Egypt
Luxor

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Travelers at this place
    • Day 103

      Worldschooling Hub in Luxor, Egypt

      November 28, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

      We came to Egypt after a soul-filling week in Morocco to join a worldschooling hub. A hub is a small community of worldschoolers who come together for a period of time for the kids (and adults) to socialize. The Luxor Worldschooling Hub is run by a lovely family where the husband is from Luxor and has a family farm. The hub kids take a van to the farm to spend 4-5hrs each morning doing project based learning activities (NOT school), which the parents have the morning free to socialize, visit temples & tombs without the “how much longer"s, take crafts and cooking classes, and just have some adult time, which is incredible!

      This month’s theme is food for thought, so the kids have planted and tended gardens, cooked Egyptian foods, made smoothies with a bicycle powered blender, learned about different crops on the farm, taken care of animals and even volunteered at the local animal shelter. They also put together a family café where they sold foods and crafts and raised money to donate to the animal shelter. It’s a very crunchy, kid-driven, participation optional, but both our very different kids LOVED it!

      The coolest part of being at a hub has been the people we met. We’ve all had the opportunity to get to know a Scottish doctor and education consultant and their 11 & 9yo boys who are traveling for 6 months; a British family of teachers with 6&9yo girls who were living in Brunei for the last 5 years and are heading to Sri Lanka; a Kansas City homeschooling family where the dad decided being a lawyer was boring and went into the foreign service, first in China before and during COVID and now in Honduras where they live with 3 of their 5 kids, the other two at boarding schools; and an American dad and German mom, who left their conventional life in Boulder to travel indefinitely with their 9yo son.

      While the first week in the hub was probably our hardest week of the trip (due to a variety of reasons, including us arriving a week late in a 4 week hub and the other families already having bonded, our kids figuring out how to be part of a group, us trying to get used to new foods, new culture, new language, new stores with different products, etc…), we all were valuably reminded that it takes time to adjust to new places! The first week in most places we have traveled has been hard, but by week 2, it gets easier. By week 2 in Luxor, we had a routine down, the kids had made friends, we had made friends, and things became quite enjoyable and relaxed. We leave Luxor on Thursday (last day of the November hub) and we are all quite sad to be leaving, but excited to meet up with another worldschooling family with 7&9yo boys to overland in Namibia together for December!
      Read more

    • Day 8

      Gestern und heute nochmal Luxor

      January 3 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Ich kann nicht handeln, das macht mir Stress, und ich ziehe immer den kürzeren. Schlendern durch die Straßen macht auch nicht so richtig Spaß. Ich habe von dieser hässlichen Seite der Stadt keine Fotos gemacht. Danach nochmal im Luxor Tempel bisschen zeichnen, aber irgendwie ist die Luft raus. Ich muss noch klären, wie und wann ich nach Hurghada fahre, diese Unsicherheit bzw Abhängigkeit mag ich auch nicht.
      Ich bin sehr glücklich so Vieles und Tolles hier erlebt zu haben, freue mich aber jetzt auch wieder auf zuhause.
      Read more

    • Day 7

      I finally walked like an Egyptian

      September 8, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 38 °C

      Early morning balloon ride, Valley of the kings, and of course more temples! We went to one of the oldest temples that took over 1000 years to build. We went out for a traditional Egyptian dinner with Rocky, our tour guide. The waiter told me what we ordered was a "small meal" from the photo you can see our entire table was full of food 🙈. Needless to say, we could not finish and gave our leftovers to the driver!Read more

    • Day 4

      Karnak-Tempel

      October 3 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

      Die Karnak-Tempel bilden die grösste Tempelanlage in Ägypten. Die Tempel wurden für die Anbetung der Götter, hauptsächlich des Sonnengottes Amun-Rah, genutzt (vom Pharao, Priestern, sowie auch vom normalen Volk), aber auch als Ort wo der Pharao lebte. Die Tempel liegen sehr nah am Fluss Nil, wurden also jedes Jahr überschwemmt. Der Pharao und seine Leute die dort lebten sind dann für diese Zeit weggezogen.

