My husband isn’t a big fan of flying so even though we could have traveled to Luxor in an hour by plane, we opted to take the sleeper train – in spite of the fact that it was more expensive. I don’t mind flying but the train appealed in an Agatha Christie sort of way so I agreed.
It was an adventure, I’ll give it that. The beds were comfortable enough but I got very little sleep. If it wasn’t the children waking up and fussing, the train itself kept slamming on the brakes and stopping. We arrived in Luxor at 7am, two hours later than scheduled, unrefreshed. But we were there.
It was hot, even at that early hour. But it wasn’t going to get any cooler as the day progressed, so after checking in at our hotel, we grabbed our hats and some water and headed out to the Temple of Luxor.
(Click on any of the images to view them larger)
There is an avenue of sphinxes to the left as you enter – I suppose it was the original entrance to the temple. For some reason, the sphinxes on one side were much better preserved than the others. Maybe they were buried? I could have taken pictures of sphinxes all day. I love that their faces are all different.
A statue as you enter the temple. The scale of everything was huge!
My son is an orange speck in the distance.As if the size and scale of this wasn’t impressive enough, imagine that all of the hieroglyphs used to be painted and many of the columns and statues were plated in gold and silver.
The Romans left their mark too. At one point, when they were rulers of Egypt, they used the Temple of Luxor as a fortress and treasury. They plastered over the hieroglyphs and painted their own images there. And amazingly, some of them are still visible.
It wasn’t just pharaohs and Romans who made contributions to the temple.
Here we have some ancient graffiti.
Tomorrow: Temple of Karnak.
Great photos, Jenyfer. I have some of the same ones.
by Shelley Munro April 29th, 2008 at 7:44 amLOL, Shelley. There were pictures to be taken with every step. Between us, Mr. Matthews and I took more than 200 pictures over our four days in Luxor. Seemed like too many for the blog though! ;D
by Jenyfer Matthews April 29th, 2008 at 8:09 amInspiring Jenyfer!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful travel pics!
Ash
by Ashlyn Chase April 29th, 2008 at 11:30 amOh Jen, these are so cool! Your trip sounds fun, yet exhausting. Still, it’s so worth seeing all of this in person. I bet it was amazing. The sphinxes remind me of the columns in Rome. I could’ve taken pictures of them all day long.
Thanks for sharing!
by krisyankee April 29th, 2008 at 12:26 pmVery cool. I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt!
by Jennifer Shirk April 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pmBeautiful pictures! I am so jealous! I know that you had a ball!
Deidre
by ddurance April 29th, 2008 at 5:21 pmgorgeous, gorgeous pictures! They’re wonderful!
by Anny Cook April 29th, 2008 at 6:22 pmJenyfer, I have great memories from Luxor. I visited in my senior year of high school, a class trip. If Luxor is impressive, wait till you see Karnak. Don’t miss the Karnak Sounds and Lights show. It’s amazing. I don’t know if people can still enter the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of Queens. have a great trip. You are sure making the best out of your stay in Egypt. Thanks for the pictures.
by Mona Risk April 29th, 2008 at 9:22 pmThis is just too cool, Jenfyer! I am jealous, but so thrilled for you. What an awesome trip. Looking forward to day two.
by Jodi Lynn Copeland April 29th, 2008 at 10:38 pm