Gail Reyes Photography

Designed in 1929 by architect Leland A. Bryant, the Sunset Tower (as it was originally called) this beauty commands attention. Its dramatic setting on the Sunset Strip and elegant Art Deco styling, together with its proximity to famous restaurants and nightclubs of the 1930s & ’40s, contributed to its landmark status.

Luxor week comes to a close. Touring the tombs in Valley of the Kings.

This 2022 adventure was such a great trip, made all the better with the best travel mate!

If you are going to hot air balloon ride, may as well do it over Luxor!

Before we visited the Valley of the Kings, we visited the artists tombs.

The brilliant artists, sculptors, and draftsmen who decorated the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were part of a highly respected community of craftsmen known as the Servants in the Place of Truth. They lived in Deir el-Medina, a dedicated nearby walled village on the West Bank of Luxor.

The day we visited, we practically had the place to ourself. I’m not sure what kind of jenga pose I was doing to get this photo, but these tombs were small spaces.

Luxor week continues with this great scene. Kind of one of those pinch me moments.

Around every corner was just some awe-inspiring scene.

Egypt was one of those countries that I’ve always wanted to visit.

It where to start? You could easily spend a month and still not see everything. Like a lot of trips, I just scratched the surface. But I’m grateful that I was able to see what I did! I know travel isn’t for everyone, but it is for me and I can’t wait to get on my next flight.

This image of Luxor Temple, founded around 1400 BCE in Luxor, Upper Egypt, is one of the world’s greatest open-air monuments and a key sanctuary of ancient Thebes. Known as Ipet-resyt, or “The Southern Sanctuary,” it was mainly built by Amenhotep III, completed by Tutankhamun and Horemheb, and expanded by Ramesses II.


In Luxor, I loved grabbing a few moments alone, but the majority of the trip was trying not to get lost!

This was my Friendly Planet Travel tour group on the right (group size about 12) plus our guide. We also had a driver and the group guide at certain stops. We were well taken care of and I don’t think I would have been able to cover as much ground on my own.

Things could be a little chaotic so our guide would yell out the code word to keep us all together. I did have my headphones in and while I did try and listen intently, I couldn’t understand who Francis was and why he was so important.

Later, with our guide and group over cocktails, it came out that the code word was Ramesses (you know, that famous dude, of course!). I’m sure our guide still smirks about my oversight. It’s okay, sometimes I’m just here for comic relief 😉

Ramesses II is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most powerful period of ancient Egypt.

And we’re off “Francis, Francis….”

Welcome to Sphinx Alley, Luxor.

The Avenue of Sphinxes (also known as the Path of God or Rams Road) is a 2.7-kilometer ancient processional route in Luxor, Egypt, lined with over 1,000 statues, including distinctive ram-headed (sheep-headed) sphinxes known as criosphinxes. These specific statues feature the body of a lion and the head of a ram, which was the sacred animal representing Amun-Ra, the chief deity of ancient Thebes.

All images on the page are original and taken by me.

At the entry to Luxor Temple is one of the two last remaining ancient obelisks. The second in the matching pair, was gifted in 1830 and stands in Paris, France!

Inside Luxor there are several smaller structures including Obelisk Thutmose I, Luxor.

The Obelisk of Thutmose I, situated within the Karnak Temple complex, stands as a testament to ancient Egyptian craftsmanship and grandeur. Erected during the reign of Thutmose I around 1493-1479 B.C.E., this imposing structure once formed part of the entrance to the temple, flanking the Fourth Pylon. Carved from a single shaft of red granite sourced from Aswan, it rises to a height of 71 feet (21.7 meters) atop a base measuring 6 feet (1.8 meters) square, weighing an impressive 143 tons.

Kicking off Luxor week with Karnak Temple.

Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, is a marval. This temple dates from around 2055 BC to around 100 AD and is the largest religious building ever made. It covers about 200 acres (1.5 km by 0.8 km), and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone is sixty-one acres and could hold ten average European cathedrals. The great temple at the heart of Karnak is so big that St Peter’s, Milan, and Notre Dame Cathedral would fit within its walls.

During our visit our Egyptologist did a great job sharing stories and pointing out history long forgotten, and I missed most of it! When I am in a site like this, I just want to wander about and *feel* what it's like to be here. Walk around every corner, witness other people equally in awe. It was so hard to stand in one place learning a story of a very small area in a temple as large as this. There is no right or wrong. People who stand still probably learn more. People who wander maybe see more.

Tune in this week as I share some stories from this area of the world while on a visit in 2022.

Party on, Garth.