Luxor - Hot-air Ballooning, Luxor and Karnak Temples

Today is our last day in Luxor and we have a busy day ahead of us.

First, most of us in the group are going hot-air ballooning over the Valley of the Kings.  This is my fourth hot-air balloon ride, after Masai Mara in Kenya, Serengeti in Tanzania, and Cappodocia in Turkey.  Every ride is different and of course, the scenery is different.  For Luxor we are allowed to only go so high because there is a military base nearby.  Another restriction is we cannot fly over the Valley of the Kings but we can see it clearly.  We are flying mostly over farmland.

Almost everyone in our group is packed into the same basket

Flying over Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III

We can see the Valley of the Kings to our right

The balloons have restrictions on where they fly, how high they can fly and where they land.  Our balloon landed on an empty piece of farmland next to some crops.  This is where the skill of the pilot and the ground crew comes into play.  Landing at the perfect spot means less work moving the balloon onto the back of a truck.

After an exhilarating ride, which was over by about 7am, we went back to the hotel to have a nice breakfast.  At about 9am we were ready to go visit the first of two temples - Luxor, then Karnak. Both are on the east bank of the Nile, as opposed to Valley of the Kings and Queens on the west bank.

The Luxor Temple is situated almost next to the Winter Palace Hotel where we are staying.  It is a large ancient Egyptian temple complex that was built some time around 1400 BCE.  It was built with sandstone quarried from the Gebel el-Silsila quarry that we visited a few days earlier.  

There were 2 obelisks.  The other is now in Paris

Ramesses II 

Statue of Ramesses II at the entrance

Sun court of Amenhotep III

Avenue of Sphinxes

One of the Sphinxes

The 2.7km of the Avenue of Sphinxes connects the Luxor to the Karnak Temple.  The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak, consists of a mix of temples, pylons, chapels and other buildings near Luxor.  It was built between 1971 to 1926 BC.  It is the second most-visited historical sites in Egypt, after the Pyramids in Giza.  It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

A Group Picture in Karnak

It was an exhausting day walking around the Luxor and Karnak Temples in the hot sun.  Most of us were tired from the heat and all the walking in the morning.  We were ready for a nice lunch at a local restaurant in Karnak.  Not near as nice as the Winter Palace but anytime you get to taste local fresh food, it's a bonus.

Most of us took the afternoon off to relax.  Me?  I want to go to the Luxor Museum.  Our tour leader arranged for a driver to pick me up and drop me off at the museum.  It was only a 10-minute car ride.  It is a very small museum but some of the exhibits are worth looking at.