Pre-dawn chai outside the Princess cafe
Egyptians strike me as late morning folk; nowhere we have been shows life before 9 or so. That gave us plenty of time to bike around the nearly empty streets and explore Luxor's infamous temples before the crowds hit. The main temple sits directly at the heart of the town, encircled in a low, barely obtrusive fence. It's obelisk and double flanked entrance leads to a lane of pillars, with the street of sphinxes extending out the opposite direction. New sphinxes are apparently still being uncovered, as they now lead all the way down to the temple of Karnak.
Crazy 8's outside the Temple of Luxor
Obelisk and double flanked entrance to Luxor
One of many babs into the Temple of Karnak
Heiroglyphs on the bab (gateway)
Chris and I spent the majority of the day along the Nile, watching the luxurious ferry boats and feluccas bobbing in the water. We even ate pizza from an Italian kitchen near the expensive hotels, because the falafel sandwhiches we've been surviving off of have lost their charm.
Temples make us sleepy...
Internationally accomodating fleet and ferries along the Nile
Pizza time! Oh Albania, I miss your abundant Italian cuisine
There is almost nothing else to do or see inside Luxor after viewing the temples. We tried to find the hidden life of the town by exploring the back alleys and streets away from the horse drawn carriage tourist streets, but found little more than dirty, crowded alleys full of kids. I didn't feel so well so Chris bought a roasted chicken to go and we settled in for the night, watching Ted Talks on the wireless in our room.
Sketch mode
Roasted street birds
1 comment:
I am SUPERBLY jealous of your trip to Egypt, well the entire trip through the crescent, but I have a pull toward Egypt...though with the current chaos there I am inclined to be more worried for both of you than jealous....anyways be safe and I hope the craziness over there ends soon
-Angel
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