While we were in Egypt, we just could not help visiting 

Luxor 

and enjoying the biggest temple complex in Egypt - 

the Karnak Temple Complex

, the Valley of the Kings and the Nile. But first things first - today we'll talk about the Karnak Temple.
You can comfortably reach Luxor from Sharm El Sheikh only by local airlines. Egyptian airlines - it's a wow. Reminded me of the Maldivian ones, but they are dirty and shabby. In order to have time to see the city and to go back in one day, you have to take off early enough.
As a result, we were in Luxor at 8 am.
Here is The Avenue of the Sphinxes. It is located in the place that is not very accessible. You can get to it only in some places, and there is nothing special to look at.

This is a typical Arabic picture. You can see the Avenue of the Sphinxes at the bottom. It was different in my textbooks... Everything has changed somehow.

And now let's talk a little about the Karnak Temple itself.
Construction of the largest temple complex of ancient Egypt began around the year 2000 BC in Thebes. Luxor was built on the site of 

Thebes 

known to us from the school program. The complex consisted of many small temples. In the 3rd century AD the temple was abandoned (Emperor Constantine II ordered to close all the pagan temples throughout the empire). As a result, the temple and its location were forgotten. Almost for 1300 years, this place was covered with sand, until the beginning of excavations in the 18th century.
The temple was in fairly poor condition. Almost everything was destroyed with time.  And everything had to be restored.
Let's take a little walk around the complex.

Sphinxes greet us at the entrance.

The heat is significant despite the morning time.

Obelisks are impressive.

Here are lonely palms. There's a lack of vegetation. Despite the proximity of the Nile.

If I am not mistaken, this is one of the Ramesses.

This is the beginning of the column hall.

Everything here is pretty ordinary for the locals. They can even lean on the UNESCO heritage.

There are a lot of hieroglyphs on each column.

This place is the highlight of the complex. Just imagine how all this was built in the year 2000 BC.

Hieroglyphs can be seen even on the ceilings. It's unbelievable.

Here is a scarab.

Behind the columns, there is a pretty lake, and the rest of the territory of the complex, to be honest, is almost destroyed or has not been restored yet. But anyway, it's incredibly impressive.

And such a lovely little tree grows at the exit from the temple. It's charming.