The Temple of Luxor was our first stop, and at the entrance you are greeted by massive statues of Pharaohs guarding the temple which have been there for over 3000 years. At various different points around the Temple you can see the marks and scratching from the last 200 years where archaeologists have slowly dusted away and brought to the light this ancient temple. At one if you look up the entrance you can even see a mosque, which shows just how much of the temple was buried.

This Temple was originally built for the ritual practices exercised at the most important Ancient Egyptian festival, the Festival of Opet. Luxor Temple used to be joined by a long avenue of Sphinx to Karnak Temple, which modern day archaeologists are slowly uncovering. However, a lot of modern day Luxor has unfortunately been built over this avenue, so think of the sights you can see as a work in progress - what you see today will probably be doubled in ten years time!

We then progressed to the Temple of Karnak, which was the best thing we had seen on our whole trip. Words fail to describe just how impressive it is - the grandness of the Temples, the sheer height of the pillars, and the creativeness of the hieroglyphics and artwork were amazing. Again we were treated to a guided walk of the Temple from the outer courts where in days gone by only “commoners” could visit, right through to the sacred inner courts which could only be visited by High Priests and the Pharaohs themselves. And then it was back to the hotel to relax for the last couple of days in the wonderful Egyptian sunshine.

The Sonesta St George is a wonderful hotel to stay at, and a fantastic central location right near the shops and restaurants on a strip with lots of other gorgeous hotels. I have already booked to visit again next year so I can see the other great sights that I simply couldn’t fit in to this trip.

I would recommend Luxor to anyone wanting a cultural break with some five star luxury. Oh and take some good mosquito lotion as the mosquito’s are very greedy!

Read previous post: Luxor, Part 2 – The Temple of Denderah

It was a early start again. The cruise left at 7am from the Iberotel hotel, so we were collected at around 6.30am by Abdul. Once onboard we were shown around the little cruise ship and taken up onto the main deck, where there was a choice of comfy sofas or sun loungers to relax on for the duration of the journey to Denderah. We were served complementary teas, coffees and had the chance to simply soak up the spectacular scenery of the Nile, seeing how the ordinary Egyptians live in some of the more remote villages. The journey to Denderah only takes a couple of hours, and this was a great opportunity to just sit back and relax.

Once we arrived at Denderah we were given a tourist police escort (nothing to worry about, it’s perfectly normal!) to the Temple and our guide told us a little of the history. The temple is dedicated to Hathor, the cow-headed goddess, and is the only Temple in the whole of Egypt where you can go up onto the roof to enjoy the magnificent views of the captivating countryside. “Wow”, is all I could say.

Once we’d gone through the information centre we were greeted by a sight so magnificent I truly thought that nothing else in Egypt would compare. Cameras simply cannot capture just how tall or wide this building is and to think that the Egyptians built all of this without the aid of modern day techniques is mind-boggling. Once inside we were shown more examples of exquisite hieroglyphics, again all of them magnificently preserved. I had the opportunity to clamber down into a crypt – which I have to say was a little bit claustrophobic, but a great experience nonetheless!

And then the climb to the roof through a narrow stairwell that spiralled upwards. Once we got to the roof we were greeted by a very hot sun and some stunning views of the lush countryside. It is here on the roof that the first sign of the Zodiac was said to be found (it was stolen by tomb raiders in the 19th century and now resides in Paris!). Once we had finished our tour of the roof with its various different sections we were taken back to the boat and treated to a delicious buffet lunch, with lots of choices of scrumptious dishes and complementary drinks, whilst the boat started our long journey back to Luxor (roughly five and a half hours).

In the afternoon we got the opportunity to buy Egyptian silk scarves from a trader on the cruise ship. For the less adventurous (like myself) his set prices meant that you didn’t need to worry about bartering him down or worry about being ripped off! You could also take a refreshing dip in the little plunge pool in the centre of the ship or simply sunbath. Once it started to get dark we were treated to a beautiful sunset. I know that every country claims to have the “best sunset ever” but I truly believe that Egypt can lay claim to that title. After all, didn’t the ancient Egyptians worship the sun gods?

My top tip for this excursion is wear lots of sun cream on your face! That old chestnut of  you get a better tan on a boat is so true, and I had some rather unusual sun burn on my nose where I’d worn sunglasses all day! Also, take a jumper with you as the Nile is rather cold early morning and in the evening.

Read previous post: Luxor, Part 1 – Valley of the Kings and Queens

Read next post: Luxor, Part 3 – The Temples of Karnak and Luxor

Once we had settled into our hotel the next day we met our local holiday rep, and she proceeded to list all the many excursions that we could do whilst staying in Luxor. Now whilst I have read that it is cheaper to book with local reps that have agencies dotted around Luxor, I felt that the knowledge and practicality of our tour operators rep more than justified the little extra that we paid.

Trip one – Valley of the Kings and Queens and the Temple of Queen Hatchepsut.

What a way to start our trip! We were collected from our hotel in a smart air conditioned coach at the rather unearthly hour of 6am, and then proceeded to collect other guests from other hotels whilst our tour guide for the day Abdul gave us a running commentary of the various different areas that we passed through.

Once we had crossed the Nile to the West Bank we were met by the sight of the information centre for the Valley of The Kings Our guide was incredibly efficient (I guess he’s used to herding big groups of British tourists around!) and once we were through the gates, he took us into the shade and began to explain all the fascinating deeds of the various different Pharaohs. The fact that the stunning art work has remained all these years is incredible, and the architecture was brilliant as well. We were incredibly lucky that Tutankhamen’s tomb was open to the public and we were treated to a sight of the most famous Pharaoh’s tomb - and also his mummified body (very much intact considering how old it is!).

Once we had completed the Valley of the Kings we then moved on to the Valley of the Queens which, whilst still impressive, is a lot smaller because the ancient Egyptians considered the Pharaohs more important! Also there was a terrible flood from underground water reserves when the Aswan Dam was built and this had unfortunately ruined some of the lower Queens tombs.

Our final visit of the day was to the magnificent Temple of Queen Hatchepsut. Even from a distance looks huge, but up close was jaw dropping! Again we were taken around by our highly informative guide and given a brief history of how the temple was built, aswell as  the general history of the Queen. Then finally back to the hotel in Luxor for an afternoon of being served cocktails at my lovely comfy sun lounger!

Read next post: Luxor, Part 2 – The Temple of Denderah