Happyland Hotel Luxor

... EGP for something that normally costs one. On the other hand, there are a greater-than-usual number of services specifically geared to foreigners and their particular linguistic- and budgetary- proclivities, even posting menus and prices in English, so it’s a win/lose situation, twice removed from normal Egypt. Gone are the natural low prices and honesty of 'normalcy’ and in its place are some decent services in addition to ...

... was really late. Once they had finally made it we had our last group meeting and Mohamed told us we were his 2nd favourite group and we told him that he was our favourite tour leader. Mohamed went downstairs and we all stayed up to organise our tip - not many people wanted to contribute which surprised me - some said they wanted to do it in person but I didn't believe them. It wasn't much of a tip in the end considering how much I put in which was ...

... Egypt for 20 years, still her name was excluded from the Valley of the Kings. Yep.

Onward we went. After the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, we made two quick stops. The first was a visit to the Valley of the Workers – a large area containing the ancient ruins of 70 houses and three tombs of some of the many thousands of workers who labored building the monuments, Valley of the Kings, and other nearby temples and statues. I had a quick look ...

... a peek into the Egyptian village life. The countryside, still very ancient in the way that people live in clay huts, plough fields manually and use animal pulled carts as vehicles, can be viewed first hand by the passengers while sunbathing on the deck of a cozy ship.

Depending on your choice, you can avail of Nile River Cruises of short or long duration. The shorter trips to Egypt, lasting for three or four days usually Nile River Cruises Ships between ...

... sugar cane, corn (to feed the animals!). Just awesome. This is so relaxing. We tied up to a bank on the first night - all alone with not another boat in sight and had a wonderful 3 course dinner and the most beautiful whole fish which we totally enjoyed. We got off the boat in the afternoon also and went for a walk around the farmlands. Cruise ships passed fairly frequently and tended to break our peace and quiet (and they also had a lot of exhaust smoke). So glad we chose the Dahabiya.

... the UK. They both work for Mercedes, Lee is 42, Emma is 37. They celebrated their 1 year anniversary on the trip.

Ralph is Kat's father, Linda her step mother, all from Long Island. Kat is in the Peace Corps with Melissa, who is from Syracuse. Kat and Melissa are posted in Cameroon, where they have been for the past year. Kat works with microfinance banks and teaches business classes. Melissa is a "7th grade" teacher, though the kids in her science class range ...

... led by their local handlers. Now, the downside, this village now relies greatly on tourists, and like much of Egypt, everyone is looking to separate you from your money. Shops, individuals on the streets, beggars, and almost everyone, man or child, is hounding you to either buy something or give them something. They have so little and we have so much. This is pervasive everywhere we have travelled here. It's almost to the point of "You have looked at me, now pay me". Not quite ...

... of the Kings, the world almost comes to an end. Nothing grows here, and the climate is hot even through the winter. Hence it is a very obvious symbol for death. The rocks could quite easily be dug in, allowing for canals into the underworld. Also the desert is a perfect storing place for corpses. Over 60 tombs have been opened so far but estimates have been made that there are probably between 100 -150 in total.

We assembled in the foyer, bleary eyed. It transpired ...

Luxor

I arrived to Luxor by boat(Feluka) I have just spent the last 40 hours on a small sailing boat with nothing on it , no toilets no rooms nothing just a flat mattress with a cotton sheet for shade.The Crew, A really nice Belgium couple-A weird wacky crazy French Old Man-3South Africans-Another Weirdo from Turkey-And a nice couple from Canada,Banter was a rare occurrence, but there were ...