Temples and Tiaras

Arrived in Luxor exhausted following a 14 hour train journey and not alot of sleep. The heat hits you hard once you alight the train. Luxor has a smallish town centre with a cute little market and is quite tourist driven. If the stall owners arent dragging you into their shops to view there wares then the horse and carriage drivers and felucca sailors are litterally chasing you up the street. Stayed in a very charming little hotel called Nefertiti with a great roof terrace and good food too.



From Luxor we took trips to the Valley of the kings, Hatshepsut's(the tranny pharoah)temple and Medina Hab which were all amazing to see. We walked into the tombs of a couple of the mummies we had seen at the Egyptian museum in Cairo- Ramses III, Tuthmosis III & IV. Had shivers down my spine as we fanned ourselves with cardboard given to us from a very entrepreneurial Egyptian man(1 pound a piece)while exploring the passages of Ramses III's massive tomb.



My favourite thing in Luxor i think was the felucca trip on the Nile as far as Banana Island(a felucca is a little boat by the way). The captain of the ship was Saeed assisted by Ali his young son. Great banter along the way. The trip had a really african vibe and the sunset on the Nile is always very beautiful. If you're ever in Luxor, have a look for Saeed and Ali.



Moved to Aswan on October 1st which was also the 1st day of Id-ul-fitr, a 3 day celebration marking the end of Ramadan. The crowds, colours and outfits(complete with lamee headscarves and little handbags) on display on the streets of Edfu as we drove through were only fabulous, such an eyefest! Also popped into the very impressive if very overcrowded temple at Edfu and the smaller Comumbo temple.



We had decided to do nothing but relax in Aswan which was just as well really coz there wasn't alot else to do. We found a nice local bar/restaurant on the waterfront and pretty much settled in there for the duration of our stay eating great food and drinking a few Stellas while waiting for the highlight of the day - sunset.