“ Yalla beena” is an Egyptian saying that means we go together. Although our guide Ahmed used it during our overnight excursion from Safaga to Luxor to ensure we stayed together and moved as one, it came to mean so much more for our intrepid group of travelers.
The opportunity to stay overnight at a hotel on the banks of the Nile River and explore the ancient wonders of the Luxor region was too tempting to ignore. Egypt has always been a dream destination for us. The excursion came up very early on our itinerary and despite what seemed like an exorbitant fee we booked. In the end the cost paled compared to the experience. There were single day excursions that covered the same sites but since Luxor was a 3.5 hour drive from the port of Safaga the overnight made the best use of our time ashore.
From the coast it was a two hour drive through the dessert until we reached the Nile river valley. Turning left we continued through lush green farmland dotted with tiny villages until we reached the city of Luxor. Whether riding donkeys, walking home from school or just hanging out in the shade the village children never failed to smile and wave at our passing bus.
After checking into the hotel and a delicious buffet of traditional dishes and desserts we made our way to the Temple of Karnak. To us it was a massive ruin of temples, statues and hieroglyphics explaining the history and evolution of the pharaohs brought to life by our guide. To the Egyptian people is was believed to be the spot were creation began and the point of contact between Amun-Ra, the sun god, and his representative on earth. As a place of worship it provided many clues about the ancient Egyptian religion.
From there we travelled to the Luxor Temple, another ancient Egyptian complex. It is much smaller than Karnak and believed to be the spot of rebirth of Amun-Ra. The Karnek and Luxor Temples are connected by an avenue of sphinx. Both temples gave us an insight into the ancient world of the pharoahs and our guide, an Egyptologist, regaled us with stories of the civilization, their beliefs and practices.
I was fascinated by it all. Before going on this excursion we took some online courses in Egyptology in order to better prepare ourselves for what we were about to see. We also learned what we could about the archaeological process used in the retrieval of materials. Both helped us to appreciate the procedure involved in the recovery of ancient artifacts and how they are used to expand the understanding for current generations.
After supper back at the hotel, and a photo shoot of the glorious sunset, members of our group returned to the Karnak Temple for their light and sound show. We did not attend but instead chose to explore the hotel complex and sit on our balcony to appreciate the view. Despite our excitement we were able to get an early night as there was much more to see the next day when we travelled to the Valley of the Kings.