We got a call from the front desk announcing breakfast at six. Seriously, who calls at six. Anyway, breakfast only runs until seven so we rolled out of bed at 6:30. I immediately fell back into bed… so exhausted. Ruben volunteered to run and grab some food and bring it back.
I slept for another hour and rolled out at 7:30. Ate some pastries that Ruben had grabbed for me and got ready for the day. Today we are supposed to see the Luxor Temple and Karnack. At eight we met in the lobby to go on our trips. A different tour guide met with us and led us to the bus.
A minibus took us to Karnack. Karnack is located just outside of Luxor. It’s a two kilometer square complex that housed multiple New Kingdom Temples. It started as a single temple and expanded over time. Since its creation almost every pharaoh has added a building or temple… expanding the complex to its current size. Over time the buildings have eroded to due to sand, wind, and flooding. Now all that’s left is ruins.
The tour guide took us around and told us some information about the temples and surrounding area. It is so amazing. It is crazy to think that all this was built more than a thousand years ago before modern machines. We were given some free time to walk around and check out the sites.
Mike, Ruben, and I walked around for awhile and found ourselves in a ‘restricted area’. We found that out when we were approached by one of the workers. However, we talked to him for awhile and he agreed to let us go check out one of the temples being renovated.
It was really cool to go where there weren’t any tourists. It was surreal to walk through and look at the sites without all the hustle and bustle. Afterwards we walked around and checked out the rest of Karnack. Simply amazing. My favorite part was definitely the Temple of Amun. Amun is the main god in the Egyptian Parthenon. Inside is a large hall called the Hypostyle Hall. It is a large pillared hall, easily as big as two football fields.
Eventually we walked back to the entrance and left. From there we went to the Luxor Temple. This was a cool temple, but it’s hard to be impressed after Karnack. Luxor was built by Seti I and Ramses the II. Similar, to Karnack it has developed over time with other pharaohs adding to it.
Two noteworthy facts. One: there used to be a 3 kilometer road running from Luxor to Karnack which was lined on both sides with sphinxes. The second is that the Luxor Temple had many of its hieroglyphics redone by Alexander the Great. When he redid t hem Alexander added himself as an Egyptian god. Cool, huh?
Afterwards we drove back to the boat. Once back we split off and headed to our rooms. Ruben and I took a short nap. At one we went up and grabbed lunch. They were doing pasta with a variety of sides. Nothing amazing... but edible. After that Mike, Ruben, and I watched the Hangover.
After the movie we went up to the deck and watched the shore drift by. It is so surreal to relax and watch the world around you. Played some cards with the group and enjoyed the afternoon. We were later approached by two Egyptians who wanted to play poker with Americans. Mike, Ruben and I decided to join. Because we weren’t playing for money there was no incentive to play conservative… Ruben and I were out in a half hour. However, this turned out to be in our best interest as dinner was served shortly thereafter.
Dinner was steak (really tough steak), potatoes, fish, lasagna, and some other sides. I was really hungry and stacked up a good size plate… unfortunately the food was subpar. After dinner we made our way down to Mike and Jeff’s room. Mike and Ruben have been talking about Good Will Hunting all weekend and decided they were going to show it to me.
We had some beers and watched the movie. It was a good movie, but I think it’s one of those movies that you need to be in the mood for. After the movie most people went off to bed. Mike and I decided to chill on the top deck for awhile. We talked about life for awhile. He is filling out grad school apps and kinda freaking out. Had a good conversation about the future.
I find it funny that my future is so up in the air and I still feel completely calm about it. I am apprehensive, but I’m sure things will become clearer as time goes on. He will take care of it.
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