Sound & Light — Attraction in Old Karnak

This evening we had the pleasure of seeing the sound and light show at Karnak Temple with our driver Moussa. It was also his first time as a tour rep. Maussa took us to the entrance and the through to the second security check point where he left us and instructed us to meet him back at the car park once finished. Getting to see Karnak Temple at night was amazing as it has been the only time we have been able to see these beautiful monuments at night whilst here. The sound and light show took you back in time with its historical recordings from what sounded like famous people, mixed with some timeless music it was like watching a 1970's movie. As we entered the story continues through each gate, telling stories of Pharaoh's long ago and the parts that they had erected. Until you get to the sacred Lake inside. This is where the main part ending take place once you have taken your seat in this grand open air theatre. The whole thing last for around an hour with plenty of opportunities to take some beautiful videos and photos of the hieroglyphs, statues and Obelisks. Once the sound and light show finished we returned to the car park to meet Moussa. On the way back he stopped at two locations. One was on a bridge to take photos of Spynx avenue from above. The other was at the road side where he treated us to a local drink.

A cold sugar cane drink which was both unexpected and appreciated. It was such a treat to end the night with and it was great to taste something local as it's been beer coffee and Pepsi since being here. Moussa also stopped quickly for us to take a photo of Luxour Temple lite up which again was appreciated.

When we got back to the hotel, afterwards and spoke to the gentleman that booked our trips whilst here. he said that Moussa had requested to take us to the Sound and light show which was really kind.

Moussa is currently learning English with the help of the tour company and even though there was a barrier his kindness, warm smile and generous nature spoke words for him. I look forward to returning and I think I'd make the effort to try and learn some Arabic, enough to get by and for pleasantries at least.

Both moussa and Abdullah have been amazing on this trip and have been a pleasure to have for company as we explore Egypt for the...

It's an entirely different look at night with the illumination! Check with your guide on actual times, as Ramadan and Eid affect show times. The show is informative, the nighttime walk through an abandoned temple is stunning. The tour is in 3 parts. First gives the ancient history, through narration strategically lit buildings in the first open area (Tut Sphinx). Images projected on walls beyond. Part 2 moves you to between the columns to continue the next stage of history. As you head to the last area (seating on the back side of the lake), you'll hear the sounds of workers "carving" the hieroglyphics, and voices talking. Gives a nice ambience. (It's dimly lit here, so you may need a flashlight.). From the seating, the Egyptian history continues through images projected on the opposite walls and obelisks, and on/off lighting. History ends with the temple's fall into disuse. (nothing like ending on a sad note).

Presentation is an hour. Given in English, with headsets for other languages. (the show I saw).

The good: Seeing the area lit up at night, seeing the city and Valley beyond, with Venus clearly visible in the night sky. Walking past the lake, up the stairs on the dimly lit path, you can almost feel the spirits from the past, as you hear the faint chipping sounds of "workers" from the speakers. Only a few people here, maybe 30, if that. It's close to Luxor, 10-15 min ride. The history given in the presentation was informative, reiterating prior guide narrations.

The not so good: The presentation was a bit cheesy to me. The narration (English) was in Shakespearean theatrics style (rolled R's, think "Alas, look Yoric" style). The orchestration was heavy on timpani, loud brass, staccato strings and too many suspenseful "dah dah daaaaah" parts, not unlike late 50's-60's movies (think narration/music from "The Ten Commandments", and you aren't far off).

Overall it was good, the nightime lighted pathways and informative storyline helped counter balance the outdated slideshow presentation format. But hey, how often will you see...

Average at best. Sounds quality is 50% clear, 50% muffled by overpowering the speakers that it makes the sound very hard to make out. For non English speakers it's impossible. The script for the audio is written for fluent English speakers and is from 1950s Hollywood style epics. We don't talk like this anymore so even young English speaking kids won't follow. And I do mean English from England, native English speakers from other countries will also find it a bit strange.

Now the actual content of the script itself, it will not teach you anything that your guide didn't already. But what is explained is done simply and well. Then there are parts which are dramatizations and they are simply very poor and should be removed.

Enough sound, what about the light? This starts very well but gradually gets lower in quality as the show goes on. The beginning is quite dramatic and I won't ruin it for you.

However, if the above doesn't worry you then it's a nice throw back to English shaesperan actors of that epic movie era. In the end I would still recommend it. It's old but maybe that helps you remember those old movies and visualize what Egypt would have looked like in it's day.

Sound 1 Light 2 Education 2 Drama...