Cruising the Nile - Day 4

Although there were no activities planned for the fourth and final day of the cruise it was probably my favourite day of my trip. Some people left early and others, such as myself, stuck around Luxor for the day. As I had booked the 8pm train from Luxor to Cairo I had the entire day to explore the East Bank. A number of people had told me about the Temple of Karnak and had given it great reviews, so I decided to check it out for myself. With my LP (Lonely Planet) in hand I ventured out to see what I could find.

Before setting out by myself I always feel some sense of apprehension, mixed with excitement, but my journeys have been safe and rewarding thus far (knock on wood/Illhamdillilah) so I’m happy to continue. My first stop of the day, following some goodbyes and well wishes on the boat, was the Temple of Karnak. Phenomenal. This is one place not to be missed during a visit to Upper Egypt, and I enjoyed the opportunity to explore it by myself. The LP provided a decent walking guide of the expansive grounds, but the massive scale and design of the structures spoke for themselves. I overheard some interesting facts from a few passing tour groups, and smiled at how they were being quickly herded through the site (One tour guide even had a pair of castanets to attract her tour group). I may have even smirked slightly from my independent state . . . until I remembered that I had been one of the flock during the previous three days. Our tour guide, Wahid, didn’t use castanets, but he always held a blue flashlight, which doubled as a hieroglyphics hi-lighter, above the crowd for us to follow.

Pictures cannot do justice to this temple, but here are a few anyway.

A picture taken inside the Great Court at Karnak Temple after walking through a processional avenue of ram-headed sphinxes.