Safaga, Egypt

Yes, I have fallen behind on my blog.  After 6 sea days we arrived in Safaga, Egypt on the evening of April 5.  Luckily, we didn't encounter any pirates!  One of my dinner mates was hoping for a pirate attack...I guess she thought it'd be exciting...  So, Egypt, I love Egypt...despite the relentless hawkers and the heat.  I took a tour into Luxor on April 6. The port was a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Luxor through the Sahara desert.  It was an ok ride.  It turned out to be not as pretty as I thought it might be.  Once in Luxor we went to the Luxor Temple.  I think Egyptian temples are sooo cool.  I wish I knew more about their symbolism.  After the temple we crossed the Nile River and went to the Valley of the Kings.  Last time I was there (1999) we could take photos outside and inside the tombs.  Now they don't even allow photos outside the tombs.  I was disappointed, but was happy that I already had some photos.  After that we stopped at the Temple of Hatshepsut, a female pharaoh, and the Colissi of Memnon, 2 statues of Amenhotep III that guarded the entrance to his temple.  Now they look like they are guarding the road as they are right along side it.  After that it was back across the Nile to see the sound and light show at the Karnak Temple.  Without even thinking I know that the Karnak Temple is one of my top 5 spots in the world.  I fell totally in love with it last time I was here but I didn't see the sound and light show then.  Needless to say it was the highlight of my day!  After that it was another 3 1/2 hour bus ride back to the ship.  I left out of my description that the photo is from the Luxor Temple and that our bus broke twice.  We were happy that they had sent along a "back-up" bus.  We used the backup, and by the time it broke, they had our original bus fixed and it lasted the rest of the day!  This was a great day, I hope I get to go back sometime!!