We took a tour to the West Bank on our last day in Luxor after our Balloon ride. I thought we would start the tour straight after our ride but apparently we were driven back to Hotel and the guide … Continue reading A tour to Luxor West Bank
A hot balloon rides in Luxor will take off early morning as the pink and orange hues of the Egyptian sunrise would begin to light up the sky. You would be soaking in the view from hundreds of feet above … Continue reading Hot air Balloon ride over Valley of the Kings
We were not planning to watch any Opera when building itinerary for Egypt trip. However in the middle of planning I came across a posting in Trip Advisor about Opera Aida comeback to Luxor and they would be playing on … Continue reading Watching Opera Aida at Hatshepsut Temple Luxor
We visited Karnak Temple after we checked out from our cruise and checked-in Winter Pavillon, our home for the next 2 days in Luxor. The weather was still cool that morning when we decided to just walk to Karnak Temple as it was only 2.9km from our Hotel and there was a nice pedestrian walk along Nile Corniche. Little that we know that we would continue being hassled by all touts offering horse carriage or guide service or ferry to the West Bank until we reached the temple. There was even a guy yelling to us that we should stop walking as the road in front was closed and we should turned right. That was of course a lie as there was no road closure and the road we took led to Karnak Temple in the end.
At the entrance we found the same row of Sphinx like in Luxor temple. It is going to be such a beautiful pathway after reconstruction completed Us with Ramessess II statue and Nefertari
The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isu—or “most select of places”—by the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years and dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. It is the largest religious building ever made, covering about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedrals would fit within its walls.
The Hypostyle hall, at 54,000 square feet (16,459 meters) and featuring 134 columns, is still the largest room of any religious building in the world. In addition to the main sanctuary there are several smaller temples and a vast sacred lake – 423 feet by 252 feet (129 by 77 meters). The sacred barges of the Theban Triad once floated on the lake during the annual Opet festival. The lake was surrounded by storerooms and living quarters for the priests, along with an aviary for aquatic birds.
Karnak Temple was not as preserved as Luxor Temple and there are many pieces needed reconstructed but nevertheless this is a beautiful temple. The temple also covered a much bigger ground Vs Luxor Temple.
We stayed for few hours in Karnak temple until we were hungry. We took white Taxi in front of the temple to take us to Soffra Restaurant. Most of the Taxis were old cars and don’t have air conditioning.
We originally planned to visit Luxor Temple only after we checked out from the cruise. But in the morning when we went to Edfu temple, Hassan told us that the boat would reach Luxor late afternoon and it would dock … Continue reading The magnificent Luxor Temple
Kom Ombo and Edfu Temple are both temples people visit along the classic Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor or Vice Versa. KOM OMBO TEMPLE Kom Ombo is the most beautiful at sunset and is the only temple apart from … Continue reading Visiting Kom Ombo and Edfu Temple in a Nile Cruise
Nile cruise and Egypt has always been a bucket list as I grew up with Agatha Christie books. When I first browsed about Nile Cruise, the standard packaged will be 4D3N from Aswan to Luxor or 5D4N from Luxor to … Continue reading What to expect from a Nile Cruise
Abu Simbel Temple is located in the Nubia region of Egypt. Overlooking the emerald waters of Lake Nasser, are the two ancient pharaonic rock temples of Abu Simbel : the Temple of Ramesses, beloved by Amun and the Temple of … Continue reading Visiting the incredible Abu Simbel
We dedicated Day 2 to explore all the important Pyramids in Cairo. For this we had to arranged transport and a guide. Waleed was able to arrange this even though he is based in Aswan. We were supposed to be … Continue reading Visiting Pyramids in Cairo
Flying from Jakarta to Cairo Lucky and I flew to Cairo from Jakarta using Garuda/Etihad transiting in Abu Dhabi. Departing Jakarta 17.55, transit in Abu Dhabi 3hr40min and land Cairo 04.35. We were so excited as we never travel together … Continue reading How to see Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo on your own