Temple of Karnak

The Temple of Karnak was built over 1300 years by a series of pharaohs, kings, and queens. The Avenue of Sphinxes leads here from Luxor Temple. The massive gate was built by Ptolemy III, opening up into a huge room with 134 massive pillars decorated with carvings, many in color. This is Egypt’s largest and most impressive temple filled with obelisks, statutes, hallways and rooms, a lake, much more enclosed in very tall mud brick walls.

Next we took a motorboat across the river to the more conservative West Bank of Luxor. We visited the home of a woman who told us her story of divorcing her husband and facing fierce disapproval from her community. We met her mother and sisters and drank hibiscus tea.

Another motor boat ride across the river brought us to lunch and then to the hotel. A walk through the Luxor Market brought a group to the

Habiba Association run by single women, single mothers and selling handwoven goods and other gifts. After dinner most of us needed to repack to fly to Cairo in the morning.