November 11th, 2006 Nile River – Luxor, Egypt

November 11, 2006
Nile River – Luxor, Egypt

When I woke up this morning at 7:30 we were already back on the river. By 8:00 everyone else was awake and breakfast was ready. After eating a small breakfast we started to pack our bags and gather our belongings.

We left the felucca at 10:00 and loaded into a minibus. After about 15 minutes we stopped at Kom Ombo temple. It is one of the only temples in Egypt dedicated to two gods. Therefore, it is also one of the only totally symmetrical temples in Egypt. Also of interest, many crocodiles were mummified in the area.


We returned to the minibus at 11:00 and drove in a convoy (with a police escort) for about an hour . Our next stop was Edfu Temple. It is the second largest and best-preserved temple in all of Egypt (because it was covered with sand for about 2,000 years). Unfortunately, when Christians found the temple the felt the need to deface many of the pharonic gods. Still, it was really fun to wander around the structure and duck into some dark rooms. As always, the hieroglyphics and the ancient statues were amazing!


Eventually we pulled ourselves away from the temple and back to the minibus. Everyone piled in and we started the journey to Luxor (once again in a convoy). I slept for most of the 2-hour ride.

We arrived in Luxor just before 14:00. After checking into the Little Garden Hotel I had a quick shower and ordered some lunch. Once everyone was ready we started an orientation walk of the city (15:30).

We walked by the business district, souk, Luxor temple, to the rivers edge. We relaxed in a café and watched the sunset. At 17:30 everyone was ready to head to the souk for some shopping. We spent the next 1.5 hours haggling for some fun souvenirs. Everyone ended up purchasing something.

At 19:00 we reconvened for dinner. We went to a local restaurant and treated ourselves to some meaty Shish Kabobs. It was a long and relaxing dinner. After dinner half of our group went to watch the New Zealand – France rugby match and the other half headed back to the hotel. The walk back was kind of crazy. The entire city was honking and yelling because Egypt had just won an important soccer match!

I spent the remainder of the evening catching up on my blog. I am planning on jumping on the Internet and then heading to bed!