On the road to Luxor

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