Egypt was a dream: ancient Luxor on the River Nile

Luxor, Egypt was our second stop during our trip to Egypt. Read about our first stop to the magical pyramids in Giza here. It really was more fantastic than I could have imagined.

First, check out our video from our trip to Giza, Luxor and Marrakesh:

Our second stop in Egypt was Luxor.

It took persuading to convince Kevin it was necessary to travel within Egypt to go to Luxor, in the south of Egypt. This is where the Valley of the Kings are. This was so worth it. We got to see magical ruins and lounge in total luxury in our nearly empty Nile River facing hotel.

THE HILTON LUXOR:

We stayed at the Hilton Luxor and it was perfection and only about $200 a night. There are eight restaurants on site, all with different types of food and all fully staffed. Here, again, there were only about 10 guests in the whole hotel. The rooms were great, excellent wifi, a beautiful infinity pool facing the Nile River and the Valley of the Nobles and the best - literally the best - cocktails I've ever had in my life. They have a watermelon martini that I could not stop drinking - made with fresh watermelon. Breakfast everyday was stocked - though there is no pork anywhere in Egypt because it is a Muslim country so avoid the beef bacon - but the juices were incredible.

Our first full day in Luxor we spent with Nahla with Tours By Locals, and a driver which we soon realized was also our body guard. They picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the most magical ruins in the world.

LUXOR TRAVEL HIGHLIGHTS:  

Temple of Karnak, Luxor Temple, Avenue of Sphinxes, Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple.Watch the video at the top of this post for the best highlight reel but here are a few photos of what you'll see...

The Temple of Karnak and Luxor Temple were grand, complex, immense and had a few cute stray dogs. There were seas of columns and enough rooms to get lost in. You'll see a statue of King Tut and his wife below, notice how young they were. The Avenue of Sphinxes you see pictured stretches 1.5 miles through the city connecting the temples of Karnak and Luxor. These temples are what you think of when you think of ancient Egypt.

Also, there are hieroglyphics on just about every surface of everything, it's kind of strange. It is something you have to experience. There are so many columns, so many walls, and they're all covered in these perfectly etched images - you can still see the remnants of color in some of them.

The Valley of the Kings is an obvious must, but you have to select your favorite few tombs to go in to reduce the damage. We actually chose not to go into King Tut's because it has been so pillaged and, since he died so young, is smaller than others. Look at how bright the colors still are - these have not been altered and are in their original state.

The landscape is made of mountainous, porous rocks that the tombs are carved into. There are still likely tombs that have yet to be discovered in these hills. You can see the subtle openings of tombs we weren't allowed to visit. 

Hatshepsut Temple was made for Queen Hatshepsut - one of the only female pharaohs. A whole lot of family drama and throne stealing happened around this time that I won't get into but it has a really interesting history and is an architectural must see.

It's hard to fathom how old these are, how the colors are still so bright and how it must have felt to discover these. We probably walked ten miles in the dessert and it was exhausting. We also stopped at a few random giant statues we drove by - that a farmer found while digging in his field two years ago. Can you imagine?

I mentioned it was a major Muslim holiday when we were there and on our tour we passed a celebratory parade and got out of the car to watch part of it (body guard dude lingering nearby). Everyone was all smiles, we even got a few high fives and jovial kisses blown our way. It is such a shame this country has such a dangerous reputation.

FELUCCA CRUISING: 

One evening we took a Felucca cruise down the River Nile - through our hotel. These are famous for breaking down so we got one with a motor and spent the whole time looking at incredible sunsets while towing other boats back to the dock.

It was worth the constant towing to see the sunset from the water though. Kevin managed to borrow a hotel staffer's fishing pole to attempt to fish in the River Nile... without much luck though. This part of the Nile is dammed so not many living things (i.e. hippos and alligators) can roam freely. He caught two fish... about two inched long each and in the same cast. We had fun doing it though.

We did a little hookah smoking - they call it shisha - at the hotel, and enjoyed being in such a unique place on earth, staring at a river running through a desert lined with palm trees. Kevin literally drank ALL of a certain kind of beer in the whole hotel and I probably drank at least two whole watermelons in cocktails.

I really want to do my part to share this experience so more people feel confident in visiting this incredibly beautiful and fascinating place. All of the tour guides we had asked us to.

EGYPT TRAVEL TIPS:

• Dress conservatively if you are a woman, but you don't need to wear a head scarf.
• It does get pretty chilly at night. (we were there around Thanksgiving)
• Leave valuables at home. Along with any American flag logo-ed shirts. 
• Be prepared to be from England. (you'll understand when you read our Cairo portion of the trip)
• Don't buy debit cards from the people in the airport. Cash is fine, but you do have to wait until you're there to get it. Bank of America doesn't carry Egyptian pounds. 
• Book transport to and from the airport through your hotels. 
• Pack comfortable shoes, these temples require a lot of walking. Plus, it is quite a difficult trek inside the great pyramid. 
• Stay in Giza more than one night. 

The massive empty hotels were such a sad sight for a place everyone should be able to go. It was a magical place that I feel so lucky to have been able to see. If you've ever wanted to go, do it. The people we met were kind, funny and eager to build the tourism industry back up. Read about our first stop to the magical pyramids in Giza here.