29.03.2018 - 29.03.2018
The sandstorm had continued through
most of the night. Early in the evening, we heard noise as the crew
furiously tried to secure all of the chairs on the sun deck above us,
but beyond that, the noise did not keep us up. We did not have to be up
too early, on this, our last morning aboard the ship. We could see it
was still windy and the air still had a distinct sandy haze to it when
we looked out in the morning, but the worst of the storm had definitely
passed.
After breakfast, those of us remaining in our tour group -- ourselves, Oliver, father and son from Boston, and the Spanish family -- met in the reception area while our bags were whisked away. We then boarded another mini-bus and made the 10-minute or so drive to the Temple of Karnak. My memories of this were most vivid from my high school trip, as I could still recall the massive pillars. We arrived and pulled into a giant parking lot, which could have easily accommodated more than a hundred buses, but we were only one of two -- and both were mini-buses. It was eerie to have the massive complex pretty much all to ourselves, but it certainly made for a memorable visit. Friday walked us around for about an hour, providing an excellent commentary along the way, and then we were on our own for exploring and pictures. Many of us said Karnak was a definite highlight of our trip.
When we assembled to depart, maybe three or four other buses had arrived, but it was painfully obvious that tourism remains far off past peaks, and it made all of the peddlers seem even more desperate to make their meager sales. We were reminded, too, that it was already past peak tourist season, and Luxor remains fairly tourist-free during the summer, given the extreme heat. While we'd been "enjoying" above-average temperatures to date, on this day, temps were only in the 70's, and it was perfect weather. Whatever front had kicked up the sandstorm had pulled in much cooler temperatures behind it, for which we were ever thankful.
Our final tourist visit of the day was to the Temple of Luxor which, somewhat ironically, was directly across from where our ship still lay moored. In fact, we could see part of the ruins from our cabin. Whereas Karnak sits on a huge parcel of land on the outskirts of town, the city of Luxor has grown up around the Temple of Luxor, and it is much smaller. In fact, a very busy street now bisects the temple grounds. It was an odd feeling to be standing the middle of an ancient column complex and see modern buildings just over the fence line. I found Luxor Temple particularly interesting, as it had been converted and built upon over the centuries. A mosque was built on the roof of a former temple building, which had been buried in sand. When they excavated the complex in the 1800's, the mosque remained, but it is now about two stories in the air. Another temple building had been converted to a pagan Roman temple, and there were remains of the original painted fresco work, which was beautiful. As with Karnak, we had our tour and then Friday gave us time to explore.
Our train was not to depart until 8:10pm, and it was nearly noon by now. Friday informed us that he'd booked us all day rooms at a very nice hotel -- the Sonesta St. George -- for the afternoon. This was nice and unexpected, as it allowed us to rest, clean up, and have time on our own for our remaining hours in Luxor. We had an early lunch at the hotel, which was completely forgettable -- by far, the "least good" meal of the trip. Barbara and Charlotte then retreated to their room; I believe Charlotte ended up spending the afternoon around the pool. Anna wanted to take a long shower and nap, so K and I decided to go down to the souk I had previewed the afternoon before.
The St. George Hotel was not located down by the souk and temple area, so we had to take a cab. Unsurprisingly, as soon as we exited the hotel, we were literally bombarded with people trying to get us to ride in their taxi or on our carriage. We went with one taxi driver, who had a very nice and clean car. His English was good, and after we asked to go to the souk, he told us all about his brother-in-law, who is American and lives in Massachusetts. Hearing an Arab try to pronounce "Massachusetts" was worth the cost of the taxi ride.
