The Big Blog
As you can see from our gallery updates quite a lot has happened since our last proper blog. We finally left the desert oases for the Nile courtesy of a dusty 9 hour train ride. The carriage was pretty basic but quiet and the bikes got to ride in the same level as comfort as us. The journey may have been hot and slow but it was made for us by the staion masters at Kharga who saw us arrive on our bikes and insisted on getting us seats, making us tea and letting us use the phone to arrange our accommodation in Luxor.
We had been advised that Luxor could be a bit hectic so we arranged a tour from Cairo. This involved us getting the train to Aswan, sight seeing there and at Abu Simbel before felucca-ing down the Nile to see more temples.
There are two dams at Aswan, a charming little one built by the English and a monstrosity of Russo-Egyptian construction. Sadly for us we spent our time at the High Dam which has to be the least photogenic and most dull touristattraction in the world. If only we could have spent more time at the smaller one which looked interesting and atteactive... Our other attraction in Aswan was the temple of Philae which was one of the many moved to avoid being swamped by Lake Nasser. Philae reached by boat and is pretty spectacular. Much of it seems in good order but it was unclear if that is due to the reconstruction or not. Definitely a good place to visit.
Our stay in Aswan was whistle-stop as our only night's stay was interrupted by our 3am alarm call for Abu Simbel. All those wishing to visit Rameses II most blatant (and successful) attempt at being remembered need to be in the 4am convoy for the near 3 hour drive. This temple was also moved piece by piece and I think anyone who has blearily heard the alarm going would second our mate Doug when he asks, "While they were moving it, couldn't they have moved it closer to Aswan?". Saying that, the massive four figure fronted structure, carved into the rock face and looking out across the water, is an amazing sight. The boy Rameses certainly made the most of his 60-odd years of Pharoanic power.
We'd packed a 9 hour day in by 1 o'clock when were shuttled off to meet our felucca. We'd heard a few bad things about them but had decided to book something with people we trusted in Cairo to avoid the pitfalls. When we arrived on the boat there was already some tension in the air as a few of our fellow travellers had been hanging around since mid-morning being told various things about the departure time. When we set sail though the problems melted away as we tacked serenely across and down the Nile. The huge steamers sailed past every now and then but we didn't regret our decision for a moment as we chatted to Myka and Andre (our boat had us 4, the other, 10 or so others) and lazed about reading while the palm trees slid by. An unexplained stop to take on an extra crew member caused brief tension ('5 minutes' is Egyptian for 'I'll see you when I see you') but all in all we had a good first day aboard. After dinner we bonded with the other crew by playing an excellent murder/mystery card game.
Day 2 was meant to involve a camel market in the afternoon but we backed out when we learned the transport to would be at rip-off prices. This threatened the good humour of the boat once again but things soon calmed down once we were back on the water. This was a defining feature of the felucca ride: when we were sailing, all was good but when we weren't... The problems were minor but avoidable and while they didn't make the 2 night journey something we regretted, they certainly created an atmosphere of tension between customer and crew which could have been avoided.
Day 3 involved an early start, temples at Kom Ombo and Edfu and mini-bus ride to Luxor. The next two days saw us visit temples at Karnak, Luxor, Valley of The Kings, Hatsetshput and Valley of the Queens which has left us slightly burned out from the sight of obelisks and statues. They are all interesting in their own way but I think time and distance is needed for us to fully appreciate them all.
We needed a few days relaxing in Luxor after our temple visits and we went back on our principles and paid a few visits to The Kings Head pub. The atmosphere was relaxed, they had English footy on and had mashed potato on the menu. What more could you ask?
We are currwntly in Hurghada with many a German ("Do your Jimmy Cagney")but we get the ferry to Sinai tomorrow.
