Can every day be my favorite day?
We had a very early morning, waking up at 3:30am to get ready for a 4:10 leave time to go to our hot air balloon! The boat had docked in Luxor last night and we’ll be staying here tonight as well. We were led to a motorboat to cross the Nile and get in a van on the other side to get us to the balloon launching spot.
We got to take this journey with other folks from our boat, 4 of them being American women who booked through the same tour company as we did! They’re from Tennessee and absolutely hysterical. I really enjoyed being around each of them, two sisters and their daughters. The daughters are about the same age as Andrea and I, so it was an easily made friendship. They also found out about this tour company through “word of mouth” in a Facebook group. We took pictures to post to the group at some point, it’s crazy how social media is able to bring complete strangers together.
Anyway, we all watched as the balloons were filled and the baskets were stood up. Mom and I were the last two to get in the basket and then off we went, up into the sky. We got to see the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the farmlands and the desert, the Nile River.. and then the sunrise. Something about hot air balloons and that big ball of fire appearing for the first time in the sky that brings a tear to my eye every single time. It’s just overwhelmingly beautiful. And to be with my favorite people when it happens is the icing on the cake.
As we were landing, some young boys came running to our landing spot on their donkeys. Yes, their donkeys. They galloped across fields and dirt roads to pose with their animals for tips. It’s a pretty sweet gig, because of course we took their pictures and then how on earth could you tell those sweet 7,8,12 year old faces no when they put their hands out for a dollar or two? Don’t get me wrong, their sweet faces got a little too persistent for “more” dollars, but hey-can ya blame them? Also-kudos to them for rushing out each morning before 7am. I don’t think I’d have been that money motivated at their age.
We unloaded from the baskets and then got in the shuttle van to go back to the motorboat to cross the river and get back to our cruise boat for breakfast. Talk about a mouthful and a huge run on sentence. Sorry. My English teacher would be so appalled. Ha-breakfast was great, including fried eggs, fruit and croissants. Plus all the coffee of course.
At 8:30am, we met Osama in the lobby to head out to Karnak Temple. It’s the largest temple complex in the world-a complex because it has so many different temples in it. Many different Pharohs of Egypt added their contributions to it over the years, creating a complex over 200 acres. There is a walkway lined with sphinxes on either side that spans over two miles long to connect Karnak Temples to Luxor Temple, called the Avenue of Sphinxes. The whole complex at one point was fortified with a wall surrounding it.
It was beyond gorgeous, especially some of the many many pillars that still had their vibrant colors visible towards the tops and on the ceiling. It blows my mind that something like this is even possible. We walked through and Osama told us stories about the Pharohs and their statues here. We then got to mosey around on our own, snapping pictures and soaking it all in.
It started getting super hot by 9am. When we got back to the cruise boat, we all were wiped out from the heat. We got to relax awhile, have lunch, nap, have some wine, all before Osama was back to get us at 4:30pm to take us to see Luxor Temple. It was a short car ride to the temple, and on the way we saw a McDonald’s and a bookstore. It’s sort of neat to see American things way the heck over here.
I absolutely LOVED Luxor temple. The sun setting in the background of the temple may have had a huge part in making this one of my favorites. The air was warm, but not unbearable like it gets in the heat of the day. This temple also has the world’s largest open air museum. Pretty impressive stuff. It’s always the massive columns that get me though, I think that’s why I love Greek and Roman history as well. The magnitude of these places and the details of the carved stones is just beyond anything I can imagine being created.
This temple isn’t dedicated to one God-it’s dedicated to the rebirth/rejuvenation of kings and is thought to be the site where the new pharoh had their coronation ceremony. It’s also a burial site for many Pharohs, as well. Ramses II seemed to have his name on practically every temple in Egypt, and this one is no different. There is battle scenes carved here from his victory during the Battle of Kadesh.
One area has Roman scenes painted on the walls, covering the original ancient Egypt carvings.. from when the Roman Christians took over the temple and turned it into a Coptic Church. It’s wild that the colors still show up today.. and that the restoration teams are able to preserve these pieces of history so well. There’s also a birth room, with scenes of the Devine birth of King Amenhotep III.
We walked through and got gorgeous pictures with the night sky coming though the pillars. Then we walked with Osama and took a ride through downtown Luxor in a horse drawn carriage. Andrea and I were in one, Terri and Mom were in the one behind us with Osama sitting upfront with the “driver.” We went through the city streets for over an hour, seeing the lights and the people-the cars and the chaos. It was incredible, being able to see the vehicles and animals wind and curve through each other with such ease-it seemed unorganized-and yet, everyone knew exactly what they were doing. It’s pretty impressive.
We eventually made it back to our river boat. I was completely pooped at this point. So much so that I forgot we still had to eat dinner. I, for maybe the first time since finishing the pacific crest trail, wasn’t hungry a bit. Thankfully, the boat had some pre-dinner entertainment going on as we got on board: a belly dancer and a Turkish dancer. We swayed in our cushy seats and clapped along, all the while I was thinking that I’m getting really damn old-I was sleepy and the music was loud as hell! Haha.. it really creeps in on ya sometimes. Either way, I enjoyed the show the performers put on for us, loud music and all.
By 8p, we headed down for dinner. I still wasn’t actually hungry, but you know I ate it anyway. It was set up buffet style again, and I was able to get some noodles with beef that was fantastic. They also had the great brownies like they had on the fancy dinner night. It was just perfect-and the best thing to help me fall fast asleep about an hour later, the exact moment my head touched the pillow.
Today was action packed for sure-but what better way to see the East bank of Luxor? Ah. It was incredible. Tomorrow, we meet Osama at 7am to go to the West Bank of the city, to the Valley of the Kings. I’m beyond excited! Goodnight!