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New Year's Eve

What a night! Snake charmer, dancers, and musicians (Canucks using the term broadly). Watch and listen to the video clips and weep! Mama Canuck was the first to be introduced to the not so charming snake charmer! With a snake around her neck, Mama Canuck could only remember the terror Papa Canuck felt when in Marrakesh! After the snake charmer's offer to put the snake down Mama Canuck's top was rejected, the snake charmer couldn't resist pinching Mama Canuck's derriere as she ran back to our table!

We enjoyed a great buffet of Egyptian salads and dishes. Although we had been invited to spend New Year's Eve with our friend, Ali, we had fun hanging out with our fellow hotel guests from Norway and England. Canuck Junior danced her feet off as she quickly picked up some Egyptian dance steps! After 5 hours of partying, the Travelling Canucks' hearing will never be the same since it seemed to be a competition between hotel proprietors as to who could hold the loudest party! After a couple of hours of listening to the Egyptian musicians, we felt like we were being tortured! After dancing through the night, we found ourselves dancing throughout the early morning hours with another bout of Mummy Tummy! Bad planning since we planned on a 10 hour day excursion the next morning! Oops!

New Year's Day

For our last day in Luxor, we planned on taking a full day excursion from Luxor to tour the Temples of Abydos & Dendara. We had to be on the East Bank of Luxor early New Year's Day. So James called Ali at 6:30am and they hopped on the motorboat to get to the East Bank in time to meet Mohamed's brother, Ahmed, and his driver to cancel our trip hoping to get some of our money back to no avail. Mama Canuck felt bad since Ali had only just gone to bed when Papa Canuck awoke him!

When we headed down for some anise tea, we got a chance to wish the Norwegians a safe trip to the Red Sea Coast. Later in the afternoon, when Mama Canuck and Canuck Junior were feeling better, we headed to the cafe to meet up with Ali. We took a local minibus to an alabaster factory, where Canuck Junior learned how to turn an alabaster vase and we browsed for souvenirs.

Papa Canuck and Canuck Junior went for a camel ride along the west bank of the Nile River while Mama Canuck videotaped and photographed the event. Mama Canuck was still feeling pretty woozy until the camel kissed her to everyone's surprise. It was at that moment Mama Canuck realized she would get on just fine with Egypt's camels.

Check out our travel blog titled: Canuck Camelmania for videos and more photos for camel lovers!

After the camel ride, we went over to the East Bank by motorboat, took a caleche ride to Luxor's souk. Unlike tourists, we had the chance to visit the local market. It was a real experience seeing the market the locals shop at as opposed to the "sanitized" tourist market.

Once we returned to the West Bank by motorboat, we invited our host, Ali, for dinner at a restaurant, called Africa, which we enjoyed. As we made arrangements for Ali to pick us up at our hotel and take us to the airport, first by motorboat ride across the Nile, next by tourist van that would be waiting to take us and our luggage to Luxor airport for our flight to Aswan, we knew it was time again to pack our bags and get on another early morning flight.

Staying on the West Bank at El Nakhil

We would recommend staying on the West Bank if you are interested in experiencing the real Egypt. El Nakhil, a family-run hotel, is located on the edge of sugar cane fields at the end of a lane where Egyptian families live. Although the West Bank is not "sanitized" like the East Bank where the hotel chains are situated, we felt more connected with the people who greeted us as we walked by their homes and stores. We also had the pleasure of meeting Ali, who would assist us with transportation (microbus, motorboat, tourist van and camels), sometimes at inconvenient times, always with a smile.

El Nakhil is very well maintained, very clean and the service by all the hotel and restaurant staff is excellent. With a varied menu, it was relaxing to eat many of our meals at the hotel knowing the food was delicious and always served hot. The hotel guarantees that raw foods are washed with boiled or bottled water. The room rates are very reasonable and great value!

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