The Karnak temple complex is vast, covering over 200 acres. It was built over a period of about 1,300 years, with contributions from about thirty different pharaohs.
Hypostyle Hall with 134 giant columns.
Color still visible on the ceiling of the temple.
Obelisks of Tuthmosis I and his daughter, Hatshepsut, one of the few female pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
Next, we visited the Luxor temple, which is considerably smaller than that at Karnak and is located within the city of Luxor. This temple was built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses II to host one of the most important festivals of ancient Egypt. Most of the statues here are of Ramesses II.
At Luxor temple, we saw a different style of column we hadn't ecountered before; these were meant to resemble bundles of papyrus reeds.
This was our last day on the boat; after the excursion, we said goodbye to the Oberoi and headed for our hotel in Luxor. As we were feeling a bit adventurous this evening, we headed out of the tourist areas in town and walked to an Egyptian restaurant called Sofra. Here's our dinner; my duck is there in the foreground, Jerry's spicy veal is to the upper left, and in the center is Kashery, an Egyptian side dish of rice, pasta, assorted varieties of beans and spicy tomato garlic sauce, topped off with fried onions. It was all really delicious.
