Luxor and the temples

One of our cute boats. 

After a long wait and a short flight, we got in super late and were ready to sleep in. Never fear, because we were dragged out of bed at 5 to go to the Karnak temple, probably the biggest temple complex in the world. Our hotel was right on the banks of the Nile, and it had it's own private dock. We took advantage, and took little boats up the Nile to the temple. 

The Karnak temple is basically amazing. It was a temple for the living, as opposed to all of our previous sites, and it stretches on forever. It has its own lake. The most amazing part had to be the hypostyle hall, which is basically a bunch of pillars in an open area courtyard. Absolutely amazing. Dr. Mulestein gave us an amazing lecture about how Moses probably grew up in the most splendor Egypt and basically the world has known, but when faced with God's presence he said "Now I know that man is nothing." Now in Egypt, I was never cold, but I got chills up and down my back then. Sitting in one of the most amazing places I've ever been and listening to that amazing story, it was a powerful experience. 

Me and William, strutting our stuff. 

After we spent all morning at the Karnak temple, we were all ready for a break. Luckily, the afternoon was all free time!! I signed up to go on a camel safari!! We road actual sailboats down the Nile to where we would ride the camels for about 30 minutes. Sailboats are actually very scary, especially going against the wind. You serpentine up the Nile, and the boat tilts pretty far over. It's a very precise balancing act. 

My camel was named William Shakespeare, and my guide was Adam. Shakespeare and I instantly connected. We moved as one, especially when he stood up for the first time. He was also the tallest camel there, so I was pretty high up there. 

William Shakespeare, Adam and I post ride. It was so fun!

After our camel ride, we hung out in the pool until dinner, which felt divine on such a hot day. We were of course told not to swim in the Nile, so it was great to escape the heat however we could. 

Emma and I after our camel ride. 

After dinner we went to go see the Luxor temple by night. We took carriages there and back, and let me tell you, our driver was insane. Literally crazy. First thing, he locked on to me, and it was intensely awkward. We fit four people to a carriage, three girls in the back and one boy next to the driver. Our male presence, Josh, was all over the protective detail. He kept us safe from the driver, but... We were going pretty slow, just plodding along really. We asked if we could maybe go a bit faster, and our driver took that as a go ahead to go crazy. We passed almost every other carriage--we were in the back--in whatever way necessary, including veering into oncoming traffic and almost crashing carriages together trying to pass. It's a wonder we survived. 

On the way back, he asked us girls if we were single. We all three lied and said, "Nope! We have boyfriends." Here's the details on my man. His name is Alex, and we are very seriously committed. He gives me lots of presents, and I think we are going to get married when I get back. Mind you, he had been telling us all about his wife and kids before. He told me he would pay a million camels and a couple chickens for me, and I said that Alex had done that, plus a couple turkeys to seal the deal. And then the horse pooped, and we were going so fast that the poop came flying back towards us like brown bombs falling from the sky. I was so glad to get away and take a shower and go to bed. 

The Luxor temple was amazing, all lit up at night. We talked a lot, which was sort of characteristic of our guide. I loved Achmed, but he could make a two minute description into a 30 minute lecture. I was so tired. 

Such dramatic lighting!!! I love this picture of Emma. Unfortunately, they turned off the lights before we could switch places, but we look so similar that we just pretend it is me there too.