Luxor Temple

I left Karnak with a sense of admiration, but without the sense of awe that I seemed to get throughout the ruins of Turkey and Syria.  That was something I was still yet to truly experience.  There was plenty of time still left in the day, so I started walking towards Luxor Temple.

This temple was once connected to the Karnak temple complex.  The city of Luxor has since grown around it, so it made sense for me to leave this for the end of the day.

It doesn't share the same fame as its more illustrious neighbour Karnak, but that's a shame.  I think I actually like Luxor Temple more.  There's an intimacy to the place.  The pillars are not as tall and the walls are not as high, but they are arranged so tightly together that it feels almost like it was a home.  Karnak felt distant whereas this place feels almost like it is still in use.

I wandered into the back and found myself a nice room to sit quietly.  I could hear the noise of the street and the sounds of the tourists laughing and running around.  It was peaceful.  I was out of the sun and I could feel the cold of the stone.  So often I have myself walking from location to location, barely stopping, barely touching anything.  It seems a strange irony to travel such enormous distances and to still only be looking at something, never quite touching it.

After an hour of so of walking around the ruins, I decided I could handle waiting just a bit longer.  There was no rush at all to leave so waiting out the sunset seemed like a good idea.

Once again, the darkening of the skies brought about something much more beautiful in all the ruins.  The lamps were all turned on and the stones were bathed in the same warm light as in other parts of Egypt.

I kept walking around and found the row of Spinxs that used to lead all the way to Karnak.  Under the glow of the lights, they looked like beacons to guide the way.

I truly love wandering through the ancient Egyptian ruins at night.  If it wasn't so dangerous to be wandering through the streets of Egypt at night, I would conduct my entire trip under the inviting glow of the yellow stones.