Back to Egypt for a little bit. I've already mentioned that we visited a lot of temples and we still have a lot of photos to post. I won't bore you too much (I hope!). I'll just continue posting the good stuff.

Luxor

Luxor was the only temple we visited at night. We got there just before sunset so we watched the colour of the stone change with the colour the sky.


At Luxor there are still the remnants of the Avenue of Sphinxes. In ancient times, the temples of Karnak and Luxor were connected by this avenue. Once there were 2000 sphinxes, now there are only 100 or so left.

Karnak

Karnak is the largest temple in Egypt and is actually the largest ancient religious site in the world. It's in the Hypostyle Hall where you realise just how big the temple is. The hall is full of massive columns (up to 21m tall with a 9m girth). You feel so small and insignificant when walking through the hall.

In ancient times, all the temples were painted in bright colours. There is still some evidence of this at Karnak on some hieroglyphs which are protected from the weather.

There is a new tradition surrounding the statue of the giant red scarab statue at Karnak. Our guide told us that if you circle the scarab seven times you will soon find love. If you're already in love, circle the scarab fourteen times and you will soon be married. Everyone in the tour gave it a go... just in case you know.




More photos of Luxor and Karnak on Flickr.

Our visit to Luxor and Karnak was part of our Road to Jordan tour. We did a 17-day tour with On The Go to Egypt and Jordan and we had a lot of fun. Other entries from this trip include: The Tringles, Wadi Rum, Kom Ombo and Edfu, Feluccan Fun, Abu Simbel and The Dead Sea.

Thanks to Caitlin for featuring this post on her blog, Roaming Tales. Check out all the other great travel links in her weekly round up.