Lotus Hotel Luxor

... t get woke up when Patricia left for the airport early the next morning. That sounded like a good idea to me and they had a huge bed!! Mohamed finally arrived and sorted out what he had to with Lex and Heather and I told them I would see them before they left so that I could get their key. Before we went to get my visa extension we went and got my passport photocopied which Mohamed paid for, then we got a taxi to the passport office (again Mohamed ...

After waking up with the sun on the felucca we headed out to Kom Ombo and Edfu temples [15 Pounds and 25 Pounds respectively, some with discount]. Our first stop was at Kom Ombo temple, dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. While the complex was not as large as what we were about to see in Luxor, some of the remaining hieroglyphs and colored paintings were quite astounding. With Edfu, dedicated to Horus, these two temples were the next on my list to see ...

... by a buffet restaurant and had a big lunch as we knew we would not need dinner after this good value meal. Back at the hostel we chilled for the rest of the evening in our aircon room and I read a book and finished it that night while Wayne constructed a van on the computer again having lost his data when the old puter died. I also had done our washing and it was drying nicely in the aircon room.

Wednesday 8th July. We had a bus ticket to Dahab for 3.30pm so we packed our ...

... to take us for 60 pounds...I think it should have been 40 pounds, but I don't know, since the "real" price is so darned hard to get, unless you are willing to shop for a long time. I was exhausted, so I just went with 60. Our Egypt Air flight, which featured a small meal that the in seat magazine promised was a proper Halaal Meal, was only a little over an hour, so not much sleeping time there...

Of course when we got to the hotel and I gave the guy a hundred ...

... as impressive as the thought of it being hand-chiseled out of granite, carved with the intricate stories and depictions, and carried by barge several hundred miles down the Nile where it was to be installed in a temple in Luxor. In fact, this is the thought which continually pervades our visits to the many temples, tombs, and monuments that we have seen--the size and scope of the structures, their amazing architecture and precision of design and construction and the feeling ...

... a decent bakery and bought some nice bread rolls before walking to the river for our felucca cruise. Rolf and Sasha (the Norweigians) had met some Spanish people in their hotel who had found a felucca captain and already done the required negotiations. We hopped on and set off only to float around a bit 10m from where we started! As it was overcast the wind wasn't blowing from the direction it normally does and so we were becalmed! Trust us to pick the ...

... Tutankhamun's tomb and lived at the site for years. Once at the Valley of the Kings, we went inside the tombs of Ramses IV, Tutmosis III and Seti II. Ramses IV's tomb had the most amazing wall carvings and paintings with amazing colours that had survived thousands of years. Tutmosis III's tomb was accessed through a series of stairs and bridges non of which would have been there when it was first re-discovered. It was ...

... and Ramses IX. These tombs were much larger in width and height then going into the middle of a pyramid, but they were so beautiful. Painted figures and hieroglyphics lined every inch of every, wall including the ceiling. There were scenes depicting Kings offering sacrifices to different Gods and protective vultures everywhere. When you looked up at the ceiling it was the same impression of looking up at the Sistine Chapel where your entire field of vision is filled with ...

... une âme unique à la pièce. Le commandant en personne nous souhaite la bienvenue et offre une jolie rose rouge à Nathalie. On nous remet les clefs de la chambre numéro huit, celle du roi Farouq.

Ce bateau a ete construit par Thomas Cook et offert plus tard au Roi Farouk. Il se demarque des autres bateaux de croisiere par sa taille raisonnable, ses coursives et l`omnipresence du bois. Il est mu par une machine a vapeur dont les pieces sont d'origine. Seul ...

... shopping and then meeting up with Shauna (the Canadian I met in Cairo) who would be joining us tonight, which was really a relief because I was getting sick of socialising with only men all day every day!

After much debate/deciding we (myself, 4 guys from the hotel and Shauna) found ourselves a perfectly located restaurant, and more importantly one that had Stella's for only 8 pounds (about $1.60). The restaurant was on a rooftop ...