Not far outside of Luxor, as you cross the transition between fertile “black land” near the Nile river to the desert, you’ll see locals heating mud bricks, boys and men riding donkeys through empty land, and young children herding goats. People live as they have for hundreds, if not thousands of years. This is all visible not far from the shrines of Karnak and Luxor Temples, just 30 minutes north. Karnak of course, representing the pinnacle of Egyptian civilization during the New Kingdom, could not be a more impressive site. Its grandeur and sheer size starkly contrast with the simple life of the modern local just 15 miles north. This is Egypt. It is a country of totality, one that astounds in every way. It’s been an adventure.