Emilio Hotel Luxor

(after my last travel pod update...) We left the Emilio hotel at 10am for a 45 minute van ride to our Nile cruise. We had all agreed to pay a little extra for a smaller boat and nicer accommodations, but we were not expecting the entire six room boat to ...

... turned it into a church and plastered over the old hieroglyphs, and long ago a mosque was built on the very same site, before Luxor temple was uncovered and restored.  Afer visiting Luxor our guide let us loose for the day, around 1pm.  We asked ...

... to the green Nile Valley. For the first time in what seems like ages, we have had a free evening so we quickly checked into our hotel to get ready.   I don't think any of us will have had a better shower in our lives. After days of muck and sand and ...

... headed for the Worker's Tombs at Deir-el-Medina. The workers village and tombs were not very crowded which is always nice, especially in Luxor we would come to find out! Our local guide, also named Tarek, told us about the lives of the workers and gave ...

... got the bus to Edfu and were there at about 7am and it was already boiling hot. After Edfu we got taken to our hotel in Luxor, the Emilio Hotel, anything would have been luxury after the boat but this hotel was lovely. We had a TV, balcony, fridge, safe ...

... clean the soot while still preserving the original color which is amazing. We left the temple at sunset and continued our drive to Luxor. We checked into the Emilio Hotel, had a quick dinner and went to bed after another exhausting but wonderful day! ...

Another early start today for the optional balloon ride. Three of the group opted to do this. We got a boat and bus there and had the safety briefing about landing which put as all off a bit. We were so nervous on take-off and wondering if we'd made the ...

... walls. After Dendera we had to get our police convoy to Luxor. Yay, I was so excited to be almost back in Luxor!!! We arrived at our hotel - The Emilio - had a bit of rennovation since I last stayed here 8 years ago, and then Carol and I tried to find an ...

... to go to the duty free shop around the corner from our hotel but it was shut and then a guy who claimed he worked at the Emilio and who said he recognised us offered to show us a place he knew and Josh bloody agreed (while I'm thinking how much is this ...

... but there is something about Muslim prayer time that I can't turn away from. We kept on driving and we finally made it to Luxor. When we got to the hotel some of the group had to stay and talk to the man that would take them on the hot balloon ride in the ...

... on dry land, we went for a quick but expensive drink at the Winter Palace. As an old colonial hotel, it is the most luxurious hotel in Luxor but we were only sat out on the terrace. We were not able to stay long thankfully as it was nearly tea time. ...

... by the pool soaking up the sun and reading.  We spent our nights there trying out the local restaurants, exploring the city of Luxor, and playing games on the roof.     Then there was the time that we spent touring.  We visited ...

... the back streets and through the fields of the east bank. We met those who didn't go on the donkeys enjoying nice cold beers in a hotel then got the ferry across the river. Upon reaching the west bank, we went our own ways. Mum and me went to a bookshop ...

... up with the rest of the group at the coffee shop. We stayed and had a cuppa and then everyone started heading back to the hotel. Mark and I stayed for a little while but then Mohamed's room mate (another tour leader) whose name is Arafa joined us and it ...

... something to eat. We actually ended up atMcDonald'slds and I have to say it was delicious! Our table even had a view of Luxor Temple. We spent what was left of the afternoon doing some laundry in our room and watching the one English TV channel, they ...