Day 11 - Luxor

  Luxor, Nile River Valley, Egypt
Friday, November 14, 2008

21.33 - After our stint in the desert, returning to a major town has been met with mixed reactions. On one hand we could not wait to get back to showers and proper beds but on the other, the desert was so amazing we didn't want to leave. Sadly that part of the tour is over now but I have some great memories and hopefully photos to go with them. We were up at sunrise in preparation for a long day of driving much to our disappointment. To make it even worse, we all stunk of smoke from the campfire and had been attacked by the mozzies overnight. It was the usual breakfast before we said goodbye to the locals who looked after us very well once again.

The Temple Of Hibis, Kharga

A short ride in the pick-up truck again took us back to our bus which we loaded up and promptly got under way. We are getting used to the coach journeys now so the two hour journey went quickly. Music and solitaire on my iPod kept me occupied until we reached Al-Kharga.
 
In Al-Kharga we bought some lunch for consumption on the bus for the last stage of our journey today to Luxor. After a quick drink in the café we were off again. The time flew by with nothing much to report. Reading more of my book, which I have barely touched this holiday, was my source of entertainment this time. My tiredness has been catching up with me and I have been a bit snappy with Mum so I could not wait to get to bed this evening. Mohammed briefed us upon our arrival back 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.

Did We Take A Wrong Turn Somewhere?!

  I don't think any of us will have had a better shower in our lives. After days of muck and sand and grime, we have acquired a layer of dirt which we had to scrub off. Seeing it wash down the drain made us realise how mucky we actually were. For those who didn't use the culvert, it has been 4 days at least! Unfortunately we didn't have long to savour it as we had a briefing for our balloon flight tomorrow which we had to attend.
 
A man with a real Blue Peter Badge talked to us about how he got it (balloon flights of course) and dropped a bombshell for us. We need to be up at 04.00 tomorrow! The flight is designed to catch the sunrise and allow for the rest of the day so it will be hard work tomorrow. Since it was a free night, we went to find a place to eat on the riverfront. I had the hottest BBQ chicken wings ever then a pizza but I had to return to the hotel early because I was so tired! It has been good to get back to city life but we are all guilty of holding other tourists in contempt because they have not done Egypt the way it should be done in our opinion. We have also realised we are tourists just like everyone else.