      Jeder Pharao hat der Tempelanlage etwas Neues (Statuen, Gebäude etc.) hinzugefügt. Auffällig sind die vielen Statuen und Abbildungen des Pharaos Ramses II, der über eine lange Zeit (ca 66 Jahre) hinweg regierte.

      Die Tempel sind nicht so gut erhalten wie andere die wir bereits besucht haben. Die jährlichen Überflutungen des Nils und das grosse Erdbeben im Jahr 27 vor Christus haben grosse Teile der Tempel zerstört. Vieles wurde aber von Archäolog:innen und Ägyptolog:innen wieder aufgebaut und manche Teile werden momentan noch rekonstruiert.
      Read more

    • Day 10

      On the road to Luxor

      October 4 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

      We were woken by the call to prayer on both sides of the river and were awake to see the sunrise. It was pretty special. Sleep was spasmodic. Whilst it was comfortable, there were random noises that were enough to wake me as a light sleeper - fish jumping, other boats passing and even a small fishing boat at one point. But overall, the entire felucca experience has been wonderful. I loved seeing farm life from the river too, and have it confirmed that it definitely isn’t for me hahahaha!
      Luckily we have a delightful group of people so it was such a joy chatting the day/night away.
      First stop today was Edfu. This is not on our itinerary but was a request from the group. It is the most preserved temple on all of Egypt. After it was abandoned, it became covered in desert sand and remained hidden until 1860.
      Imagine discovering something of this size and in almost perfect condition. 🤯🤯
      It was massive with towering columns and completely covered in perfect hieroglyphics from top to bottom. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and wandered freely around all the rooms and even up the stairs. This is the Temple of Horus and it was surreal to walk around gawking at the artwork.
      Next stop on route to Luxor was an animal hospital that Intrepid supports. It was such a heartwarming place to see all these animals that are looked after for free; anyone can take their animals for free vaccines or if they are injured etc.
      Then on to Karnak Temple - the biggest temple in the world (well kind of; it’s actually 3 temples).
      Humongous !!
      This Ramses II fellow sure did have quite the ego. Everyone else normally gets 12 columns but that was anywhere near enough for him (who also claimed to be a God as well as a Pharaoh). This temple had 134 massive columns……134!!!
      There is a fair bit of damage from earthquakes over the years but it was still spectacular. Many parts have been restored too.
      Our hotel is literally overlooking the Nile and Luxor Temple, as well as the Avenue of Sphinxes and……it has a pool!!!
      #winning 😂😂
      Group dinner tonight and early start tomorrow for our hot air balloon.
      Read more

    • Day 4

      Banana Island

      October 3 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      Um auch den Fluss Nil noch etwas näher kennenzulernen sind wir mit dem Boot über den Nil zur Banana Island gefahren. Auf dieser Nil-Insel befindet sich eine riesige Bananenplantage. Wir konnten die Bananen in verschiedenen Stadien des Wachstums sehen und nachher auch essen! Mit frischen Datteln, Guaven und Orangen. Die Datteln darf man aber nur in ungerader Anzahl essen, sonst bekommt man Diabetes! Zumindest glauben sie das hier.

      Tiere wir Kamele, Affen und sogar Krokodile hat es da auch. Wir konnten sogar mit einem Baby-Krokodil und mit Baby-Affen Fotos machen! Die Affen haben mich aber mit ihrem weichen Fell und den winzigen Fingern so sehr am Hals gekitzelt, dass ich sie schnell wieder runterheben wollte, wobei ich sie erschrak und sie mir dann in den Finger bissen 🫠 ich google jetzt besser mal nicht welche Krankheiten man da bekommen kann.
      Read more

    • Day 3

      Frühstück in Luxor

      October 2 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Ali, unser AirBnB-Host ist der geborene Gastgeber. Er hat uns gestern wie Pharaon:innen begrüsst und uns ein nettes Nachtessen gezaubert. Die Hunde der Nachbarschaft waren dann in der Nacht weniger Gastfreundlich. Das Frühstück fand auf der Dachterrasse statt - mit direktem Blick auf das Tal der Königinnen und den vielen Heissluftballonen, die den Sonnenaufgang begrüssten.Read more

