Partner Tutotoel Luxor

... decided to take a van cab with 6 other back packers to Hurghada. We paid $25 for the both of us for a 5 hour ride!!! We got dropped off on a dirt road and hailed a cab to take us to our hotel. We felt sorry for these 2 ladies who got off with us, they looked real panicked as if they didn't know what to do or where to go next. As soon as we checked in, we went for a nice swim in the pool even though a few steps down is the gorgeous red sea, but we'll be swimming in the ...

We got into Luxor at 1pm and walked for a little while to find the guest house we wanted. everyone stayed at one place which was cheap but not all that great. And Zeya and I went on to another GH - We wanted to meet more people and actually saw another tourist in Reception - Dan from England - It turned out he was the only other person in the hostel but he was cool, and the place was very cool so it was fine.

So on the 1st day we just hung out playing ...

... told us to get people to go away. Of course he didn't tell us it is also incredibly rude and offensive and should only be used after much hassling... When Melissa used it the guy started screaming at her and told her he never wanted to see someone like her in the country again...

We moved on from the Great Pyramid to a really cool lookout point from which you can see all the pyramids where we took the obligatory "let's make it look like you are touching the ...

... hated Hatshepsut for ruling in his place for 20 years, built huge buildings around the obelisk to hide it, which actually ended up protecting and preserving it for thousands of years. There is a statue of a scarab near the bathing pool that is supposedly lucky if you walk around it three times. After Karnak, we went to Luxor temple and saw about a bajillion statues of Rameses II - he was quite vain. On the side of his statues in front of the pilons, is a ...

... here and then we got to explore ourselves. There is a room with about 130 odd massive columns and there are still some obleisks there is sooo much to see, including some of the original paint on some of the columns and roof! At the end of the tour we found ourselves as the lucky scarab where deepending on how many times you walk around it depends on what you get! 1 - Good Luck, 3 - Good Health, 5 - Money, 7 - Marraige and 9 - Children. So Katherine walked around it 9 ...

... to the country.   It isn't a dam in the true sense of what we think of as the Hoover Dam, being made of concrete.  This dam is made of a clay core, petrified sand, and rocks that hold back the nations largest man-made lake.  This stop was impressive but short, as the only thing our minds could focus on was dinner (as we had not eaten since breakfast).  We headed downtown Aswan in one of the local cabs that I am glad to say I have experienced.    This trip has truly been ...

... to avoid and then held out their hand for baksheesh, pleading or even threatening if necessary.  Even a gun toting tourist policeman was at it at Hatshepsut temple.  Apart from being quite expensive, it is actually quite difficult to maintain sufficient supplies of small change to continuously feed it out to people.  One has to recognise that Egypt is a poor country with an average income of only about $1600 per annum, but this culture was very off-putting, as it was so ...

Luxor is a great place to spend some time and really enjoy the time travel. In the past, into the time of pyramids, pharaohs, magic…First time when I visited Egypt I stayed in Luxor for about 3 – 4 weeks in 2000. I mingled with local people, visited and stayed in their houses. I met wonderful people whom I still admire for their big ...

... mightily impressive and even more so when they lit it up at night, the only downside was that all the tourists in Luxor had the same idea to come at that time!

Back at the hotel that night the place was starting to get kind of busy and a whole lot of us got dinner together at a cheap restaurant at the corner, and as luck would have it all the guys were staying in Luxor for New Years so at least I will have a (mild) party tomorrow night to mark the occasion.

... to fill out with our details informed us we were to provide official documentation from our education institution for them to be processed. Looking up, worried we question the office manager who laughs loudly and waves off this craziness with his hand. We emerge a short time later as fully fledged students. After dropping Span back off at the hostel Jill and I go for a late night stroll around town which results in ...