As we drove along, I realized that we had driven past the souk area I had visited. When he finally pulled up alongside a large building and announced we were there, I initially gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought maybe the souk had continued down much further than I had walked the previous day. We were generally close to the area where I had been, afterall. I asked him if this was correct, and he said "of course," at which point we realized that he'd brought us to a very nice souvenir store, with many floors, but also most likely run by a relative. Several workers came out and tried to entice us to go in, but I told K to follow me, and we just walked away, down a very local side street. The owner of the shop trotted behind us, assuring us that his stuff was "top notch" and that he "had very good prices for us." As politely as we could, we ignored him. He finally gave up, but then the taxi driver pulled up alongside us, and started to tell us the same thing. He, too, finally gave up, but we were definitely in a local area. We walked through a group of young children playing soccer in the street, and they seemed genuinely happy to see us. They were just waving hello and not asking for tips or hand-outs. Still, the area was dirty and dingy, so we cut through and out to the main street. We had to walk about 5-10 minutes, and we were obviously not in a tourist area, as people left us alone. As we approached the end of the souk I had visited, I told K to "gird her loins," as as soon as we turned onto the souk street, we would be bombarded by salesmen....and we were.
It was quite the experience, and it gets exhausting to keep telling people "no," over and over. They try so many different lines, too, to get your attention. "Where you from?" "You want a million dollars?" "Everything for free today." It is so against our nature to ignore all this, but you simply have to. We stopped at one stall, looking at some fabric. We started to haggle on a price, but then I said we were going to keep looking, but that we would be back. We finally got away from him, but it was hard. After we'd walked another 5 or 10 minutes down the very long row of shops, we decided to go into a store with an kind, older man, when all of sudden, out of nowhere came the fabric guy. He started to yell at the older man and then ask us if we were coming back. He was obviously desperate for our business. He was shooed away and we went inside the store, which looked tiny from the outside, but which rather ended up being huge inside. There was room after room of all kinds of stuff. The kind man told us to look around and take our time and then it happened...he left us alone. It was so refreshing to be able to actually look, even touch stuff, and not immediately be beset upon by a hoard of people. This man knew how to deal with Westerners. K ended up buying a bracelet, but in hindsight, I wish we'd purchased more from him, if only to reinforce his style.
Further down we glimpsed part of an ornate wall hanging through the dark door of a shop. No one accosted us when we hesitated to look, so we stepped inside. Sure enough, the owner quickly emerged, but he was a medium-sell kind of guy. He welcomed us to "Aladdin's Cave," and sure enough, his shop was exactly that. There was room after room just full of stuff, most of it very old and caked in dust. We led us upstairs, to a room filled with floor-to-ceiling stacks of wall hangings and pillow covers. Near the beginning of the souk, we had momentarily stopped in one shop, looking for an embroidered pillow with the tree of life motif. Somehow this shop owner had already heard that, and he asked, "So you're the ones looking for the tree of life?" Amazing. Sure enough, he had all kinds of trees of life from which we could choose. We successfully got out of the shop with out hard negotiating, telling him we were going to look further. After we left, we realized that his shop was pretty much at the end of the souk area, so there were no more places. Oh well, we meandered our way back and then struck a bargain for our purchases. At this point, one of the owners four brothers (all five of them run the place) showed up. He caught us looking at some bedouin jewelry as we were completing the credit card purchase, so he invited us into his "special room," which was the very back of the store, hidden behind a carpet. We went in, and it was again piled high with all kinds of stuff. The brother blew a heavy layer of dust off of a large chest, just like in a movie, and proceeded to dig through mountains of silver and gold jewelry that filled the chest. Somehow he knew what was where, and brought out beautiful piece after beautiful piece. We successfully resisted an additional purchase, but it was a very memorable experience.
We then hiked our way all the way back to where we began, and returned to our fabric guy's shop. He seemed genuinely surprised, and pleased, to see us. He apologized profusely for following us earlier, and said that so many people tell him they'll return but don't. He pronounced us people of our word and gave us a very good price on the fabric.
We all returned to our hotel for a final clean-up and check out, and then we were picked up at 7:30pm for the quick ride over to the train station. Our local tour manager warned us on the way that people would try to "help" with our luggage when we arrived and that we needed to be firm and just hold on to our bags. Sure enough, as soon as we stopped, several official looking people came over, but our guide waved them off, and we all packed into formation and held on to our bags. We had to go through an x-ray and metal detector to enter the station, and this one seemed to be a more serious check. We were moving so quickly, I didn't really get a look around, as we were pretty much immediately out on the platform. We were booked in first class (mind you, this is Egyptian first class) on the sleeper train, so we walked to the far end of the platform. Our train was arriving from Aswan. There were no announcements made, but our guy made some calls and found out that the train was late. No one could say how late, but we wouldn't be leaving as planned at 8:10pm.
