Luxor and Aswan Nile Cruise

I returned last night from an amazing weekend of cruising down the Nile and seeing several different temples. The boat was 4 floors, complete with an all-you-can-eat buffet three times a day and an open sundeck with a pool.

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

The first day, we had to leave our dorm at 2am to make our flight to Luxor and take in a few of the sights before we boarded the boat. It was a very long day, but really cool to see the Valley of the Kings, where the tombs of King Tut and other ancient Egyptian kings are. They are caverns built into the mountain, intricately decorated. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed to be taken inside the tombs (you pay a huge fine if they catch you!), so I don't have any to post.

Here's a picture on wikipedia of one that I went into: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ramses_IV_tomb_colors.jpg

We also went to see the temple of Hatshepsut, who is considered by some historians to be the only female Egyptian king. The temple was somewhat rebuilt, so it looks very nice (and clearly a bit fake).

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

Once we finally made it back to the boat and had lunch, we had a few hours to relax and explore the boat before dinner. After dinner, we went out into Luxor and found a cafe to hang out in for a few hours.

In the morning, we woke up to see Karnak, a huge temple complex filled top to bottom with hieroglyphics.

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

We wandered around the temple, listening to one of the tour guides tell interesting stories about the gods and what all of the hieroglyphs mean.

Then we returned the boat and finally set sail south. Over the next few days, we split our time between sailing down the Nile and visiting other temples. After a few, they begin to look a bit similar, so I won't post too many pictures here. There are far more posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/kevinmachnik.

On the last day, we visited the High Dam, the dam that was built to control the flooding of the Nile. The dam was controversial because it ruined the livelihood of many Egyptian farmers that relied on the flooding to make their land fertile, but it was important for controlling the river and allowing for further progress in Egypt. It also creates a huge amount of energy for the country. To the south is Lake Nasser, the lake created by the dam that is partially in southern Egypt, partially in northern Sudan. The creation of Lake Nasser required the relocation of several ancient temples, which were dismantled and moved to higher ground, such as the last temple that we visited on this trip.

From Luxor/Aswan Nile Cruise

It really was a very fun weekend, and I got to know more of the international students (mostly American) that I had not spent much time with previously.

Now off to the Sinai Peninsula, Jordan and Beirut!
Kevin