Internet, finally (fingers crossed)

Trip Start Oct 30, 2007
1
8
15
Trip End Nov 18, 2007


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Egypt  ,
Thursday, November 8, 2007

Ok, let's try this again.  We haven't had internet for the past 4 days as it was down while in Luxor, and then, when we finally get internet in Cairo, the power goes out to the power grid and we lose the entry in progress...  Here's hoping that this one goes through!

So, here's the rundown of the past four days:

Monday (Nov 5) - we sailed down the Nile on a felucca - it is the only way to travel down the Nile in our opinion.  We did not once envy those on the cruise ships as it just did not seem like a very authentic Nile experience.  Our felucca had a matress type pad covering most of it with pillows and a tarp above so that we just lounged around with our feet at the edges of the felucca, sometimes dangling over if desired.  We had a two man crew, one cooked while we sailed and the other managed the sailing.  It was wonderul and we both could have easily done another day just lounging, reading, viewing down the Nile.  The toilet situation was not a problem.  We had a pit stop during the day and then when we stopped for the night one of the Aussie guys in our group dug the toilet pit and put up the western style toilet seat bench and a canopy around it.  It was no big deal.  In the evening the crew built a fire and we sang Nubian songs and "danced" around the fire.  It was a lot of fun.  Favorite memory -  our crew putting on music while we sailed - pink floyd and bob marley.  :)  It was classic.  There is definitely a bit of rasta culture fascination with some of the Nubians.

Tuesday (Nov 6) - After we woke up, our crew made us these crepe like pancakes (yummy) and boiled eggs for breakfast.  We then sailed across the river to pick up our van for a 3 hour drive to Luxor.  Once again, it was the "caravan."  This time, we ended up having an Egyptian guard riding with us for about an hour and then he jumped out and we had a police truck in front of us and one behind us.  Each time we went into a village they would sound their sirens - just to let any would be bad guys know exactly where we were... ha.  Just kidding - we have never felt unsafe at all.  

After we made it to Luxor, we had a free afternoon but almost all of us wanted to see Karnak temple so our leader organised a guide for us who was fantastic.  First, we visited ACE - Animal Care in Egypt that is a non-profit organization that provides free animal care to anyone that brings in their animal.  Our tour company, Intrepid, is one of the sponsors.  It was really interesting and they do good work.  They are doing their best to educate the community on how to properly care for their animals.  Next, we went to Karnak Temple.  For those movie buffs, if I'm not mistaken, Karnak temple was featured in James Bond's The Spy Who Loved Me or On Her Majesty's Secret Service, I cannot remember which... but, I do remeber Jaws chasing Bond around all of the columns at Karnak.  I won't go into the history of it, but it was really cool and I think the pictures are going to look great.  In the evening, we also strolled around the Luxr Temple which is in the center of Luxor.  If you have been to Paris, you may have seen the Obelisk they have that was a gift to France from Egypt.  It's pair is at the Luxor temple.

Ok, I'm posting this now as we just had a brown out and I luckily had just saved.  So, since electricity seems iffy, I'll at least let you all know that we are here.
Print this entry Cairo hotels