In the meantime, we enjoyed people watching, and we did witness one local train stop, de-board, and re-board, and that was quite a sight. It had both second and third class, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to travel in either. Our train did finally arrive about 30 minutes late, and our guide brought us on board, found our cabins, introduced us to the steward, and then bid us farewell. The train itself seemed relatively old, and I got the sense it could have been from a European hand-me-down from the 1980's. Each cabin was a double, with a lower seat that converted to a bed, and an upper bunk that lowered from the wall. There was a sink and mirror. As there were three of us, we had two cabins, and there was a door connecting the two. As K was fighting a cold/sinus infection (and had been snoring...sorry), she was relegated to her own cabin, while Anna and I shared. The train was certainly not awful, but it was also not the Ritz by any stretch of the imagination. The bathroom was best avoided, even though our sleeper car was filled entirely with Western tourists. Neither Anna nor Charlotte seemed too enamored of the idea of using the beds. Anna had, however, taken a tip from her Aunt Katie and brought a can of Lysol with her, which she used to disinfect all of our beds.
Our steward did serve us a warm dinner in our cabin shortly after we left Luxor. It was like an airplane meal, though I thought the roast chicken was really quite good. As soon as we were done, we had the steward prepare all the beds and we turned in. The ride was, however, rougher than usual, with several very uneven patches, so rather than a rhythmic rocking, some of the sleeping was rather jarred. That said, I fell asleep quickly, as it had been another long day.
After breakfast, those of us remaining in our tour group -- ourselves, Oliver, father and son from Boston, and the Spanish family -- met in the reception area while our bags were whisked away. We then boarded another mini-bus and made the 10-minute or so drive to the Temple of Karnak. My memories of this were most vivid from my high school trip, as I could still recall the massive pillars. We arrived and pulled into a giant parking lot, which could have easily accommodated more than a hundred buses, but we were only one of two -- and both were mini-buses. It was eerie to have the massive complex pretty much all to ourselves, but it certainly made for a memorable visit. Friday walked us around for about an hour, providing an excellent commentary along the way, and then we were on our own for exploring and pictures. Many of us said Karnak was a definite highlight of our trip.
 |
| Temple of Karnak |
When we assembled to depart, maybe three or four other buses had arrived, but it was painfully obvious that tourism remains far off past peaks, and it made all of the peddlers seem even more desperate to make their meager sales. We were reminded, too, that it was already past peak tourist season, and Luxor remains fairly tourist-free during the summer, given the extreme heat. While we'd been "enjoying" above-average temperatures to date, on this day, temps were only in the 70's, and it was perfect weather. Whatever front had kicked up the sandstorm had pulled in much cooler temperatures behind it, for which we were ever thankful.
Our final tourist visit of the day was to the Temple of Luxor which, somewhat ironically, was directly across from where our ship still lay moored. In fact, we could see part of the ruins from our cabin. Whereas Karnak sits on a huge parcel of land on the outskirts of town, the city of Luxor has grown up around the Temple of Luxor, and it is much smaller. In fact, a very busy street now bisects the temple grounds. It was an odd feeling to be standing the middle of an ancient column complex and see modern buildings just over the fence line. I found Luxor Temple particularly interesting, as it had been converted and built upon over the centuries. A mosque was built on the roof of a former temple building, which had been buried in sand. When they excavated the complex in the 1800's, the mosque remained, but it is now about two stories in the air. Another temple building had been converted to a pagan Roman temple, and there were remains of the original painted fresco work, which was beautiful. As with Karnak, we had our tour and then Friday gave us time to explore.
 |
| Temple of Luxor |
 |
| Pedestal on Right Side is Where the Place de la Concorde Obelisk Used To Stand |
 |
| Mosque Now on Second Level |
 |
| Original Roman Fresco Work |
In
the parking lot, we said farewell to the Spanish family, who were taken
to the airport for a flight back to Cairo. Only later did we learn
that all of the airports in Egypt had closed the night before because of
the sand storm, and most remained shut through this day, Thursday. So
the French family from the night before and this Spanish family most
likely ended up stranded at the Luxor Airport for one or more days.
