Pola Luxor

... a fashion store in her spare time and was advising Elly on how much we should pay for a rip off Dolce and Gabana T-Shirt. After that, Luxor temple and back to the hotel for lunch and a chance to read in the sun. In the evening we did the Karnak Sound and Light Show. It's OK but a missed opportunity. My goodness they have the setting but could have done so much more with it. Luxor is what I imagined Egypt to be and it has not disappointed in the slightest.

... 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 ...

... br>"OK, OK 80LE, I will come with you and have my driver on that side meet us at the dock."<br><br>We only wanted a one way ticket on the ferry but for some reason they assured us it was a two way ticket.<br> "No, just one way."<br> "2 way 2LE, 2 tickets 4LE."<br> "One way." "It last for 24 hours. 4LE."<br> "We won't be here tomorrow, one way."<br> "Two way, see." He pointed to a sign that said one way 1LE, two way 2LE.<br> "Yes," I said "one way ...

... After an evening of quiet we met up with our friend Nathan from Cairo and he stayes at the Bob Marley hostel - it is a great place with great staff and more importantly - they actually have others staying there - amazing! We decided we would pack up and leave our other place to move here - but there is a big day on the cards tomorrow. We are going to cycle to the Valley of the Kings - another hot one me thinks!<br><br>Oh! And I got a fake student ID ...

... and boarded MS Norma, a sister ship for lunch. We were allocated cabins for the afternoon so were able to have a welcome rest and cool down. <br>Later in the afternoon we boarded the bus again and this time we headed out to the Karnak temple. You would think we would be templed out by now but once again we were amazed by the wonders we saw. This is a complex with several temple compounds which was once linked to Luxor by the avenue of sphinx ...

... convinced it was just a ploy to get us to like them and have us spend our money at their shops. It was too hot to argue... No, I didn't visit Cairo during the Bush years, but I highly doubt that say, in 2005, right after Bush's reelection, Cairo vendors professed their love of Bush knowing that the majority of Americans supported their president. People really do like Obama if you actually delve a little deeper...and they HATED Bush...I will discuss this more later ...

... awed look on his face. Then he would laugh hysterically at himself. It was pretty funny. haha. Excavations in the Valley of the Kings are still underway and a new tomb was just found actually. They were digging old fashioned style while we were there, with spikes, mallets, and hammers. After that we went back to the boat for lunch. It was buffet style and they had all kinds of things from cheeses to pasta to potatoes and vegetable casseroles, soups, meat ...

... left the hotel and headed back to our own abode where we were given the rest of the evening for relaxation and sleep.    On the morning of day 5 we embarked on one (of several) of the most highly anticipated temples on our trip.  This day we were going to Abu Simbel, which I am sure many of you are unaware of what this is, hence why I have attached a picture of it for your reference.    We left for the airport at 9:00 AM to catch our 10:30 flight to Abu Simbel, to which we ...

... also visited the huge colonnaded mortuary temple of the very successful Queen Hatshepsut, the first female Pharaoh.  We later learned that is was here that Islamist terrorists massacred 58 foreign tourists and 4 Egyptian, which accounted for the considerable numbers of armed guards around. Nearby, the Ramesseum of Ramsess II, while it had clearly been magnificent, was in a deidedly poor state of repair, with a huge statue of seated Ramses fallen over and in several ...

... who had escorted me to the shop that he could get his baksheesh off part of the premium price I had already handed over to the shopkeeper. I could easily have walked away empty-handed but I had chosen not to, and as I took off hurriedly back to the station I was surprised at myself for how much I wanted to keep the drinking record going. And it continued on through Egypt until the next chapter of my travels in Turkey. <br><br>It was another noisy train ...