Morning Hot Air Balloon Ride In Luxor

Still smiling from our experience with guide Mansour Hussain. Thank you, Luxor Travels! First, it is helpful to know that Mansour graduated from a four-year collegiate Egyptologist and tour guide program. We were picked up by Mansour and Hassan (our friendly and excellent driver who also provided transport in a immaculate van from the Luxor Airport and from Luxor to Hurghada) at our hotel. Luxor Travels included all entrance tickets. The first stop was the Luxor Museum. This is world-class facility and Mansour told the story behind each piece...literally. It was fascinating to learn about the stories of the pharaohs, gods, and others represented...even more so than what we learned at the Valley of the Kings. Here's a fun fact: Mansour knows how to read hieroglyphics. By the end of our day together, even we were recognizing words, symbols, and gods. The second stop was the Luxor Temple. We simply were not prepared for the grandeur and overwhelming sense of history. Mansour explained many details. It was clear that we were getting a deeper look into the significance and history, compared to those who were in a large group tour. The final stop of the day was at Karnak Temple. If you can only make one stop in Luxor, let this be it. And of course, it's best if you have a guide like Mansour to make the Karnak Temple come alive! It was fascinating to learn how each pharaoh created their own additions to the Temple. Personalities were often evident by the art and architecture, as pointed out by our guide. We were lucky enough to see some restoration taking place at Karnak Temple. In fact, one column was draped and plasters being taken by workers. Mansour noted that he had been in the Temple only a few days previous and that this was new activity. We especially appreciated that he took us to areas of the Temple that were less visited, but quite beautiful and interesting. Mansour helped us understand the different rulers and eras, from the ancient Egyptian through the 22nd dynasty, then onto the Greek, Roman, and Coptic Christian. All of these cultural influences were represented at the Karnak Temple (and Luxor Temple), but we surely would have missed these treasures if it were not for Mansour. We had about a million questions, asking some twice or more, however Mansour was always ready to answer patiently. Only once did he not have a ready answer, but enthusiastically replied that he was going to take time to research it. Thank you, Luxor Travels, Mansour, and Hassam for memories that will last a lifetime!