Lebanon-Tripoli (2)

One thing that I like about this city is that people here are much friendlier and laid-back than in Beirut. The local forks are more willing to talk to us in Arabic, instead of English or French. Because its location is near the border with Syria, we met quite a lot of Syrian people working here. However, what is happening in Syria affect the tourism here. Very few travelers come to this city.

Lebanon-Tripoli (1)

Le







Tripoli, the second-largest city in Lebanon, is located on the north at Mediterranean Sea. It's a city with a long ancient history but much less developed than Beirut. We spent two days here visiting the old city souq and the sea port area. We were amazed by its rich culture but shocked to see how deteriorated the outlook of the city.

Edfu Temple

We came to Edfu, a city between Luxor and Aswan, by a microbus from Kom Ombo to visit its ancient temple, one of the best preserved ancient temples in Egypt. This temple, dedicated to the falcon-headed son of Osiris, was built during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt between 237 and 57 BC.

Kom Ombo Temple

This temple on the town of Kom Ombo at the southern Egypt was built by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 BC) and added by other Ptolemys. It was used to worship two sets of gods, the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Horus.

The town of Kom Ombo is near Aswan on Nile River. However, we didn't think about visiting the temple there until we left Aswan and went to Luxor, from where we took a train (around three hours) to Kom Ombo. Because of its location, Egypt's uprising and the hot weather in summer, we were two of only five visitors hanging around to view the courts, halls, pillars and reliefs of this temple.

Madinat Habu

This temple complex, also known as the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, is located on the West Bank of Luxor. We visited this well-preserved temple after going to the valleys of kings and queens and also Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut. Its architecture and reliefs are beautiful and fascinating. It's worthy to spend a couple of hours walking around and admiring its artistic beauty.

The Temple of Deir el Bahari

We took a ferry to the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor to visit the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and temples. However, the first two sites prohibit visitors' taking photos. After going to the two loyal tomb sites without any photo, we visited this mortuary temple of Pharaoh (Queen) Hatshepsut and saw this magnificent structure sitting overshadowed by the Peak of the Thebes. We couldn't stop clicking the cameras at every status, pillar, relief.....there.

Luxor-People

After traveling through several areas in Egypt, we were really fond of Luxor not only by its famous ancient ruins, loyal tombs and temples, and also by its rich traditions and culture. The folks in Luxor like to go out to engage in any social activities. We were fascinated by seeing Egyptian stick fighting and religion gathering outside Luxor Temple, and also horse dancing outside a tea shop.