Luxor
The rest of my Egypt trip was pretty much non-stop. Sunday night I boarded the quick, nine-hour train for Luxor by myself. (Quick side note: A 1st class ticket Cairo-Luxor costs about $14, my 2nd class ticket today to Toledo, about a 30 minute trip, cost more) Not only that, I was the only non-Egyptian in my car, which was an interesting experience.
I got to Luxor at 9:30 am Monday morning and somehow missed my arranged hotel pickup. I'm not sure if he just never showed, or if I missed him while I was distracted by all the other hotel solicitations. In any event, I had to find new lodging. This wasn't a problem, as it isn't tourist season because of the heat, so especially the budget hotels were competing very fiercely. I went to a backpacker's hotel recommended by Kara's friends. I "splurged" on a private single with a bathroom and air-conditioning for 55 Egyptian pounds, about $9 or so.
That afternoon, I went to the Temple of Karnak and Luxor Temple, both of which are on the east bank of the Nile, where my hotel and most of Luxor is. Karnak was probably my favorite temple of all of them in Luxor. It was huge and had a lot of history. It blew my mind walking among ruins that were over 1000 years older than Rome. I explored town and called it an early night, which was good because I wouldn't get a night's sleep in a bed until Thursday night.
Tuesday morning, I went on a west bank tour organized by my hotel. One other guest went with me, an Italian who was also traveling by herself. We visited Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hapshetsut, Temple of Habu, and the Colossi of Memnon. As it was 107 degrees with no clouds, the $18 price of the 6 hour tour was definitely worth it if only for the air-conditioned transportation. Seeing the tombs at Valley of the Kings was pretty cool. You can't take pictures inside the tombs so I don't have a lot. The other temples were interesting, but started to run together toward the end.
We had lunch inside the street market, and that afternoon we went on a Felucca ride on the Nile with four other guests from our hotel. It was a very international excursion, representing Egypt, the US, Italy, England, France, and the Netherlands. We went out to Banana Island and ate fresh bananas, and watched sunset and drank tea from the middle of the Nile. It was a lot of fun.
That night, I got on the train back to Cairo at about 9:30, arriving Wednesday morning at about 7:30. Kara met me at the train station and we had breakfast. After that, I took a much-needed nap at Sara's apartment. I hung out on Zamalek with Sara and Kara and eventually went to the airport for my 11:45 pm flight back to Madrid. Needless to say, I've slept very well the last two nights.
Pictures up soon!
I got to Luxor at 9:30 am Monday morning and somehow missed my arranged hotel pickup. I'm not sure if he just never showed, or if I missed him while I was distracted by all the other hotel solicitations. In any event, I had to find new lodging. This wasn't a problem, as it isn't tourist season because of the heat, so especially the budget hotels were competing very fiercely. I went to a backpacker's hotel recommended by Kara's friends. I "splurged" on a private single with a bathroom and air-conditioning for 55 Egyptian pounds, about $9 or so.
That afternoon, I went to the Temple of Karnak and Luxor Temple, both of which are on the east bank of the Nile, where my hotel and most of Luxor is. Karnak was probably my favorite temple of all of them in Luxor. It was huge and had a lot of history. It blew my mind walking among ruins that were over 1000 years older than Rome. I explored town and called it an early night, which was good because I wouldn't get a night's sleep in a bed until Thursday night.
Tuesday morning, I went on a west bank tour organized by my hotel. One other guest went with me, an Italian who was also traveling by herself. We visited Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hapshetsut, Temple of Habu, and the Colossi of Memnon. As it was 107 degrees with no clouds, the $18 price of the 6 hour tour was definitely worth it if only for the air-conditioned transportation. Seeing the tombs at Valley of the Kings was pretty cool. You can't take pictures inside the tombs so I don't have a lot. The other temples were interesting, but started to run together toward the end.
We had lunch inside the street market, and that afternoon we went on a Felucca ride on the Nile with four other guests from our hotel. It was a very international excursion, representing Egypt, the US, Italy, England, France, and the Netherlands. We went out to Banana Island and ate fresh bananas, and watched sunset and drank tea from the middle of the Nile. It was a lot of fun.
That night, I got on the train back to Cairo at about 9:30, arriving Wednesday morning at about 7:30. Kara met me at the train station and we had breakfast. After that, I took a much-needed nap at Sara's apartment. I hung out on Zamalek with Sara and Kara and eventually went to the airport for my 11:45 pm flight back to Madrid. Needless to say, I've slept very well the last two nights.
Pictures up soon!
posted by Bob Martin at 12:40 PM
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