Luxor

Having arrived the previous night in Luxor, we woke to an early morning of Doom Juice.
Some of the group had to awaken earlier (3am) to see the sunrise and Luxor surroundings from hot air balloons. We went to pick them up after they landed.
A herd of sheep out on the road.
After picking up the balloonists, our fist stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, ruling from 1479 to 1458 BC. She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but is generally considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era. She re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt.

Osirian statues of Hatshepsut at her tomb, one stood at each pillar of the extensive structure, note the mummification shroud enclosing the lower body and legs as well as the crook and flail associated with Osiris.
More heavy security at the site.
A couple of reliefs from inside the temple.

We had a short donkey ride afterwards. I think I preferred the camel rides.
Next stop was the Valley of the Kings. It is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. With the 2005 discovery of a new chamber, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers.
We were not allowed to take any photos inside the tombs. Here I am in front of King Tut's tomb, which our guide said is not one of the better ones to visit. We gained entrance to three other tombs.
Next stop was the Karnak. The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings. The complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. It is probably the second most visited historical site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.
The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Construction work began in the 16th century BC. Approximately thirty pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity, and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features are overwhelming.
Today was our hottest day yet in Egypt. One of the people on our tour had a pocket travel clock with temperature gauge on it. (Thanks Drew!) He carried it around out in the sun, and it reached 55 C (or 131 F)! Luxor is definitely the hotest place I have ever been.
Obelisk of Hatshepsut. When Thutmose III came to power, he built a high wall around her obelisk. This wall hid the lower two-thirds but left the upper towering above. Hence the visible discoloration - the upper one-third had been continually exposed to the sun.
A giant scarab, dedicated by Amenophsis III to the God Khepri. The Egyptians believed that the Sun was pushed by a scarab on its daily crossing of the sky. It came to symbolize eternity and good luck.
Just outside the Temple of Luxor. One obelisk is still standing at the entrance, with the other one having been given to France in the nineteenth century where it rests at the Place de la Concorde.
Our tireless guide provides information while we rest.
Giant foot of Ramesses II statue at the entrance.
Giant statue of Ramesses II.
The temple was dedicated to the Theban Triad of Amun, Mut, and Chons and was built during the New Kingdom, the focus of the annual Opet Festival, in which a cult statue of Amun was paraded down the Nile from nearby Karnak Temple to stay there for a while, with his consort Mut, in a celebration of fertility – whence its name.
Islamic mosque over pharaonic temple. It is hard to tell from this shot, but the mosque is at the height of a second floor. At some point most of the temple had been buried so the entrance to the mosque was at ground level when it was build.

Statue of Tutankhamen and Nefretiti
Roman mural in an inner chamber. During the Christian era the temple's hypostyle hall was converted into a Christian church, and the remains of another Coptic church can be seen to the west.

The Temple of Luxor has a direct line of site to the Temple of Karnak along the Avenue of Sphinxes.