This morning we visited the temple of Karnak on the east bank of Luxor. It is a massive temple complex. Construction began about 4,000 years ago and continued until about 2,000 years ago. It was an impressive area.
Avenue of Sphinxes
Avenue of Sphinxes
The Temples of Karnak complex is the largest.
Great Temple of Amon
Great Temple of Amon
Great Temple of Amon
After we finished our visit and tour of the Temples of Karnak, we went back to our riverboat to pack and head to the Luxor airport for our flight back to Cairo. We stayed in the same hotel where our trip began, the Conrad Cairo hotel. By the time we arrived at our hotel it was time for a late dinner and we relaxed in our hotel room because tomorrow was going to be another busy day.
We are at the city of Edfu which is located on the west side of the Nile. This morning we took a horse and carriage ride to visit the Temple of Horus. The pictures below show a small view of the city on our way to the temple.
The Temple of Horus is one of the best preserved ancient monuments that we visited because when pagan cult was banned it was filled by desert sand which protected much of the temple. This temple is dedicated to Horus who was the son of Isis and Osiris.
As we traveled along the Nile we saw factories and a lot of air pollution and we also worried about what was being spilled into the river.
We are sailing on the Nile and passed through the Esna Lock system.
Heading toward the Esna Locks.
The Edna Lock system.
As we sailed along, these rowboats would come up to the riverboats and try to sell their wares, clothing, etc… They would toss it up to the top deck where passengers would be standing and hope that the passengers would toss down money in the bags. It was something to see!
This evening we visited the Luxor Temple. The traffic in the town of Luxor, was really heavy and of course there was a roundabout.
Luxor Temple was beautiful as we explored it this evening. In front of the temple is the beginning of the Avenue of Sphinxes which were difficult to see because of darkness. The Avenue of Sphinxes once ran all the way from Luxor to the temples at Karnak, a little under two miles.
Luxor Temple
The red granite obelisk that still remains. Two were originally in the front but the other is now in Paris!This is one of the six colossal statues of Ramesses II.
Below are different areas of the temple, from the Great Court of Ramses II, the Colonnade of Amenhotep III, the Sun Court of Amenhotep III, the Hypostyle Hall, Chamber of Amun, and the Barque Shrine of Amun.
After our tour of the Luxor Temple we stopped at a Papyrus store where they gave us a demonstration on how papyrus paper is made.
After our visit to the papyrus store we went back to our riverboat for the evening.
This morning began with a ride on a felucca. It is an Egyptian sailing boat that travels slowly on the Nile River.
Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile while staying at the Old Cataract Hotel which is pictured below!
On our felucca ride we also saw some pied kingfisher and their nests.
You saw the fertile land along the Nile and then desert! It was quite a contrast.
The Aga Khan Mausoleum can be seen on the West bank of the Nile. Aga Khan was a spiritual leader of the Ismailis, a Shi’ite sect. The villa below to the left is his villa where he lived until his death and his wife oversaw the building of his mausoleum while living in the villa.
Aga Khan’s Mausoleum and his villa is down on the left.Aga Khan’s Mausoleum
Our next stop was to visit a Nubian village. Below are various pictures of the village as we walked through the area! Nubians are indigenous to southern Egypt and they originated along the Nile valley.
One of our stops was a school in the village. We arrived as the morning classes were ending and before the afternoon session began. It was fun to see these happy young children.
The classrooms are very stark and have nothing in materials/technology that our schools in the US have to educate our students!
We were able to visit one of the Nubian homes and they were very friendly and let us walk all through their home.
As we left the village and traveled on our boat back to our riverboat we saw gardens and farms.
Our riverboat- M/S Mojito
Late afternoon we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo.
This temple is dedicated to two gods: the crocodile god Sobek, and Haroeris, Horus the Elder. It has twin entrances.
The two entrances.
We were walking around the temple and also visited the Crocodile Museum. The Crocodile Museum was full of mummified crocodiles and ancient carvings.
Below are pictures of the nilometer at Kom Ombo. A nilometer was built to measure the Nile river’s water level during the flood season!
After our visit to the temple we had a Galabeya party on our riverboat. Many in our group dressed in their galabeya outfits or whatever they had to wear. Not all of our group was around for the picture. We all enjoyed ourselves! It was a fun evening.
After the party we went out on the top deck to look at the stars and the moon! The moon was almost full!
Overnight our riverboat traveled on the Nile and we are heading to Edfu.
This morning was a very early wake up call because we had a flight from Cairo to Aswan on Egypt Air.
After landing in Aswan we met our guide again and boarded a bus to visit the Aswan High Dam. There was a lot of security around Aswan because the president of Egypt was visiting because of an African Youth conference.
The Aswan High Dam was finished in 1970 and replaced the previous Aswan Low Dam that was built in the early 1900s. Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes, was created by the dam. With the creation of the Aswan High Dam the annual Nile flood could be controlled by man.
After the dam, we went to explore the “unfinished obelisk” which is found in a granite quarry in Aswan and is considered to be over 3,500 years old. It is about 1/3 larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk. As the carvers were carving the obelisk directly out of the bedrock, cracks appeared in the granite and so it was never finished. This unfinished obelisk gave important information about what techniques the workers used.
On our way to the riverboat that we would be staying on as we cruised on the Nile for the next four nights, we stopped at an essential oils store for a demonstration and a chance to try the oils and purchase some.
Our riverboat was the M/S Mojito. The boat has only 70 staterooms. We arrived and had some time before our next excursion of the day.
The lobby of our riverboat.
We took a small boat to visit the island Agilika where we toured the Temple of Isis which was built to honor the goddess Isis, the Temple of Hathor, and the Kiosk of Trajan. The whole complex was moved from its original island of Philae after the flooding of Lake Nasser. You can see the metal columns where the flooded island of Philae was located.
Below is the unfinished Kiosk of Trajan (Pharaoh’s Bed)
Kiosk of Trajan
The Temple of Isis
Horus
The Inner Sanctuary of Isis had two granite shrines, one containing a gold statue of Isis and another containing the barque in which the statue travelled. Only the pedestal for the barque remains.
After dinner our riverboat had a Nubian Folkloric show and we spent the night in Aswan.
Friday, March 15th, 2019 and Saturday, March 16th, 2019
On Friday, we flew from Columbus to JFK where we would catch our international flight to Cairo. We flew on EgyptAir. It was a smooth flight without any problems. It was about 5,614 miles from New York to Cairo, Egypt.
Cairo Airport
Leaving the airport in Cairo.
On Saturday we arrived, mid-morning, and disembarked, claimed our luggage, paid our Visa and met our assistant in Cairo, Marcus and our Egyptologist for our group, Maha. We all boarded our bus for our trip to our hotel in Cairo, the Conrad Cairo.
The lobby of our hotel.The lobby of our hotel.
Below is the view from our hotel room. We can look at the Nile.
We had enough time in our room to shower and change clothes before meeting in the lobby to go to the Light and Sound Show at the Pyramids of Giza.
We had security with us at all times.We saw many Tuk-tuks. They are small 3-wheeled vehicles.One of the many mosques in Egypt.
Our first view of the pyramids of Giza!
We were surprised that businesses were so close to the pyramids and the sphinx. A misconception on our part!
Our group was there early enough to get good seats for the show. Being in the desert, when the sun went down it was chilly! The cool weather and breezy conditions did not keep us from enjoying the Light and Sound Show!
After an overnight flight and long day on Saturday, we were ready for sleep when we arrived at our hotel!
The whole complex was moved from its original island of Philae after the flooding of Lake Nasser. You can see the metal columns where the flooded island of Philae was located.
