Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa

Actually not really, but places where dead people had been…and if you’re Eloise, that’s basically as bad as lying in the sarcophagus with them. A grumbling early start as we scoffed breakfast and headed for our adventures on the West Bank. Not too long of a trip and we were at Medinet Habu, a temple for Ramses III. It was all about him really, what a strong warrior he was and how he killed lots of enemies. And the usual chumminess with the gods. He understood the importance of really making his mark, so he made the carvings very deep so they could never be removed or worn away. Some beautiful colours, not many other people and guards who were keen to earn a bit of coin on the side meant we were shown all the ... read more

Yes, for all you pedants out there, I know Montezuma is Mexican but the reference is related to the very authentic curry stir fry noodles in the Mexican buffet which did not agree with me AT ALL and rendered me horizontal for the entire day. So for everyone else, it was a lazy start to the day including breakfast and lunch before pick up for a “desert experience”. Not particularly authentic I’m told and a bit naff all round but they did get a camel ride and enjoyed the show. But I’m assured that my Mexican dalliance didn’t cost me too much in experience even if it did in body weight. Another long day back to Luxor via the same route we came. We were pleased to be leaving the resort but glad we’d made the ... read more

As we approach the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, thoughts turn to the excitement of Egypt, ancient ruins (no not most of the passengers) and PIRATES. We all receive a letter from the Captain informing us that on the 21st we must all take part in the ship’s pirate drill. Now I understand this does not involve wide spread issuance of parrots and tricorn hats. Neither is it a case of a free tot of rum to any passenger producing a peg leg to the bar staff. The rear open decks will be closed at night and the ship’s lights largely extinguished. In the event of an attack the passengers must gather outside their cabin and sit down on the floor. Given that we are deck 11 and a very considerable ... read more

Day 2 in Luxor, with this morning's first stop being the Temple of Karnak... Construction began in the Middle Kingdom (around 2000-1700 BCE) and continued all the way up to the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305-30 BCE) with most of the buildings dating from the New Kingdom (16th-11th century BCE). The temple is huge and is believed to be the second most visited site in Egypt after the Giza Pyramid complex......... Okay, this has been sitting in Saved since March, historical research holding it up for the most part, and I have since travelled to several other places and things are getting backed up...lol...time to move on... So the condensed version of this is: Karnak is cool, probably my favourite temple visited on the trip...the site itself is a maze of temples, statues, carvings and frescoes, with the ... read more

Early wakeup, with bags out by 6.30am as we were off to the airport early to catch our flight home. In the morning we flew from Luxor to Cairo. Then there was a wait to change planes and we flew home to Israel. Egypt-Air provided kosher meals on all the flights. Although the final flight was just over an hour long, the airline had obtained full dinner packs for us kosher passengers compared to the simple sandwich served to others. Unfortunately that meant 40 minutes to warm the food, and insufficient time to eat it. Many people including us brought home whatever we could salvage to eat later. Yesterday on the bus everyone had PCR tests for Covid and all results were negative. But today after landing in Israel, a majority of the group tested positive ... read more