Welcome to Karnak Temple...... Luxor Egypt......
Yes..... The parking lot feels weird.....
It could easily hold more cars that there are.......
In all of southern Egypt........
But , ....This must be the right place.....
Everything is oversized in Karnak......
Plus, look at all those tour buses over there.....
IT IS KARNAK TIME
They got models of the city (Karnak Temple was a city)....
They have videos to watch..... soft chairs ....food etc......
Lot's to learn before you go into the Temple........
Very big place...... Stay in the open areas only..... etc...
Bad for business to lose the tourists in the Temple....
Lots of tombs, loose rock, very old wells & sacrafice pits.......
Best let them enjoy the air conditioning and maybe learn something.....
Besides..... It's 110% out in big rock maze trap.... (temple)
100 square acres..... probably 1,000 ways to disappear out there....
Been people vanishing out there for 4,000 years.......
Let them enjoy the A.C for a minute...... HAHAHA...
YUKYUKYUK......
Stupid tourists...... Probably lift up a rock just to see what is under it.....
Scorpians and Vipers get em before they fall in anywhere......
Hey,.... Let's see if they want us to hold thier valubles while they go in.....
YUKYUKYUK........HAHAHA.......
Man this is better than that chair and shield and the pull chain all day......
C'mon ...we'll go tell them some stories.......YUKYUKYUK
I really can't say any more.......
But..... I think it's about 7......
That is only what I have personally come across....
7 different heads on small Sphinxes statues bodies....
The other end of Ipet-Insut has normal Sphynx heads....
That is.... a lion body and human head......
These at Karnak are Ram-Headed Sphynxes.....
Sometimes called Criosphyinxes and relate only to Amon here in ancient Thebes....
Bird-headed Sphinxes are called HierocoSphinxes......
Lions, Rams, Females, Falcons, & maybe Kitty's.......
I just can't remember...... So I have my very own BLOG
With all my travel photos and tales....
Northern Africa...... May 2009
The Nile river Valley in Egypt is a BEAUTIFUL place......
Think about Abu Simbel, Isle of Philae, Kom Ombo and Edfu.....
Look at the Drawings of what these beautiful places once were....
Awesome Karnak and the Avenue of Sphynxes all the way to Luxor.....
There was Giza and Memphis and Saqqara and so much more......
4,000 years ago in a country made of mostly sand.......
These places were Grand and Gorgeous along the NILE RIVER....
Google these sites ...look and and see them for what they really are......
Southern Egypt.... in Northern Africa.......On the Nile..... May 2009
BIG BIG ANCIENT TEMPLE FUN
Karnak is amazing.... It is almost as old as the Great Pyramids.....
They started it back in 2,000 B.C........ 4,000 years ago......
They built and updated and improved Karnak Temple ......
For over 2,000 years there was new construction here.....
Nothing ....... Nothing...... Is given improvements for 2,000 years.......
It has now sat there abandoned for another 2,000 years .......
That is a lot of History...... Older than most History.....
The Amazing Karnak..... Egypt, Africa... May 2009
Well..... I guess the Temple of Amon Ra it is.....
There is only about 1/4 of this site open to tourists......
The place is huge..... Awesome...... and it is very old.....
This is the biggest ancient religious site in the world.....
Only the Great Pyramids Complex in Giza get more tourists.......
Yet Karnak is still larger and NO camel rides..... RATS......
This place was beautiful back in the B.C....... AWESOME
Nicest place on the planet at that time..... 2,000 B.C.
Welcome to the biggest and best of ancient history....
KARNAK....... Africa..... May 2009
I like this scene.... I know it well..... Think I'll keep it......
I believe PLAN A will fly just fine this May......
And what if I can't save enough for China and Japan.....
God forbid I should need PLAN B.......
Would I then be stuck with South America.......
And travelling the length of the Amazon river......
From the Meeting of the Waters to Atlantic Ocean.....
Playing in the Jungle in Amazonia.......
They got a party down around there about june.......
BIG BIG JUNGLE PARTY FUN
.
LONDON CALLING.......
