Our Final Days in Egypt
Wednesday in Luxor
Balloon Ride over the Valley of the Kings
was canceled because of high winds, dammit. We were very disappointed about this but knew it could happen. This only upside was that the weather was forecast to be in the low 40s on Wednesday morning and there was a lot of discussion about how many layers we'd need to survive.
Karnak Temple
Covering over 200 acres, the temple of Karnak is actually in the city of Luxor. Like so many temples, it is dedicated to the glory of Amon-Ra, king of the gods, and is one of many started under the guidance of Ramses II. Many other pharaohs changed or added to its features.
Its many aspects include a huge sacred lake, several colossi, and two magnificent granite obelisks quarried in Aswan and each transported in one piece all the way to Luxor. Too immense and too heavy to float down the Nile, they had to be moved overland, not an easy task. The taller of the two had a twin that was gifted to France, moved carefully to Paris, and is the one you will see if you visit the Place de la Concorde.
The entrance hallway guarded by Ram Sphinxes
The two obelisks
Legend has it that if you circle this alter with the
mounted scareb (beetle) seven times your biggest
wish will come true.
The back gate of the Temple of Karnak
Luxor Temple
The Avenue of the Sphinxes
With my old friend Ramses
Carriage Ride
An evening carriage ride is the thing to do in Luxor. So our group piled into ten carriages which took us from near the temple in Luxor back to our hotel for the farewell dinner. This parade wandered through much of the city of Luxor, past shops selling anything you might need or want, and thru traffic with horns blaring and lights flashing. It was a fitting end to our visit to the very nice city of Luxor.
Adam and Zorro
Farewell Dinner
Even though we still had another day and evening, our farewell dinner was held Wednesday evening in the Thai restaurant at our hotel in Luxor. Despite horrible service and lukewarm food, a good time was had by all. The entertainment was highlighted by the performance of a short homage to our guide Mayer.
Thursday, Off to Cairo
Following an early morning flight on EgyptAir, we arrived in Cairo, boarded our bus, and headed off for our final day of exploring.
The view over Cairo, with Giza in the haze
Le Meridian Hotel
Our final night in Cairo was perfectly planned by Mayer Magdy at this hotel which is inside the Cairo airport, making it much easier for those of us that had early flights the next day. Instead of fighting horrible Cairo traffic to get to the airport, there was a skyway bridge from the hotel right into the terminal.
My heart attack moment came when I cleared the first airport security check and my suitcase, which had gone through the x-ray was nowhere to be seen. After several crazy frenzied moments, a young porter showed up with my bag already on his cart. I let him know, in no uncertain terms, that, despite his good intentions, I was not appreciative of his help, yanked my bag off his cart, and headed off to check-in.
After a 7am five-hour flight to London, lunch at Heathrow, a ten-hour flight to Phoenix, and a two-hour span collecting my car and driving back to Tucson, I fell into my own sweet bed at about 10 pm AZ time, about the same time as the Friday flight from Cairo was taking off to London.
Thanks for following my journey.
Comments
Post a Comment