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Published: November 17th 2006
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Nile Sunset
Felluca sailboat on the Nile Nile Cruising Leaving Aswan, I boarded the splendid Thebes Nile cruiser (imagine a floating box) for our two-night journey up to Luxor. Compared to my accommodations in Aswan, the cruiser was a big step up. This baby was no Queen Mary, but the cabins were clean and nicely appointed with awesome views of the Nile River. After checking-in, I quickly acclimated with some sunbathing on the astro-turf covered top deck. With so few passengers on the ship, it was easy to determine there was a large contingent of French, some Germans, a few Asians, English, a couple of Americans and a smattering of other nations represented.
Our three ports of call along the way included cities of
Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Esna with each city warranting shore leave of about an hour or two for site seeing the respective monuments and temples. The most impressive was the Temple of Horus located in Edfu and built starting in 237 BC and blah blah blah….by the time we reached Esna, I was beginning to suffer from severe temple touring burnout. I skipped whatever temple was here and opted to use my time on shore to check some email. I know it
might sound cynical, but after awhile, all of Egypt starts to look the same. The temples, the hieroglyphics, tourist bazaars and trinkets for sale, the color brown and the incessant hounding from peddlers to buy, buy, buy. Nonetheless, my experience here has been amazing and Egypt is truly a place to tick off your “must see” list.
Traveling solo, I had hoped to be seated with some English speaking folk at meal times, but for whatever reason, the host always insisted on seating me with a Taiwanese family (mom, dad and a twenty-something son) who didn’t speak hardly a lick of English. Thankfully, I met two gals from London who were rooming in the cabin next to me. I begged that they invite me to their table last night for dinner, thus avoiding another staring match with the Taiwanese. I got along well with English gals Donna and Nicola, and it was nice to actually be able to share some drinks, stories and be able to speak my own language for once.
We arrived into Luxor around 8:00pm in the evening and after dinner, immediately disembarked for a few hours of beer and pool at an English Style
Pub. I was challenged to a pool game by the resident Egyptian shark, whom the bartender claims beat some sort of American champion in some tournament, whenever, wherever. The English girls had already beaten me in the first two games, so needless to say, I was feeling pretty, um confident about taking this guy on. I started kicking his butt from the get-go, but he roared back for the victory. The good thing is I represented the US with at least a respectable showing. This morning, we all checked out of the cruise ship bright and early and headed out for a half day of guided sightseeing at the Valley of the Kings tombs and the Luxor temples. After seeing my last temple here....whew - I'm looking forward to leaving the dusty dessert for some chilled out beach time. I'm off to meet up Nicola and Donna for a farewell and last round of drinks before a predawn 3 hour bus ride to the city of Hurghada on the coast of the red sea; a transit point to Sharm el Sheik and beyond.
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