armed police escort which accompanied us back to the airport. The area around the presidential residence was heavily guarded.

At the airport we went through totally lax security. Everyone set off the alarm but no one was stopped. I had a metal, filled water bottle but the attendant was on the phone and could have cared less.

Our flight flew south, up the east side of the Nile over a barren desert scored with fascinating dry streambeds leading down to wide wadis, some of which were partly infilled with drifting sand. I could see the Gulf of Suez and the Sinai in the distance.
As we neared the end of the 50 minute, 700 km Memphis Air flight, we drifted closer to the Nile and crossed into the verdant irrigated floodplain. We landed walking through lobbies at the palm-bordered Luxor Airport, collected our bags and took our bus to the boat on which we will do our cruise. Our boat, the Nile Serenade, was docked even and parallel to a bunch of others, the sixth one from shore. We paraded through the lobbies of the other boats on our way to ours. It was very nice, a large improvement from the King Hotel. Dean and I got our room and then joined the others in the lobby. We re-boarded the bus and drove over to the Karnak Temple complex. With Hala, and her blue and yellow umbrella, in the lead we went through the complex, visiting most of the highlights. The place was crowded, this being the high season, but not overbearing. The temperature was pleasant.

The complex is extremely impressive with its enormous columns and walls covered with hieroglyphics. Numerous statues of Ramses II  adorn the place, all carved from Nubian Sandstone. Granite obelisks, quarried upriver at Aswan, towered over the temple. The hypostyle colonnade was my favorite, with each column covered in hieroglyphics. Remnants of the brightly-colored paints remain on many of the structures. Cameras clicked the entire time; everyone was in awe.

After about 5 hours we returned to the boat for an excellent lunch. We were all beat from traveling and jet lag but quickly rallied and headed out to the Luxor Temple which was nearby on the riverbank. It is connected to Karnak by an avenue of 365 sphinxes.
Although it is much smaller than Karnak, and carries a 14th century mosque on top, it is also extremely impressive. As with Karnak, there were monuments of Ramses II and many hieroglyphics inscribed in the Nubian sandstone walls and columns. The temple was designed to be flooded and several water lines are visible on the walls. When it was “discovered” it was more than 2/3 buried in the river silt. So the buried part is better preserved than the upper third. We left as the sun was getting low in the sky.

Most of us elected to take an hour and a half carriage ride through the narrow, crowded streets of Luxor. I rode with Monte; Elena and the students took the bus back to the boat.
The ride was interesting, giving us a glimpse of the lives of the typical Egyptian townsperson. Kids waved and shouted hello as our line of carriages wove through the crowded bazaar. We stopped for a hookah and tea/soda but I refrained from the smoke, although it did smell good. On our return to the boat we rode down the avenue of sphinxes for awhile. Remains of the monuments stuck out of people’s yards.

Dinner on the boat was great but everyone was starting to crash afterward, I explored the upper deck and drank some wine. My students stayed in the hot tub. I was tempted but opted to go to bed instead, falling asleep immediately.