Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 4

Egypt is very dependent on tourism, and tourism has slumped since… Well since the revolution six years ago. Six years is a long time. It is a disaster for the country. Once thriving tourist destinations are empty and forlorn, and even the biggest of the big like Luxor are feeling the pinch, though it isn’t as bad as at some places. Probably the worst hit areas, tourist wise, are the Western Desert Oasis. People used to come here in droves romping around the desert on camels, four-wheel drives and everything in between. Nowadays nobody comes! Most hotels have closed down, slowly being gobbled up by the sand as they stand quietly crumbling in streets and on ridges outside town. Those that are still open have diversified into farming and other businesses. It’s not only the hotels ... read more

Well this balloon tour was pretty sweet! Just before sunrise about 12 of us climbed into the basket while a huge flame was blazing away. Didn’t really have time to get second thoughts about lifting off to a million miles above the earth and away we went! Climbing higher and higher I realized we were the first balloon (of about 7 total) to reach cruising altitude and I think that was maybe the coolest part: getting to be in the air while the other balloons were ascending. Fun! The other possible coolest part was traveling over a small body of water and seeing the reflection of the balloon in it. Noice. That’s about all for this post. Im excited to start vacation tomorrow. Im tired and definitely a bit travel weary…so im happy not ... read more

Now, please don’t get worried it is just a title; nothing has been ruined on this trip (yet). Luxor is full of ruins, temples, monuments, tombs and more ruined stuff than one can imagine. It is an amazing place and we did more than I think any of us expected to do. After a wonderful night’s sleep in a bed with sheets, in a building with plumbing no less, we had a leisurely breakfast and coffee while enjoying the view over the Nile. Ragab met us in the lobby and we piled into the van in our same seating arrangement before setting off for our morning in ruins. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings where many of the famous tombs are located. Each visitor is permitted to go into 3 separate tombs that ... read more

The Nile flows from south to north but the wind blows from the north to the south. This curiosity is what allowed Egypt's rulers to tie their kingdom together as transport in either direction was always feasible. If you were coming from the south you could just go with the flow and if you were heading to the south all you needed to do was unfurl your sails. Somehow we missed this factoid in our trip planning and did it all bass-ackwards. A while back we traveled with a couple from the UK who were all giddy about a Nile cruise that they had recently taken so we added it to our never ending bucket list. Our original plan after Turkey was to go to the Ukraine but when we checked the November weather reports we ... read more

Woke up at 3:20AM for the hot air balloon. I managed to shower and brush my teeth before heading down to reception. 17 of us would be on this hot air balloon ride. The few of us who opted out had already taken a balloon ride at other places such as Turkey. We piled into a van and took it down to the river where we boarded a boat that took us to the west side of the Nile. A fun fact, all the temples and tombs are on the west bank of the Nile as it symbolizes the end of life because the sun sets in the west. We boarded another van on the west side of the Nile and made our way to a field where 5 or 6 balloons were being inflated. Our ... read more