Ancient Thebes has become Luxor home to Luxor Temple along with many other attractions for the visitor to Egypt.

Later in the afternoon after lunch had settled we headed to shore through the lobbies of the eight boats between the Queen of Hansa and the shore. Naturally I counted the intervening boats so I would know when I reached the Queen of Hansa when we returned. What would become even stranger was that on our return the Queen of Hansa was only the third boat from the dock. Staying to watch the intervening boats’ elimination could have been as interesting as visiting the temple, but I digress.

A bus was waiting above the dock to whisk us to the Luxor Temple and “whisk” is the best word to describe the trip since the temple was just down the street from where the Queen of Hansa was docked. It was late in the day by the time we left the temple grounds and some of the pictures had to be retouched because they were too dark.

Somehow many of us had the feeling that Luxor Temple was not such a big deal, since we had been prepared for the BIG ones tomorrow: the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Temple of Karnak. A fascinating sidelight of the trip to Luxor Temple and tomorrow’s trip to Karnak was that a ceremonial road lined with sphinxes linking the entire distance between Luxor temple and Karnak temple was month-by-month being more excavated and restored (there are a few pictures of a part of it at the end of the Luxor temple pictures). Mosques, apartment houses and stores are being relocated by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities to allow the restoration of the highway of the sphinxes.

We were back on the Queen of Hansa heading down the Nile to Luxor where we would dock and spend the night. Along the way we were lowered from our high level of the Nile to the next lower level through the river locks at Esna. Another treat along the way for a few of us was meeting the ship captain as he sat on his bridge piloting the ship (pictures of these adventures here).

Because of an apparent limited amount of docking positions, especially here in Luxor (ancient Thebes), the first boat to a docking position naturally docks. Other boat captains who like that area “park” their boats parallel to the first, and the way to the shore from the newcomers is one by one through the lobbies of the boats between theirs and the dock. Today our boat is the ninth from shore so we will have to trek through eight lobbies to get to the bus to carry us to Luxor temple.

Ah, let’s get closer still.

I am going to go with this title Google voice generated (sound it out). Today and yesterday have been Ptolemaic period temples in towns along the Nile. I now know how to get the largest granite blocks in place on a temple wall, but I doubt I will be building many more temples.

Our ship had docked at Edfu the previous night, so after breakfast it was onto a bus and off to the Temple of Edfu.

When everyone was ready it was time to run the gauntlet of the sellers of stuff to get back to the bus and back to the boat in time for lunch, as we began sailing for Luxor. Pictures? Of course there are pictures here.

Early luggage outside my room before breakfast, then we had an early flight from Cairo to Aswan, home of the Aswan Dams. I didn’t get a picture of the High Dam; nothing about it seemed to stand out when I was near it or on it. I did get a few shots of the low dam, but those in the article are sufficient. One thing that struck me about the High Dam was that it was an earthen dam.

Next instead of a road trip we took a “boat trip” to the island where the Philae temple is located (the Wikipedia article seems authoritative.

I’ve got pictures (boy do I have pictures here) including snapshots of folks from the tour group I was with.

Back on the bus after we successfully returned to shore. We did stop by a huge unfinished obelisk in situ that remained unfinished because a crack was discovered in it. After this view we got back on the bus and joined our luggage on the Queen of Hansa boat. The first group of pictures from the Nile here were taken as we cruised to our next stop of the day.

After a late lunch on the boat, we docked, got on our bus and went to visit the Kom Ombo temple. Are there pictures? Of course there are — here.

Thursday, April 29, 2010 was the first full day in Egypt. First we saw the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.

If you can handle looking at lots and lots of pictures of pyramids click here.

Next those who had legs left went off to view the Cheops boat.

Naturally I’ve got lots of pictures of the reconstructed boat here taken as I walked through the boat museum.

Later in the day when our guide determined we were not tired enough we were bussed to the National Museum.

We weren’t allowed to bring our cameras inside (I did get a couple of shots in front with my phone) but this person was able to bring a camera.

Finally we didn’t need a ticket to visit Old Cairo that many of us had been looking forward to all day, especially since we would be able to wander through the old bazaar.

Arrived in Egypt by EgyptAir and was whisked off to the Oasis Hotel near the Giza pyramids by an Escapade Bus under contract to Gate! Travel.  There were no plans for the day, just rest and recuperate from jetlag.

From the bus as we neared the hotel I saw a glimpse of the pyramids that I was able to capture over the top of a passing truck.

I’m sitting at tbe airport waiting for boarding and feeling the trip is rather unreal. It’s hard to imagine I will be seeing the Egypt I read about as a child. I still remember the first adult book I was allowed to have — “The Egyptian” by Mika Waltari. I remember the protagonist’s name: Sinuhe, Sinuhe the physician who spent all his money on a prostitute and even the money saved for his father’s embalming.