Hearing this made us a little bit happier about our plans to travel back
to Cairo on the sleeper train.
Our train was not to depart until 8:10pm, and it was nearly noon by now. Friday informed us that he'd booked us all day rooms at a very nice hotel -- the Sonesta St. George -- for the afternoon. This was nice and unexpected, as it allowed us to rest, clean up, and have time on our own for our remaining hours in Luxor. We had an early lunch at the hotel, which was completely forgettable -- by far, the "least good" meal of the trip. Barbara and Charlotte then retreated to their room; I believe Charlotte ended up spending the afternoon around the pool. Anna wanted to take a long shower and nap, so K and I decided to go down to the souk I had previewed the afternoon before.
The St. George Hotel was not located down by the souk and temple area, so we had to take a cab. Unsurprisingly, as soon as we exited the hotel, we were literally bombarded with people trying to get us to ride in their taxi or on our carriage. We went with one taxi driver, who had a very nice and clean car. His English was good, and after we asked to go to the souk, he told us all about his brother-in-law, who is American and lives in Massachusetts. Hearing an Arab try to pronounce "Massachusetts" was worth the cost of the taxi ride.
As we drove along, I realized that we had driven past the souk area I had visited. When he finally pulled up alongside a large building and announced we were there, I initially gave him the benefit of the doubt. I thought maybe the souk had continued down much further than I had walked the previous day. We were generally close to the area where I had been, afterall. I asked him if this was correct, and he said "of course," at which point we realized that he'd brought us to a very nice souvenir store, with many floors, but also most likely run by a relative. Several workers came out and tried to entice us to go in, but I told K to follow me, and we just walked away, down a very local side street. The owner of the shop trotted behind us, assuring us that his stuff was "top notch" and that he "had very good prices for us." As politely as we could, we ignored him. He finally gave up, but then the taxi driver pulled up alongside us, and started to tell us the same thing. He, too, finally gave up, but we were definitely in a local area. We walked through a group of young children playing soccer in the street, and they seemed genuinely happy to see us. They were just waving hello and not asking for tips or hand-outs. Still, the area was dirty and dingy, so we cut through and out to the main street. We had to walk about 5-10 minutes, and we were obviously not in a tourist area, as people left us alone. As we approached the end of the souk I had visited, I told K to "gird her loins," as as soon as we turned onto the souk street, we would be bombarded by salesmen....and we were.
It was quite the experience, and it gets exhausting to keep telling people "no," over and over. They try so many different lines, too, to get your attention. "Where you from?" "You want a million dollars?" "Everything for free today." It is so against our nature to ignore all this, but you simply have to. We stopped at one stall, looking at some fabric. We started to haggle on a price, but then I said we were going to keep looking, but that we would be back. We finally got away from him, but it was hard. After we'd walked another 5 or 10 minutes down the very long row of shops, we decided to go into a store with an kind, older man, when all of sudden, out of nowhere came the fabric guy. He started to yell at the older man and then ask us if we were coming back. He was obviously desperate for our business. He was shooed away and we went inside the store, which looked tiny from the outside, but which rather ended up being huge inside. There was room after room of all kinds of stuff. The kind man told us to look around and take our time and then it happened...he left us alone. It was so refreshing to be able to actually look, even touch stuff, and not immediately be beset upon by a hoard of people. This man knew how to deal with Westerners. K ended up buying a bracelet, but in hindsight, I wish we'd purchased more from him, if only to reinforce his style.
