Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 20

There was one place in Egypt that could convince us to leave Egypt early - and that was one of the historical prizes of this amazing country. Arriving after an overnight "First Class" train with seats that barely reclined, we were struggling to navigate to our hostel - partly due to fatigue, daylight, the poor map, and the incomprehensibly laid out town. But mostly because we were being hounded by touts the second we stepped foot off the train. Easily brushing past the amateurs in the train station, we hit the real opposition on the streets. Being followed and harangued about this hotel or that, and all manner of trivial conversation carriers, we made a break to lose ourselves in the backstreets. And there we found the real Egyptians. An elderly couple sitting on their front ... read more

Travelling Canucks Go Tomb Raiding and Temple Gazing Again! In the Valley of the Kings, one never knows what tombs might be closed for repairs. So, we went prepared with a list of our picks, but went with an open mind! Being flexible is key to enjoying the travelling experience, especially in Egypt. We took a private guided tour with an Egyptologist, Mohamed abdel Hamid of Eye of Horus Tours that started around 8:00 a.m. in the hopes of beating the crowds. Unfortunately, the crowds were even heavier than the day before and long lineups formed at the most popular tombs. No matter, it was a sunny, warm day, so what if we had to line up to raid a few tombs! We toured KV16, King Tut’s Tomb(KV62), and Ramses VI's tomb(KV9). Although seeing King Tut’s ... read more

Day 241 After a mediocre sleep we arrived into Luxor three hours later than expected. Having made a booking we headed to the Nefertiti Motel only to bump into the owner to find out he had given our room away?!? Slightly disgruntled with their booking system we promised the other two scouts we would look at both their rooms before deciding. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we ended up at Princess Hotel with spotlessly clean rooms, private bathroom for half the price (40 Eygptian Pounds a night!) and lovely owners. After a desperately needed shower, coffee and some falafals for brunch we strolled down to the Karmak Temple 4km from where we were staying. Taking in the sights along the way including the hoards of cruise ships along the Nile (For ... read more

Ten days in Egyt resulted in several bursting note books. So I have decided to break it down a bit. On the first day after some hot coffee we head to The Valley of Kings - Hundred's of Tombs and a Temple Still half asleep, looking through a dirty van window at 6am, dreams of Pharaohs, and gods fade away to the dawn lit dust of the West Bank, here in Luxor Egypt. Let’s kick this off with three interesting facts. Firstly most buildings here are made from sandstone or limestone. Next the hieroglyph for Egypt is KIMIT, which means ‘The Black Land’, due to the colour of the silt from the Nile River. And thirdly temples are only erected on the East Bank, where the rising sun represents life. Tombs are placed on the West ... read more

Leaving Aswan can be done in style on a 5 star Nile cruiser or the good old way on a Felucca. Feluccas have ploughed the Nile since ancient times and there is a good reason for this. Which one I don’t know but I guess it must have something to do with the high oil price and the fact that Feluccas have sails. Well guess what, we chose the Felucca. We were quite lucky and had only two other Japanese guys on the boat. This gave us plenty of space to lounge around. A Felucca isn't the biggest boat around and 80% of the boat consists of the cargo hold which for the purpose of lugging tourists around is covered with floor boards onto which mattresses are laid. That's about it. No toilet no kitchen nothing. ... read more