Luxor: East Bank

I decided earlier in the week that I would go to Luxor this past weekend, but I was busy with end of the semester final exams and assignments, so I didn't have time to plan the trip. It proved not to be a problem. I headed to the Cairo Airport around 4:30am on Friday and was able to buy a ticket (round trip 430 LE - $80 USD) to Luxor for 6:20am. This was much more convenient than the thirteen hour train to Luxor, and only marginally more expensive.

I got my first taste of the incessant haggling that was to come as soon as I left the airport. I wanted a taxi to Midan Salah al-Din in Downtown, and there is a sign right in front of the parking lot indicating that taxis to downtown cost 25 LE. I argued with a taxi driver for a very long time regarding the price of the taxi, finally settling on an unfair 30 LE.

I found a great hotel off Midan Salah al-Din called Oasis Hotel. The price was 40 LE per night for air-conditioned room, plus 10 LE for breakfast. It was clean and the management was friendly, so I would recommend it for anyone looking for a budget option in Luxor.

After securing a room, I made the short 500 meter walk from the hotel to the Luxor Temple. The temple is actually well-integrated with the rest of Luxor, as it's situated along the Nile Corniche and slightly north of the downtown area. Since I'm not a Egyptologist, I'll refrain from attempting to convey the historical background of any of the monuments I visited, as that information is best found elsewhere.

The Luxor Temple.








Luxor is a medium-sized city of less than 400,000 people. It is divided into two sections: the East Bank and the West Bank. The East Bank is where I stayed, and is the more urban of the two sections. I was surprised to see how clean and wide the streets were in Luxor, most likely due to an effort to increase tourism. The weather in Luxor during the time I was there was cool in the morning, in the high 70 degrees F, but during the day exceeded 100 degrees F.

Photos from the Corniche.



I made my way to a restaurant along the Corniche called al-Hussein, and then later walked the distance to the Karnak Temple, about 3km from the Luxor Temple.

The size of the Karnak Temple was impressive, though some parts of it were closed. As one might expect, it's a popular tourist attraction.

The Karnak Temple.






On the way back I visited the Mummification Museum, which had some interesting exhibits on how mummies were prepared, though I don't think it was worth the price of its admission. The Luxor Museum was much more impressive, and although nowhere near the size of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, it was well-labeled and had lots of significant antiquities.

That evening I had some seafood at a decent restaurant called Mish Mish on Televizion Street in Downtown Luxor. I spent the rest of the evening exploring a lot of the East Bank. The city is quite modern, and there are a large amount of shops in the area. Although there was the usual din of taxis, motorcycles, and other traffic in Downtown, it did not have a fraction of the noise pollution that is commonplace in Cairo. Some of the main roads have no horn-blowing signs, though in Egypt no traffic laws are enforced anyway.

Views from Downtown.


Dinner someday.


Sunset across the West Bank.