Luxor - quick and dirty

Luxor, Egypt contains about 30% of the world's antiquities.

Let me repeat that: Luxor contains about 1/3 of the ancient items ever discovered. It is considered an incredibly important historic site surrounded by monuments to Egypt's past greatness. The city is a 10-hour train ride south of Cairo also on the Nile River.

But, Wait! Before you buy your first class (seats in a traincar) tickets remember these fun facts:

1. Egyptians will talk loudly, play music on on their cellphones, and watch TV from a portable set. This problem can be solved with a well-charged iPod loudly playing soothing music.

2. The lights don't go out. Yes, for some reason, the bright lights in the car are not dimmed or turned off at any point throughout the night. To remedy, bring some sort of eye covering, you will need it.

3. In the middle of the night you will wake up freezing cold because the A/C is cranked to make the train car feel like a meat locker. Wear long sleeve shirts, pants, and bring a blanket.

4. Your train ticket will look like a baby scribbled on the third carbon copy you got at Kinko's:

This would be tough to counterfeit....

4. Most importantly, make sure you get off at the right spot. You won't be sleeping well, so this shouldn't be a problem when you roll into you final destination, but remember people barely speak English so get clarification from someone who looks like they know what they are doing.

Keeping these points in mind should make your train trip through Egypt pleasant and relaxing. If that doesn't sound like fun then suck it up and pay extra for a sleeping cabin.


Most famous among the sites at Luxor are the Karnak temple and Luxor temple located on the east bank of the river and the Valley of the Kings and Queen Hatsheput's temple on the west bank.

[Note that these sites are the must-visit locations in Luxor if you only have two days, but given more time Luxor has many more amazing sites to offer]

Luxor, probably because of it's size, is far less hectic than Cairo (and a bit less polluted). Crossing the street is less dangerous and the streets are not nearly as packed with cars from the 1950s spewing out smoke, like Cairo. We stayed at the Bob Marley hostel [Best Buy!]; the cheapest and most hospitable hostel that we stayed in on our trip [4 USD per night per person]. Every Friday they treat everyone staying at the hostel to a free dinner with an amazing amount of food- fresh salads, rice, bread- basically a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. I urge you to attend this free dinner if you end up here.

View from the Bob Marley hostel rooftop.

On the train we also met two sisters from Britain who we invited on our private tours. We booked two days of private tours with an English-speaking guide and private car for about $40/person. Though we probably got ripped off in Egyptian terms, spending $20 a day touring is a damn good bargain for what we saw and for the quality of our two respective tour guides.

Here again, I must apologize for my lack of Egypt knowledge. I tried listening as attentively as possible, but with scores of Kings and monuments everything kinda morphed together.

Karnak is a complex that was constructed over many years by many different kings - each adding a new site of worship or hall resulting in a tremendous and vast historic site. Most incredible is probably the hypostle hall. With 134 columns, 122 being 10m high and 12 being 21m high it is a well-preserved and awe-inspiring site.

Hanging out in the Hypostle Hall in Karnak.


These guys were for symbolic protection. The complex has scores of them.


These guys were goofing off.


Luxor Temple Obelisk....kinda tall.


Ancient Christians painting over the hieroglyphics.

Hall in Luxor Temple.

The next days' highlight was probably the Valley of the Kings. When Pharaohs found that their large and available tombs were being robbed they secretly planned the valley in the mountains. The site was so secret that even those that worked on the tombs were blindfolded on the way there. Currently the valley contains 63 tombs with the latest being found in 2008. The site is currently being excavated and tourists are not allowed inside, but we did see the outside which is still really cool. Photos were not allowed inside, but the paintings on the walls and the hieroglyphics are incredibly well-preserved and colorful (and they are literally thousands of years old...amazing).

Brutally hot day (wear sunblock, drink water, enjoy Valley of Kings)






One of the tombs in the valley.

Following the valley we went to Queen Hatsheput's Temple, more famous for the type of construction (very unique to Egypt) than it's ability to inspire awe (it is still totally awesome).

It's built into a mountain, that's badass.


Here's the mountain.


Me in Hatsheput's temple.

Our last stop was Ramses III war temple which he made as a monument to his success in war. During his dynasty Egypt was under siege from land and sea. Aside from his additions to the Karnak and Luxor temples he order construction of a war temple to show his success in battle. Unlike anything we saw in Egypt the groove for the hieroglyphics were several inches deep, supposedly so that no one could come after him and wipe away his accomplishments. Alexander the Great (after taking over Egypt) also added a piece to this temple depicting himself, like previous Egyptian kings, as a God in an effort to win over Egyptians.

Welcome to the War Temple.

Ramses built a sweet war temple.


Observe how deep the grooves are.


Well-preserved and exposed to the elements.

Luxor was also where Sam and I came down with a rather terrible stomach ailment. I'll spare you the details, but I would suggest that you bring something along that might help you with your digestion.

The following night we took the train back to beautiful Cairo, hung out for a day and headed home...that story next time.