Coming from archipelago country, one of the nicest perk of traveling in Europe is most of the time you don’t need to fly. You can travel from one country to another by train. It’s surprisingly easy, quick and comfortable to … Continue reading Top Tips when travelling by train in Europe
We had to transit in Cairo as we flew to Jordan from Luxor with because there was no direct flight. We arrived around 1am with plan to visit Amman ruins and Roman wall after we checked into our Hotel. However … Continue reading What is it like to visit Petra in a day
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