Day 2b - Luxor, Egypt (Nile Crossing, Karnak Temple)

Our next stop was the Karnak Temple, located across the Nile.
Earlier, we'd gone over the Nile by bus, but this time, we'd be going by ferry! :)

So here we are crossing the Nile by ferry! :)

As we went across the Nile, I let my hand fall into the Nile River... It was *huge*, and in my mind, I was like: "Whoa! This entire river turned into blood?" Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. ...”  And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

This looks like one of those origami cranes	One of the banks of the Nile.

The other half of our group. (We didn't all fit into one boat) One of the lessons I learned on the way was mention of the Egyptian's Mindset Short Lesson on the Egyptian's Mindset: Many people think that the Egyptians were obsessed with death. Our guide "Bob" tells us that that is a myth. The Egyptians were obsessed with life. Particularly, the afterlife. This life was just a journey.

Before long, we we at Karnak Temple!

Check out the detail below and above of the *still* standing columns! These temples were seriously not at all like the Pyramids. The temples were built for worship, whereas the pyramids were to help the people transition to the next life. Lesson on the Structure of the Step Pyramid: One of the Pyramids in Egypt is called the Step Pyramid. They built it with five roofs so that there would be zero weight about the kings. However, the king was scared to be buried under the weight of so many heavy stones, so he asked his wife, after her death to be buried with him. Then he asked for his children to be buried after. In all there were six levels of the "Step" Pyramid The Problem with the Pyramids: The major problem with the pyramids was that they were like huge beacons to the grave robbers saying: "Please rob me!"

The Scarab

Next Stop: The Backstreets of Egypts and Luxor Temple!