Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 13

The day started very early and we rolled out of our beds at 4:30 am to take a luxurious hot air balloon ride over Luxor. Only 5 of us wanted to spend the extra $ to do this trip so we were our own. A guy from the balloon company picked us  and we walked to a boat which took us across the Nile to luxor's west bank. We were hoping to be in the balloon to see the sunrise but unfortunately the ride was a bit delayed because the winds were too strong. Fortunately an hour later we were clears to go and we were soaring high above the city. On one side of us there was the desert and the desert mountains where the valley of he kings was. You could see a lot ... read more

Today we had a lazy morning in Aswan. The guide gave us a much needed sleep in (well till 10) and then we checked out of our hotel in Aswan and embarked on our felucca journey. A felucca is a type of sail boat used on the Nile in ancient times. It consists of a canopy covering a deck. A large mattress covered the whole deck and this is where we spent the day and night all together. You might think that's pretty crazy to sail on this boat especially since many of us have been getting sick, but fortunately we had the help of a support boat. The support boat spent much of the time right next to us as we cruises the Nile. That's where we ate lunch, dinner and breakfast the next morning ... read more

Today we are saying goodbye to our floating home, it’s been really nice. One of the best things (apart from the great food, service, facilities…) is that you don’t tip anyone until you check out and then you put one large tip that is split over everyone. We haven’t bought much in the way of souveniers and yet we have not much Egyptian cash left because we’ve spent heaps just on tips. Everyone has their hand out, understandably people aren’t paid much so they try and get extra where they can. It just gets frustrating when no-one does anything just to be nice. KARNAK TEMPLE We go first to see Karnak Temple and this is also right near where we went last night to see Salem’s parents. This is largest of all the temples and also ... read more

... das ist der Satz, den wir hier wohl am haeufigsten hoeren. Auf der Strasse, im Taxi, in der Tram. Jeder gruesst und will wissen wo wir herkommen. Jeder ist freundlich und moechte uns gerne dorthin bringen, wo wir hingehen (where are you going?), nur um dann in einem obskuren Parfuem und Oelshop Tee zu trinken und dem enttaeuschten Besitzer zu erklaeren, dass wir mit einem Rucksack reisen und keinen Platz fuer Roesenoel haben. Wir sind hier eine Woche und es kommt mir wie ein Monat vor. Cate und ich legen ein ganz schoenes Tempo an den Tag und haben schon einiges gesehen. Ein Lagebericht Die erste Nacht haben wir bei David, dem australischen Couchsurfer verbracht. Er hat uns gezeigt wo der Schluessel liegt und angeboten jederzeit (auch wenn er nicht da ist) wiederzukommen. Ach couchsurfing. ... read more

Egypt From the coast to Cairo and beyond. You better sit down with a cup of tea as this entry is a bit longer than previous ones. I’ve never been good at sleeping on long journeys; it’s gone 4am and I should be sleeping, I’m on the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor. The train is predominantly a sleeper carriage train with two seater carriages at the back. Yes, that’s where the budget passengers go, £ 165 for the journey. That’s about $30. I‘ve come to the conclusion that the train is going so slow to allow the sleeper passengers a decent nights rest and not deliver them into Luxor any earlier than 6am. Several trained have zoomed past us so one can assume there are faster ones in existence. God knows where this train spent ... read more