Luxor, Egypt

Saturday 15th September 2007 same hotel in Luxor
Very nice hotel this, not like those in Ethiopia which are filthy, Egypt is first world like SA, with third world countries in between. Nev says he has worked out how Egyptians get their drivers licenses: On Mondays they get taught to drive on the right, Tuesday on the left and for the rest of the week they forget to tell them which side.Today we went to The Temple of Karnak complex. An enormous area filled with ancient civilization upon ancient civilization which they are still excavating and finding more treasures. It covers 6Ha and is awe inspiring in its enormity. Remnants of the 5000 year old colours are still in evidence and the place must have been spectacular in the extreme in its heyday.The Luxor museum contains treasures found in the tombs, but more interesting to us were the articles of everyday life. Baskets, beds, furniture, clothing etc just the same as the articles we use today. Again it emphasizes to me that people are people and nothing much changes over the eons. In the heat of the day we returned with blistered feet to recover.

Friday 14th September 2007 AlFayuoz Hotel Luxor
We woke up 5.30 and set off to see the sights on the west bank of Luxor. The Valley of the Kings. We could see three of the many tombs in the area and they were beautiful and all different. The last one of Tutmosis iii was up a long steep flight of stairs, then down 100m into the earth and as hot as a sauna and we came out absolutely saturated with sweat. The figures depicting his military exploits were in the shape of little stick figures. The first two were far more colourful and the tombs were covered in hieroglyphics and beautiful reliefs dedicated to the RamesesVII, and IV.Then the Temple of Hatshepsut built into and underneath the towering and imposing sandstone cliffs, then to the Tombs of the Nobles whose paintings were more of everyday life in ancient Egypt and far more interesting to us than the Pharaohs tombs which were more dedicated to worshipping the various gods, more touristy and crawling with tour groups. In fact we couldn't find some of the tombs of the nobles and had to pay a youngster to help us.Traveling around in our vehicle we get hooted at, waved at, and chatted to by the local drivers and shop owners who seldom see foreign vehicles in Egypt as it is so hard to get into Egypt with a vehicle. We feel the centre of attraction on many occasions. Also greeting them in Arabic and knowing a few words puts us in a different league from the hoards of tourists who come to see and then buy mementos and leave.Hot and sweaty we went back to the hotel to recover and in the evening we went to the west bank with Mark and Clive to the Luxor Temple. Gigantic sandstone carved columns and statues were amazing and we strolled around speculating, dodging the groups, and getting into the atmosphere of life 5000 years ago.At supper we couldn't eat the ordered soul fish as it was actually Barbel from the Nile, met up with cyclist Daniel (Corina had left for Hargada on the Red Sea) and had a lovely evening.

Thursday 13th September 2007 Luxor Al Fayuoz Hotel
After another three hours of being sent from pillar to post and back, we eventually received our number plates, which entitles us to remove the Landy from the harbour. It is really really difficult to enter Egypt this way! Aswan Ferry for passengers was terrible, and the ferry for the car was almost impossible. Luckily Mazar helped us to get through in two days, others take up to four days.We packed and left and missed the convoy but headed for Luxor anyway. We got stopped at a police road block 100Km away from Aswan but when they found out we were from South Africa we got waved on with lots of friendliness and good humour while the tourist bus behind us had to wait for the police. Egyptians regard South Africans as their cousins and greet us with 'Bafana bafana' or "Nelson Mandela". Arriving in Luxor as the sun was setting on the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim fast, we were stopped on a bridge and a man insisted we sit on a mat and partake of a 'break fast'. So we had supper on the bridge. It was amazing to get into the atmosphere of the celebrations.