The small and forgotten temple of Khonsu is nice, just some hundred meters outside. Or the outdoor museum too, where there is the red chapel of Hatshepsut and her obelisk. But I really love Hypostyle Hall of Seti I/Ramses II - it is amazing. Guardians are very helpful and show you where to take that perfect photo, but remember bakhsis.

A row of sphinxes line the entrance to Karnak Temple. During Queen Hatshepsut's reign these sphinxes lined a paved avenue all the way to Luxor Temple 3 km away. Only the sphinxes near both temples have been excavated. The others are buried beneath the city.

Entering the much photographed Great Hypostyle Hall, we were dwarfed by the seeminly endless array of magnificent stone columns, 134 of them to be exact! Built by Amenophis III originally, Seti and Ramses II both added more pillars during their reigns. Ramses II also erected large statues of himself at the entrance to Hypostyle Hall, and built a double rowed avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, apparently trying to outdo Hatshepsut.

In the oldest part of the complex, Tuthmosis III again attempted to erase evidence of his aunt's reign by destroying Hatshepsut's monuments. He erected a sandstone wall around her two pink granite obelisks. Today one of the obelisks stands proudly beyond hypostyle hall, while the other lies on the ground beside the Sacred Lake. At 29 meters high, it is the tallest obelisk in Egypt. It was interesting to see the hieroglyphic images that were carved into the stone are larger at the top, allowing people to read easily from the ground.

Near the Sacred Lake (where priests cleansed each morning) is a large scarab beetle which was built by Amenophis III to signify good luck. Legend has it that if you walk around the beetle counter-clockwise seven times, you will have a child. So I scampered off to the scarab, and sure enough, it brought good luck. I now have a baby daughter!

There were lots of cubbyholes and interesting places to explore and take photos. But we didn't come close to visiting all 29 temples within the 200 acre complex. Later, we visited Karnak at night for the 90 minute Sound & Light Show. Rather than being seated for the presentation, like at the pyramids, we were shuffled through the complex as a large group in the dark, and stood at the sights as they were explained and illuminated. Near the end, we were led to stadium seats overlooking Sacred Lake for the remaining portion of the presentation.

Tip: Our tour company charged us $30 US to attend the Sound & Light Show at Karnak, when the admission cost only $9 US. Beware! Your guide will not accompany you inside, so why pay triple for transportation? Grab a taxi and go independently. You can purchase tickets at the site.

Guides explain in detail the time period, the ruler, the materials used such as granite. Much of the information is comprehensible, but would have been even better were I well read.