Wake up at dawn to leave the hotel at 5:30 am.
We contacted a Taxi driver the day before to be sure to have a taxi and avoid wasting time
Nour (+20 100 984 7182) is very kind and above all punctual 🙂
Morning program: The Karnak Temple and the Luxor Temple.
The Karnak temple opens at 6:00 am and we want to be there as soon as it opens to enjoy the place before the hordes of tourists arrive.
We arrive 10 minutes before the ticket office opens. It’s perfect.
At 6 o’clock, we are the first to buy our entrance ticket.
The normal price is 600 EGP (12 €). In our case, with our Arab passport, we pay 40 EGP (0.8 €) per person.
We are very happy to be the first to access the temple
Karnak is the largest religious complex of Antiquity. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its construction spanned 2000 years, during which each pharaoh added (and sometimes removed) elements to the temple.
There is a statue of a scarab, legend says that you have to go around it 7 times counterclockwise to become rich.
The light of the first rays of the sun embellishes the temple with its colossal columns.
At the entrance to the temple, you will not miss the alley of the sphinxes. This is an avenue of 600 sphinxes connecting Karnak to the temple of Luxor.
Today, Only the 2 ends of the alley are remaining. On the Karnak side, there are sphinxes in the form of sheep.
Our second stop is the Luxor temple. We find the second end of the alley of the sphinxes, but this time, the sphinxes represent pharaohs.
The entrance fee is 500 EGP (10 €) per person. For Arabs: 40 EGP (0.8 €)
A huge obelisk marks the entrance to the temple. We can clearly see the empty place of its twin obelisk. The missing obelisk is the one on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
We spend an hour in this magnificent temple
Before returning to the hotel, we choose to take a tour of the Luxor souk whose entrance is located just opposite the temple.
At 09:30, the shops are just starting to open.
We take advantage of this morning calm to test the « Nubian national coffee«
It is a traditional coffee with the colors of Nubia.
The Nubians are the people of present-day Sudan and southern Egypt. They come from the central Nile Valley, considered one of the first cradles of civilization. The Nubians are a welcoming people, with their own traditions, language …
We return to the hotel for a short rest before living a beautiful culinary experience for lunch.
This afternoon, we have an reservation at the « Old Egyptian Village Restaurant«
We booked the day before via WhatsApp (+20 155 067 3979)
The restaurant is located on the west bank of the Nile (25°41’35.4″N 32°37’21.6″E)
The restaurant offers to transport us from the hotel for 400 EGP (8 €)
The transport includes the boat pick-up from the hotel, the crossing of the Nile and the transport by Tuk-Tuk to the restaurant.
Since the Tuk-tuk ride, we are immersed in the magical and rural atmosphere of the west bank.
We arrive at the restaurant and discover an authentic setting. The decoration is simple but beautiful.
The restaurant staff welcome us with a smile and a delicious infusion of Hibiscus (Karkadé).
We have the choice between a selection of authentic Egyptian dishes.
Our hosts invite us to participate in the preparation of the meal.
You should know that this is not just a classic restaurant but an immersive experience in Egyptian cuisine.
We participate in the preparation of traditional bread and discover its authentic cooking as well as that of pigeon and stuffed chicken. The cooking is done in a small terracotta oven. The fire is fueled with dry branches of sugar cane.
After 2 hours of discovery and preparation, everything is ready. It is delicious.
We return to the hotel for a short break before going out for dinner. We choose a recommended address located on the cornice of Luxor: Restaurant El-Kababgy (25°41’48.4″N 32°38’10.4″E). We like it
This restaurant marks the end of a rich and eventful day. Tomorrow, we will live a great experience in Luxor before leaving for Aswan, but we will have to wake up even earlier than today.
my-trip-memories.com 