Luxor

After leaving the Nile, we drove for about an hour to get to Luxor. On the way we stopped at a temple - that is what the first couple pictures are of. We also saw over the next couple days the Valley of the Kings (unfortunately we could not take pictures there), as well as Karnak temple, and sights around Luxor. This part of the trip was probably the few days when I feel like we saw the most as far as historical buildings, temples, tombs, etc. We crammed a lot in!

Here is the temple we stopped at on the way to Luxor. It was discovered and used to be covered by mud from old "christian" mud-brick houses which surround it. Egypt believes something like 60% of its artifacts from ancient times are still buried throughout the country.

more brightly colored doors.

Hibiscus tea. Served both hot & cold, and very popular.

Karnak. A massive temple complex right in the city of Luxor. Many kings/pharoah's added on to it over the years.

It's crazy that you can still see colors on the walls and ceiling!

Luxor

Ancient tombs in the hillsides you can see, on the drive to Valley of the Kings.

The market in Luxor

The Nile

After Aswan we were off for a full day on a Felucca boat on the Nile. We spent all day slowly cruising north up the river, and then "camped" on the boat overnight. The next morning we landed not far from Luxor and took about an hour drive into Luxor for the next part of the trip there.

On the Nile we saw quite a few huge cruise boats.... that is a popular way that many tourists and Europeans travel the river, complete with pools, dance floors, and fancy restaurants. We enjoyed our little Felucca/Sail Boat with just the 14 of us in our group... along with Ahmad our tour guide and our 2 Nubian boat captains. The Nubians cooked our meals for us as well, and that Nubian food is just so good...

Since the Damn was built in upper Egypt, there are supposedly no longer crocodiles in the river north of the damn. And in fact we did not see any... oh well. We did see plenty of beautiful landscapes and countryside though, locals bringing their animals to the river for water, a lovely sunset, and hordes of mosquitoes at night. It was crazy to think the it is the same river that Florence Nightingale and the early european explorers spent months on exploring Egypt and its sights so long ago.

chilling out on the boat

food!

Matt and Matt in the Nile.

Our boat during a brief stop along the way

A view of our boat and a neighbor boat where we docked for the night to camp.

Aswan (part 3) - Abu Simbel

Pictures from Abu Simbel. This was the temple in the far south of Egypt which Ramses II built. The one next to it he built for his wife (Nefertari). They are amazing and huge. We couldn't take photos inside these 2 temples- but it was impressive how intricate the carvings were, and that after thousands of years you can still see paint and colors on the walls!

It was really hot this day also, and inside the temples it was hot & humid and jam packed full of tourists... a sweaty mess. It was worth it to see everything, but I couldn't imagine being a worker here building these temples, it must of been grueling.

Another temple on the way back to Aswan from Abu Simbel

Apparently these were all recipes for types of perfumes.

The Holy of the Holy's.

Aswan (part 2) - The Nubian Village

More pictures of our camel ride to the Nubian village and some of the village. The family that hosted us for dinner were so gracious and the food was amazing. The husband of the family showed us the house and told us about their Nubian customs and some enteraining stories about weddings and his marriage.

I love rustic buildings with bright painted doors!

The man of the house where we had dinner, teaching us about Nubian customs.

Amazing Nubian food!