.
I .....
.
I LIVE BY THE RIVER......
.
EUREKA...!!
BY GEORGE...
I'VE DONE IT......!!
A cure for night blindness.....
I kid you not......
Just a simple trip to the After-Market store.....
For some "BLUE IS FOR BLINDNESS"
And some "BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN"
After-Market "BLIND-YOU" bulbs....
And appropriate "I CAN"T SEE" accessories....
Simply empty the bank account.......
Spend the night drinking and installing......
Hit the road way before dawn.....
Become:
"Close Encounters Of The Very Brightest Kind"......
They will wish those lights thier seeing were from some bad acid......
Give Em All A Glowing Sunburn......
As you pass them by.,....
Beer and Shotgun in hand......
You know......
Just in case.....
You never know who you might meet on the road......
I won't be going to The Valley of the Kings.......
On the East Bank......
I'm staying on the West Bank......
I would have to get a place to sleep and arrange to join a tour group for the next trip out.....
I have already done the 6 hour (one-way) trip into the desert to see Abu Simbel......
Karnak is the biggest and best...... That will be fine.....
Plus the fact I only brought one of my two cards with me......
Means I better go straight to the train station first.....
The Sleeper Train is about 435-635 Egyptian pounds......
That's about a $120 train ticket on a very thin card......
Train Station, then Karnak, then exploring the city.......
Travelling requires understanding your priorities......
Sometimes a shower and a dry place to sleep is more important than anything tomarrow brings back into focus after a good sleep.......
Mostly it is not......
Buy your ticket .....
Then go play......
Luxor, Egypt..... May 2009......
This beautiful road follows right along the Nile river......
Leads straight into Luxor and the Temple of Luxor......
As always it is a beautiful warm and sunny morning in Egypt.....
Good-Bye to the El Mahrousa.....
Hello to Luxor and the Temple of Karnak.......
Somewhere near Luxor, Egypt..... May 2009....
Now that's a good looking train station....
Just love that bird....... (Falcon).....
Remember...... Egypt has exactly 4 cities......
They are (of course) located on the Nile river.....
4... if you include tiny Aswan...... The rest is desert.......
They are not connected by roads .......
You take the train through or you fly over......
The Bloody African Sahara Desert.......
I kid you not...... The Sahara Desert......
The Sleeping Train in Egypt is famous.....
BIG LUXOR STATION TRAIN FUN
I didn't get the machine gun guys in this photo......
Or the guard with the chair, the shield, and the pull chain.......
The most important guard there is......
No one else gets a chair or a shield except him......
Even in a machine gun shoot-out old west style mess.....
But, I'll be back here later..... More photos soon.....
Here is what you ALWAYS want to see.......
Big Bold English..... The Universal Tourist Language.....
Don't be afraid to leave the Tourist routes and see real city.....
Use the Subway and Buses....... Unless your in Luxor......
No buses or Subways around here...... Lots of Camels....
Then you can just walk around and see everything......
That Tourist Info Center is next to the Train Station.....
It is (of course) like that everywhere......
That is your HOMEBASE while in town..... anywhere.....
Luxor, Egypt..... May 2009....
This is a good photo because.....
It could be about anywhere......
I know train stations.....
I've been to about anywhere.....
It's me waiting for the Sleeper Train office to open.....
In Luxor, Egypt...... May 2009.....
Where there are no roads back to Cairo.....
You take the train.....
Along the Nile river through the African Sahara Desert....
Unless your very rich.....
There is a small airport for upper class......
Me, ..... I'm off to see "KARNAK".......
The biggest and the best......
KARNAK ..... KARNAK.... KARNAK......
So...... Go ahead...... Do it......
Drop me in the center of Tokyo, Japan......
The worlds largest city.....
Like a pebble into the ocean....
Where I know no one.....
Can't speak the language.....
Or even read the signs.....
Tell me I have 14 days to reach Beijing, China.....
Catch my flight or turn Chinese..... for good.....
To me ..... That's not a challernge.....
To me ...... That's just a Vacation......
BIG BIG FUN........