Further down we glimpsed part of an ornate wall hanging through the dark door of a shop. No one accosted us when we hesitated to look, so we stepped inside. Sure enough, the owner quickly emerged, but he was a medium-sell kind of guy. He welcomed us to "Aladdin's Cave," and sure enough, his shop was exactly that. There was room after room just full of stuff, most of it very old and caked in dust. We led us upstairs, to a room filled with floor-to-ceiling stacks of wall hangings and pillow covers. Near the beginning of the souk, we had momentarily stopped in one shop, looking for an embroidered pillow with the tree of life motif. Somehow this shop owner had already heard that, and he asked, "So you're the ones looking for the tree of life?" Amazing. Sure enough, he had all kinds of trees of life from which we could choose. We successfully got out of the shop with out hard negotiating, telling him we were going to look further. After we left, we realized that his shop was pretty much at the end of the souk area, so there were no more places. Oh well, we meandered our way back and then struck a bargain for our purchases. At this point, one of the owners four brothers (all five of them run the place) showed up. He caught us looking at some bedouin jewelry as we were completing the credit card purchase, so he invited us into his "special room," which was the very back of the store, hidden behind a carpet. We went in, and it was again piled high with all kinds of stuff. The brother blew a heavy layer of dust off of a large chest, just like in a movie, and proceeded to dig through mountains of silver and gold jewelry that filled the chest. Somehow he knew what was where, and brought out beautiful piece after beautiful piece. We successfully resisted an additional purchase, but it was a very memorable experience.
We then hiked our way all the way back to where we began, and returned to our fabric guy's shop. He seemed genuinely surprised, and pleased, to see us. He apologized profusely for following us earlier, and said that so many people tell him they'll return but don't. He pronounced us people of our word and gave us a very good price on the fabric.
 |
| Our Fabric "Guys" |
For
the ride back, we negotiated a taxi fare and had an uneventful trip to
the hotel. Anna was still asleep, so K took a quick nap while I took a
long shower. Rested and clean -- at least I was -- we then met Barbara
and Charlotte, and headed across the street to an English pub for
afternoon drinks and a bite to eat. Our friend Oliver was the only
patron in the place when we arrived, so we all assembled at one table
and enjoyed a few afternoon libations.
We all returned to our hotel for a final clean-up and check out, and then we were picked up at 7:30pm for the quick ride over to the train station. Our local tour manager warned us on the way that people would try to "help" with our luggage when we arrived and that we needed to be firm and just hold on to our bags. Sure enough, as soon as we stopped, several official looking people came over, but our guide waved them off, and we all packed into formation and held on to our bags. We had to go through an x-ray and metal detector to enter the station, and this one seemed to be a more serious check. We were moving so quickly, I didn't really get a look around, as we were pretty much immediately out on the platform. We were booked in first class (mind you, this is Egyptian first class) on the sleeper train, so we walked to the far end of the platform. Our train was arriving from Aswan. There were no announcements made, but our guy made some calls and found out that the train was late. No one could say how late, but we wouldn't be leaving as planned at 8:10pm.
In the meantime, we enjoyed people watching, and we did witness one local train stop, de-board, and re-board, and that was quite a sight. It had both second and third class, and I certainly wouldn't have wanted to travel in either. Our train did finally arrive about 30 minutes late, and our guide brought us on board, found our cabins, introduced us to the steward, and then bid us farewell. The train itself seemed relatively old, and I got the sense it could have been from a European hand-me-down from the 1980's. Each cabin was a double, with a lower seat that converted to a bed, and an upper bunk that lowered from the wall. There was a sink and mirror. As there were three of us, we had two cabins, and there was a door connecting the two. As K was fighting a cold/sinus infection (and had been snoring...sorry), she was relegated to her own cabin, while Anna and I shared. The train was certainly not awful, but it was also not the Ritz by any stretch of the imagination. The bathroom was best avoided, even though our sleeper car was filled entirely with Western tourists. Neither Anna nor Charlotte seemed too enamored of the idea of using the beds. Anna had, however, taken a tip from her Aunt Katie and brought a can of Lysol with her, which she used to disinfect all of our beds.
 |
| Entering Luxor Train Station |
Our steward did serve us a warm dinner in our cabin shortly after we left Luxor. It was like an airplane meal, though I thought the roast chicken was really quite good. As soon as we were done, we had the steward prepare all the beds and we turned in. The ride was, however, rougher than usual, with several very uneven patches, so rather than a rhythmic rocking, some of the sleeping was rather jarred. That said, I fell asleep quickly, as it had been another long day.
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