my mom always said......

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To not say anything if you don't have anything nice to say.
We are in Luxor, the apparent hassel capital of egypt.
I'll give some highlights and maybe when I am less jaded and less pissed off I'll write more about our experineces.

We went to Aswan via train, the train was ok and we had the entire compartment to our selves. It was a night train so we even got to sleep a little.
Aswan was, by far, the place closest to hell that I have ever been. Nothing terribly wrong with it except its occupants. The nile is quite pretty down south.
We hiked in the desert and booked a trip t Abu Simbel, very close to the sudanese border.
Abu simbel was as touristy as it gets. But for very good reason, the statues were absoultly stunning, and huge.

We also booked a 3 day 2 night felucca trip to Edfu from aswan. We didn't leave on time and certainly did not spend three days sailing and our captain molested a woman on our boat. Ah, I guess we are still in africa.
Anyway, we are in Luxor for a few days. Tomorrow we will see valley of the kings, queens and a few temples. I'm a little templed out, Paul is still excited bout reliefs and ruins, but how can I not go?

Sorry about the blog, but I'll try and cheer up before the next one. This is just to let people know we haven't been whisked off to Jordan or something.

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Photos

feluccas on the nile
at aswan

Aswan
tomb of the nobles

Nubian Village
Elephantine Island, Aswan

Abu Simbel
Near the Sudan Border on lake Nasser

Comments

[Rob]

Sunny
To quote (or misquote) from a Monty Python film "always look on the sunny side life..." Of course it's little hard to find the sunny side when you find yourself in a very tough spot. Cheers

[wayne]

well, if anything you know better what to, and not to do.. next time, not that river tour company. :) Massive monuments, I can only imagine, what it would be like to stand in their presence.. personally, the standing on the lions gate occationally inspires moments of complete awe, this an other bridges tend to be my only other point of comparison, which i dont think could really compaire at all. Anyways, heh, for what its worth, take pictures of everything, try to take it all in, stay safe, when you look back on it, more than likely every frustration, every massive hellishness, might be remembered at the very least as an amusing story and to be relived only as such :p Best wishes to both of you! -wayne

[Colleen]

Disasters aside - how fantastic to explore Egypt
Although the going has been rough the last few days how fortuate you both were to be able to explore all the places you have in Egypt. Enjoy Luxor - hope you are able to explore both banks. Paul have a wonderful birthday on the 6th - make this day very special. love Mom

[erin]

good point
I havent written in my blog much int helast three weeks because i havent hadanything nice of particulalry intresting to talk about.... Ill gotten to that though because I havent had much time. School is very diffrent here and VERY frustrating at times. Laerning a diffrent language is harder than it looks.

[Shelagh]

The blogs were great
Lucienne and Paul (Happy Birthday, one, no doubt, you will remember forever). the blogs have been so interesting, almost as if we were there sharing your adventure, as many of us will not be able to take such a trip. The differences in culture, ways of life, and the way women are treated in some countries, are so real when linked to your experiences. It must be worth it though, to see the mystique and grandeur of all those ancient places. Tavelling afar does make you appreciate better the place in which you live, Hard to believe you'll be flying west soon. Enjoy your last days, safe journey, and happy Easter. Shelagh and Tim

[Cole]

Like everything there will be its ups and downs, life is always full suprises. I can only imagine that the peoples mindset there is very different from the one that we are use to here in vancouver. But you have been on this great adventure now for how many months, where do you still plan to go before you are all finished? p.s. I love seing these pictures in your blog!