Day 15

Our day of touring didn’t start until 12:00 PM. We had the morning free to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast and lay out by the pool. It must have been about 80 degrees today in Luxor. The agenda was to see two temples today; the best Luxor has to offer.

The first temple was the Karnak Temple. It sits on 60 acres! Much of it is still standing and it is under constant restoration, digs and discovery. There are still houses over some of the temple sites and the government is not allowing the homes to be fixed or rebuilt so as people move out, they tear them down and start to dig. It really is amazing how youing the work of archeology is…there is so much to discover.

There at these temples, and other Egyptian sites, there are mud bricks that are found in the excavation of the remains. These are the exact kind of bricks that the Israelite slaves were making in the days of Moses. These temples were made in the days of Moses. It is very probable that these are the bricks God’s people made. Here is a brick that I’m holding made of mud and straw.

As we were getting off the bus to visit Karnak, I could not find my video camera. I knew I brought it and we only made one stop for lunch. I didn’t remember bringing the camra to lunch but it is the only place I could think that it would br. I asked the guide to call the restaurant. They said they didn’t have it. I started to sweat. When we got back on the bus, there it was, under a bag that I was sure I had looked under. I felt stupid but at least my camera was safe. Incidentally, I did not get any video from our two hours inside Karnak, so I took some video of my stupidity from the parking lot. If you’d like to see the video and some video of Luxor Temple, click on the video below.

The Luxor Temple was next. Again it was a great example of Egyptian art and spiritual belief and practice. The statues and structures are massive and words and photos hardly do it justice. When you think of the millions and millions of huge statues, blocks, hieroglyphics, and art that was created, it is mind boggling as to how they did it.

Everywhere we go Meriah Tigner is a celebrity. All the Egyptian boys love Meriah and want their picture with her. She graciously obliges them and smiles her beautiful smile to their enjoyment. I decided it was my turn to get a photo with Meriah. She promptly called me her favorite name, “jerk face”. That’s the kind of pastor/parishioner relationships I like!

Tonight we took a flight back to Cairo instead of the bumpy, dirty, stinky, smoking, bad food, no sleep, belly dancing train ride. Only six of us took the plane, the other 13 rode the train and will arrive in the early morning hours. We will sleep in and enjoy a great dinner and breakfast in the dinning room. The flight was very uneventful but the ride from the airport to the hotel was filled with Cairo traffic excitement as we watch people do things in cars on the street that only professional stunt drivers can do back in the states.

Back at the hotel, Jenny and I have the “I Love Lucy” bed arrangement that we have gotten used to here in the Middle East. It will be nice to get home to our one bed…this isn’t something you want to get used to. We are not sure if we will be doing what was scheduled for tomorrow or if there are other plans. Egyptian time is very different from American time…here you just go with the flow. We do need to do laundry and I need to do some blogging but one thing is for sure, we will enjoy the warmth of the sun as we look out to the pyramids on the horizon. Life is ruff here in Cairo.