Luxor Temple at Night

Returning from the West Bank, we were free to explore the rest of the day, and did we pack it in! I had a craving for McDonald's french fries, and then we browsed through Aboudi Bookshop next door which had a number of neat souvenirs and a great book selection.

We then wandered down the corniche (path along the Nile) to the Winter Palace, popping into a few shops along the way. The hassles are constant annoyingly with guys offering feluccas or wanting to chat you up and follow you for a bit, but it's more manageable with two people than if one were wandering on their own.

The Winter Palace is a fancy-ish old hotel, like the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. I'd read it was a great place to have a drink and watch the sunset. I think the writer was probably there at a different time of the year though as we checked out the view and sun appeared to be dipping behind some trees. With that, we skipped the drinks and headed right down to the corniche and found ourselves a spot to watch sunset and try a time lapse on the go pro. What we'd hoped would just be a peaceful viewing was interrupted by the constant conversation by one local man and then another. Imagine trying to invent a boyfriend and giving fake names to fend them off!

As soon as the sun disappeared, we headed off to Luxor Temple. Our guide had mentioned the best time to go was around 5pm, just as natural light was disappearing and the artificial light was coming up. This way you could still see the details in natural light and appreciate the beauty of the night views. It took a little while to find the ticket office as it's tucked away just below street level and there was still a number of people streaming in and wandering about.

We got a little addicted to the multitudes of columns and took many photos. For once, it was nice not to be on a time constraint and wander as long as we wanted. Some of the lights weren't on yet, so we turned on the flashlights and admired some of the hieroglyphics in two "alcoves", giving us a very different experience than all the previous temples. It felt like how early archaeologists must have felt when they first came across the temple and they had no light but that of candles or torches.

By the time we left, much of the crowd was gone and more lights were turned on. Luxor Temple was a place we could have just continued to linger. I suspect given the opportunity, we would have liked to have done the same at all the other temples on this trip.Read more