Egypt: Luxor – Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is the other magnificent temple located on the east side of the Nile (the first one being Karnak). There are only 2 kilometers apart and used to be connected by a giant pathway guarded by sphinxes. Luxor is right in the heart of the modern city and is much more compact, yet comparably grand. It starts with a broad Avenue of Sphinxes, then two giant obelisks (well, actually one – the other one is at the Place de la Concorde in Paris), then giant statues of Ramses II (even Lenin and Stalin didn’t get this much carried away with statue building), then rows and courtyards of giant columns, ending up in multiple temple rooms. It’s one of the few temples that actually stays open into the night and is fully illuminated.