In de Nile - Hurghada to Luxor

...or rather we sat and waited in the fly-blown local bus station for the long hot bus to Luxor which finally pulled in from Suez about two hours late. This coach was definitely not "VIP" but at least the stereo was among the long list of components (A/C, door, brakes...) that did not appear to work allowing us to swelter in silence but for the tuts of the old ladies unimpressed with our sitting together.

We followed the Red Sea south for a while but then turned west and the change in scenery was immediate. As far as we could see the landscape comprised nothing but hills, valleys and endless plains of dusty yellow rock devoid of any vegetation whatsoever, the monotony only broken by the occasional military checkpoint. When we finally hit the Nile Valley a couple of hours later the change was even more dramatic with 50 yards separating desert from lush farmland divided into small fields and fringed with palm trees and bright flowers. We'd made arrangements at the New Everest hostel in Luxor as it was run by a friend of a guy we'd met in Hurghada but we were still pleasantly surprised when we reached the bus station to find our host stood, car waiting, with my name spelled correctly on a waiting card! Half an hour later we were showered and stood in front of a working air conditioner with the grubby 50 degree bus a fading memory.

Our slick arrival set the tone for a great few days in Luxor which is very manageable compared to Cairo but without the generic tourist friendly trimmings of parts of Hurghada. The main draw of the area is the huge variety of pharaonic temples and tombs both in Luxor itself and over the Nile in Thebes so with only two full days in town we were keen to hit the ground running.

The next morning we walked up to the sprawling Temple of Karnak to the north of town which was built over a 1300 year period by successive dynasties and for the variety of styles it contains is considered one of the most important sites in Egypt. Completely buried until the mid 19th century the mammoth task of excavating and rebuilding the temple continues but the current structures, coverned in hieroglyphics and with much of the original paint intact, are more than enough to convey what an awe-inspiring place this much once have been:

The temple is so huge they have installed tele-porters to help you get around:

After a siesta and dinner in a local restaurant we allowed a local guy to show us around the ancient Abu al-Haggag mosque built within the ruins of Luxor Temple in the center of town. From the top of the incredibly narrow and supposedly off-limits-to-tourists minaret we got some fantastic views of the ruins and the town:

This being Eygpt, and despite the fact mosques are supposed to be open to curious visitors, our inability to shake off our guide meant that when we finally made it back down we were in for some more baksheesh and another argument. Tips are a way of life for as many people in New York as Eygpt but whereas the US conventions are quickly learned and tips generally graciously received, here the only rule seems to be that whatever you just gave was insultingly inadequate and the only thanks you are likely to get is a moan of indignation and an aggressive demand that you try again (with US$ this time). Alongside the lack of respect shown towards Western women (which having spoken to some other couples we now know is a universal experience), the fact that we are clearly viewed as walking cash machines has been our biggest disappointment in Egypt. The mistaken impression that all Westeners have money to burn is not endemic to Egypt but any romantic ideas that we may have had about spending leisurely afternoons haggling in souks, or befriending trustworthy locals (of which more later), have been thoroughly disabused.

On our second day we wanted to cross the river and explore Thebes and, while I know this is becoming a theme in my posts, we decided to forego expensive air conditioned vans and, you guessed it, rent bikes. Before we could start pedalling we had to contend with our hotel staff trying to sell us fake ISIC cards (guaranteed to halve all our entrance fees), concerned tour guides and taxi drivers assuring us we'd be unable to complete such an arduous journey and motorboat owners telling us the local ferry wouldn't take bikes and/or wasn't running. Fortunately we can both be pretty bloody-minded when we want to be and undeterred we set off on what proved to be a very pleasent ride across the Delta.

First stop was the Colossi of Memnon which were impressively colossal:

Followed by Medinat Habu which we visited on the recommendation of one of the guys from our hostel and which we had almost to ourselves:

From there we rode around the foothills of the Western mountains to Hatshepsut's Temple which is most famous for its spectacular facade set into a sheer limestone cliff. As we didn't actually want to go into the temple we didn't buy tickets knowing (correctly) that they were not required until we were half a mile closer in. Unfortunately we ran into an extremely irate member of staff who claimed we were not allowed to take photos from the car park before we'd paid and then as we did so threatened to have us expelled from the country! We almost felt sorry for him as he kept appealing to the tourist police who are a constant presence throughout Egypt but who could not have been less interested. The poor chap was reduced to shouting "You Stupid Man! You Stupid Man!" as we then decided we'd get to our final stop, the famous Valley of the Kings, by hiking up a narrow flinty path over the intervening mountain.

The steep path and heat combined to make it a pretty tough climb but we did not seriously consider whether we'd made a mistake until we reached the top and realized we didn't actually know what the Valley of the Kings looked like:

Fortunately we saw the top of a tour bus glinting in the distance and so scrambled down in that general direction.

The tombs in the valley (and in the nearby Valley of the Queens) were built after the pyramids in an attempt to prevent the treasures they contained being stolen by grave robbers. Despite their hidden location and entrances they were generally unsuccessful (Tutankhamun being the famous exception) but protected from the elements the wall paintings and hieroglyphics look as though they were completed yesterday and are a dazzling sight. Unfortunately photography is not allowed in the tombs but here are a couple of images from the four tombs we visited (Ramses IV, Queen Tawsert/Sethnakht, Tuthmosis III and Ramses I):


When we'd finally hiked back over the mountain and ridden back to town we were exhausted and so took a three hour sunset cruise on a felucca with a lovely couple we'd met at the hostel called John and Christina (Christina's blog will be appearing on the right very soon). Other than a bizarre detour to "Banana Island" the only interruption was when a local girl, maybe seven or eight, started chasing us in a row boat and shattered the peaceful evening by screaming at the top of her lungs; "GUUUUYS, GIVE ME MONNEEEEY!" Fortunately we caught a breeze and were able to escape but I had to admire her ingenuity.


Having decided to catch the night train back to Cairo we had very little to do on our third day and exhausted from our adventures had a loose plan to check out, park our bags and wile away the day strolling around town and catching up on email. Sadly, as we hung out with John and Christina in the hostel lobby, things began to unravel. One of the hotel staff appeared with two new guests and sat them down in a far corner for a version of the spiel we had all been given on arrival about how impossible it is to do any of the things you might want to do in Luxor unless they are prebooked with friends of the hostel (who of course pay commission to the referee). The four of us rolled our eyes at each other and when the guy finally finished John and Christina introduced themselves in order to quietly correct a few of the most egregious lies we'd overheard. Unfortunately this did not go unnoticed by the other staff members and when we left to walk into town the guy who had brought the new arrivals in confronted us and began to scream and shout about how we were damaging his business. He was sufficiently threatening that we decided to turn around and pick up our bags immediately but we couldn't escape an ugly argument with the other staff which was a very unfortunate way to end what had been a decent stay.

For all the hassles Egypt has been a wonderful stop and given us both some incredible memories. There is nowhere else in the world where you can see the pyramids (except Vegas and they only have one), nowhere else you can walk though chambers carved and painted by a 5,000 year old civilization and very few places where there are streets, alleyways, doors and windows which have been in continual use by everyday people since before the Crusades. The culture shock has not been insignificant but is in a sense why we're travelling.