El Nakhil Luxor

... asking to take the tiller for a bit but it really did look way to ********* the way down the nile we had a 3 course lunch of salads, breads & a meat dish but I couldn't eat too much. As we cruised down the nile the sights and sounds are simply wonderful. Donkeys braying, men slapping the water with their oars to scare the fish into their nets, kids on the bank yelling out hello, some women washing clothes in the nile, kids swimming, farmers tending their fields growing mangoes ...

... that! We got dragged around various tourist shops and looked at handmade carpet, perfume and paintings - we only got sucked into paying way too much for perfume and paintings! We were due to board our train at 8pm and we thought we had booked a sleeper cabin but somehow our ticket was only for a seat on the train. With no sleep the night before, we decided to just buy a sleeper cabin and waste the tickets for the seats, at that stage we had been in the sun all day and ...

... and stone. Very very good it was an excellent way to understand the Luxor area as it has nearby across the river ,the valley of the kings and next to it the valley of the queens and the great complex of Karnak a little way out of time on this side of the Nile. From here we strolled into the market area known as the souq and again fended off touts but less aggressive than Cairo it was more pleasant seeing the lovely spice stalls selling colourful and aromatic spices as well as ...

... the West came to power. Nor could he support a fight for democracy that shakes up the Egyptian state. His risk aversion allows him to accept the state for what it is: a keeper of stability allowing Western tourists to feel "safe." To be quite honest, I don't feel that safe with the submachine guns in the street...but I do feel safer than I'd probably feel looking at the submachine guns in Syria...

But anyway, now that Obama's speech has happened, I will say I ...

... cheesy as it sounds but gave us a flavor to see it in the daytime later. So today was a freaking long day. Got up at 5 to make it to the other side of the Nile where we boarded donkeys to the edge of the Valley of the Kings. First time on a donkey, what fun!! They are surprisingly obediant and although I was starting to feel numb towards the end, not that uncomfortable. So the Valley of the Kings was interesting. We saw the tombs of Tutmosis 3rd, Ramses 1st and Ramses ...

... completely carved with heiroglyphics, some of which still had the paint on them after 4500 years in the sun. The next is the Hypostyle, another courtyard which had been covered and rose to oaver 100 feet in the center. The pillars were built in 6 foot sections and stacked upon eachother by filling the courtyard with sand as they went. Once the pillars were to their final height, the sand was removed and th carvings and heiroglyphics were added on the way down. Today 5000 ...

... and about the Jews' flight from Egypt to Israel. It's appropriate that today I've booked my own flight from Egypt to Israel, three days earlier than expected, because I want to get away from Egyptian people as fast as I can and into the land of my own people. In spite of this, the ancient sites in Egypt are awesome, and the rest of the group look to be having an exciting time after I leave - relaxing in Dahab on the ...

... color to her arm he’d call out “Sweetie Sweet”. He was endlessly entertaining with jokes about his wives. I believe he wanted Katie as his 4th, although his first wife “Never Tired” might not like it.
We would have been content to stay at Karnak longer, but the sun was getting low and we still had to check out Luxor. One of the first things you notice at Luxor temple besides the huge obelisk is numerous sphinx statues on both sides of a ...

Départ de nuit à 4 h 50 pour un vol en montgolfière. Notre guide nous amène sur un bateau pour prendre un petit déjeuner. Nous ondulons au gré du clapot dans l'obscurité qui entoure le Nil. Bientôt, le bateau démarre pour gagner la rive ouest, celle des sépultures. Un bus prend le relais et nous mène sur la piste d'envol en plein milieu des champs de canne à sucre. Une odeur suave et âcre se dégage, identique à celle qui nous enveloppait lorsque nous avions travers ...

... on the scaffolding (no doubt in return for some baksheesh). Anyway a highly recommended sight and it would definitely have to be just as good if not better than the Hatshepsut Temple from yesterday.

Tomb of Nakht
The Lonely Planet describes the Tombs of the Nobles as "some of the most spectacular yet least visited sights of the West Bank". What the Lonely Planet (conveniently) fails to mention is that the tombs are little more than a ...