Day 14 - A Trip to Karnak

Early breakfast was on the rooftop again. We finished at about 7:20, and the driver of a motorboat was waiting for us. We walked five or six minutes to the river and boarded the vessel which might have been able to carry 22 passengers. We were alone. We went downriver, or north, towards Cairo. We only travelled about 20 minutes though and crossed to the east side getting off right in front of the Karnak Temple.


We bought tickets and walked onto the grounds at 8:00 am. We beat most of the tourists but more importantly some of the later heat of the day. What a great structure even by today's standards! These columns were first built in antiquity when technology relied much more on raw muscle power than nowadays. How can artistry withstand thousands of years? I am pretty sure nothing of my existance will remain 4000 years from now (apart from these musings). In the areas where glimpses of paint remain, it is obvious that this complex would have been awesome. It still sort of is.


After about 10:15 we took the falucka back to town and got off on the other side of the river. We hit an ATM, bought a coffee mug wire heater, and ate lunch at a particularly good restaurant near the train station. Jay was pleased to find that fresh sugar cane juice is just one pound in this city. We had several before lunch. It again was close to 40C by that time.



The afternoon was nap time. In the evening we just walked around town here on the east side of the river.