We started today at 5 am, packed, luggage out in the hall, had breakfast, and bus to the airport. Boy, is it nice to have my luggage back! Even though I have way too many choices now, it’s nice to be able to reach in and pick a different color to wear. It’s also nice to have my scarab necklace, which is getting lots of attention! Just had to throw that in. We were flying south to Upper Egypt and Luxor. (Upper Egypt is south because that’s the direction that the Nile flows—from Victoria Falls to the Mediterranean.)
When our fairly small plane started the descent, we could see the Wadi or dry rivers in the Great Sahara. They are formed from rain and floods over the eons that became paths to the Red Sea, so perfect for merchants. When we landed, we immediately boarded the bus for Karnak, very close to Luxor Temple, which we’ll visit tonight.
Karnak was a huge site. We were only able to do a small corner, the most visited in fact. Here is where we found the massive pillars in an ancient hallway that were covered in hieroglyphs all the way to the top. They were carefully constructed to amplify sound in the same way that a dome might do on more modern structures. Of course, the dome hadn’t yet been invented (by the Romans), so these pillars worked in their place. Most of the statues and most of the writing is dedicated to Rameses II, who had propaganda all figured out. Many of the faces of the statues were destroyed, most likely by the Persians. Despite his politics, Rameses left fabulous art. Best of all, we were able to read some of the hieroglyphics. The bits of study really paid off.
From there, we went to the ship! The Aton is a new ship this year, and clean and beautiful. We didn’t have time to unpack before lunch, but after lunch, we wandered around and discovered a narrow pool, the upper decks, and the two eating areas. It’s a small ship. Later, we had an emergency drill, and then the trip to the Luxor temple by night. This wasn’t a cheesy light show. It was the temple lit up at night, and so beautiful. The hieroglyphs on all the walls were deep in shadow and light, making them more pronounced, and there were terrific views of all the pillars and views beyond the pillars. I was very happy to have found the name “Alexander” on a wall in the Alexander Temple!
After we returned from Luxor, it was dinner and an early evening because the balloon riders would be getting up early. We would be getting up early, too, to watch them from the ship!