Memories of Egypt

Our last overseas holiday was early in 2009, before we moved house.  We went to Luxor in Egypt and saw many wonderful antiquities.

Remembering Egypt

Sorting out my Wordless Wednesday pic for this week really reminded me of our holiday in Egypt in March last year.  It was in fact, the last time we left the UK, and proved to be a really memorable fortnight.  When we first got off the plane and onto the transfer coach, I thought I was going to hate it: we'd just had an argument with a local who wanted about £10 for carrying a bag about 10 yards.  Later it rurned out that, because he didn't get what he wanted, he had slashed a long tear into the bag, which was pointed out to us by the porter at the hotel.  Fortunately we didn't lose anything from it but we had to dispose of it and buy a new one to go home.  It was not the best introduction to a new country.

But that man proved to be an exception.  Everyone else we met couldn't have been more friendly and helpful.  True, we were followed  by people trying to do business with us, which we had ben warned about, but we soon got used to that.

The other thing I wasn't too impressed with was the noise and smelliness.  Mainly the smell was from the horses that pulled the caleches, which together with taxis ancient and modern, formed the only options for getting around other than on foot or by boat.  I love horses but this smell could be pretty overwhelming.  We didn't take the caleches because I couldn't bear the thought of one of those horses having to put our weight combined with the driver.

Once I got used to all this, I really began to marvel at what I was seeing.  In any case our luxury hotel was an oasis away from it all.  We really were beside the River Nile and we went on it as well, taking one full day cruise and using the small boats that plied for our trade.  We took trips in the deserts of the West Bank visiting out of town temples and the tombs of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens.  And we visited the temples in Luxor itself and learnt about the Avenue of Sphinxes.

Here are some more pictures of the sights inside Luxor Temple.

This row of feluccas on the Nile was moored not far from our hotel.

Below is a list of some of my older posts where you can read more about this holiday.


Returning From Holidays
Female Pharoah
Cleopatra's Swimming Pool
Nile-side Village
Colossus of Memnon
Egyptian Evening Haiku
The Horses of Luxor
Sugar Beet Factory on the Nile
Egyptian Pool
Avenue of the Sphinxes
Nile Views Again
Egyptian Contrasts
Photographing Luxor Temples

Wordless Wednesday: In Luxor Temple

Photographing Luxor Temples

The pictures above were taken in the temples of Luxor. The first is at the entrance to the famous Temple of Karnac, while the second was taken inLuxor Temple itself. The two are only a few kilometres apart on the banks of the River Nile, and were once joined by an avenue of sphinxes, which is now partly excavated. You can read more about this in a previous post.

I chose these two from my literally hundreds of holiday pics today because they illustrate two points. First, I think they epitomise this part of Egypt: the ancient carvings at Karnak inside the high external walls, the cloudless sky and the laid back feel of the men presumably there to stop tourists getting too close - note the rope barrier; then in Luxor temple the ancient column, jumble of stone - some old and some not so old, the palm trees and the mosque tower behind.

Second, there's a great feature on the Edit menu in Picasa called I'm Feeling Lucky. If you have a photo opened and click on this, it adjusts the photo automatically in the way that seems appropriate. In the two photos above, I was able to use it for the second one to make it brighter and deepen the contasts made by shadows. When I tried it out on the first one though, I immediately reversed it because I wanted to be able to make out the features of the two Egyptians in the bottom right of the picture. When the adjustments were made the rest of the picture looked great against the bright blue sky, but the two men's faces were so dark, they could hardly be seen.

It's not easy to get exposures perfect in glaring light conditions. In fact I used to prefer taking pictures on cloudy days. But now, in the digital era, it's amazing what editing facilities allow you to do when you have uploaded the pictures you've taken.

Wordless Wednesday: A Year Since Luxor

Avenue of the Sphinxes

I took these pictures during our holiday in Egypt last March. They are of the avenue of sphinxes that is partially uncovered between the temples of Luxor and Karnak closed to the River Nile.





We discovered that it is considered of such great importance that people’s homes along the route are being destroyed so that the excavations can continue. It is, of course, a contentious issue. Whatever compensation is being paid, I can't imagine how dreadful it must feel to lose your home like that. One Egyptian in the bar of our hotel showed us a video on his mobile phone of a house being destroyed.

“This is one of many,” he told us.

Of course, Luxor is highly dependent on tourism. Without it many would go hungry. And we were delighted and amazed by the parts of the avenue that we saw. How sad that such paradoxes exist and are bound to keep on doing so.

The Treasures of Luxor

I found this photo of a statue in Luxor Temple at Wikimedia Commons. It was taken by Hajor.

I am researching Luxor in Egypt. This time it’s not just to write about it. In about six weeks time we’ll be there. I can’t wait. But it’s supposed to be a treat for my hubby for his birthday. I’m hoping that on the day itself I can arrange a trip to the Valley of the Kings, the one place left that he really wants to see. Anyway, I want to find out as much as I can before we go. We won’t miss out on any of the treasures of Luxor if I can help it.

I’ll be taking lots of photos of my own while we are there. And no doubt I shall be writing about it when we get back.