Pharaon Luxor

So after a very full day in Cairo, we headed off to the Cairo train station for our overnight trip to Luxor (no, not the one in Vegas). Taking us to the station was our new guide Mostafa - who I took a liking to immediately (it didn't hurt that he bought the drinks during dinner...). Now Mostafa is an interesting character. He's Egyptian, sounds Australian, and looks like Eddie Murphy. Full of useful and enlightening information (was able to elaborate on how the Arabs and Jews are actually co...

We woke up bright and early this morning after a night sleeping on the feluccas on the Nile River. We slept sardine style, stacked side by side on the top of the boat, in high heat and biting bugs. All in all it was a great night. We headed back to Aswan to pick up our bags before heading off on a grand tour of some of the major temples that this area has to offer. It was a three in one trip on our way to Luxor, having the options of visiting the temples of Kom-Ombo, Edfu, and Karnak. Due to ...

Finally in the morning we left the Felucca - and still had to wait until the early afternoon to get our shower. On our way to Luxor we visited the Kom Ombo Temple and the Edfu Temple. But since it was really hot and we were more looking forward to a shower, our interest in temples was slightly reduced. After having had our shower at the hotel at Luxor and being refreshed we went on to the East bank of Luxor, where we visited the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple.

You can't blame the Hollywood studios, but through watching their epic blockbusters like 'Cleopatra', I found Alexandria a real disappointment. My illusion was centred on finding a cluster of well preserved, magnificent buildings and temples along a Mediterranean beach front - the reality was desparately disappointing. In total contrast and maybe because my illusion had been shattered in Alexandria and therefore my expectations were so much lower, my day in Luxor has been; incredible. The sit...

Gem and Wayne's adventures in Egypt - Week 1- Cruising the Nile Day 373 -Monday 5th March - Gatwick to Luxor....Hello Egypt Up early to drop Mike at work and then off to Gatwick airport to catch the 5 hour flight to Egypt. We arrived at 7.00pm, got into a crazy airport where all these men hustled us to get a visa, when we eventually got our luggage we spent about 40 minutes going around in circles trying to find the transfer to the boat. As you walk out the doors of the airport all these guys...

After hectic Cairo (and a eerrr 'different' train trip) we arrived in Aswan, a smaller town on the Nile, with markets, cruises and access to the Philae temple, Aswan High Dam and one of the highlights of our trip, Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is a temple cut into the rock that was relocated after the dam was built - amazingly well preserved and huge in size, it was well worth the trip. By now there were a few people not feeling too well, not eating too much and unfortunately seeing what they did ea...

Off the feluccas nice and early, and off to view Kom Ombo and Edfu temples on teh way up to Luxor. Everyone was feeling pretty grubby and tired, so were happy to get up to the hotel at Luxor. WEe had lunch at the hotel and a free afternoon, in which me Ange and Bex wandered into town to find the animal hospital (which was closed anyway) then met up witb everyone to see Luxor temple in the evening. The temple, again, was lovely, and we had an egyptologist with us to tell us all about its histo...

We got up in the morning at about 8. We got the chance to appreciate the view of the Red Sea in the daylight, and we really didn't want to leave this luxurious place! We knew we wanted to get to Luxor, though, so we went to breakfast at the giant hotel buffet, and got ready to head to the bus station. We got there at 10 in time for the 10:30 bus. We waited in the bus station - really, just an outdoor sandy area. There were lots of locals around, including kids. Lots of women with there faces ...

We took a night train (10 hours) to Luxor, although the train was full of men and smelt very bad it was all worth it to see the sunrise above the palm trees. On arrival we checked into our hotel and went straight to the pool, unfortunatly Gabes was sick on arrival and a couple of hours later we both were feeling rank. The next four days we spent trapped in our hotel feeling very ill, the last day we hoped to see Valley of the Kings but that morning we both were sick again and had to stay insi...