    • Day 5

      Day 4 Luxor - Luxor Temple P1

      October 28 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

      Another temple. Could write heaps about it but would take too long and I have forgotten half of what we were told. The only annoying thing is bloody crowds, I knew it was busy but this is crazy. The guide good Ilya it is still not back to pre Muslim Brotherhood revolution days where they had 9 million visitors a yearRead more

    • Day 3

      Memnonkolosse

      October 2 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

      Die Memnonkolosse (14. Jahrhundert vor Christus) stehen vor dem Eingang des ruinierten Tempel des Amenophis III. Sie befinden sich im Niltal, dh. aufgrund der jährlichen Überschwemmung des Nils wurde der Tempel zerstört und ist nicht mehr sichtbar. Die Kolosse wurden auch teilweise zerstört und es werden aktuell rund um die Statuen herum Bruchstücke aufgegraben um die Kolosse wieder zusammenzusetzen. Die Statuen stellen sen Pharaoh Ameniphis III dar.Read more

    • Karnak Temple

      December 19, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

      It’s 5 p.m. and the giant red sun has just set on the Nile. We are having a mint tea in our rooftop restaurant and recalling all the wonderful moments we had today. At this moment, the Call to Prayer is being sung all over the city and it is loud and haunting. I cannot do the sensual overload I am experiencing right now, justice.

      Twelve hours ago, we set off on our hot air balloon ride on the West Bank of the Nile and we have just returned from visiting the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor. It is the second largest temple complex in the world after Angkor Wat in Cambodia and we were wowed.

      I must backtrack a bit. Yesterday, we were hounded somewhat by a 45 year old super friendly caleche driver, Abdullah, who befriended Chris. His English was fairly good and he talked to us about his hard life in Egypt under their president who is also a military leader. Not the greatest combination…

      Abdullah offered to drive us today to and from Karnak in his caleche for a reasonable price. He met us promptly at 2 pm. with his horse Rambo and his 15 year old son, Ahmed. Karnak is 3 km away and as it was hot today, this was a good option for us.

      To tell you the truth, I don’t know where to start in describing Karnak. Hopefully the photos paint a good picture of what it is like. Luxor used to be called Thebes and it was an important religious centre during the Middle Kingdom period ( 2055-2004 B.C.) it was also became the capital city when Upper and Lower Egypt joined. It was home to the cult god Amun, but I am not going into any more Egyptian history as its history is huge and complicated.

      So, if we had to pick one of the most impressive areas of the Karnak Complex, it would be the Great Hypostyle Hall (5500 square meters) in the Temple to Amun-Ra. It has 134 towering sandstone columns in the form of towering papyrus stalks. In the summer when the Nile used to flood, the columns would be flooded and it looked like a swamp of papyrus.

      All the way from Karnak to where we are staying near the Luxor Temple, there is a Avenue of Sphinxes. This road was used once a year during a big festival when the Egyptians paraded down it carrying the statues of Amun and Mut in a symbolic re-enactment of their marriage. About 15 years ago, houses covered this avenue. When the 1050 sphinxes and statues of rams were discovered, the houses on top of the avenue were torn down and the area was cleared exposing this impressive 3 km avenue. A lot of the sphinxes though have been relocated to the Egyptian Museum to Cairo.

      We spent about 2 hours at Karnak before meeting up with Abdullah again. He took us home and gave us a little tour through some of the Egyptian areas away from ‘tourist’ Luxor.

      We had a grilled shrimp dinner on our roof and talked about all the wonderful things we have done in Egypt during the past week.

      Tomorrow, we will go to Dendara, a place that many travellers have told us is a great place to visit and off the gringo track.
      Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Luxor, الأقصر, الاقصر, Горад Луксор, Луксор, Λούξορ, Luksoro, Lúxor, اقصر, Louxor, Lucsar, לוקסור, लक्सर, Լուքսոր, LXR, ルクソール, ლუქსორი, 룩소르, Луксор шаары, Luksoras, Luksora, लुक्सोर, Loxòr, ਲਕਸਰ, Luksor, لکسر, Al Uqsur, அல்-உக்சுர், ลักซอร์, El-Uksur, 樂蜀

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android