Luxor

I’m way overdue in writing about our trip to Luxor back in the middle of October. We had a long weekend because of the feast at the end of Ramadan, Eid el-Fitr. We flew from Cairo to Luxor at 5:15 in the morning, which meant we had to leave our house at 2:30. That was fun! We arrived in Luxor at about 6:15, got our bags, and got a taxi to our hotel. We stayed in the Pavillion wing (yes, that’s the way they spell “Pavillion” in Egypt) of the Old Winter Palace. (The hotel is mentioned as one of the places in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.) The hotel had a gorgeous pool and beautiful gardens. When we checked into our room, I stood on the balcony, looked out over the gardens, and thought about how I’ve taken the color green for granted all my life! It was gorgeous, and a nice change from brown sand and dirt. We headed out to find lunch and figure out what to do with our time in Luxor.

Our hotel was right near the Nile, so we crossed the street and headed down by the river. Crossing the street, we were accosted by no fewer than 10 men wanting to offer us rides in their horse carriages, others offering taxi rides, and others offering tours of all the sites. Ignoring them, we forged ahead and ate lunch near the felucca docks. Just up the river we could see the Nile cruise boats docked, puffing black diesel fumes. Tourist shops lined the walkway next to the river. As we walked, proprietors stood outside their shops and said things like, “Hey, American, I have what you need.” And “Take a look inside, lady. Fixed price.” We ignored them too, and returned to the hotel after lunch. We took a BIG nap that afternoon before getting ready to head out to the Temple of Luxor.

The Luxor Temple was literally next to our hotel. We probably had to walk 200 yards to get to the entrance. Once we’d bought our tickets we were free to explore the temple at our own pace. Very little of the site was roped off, and we were free to touch the statues and hieroglyphics as we walked through. We arrived about an hour before sundown, so the weather was cooler (Luxor was much hotter than Cairo). We were able to get the stroller through most of the temple without much problem, and we were lucky to have it since Luke fell asleep halfway through. We finished our stop at the temple just as the sun set, marking the end of Ramadan.

After that, we got adventurous and found a place to eat. Jason ordered Egyptian food, and I ordered a hamburger. This is what I got!

After dinner we explored a nearby bazaar, where I bought a beautiful peacock colored scarf and another scarf to use as a valance in our bedroom here. Luke ended up with a little wooden snake toy because Jason caved in to his “I want that snake!” cries. ;)

The next day we didn’t leave the hotel except to find meals. We spent the entire day by the pool, napping in the room, and by the pool some more. It was great. Luke got over his fear of the swimming pool (he’s been terrified of the jets all summer) and had a great time. Every other kid in the pool came to play with Luke. To our delight, he was very friendly and outgoing around them. School has done wonders for his social skills among his peers!

(Actually I did leave the hotel to go find a drugstore. I walked down by the water by myself. I had had just about enough of the hasslers asking if I wanted a taxi or a carriage, and the men who make comments or hiss at me really annoy me. Hardly ever happens in Cairo, but in Luxor it was a different story. One shop worker said to me, "Hey American lady...woo hoo...you are so sexy!" I rounded on him, stuck my finger in his face and said to him, "You show me some respect. You would NEVER speak that way to an Egyptian woman. You will NOT speak to me that way." He cowered, saying, "Sorry, madam, no...you're right...I would not...sorry...so sorry." I don't think he expected to get chewed out.

The following morning we went to the Temple of Karnak, which is enormous. It covers several football fields (in my scientific estimation) and was added onto over several centuries by various rulers. It was really hot that day, and exhausting to try to see the whole temple and appreciate it. I think we all got pretty tired of looking at hieroglyphics. Ironic, seeing as how I was so disappointed in the bare walls of the pyramids.

I was thrilled, however, to see some beautiful brightly colored pictures atop the columns of the hypostyle hall, and then crestfallen to see that some tourists, who fancied themselves modern-day scribes, had carved their names in one of the columns just below some of the hieroglyphs. As Daddy used to quote, “Fools’ names and fools’ faces often appear in public places.”

We had dinner one night at a neat little restaurant owned by an American. It was set up like a little house, with rooms off to the side of the foyer. We ate in a room with another American couple who was on a round-the-world trip. It was nice to chat with them and hear about their adventures. The owner of the restaurant also stopped by our table to talk, and he sent us on our way with some free chocolate chip cookies! Yum!

We decided to forgo the west bank of Luxor, where the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens are located. Getting Luke around on those long sightseeing trips is complicated at this stage, and we figure we’ll be back. We decided to spend our last morning in Luxor by the pool before heading back to Cairo.

We had to check out of the hotel by noon, and our flight wasn’t until 10 PM or so. We spent the whole day at the pool, and thankfully, the hotel gave us a room to shower in before we headed to the airport. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend.