So, finally made it back down the Nile to LUxor after two nights sleeping under the starson the deck of a felucca as we drifted downstream at a leisurely pace. Well overdue after the past few weeks of rushing hither and thither so glad to 'chill out'.

Abu Simbel was all it promised to be in size and grandeur but the most amazing part I think was the fact that the entire complex had been moved almost block by block to a position 300 yarts away from the planned lake and then placed on the front of a man made mountain.

Philae island/temple was also moved but not so far and is of lesser size but was none the less very beautiful sitting as it does tranquilly on a lake no more than a fifteen minute ride from Aswan town.

An interesting note came up when I asked our guide why some of the temples seemed 'incomplete' and he told me that as soon as a Pharoah was 'crowned' work would begin on his tomb and continue until he died as it was back luck to stop work while he was alive as it might fortell his death. Consequently, some tombs are very ornate having been worked over for seveal decades and others, such as that of the boy king Tut are very simple. iN his case their was no tomb in progress so he was actually buried in a small tomb intended for a priest.

Whatever the causes - all workers downed tools on the death of a Pharoah for several reasons.

1. The next Pharoah might not wish the work completed

2. The next Pharoah might wish the work changed to suit his image

and, mo one was paid as soon as the Pharoah in question died. Sic transit gloria way back then.

Had another thought which was about crossing the road in Cairo where you are advised to stand close to a local and then walk alongside them but never hesitate unless they do. I had it figured that the best cover of all would be to walk behind an elderly, overweight woman in full burka but then realised there were not too many of them to be seen - understandably, if they had been that slow moving they would not still be around.

Getting half way is no fun either as most of the main road are dual carriageway and have a dividing section which is no more that two feet wide with a small wall between the lanes of traffic so getting to the centre then becomes a balancing act to avoid being hit by the wing mirrors of traffic from the lanes you have just crossed and those of the traffic on the sectiion you are evaluating.

Zebra crossings do exist but seem to be for the purpose of helping the driver identify the body colour of the person crossing e.g. black people on white stripes; white people on black stripes making it much easier for the driver to choose a target, according to his prejudices. Just a thought but wearing a white t shirt and black shorts might help. AS there are reportedly over 20 million people in the city the chances of surviving as a pedestrian long term must be limited.

A further question is why the city seems to have so many tourist police whose role is less than useless as none appear to be able to speak any language other than Arabic and even when asked by interpreters where things are e.g. the post office - they stare vacantly, set off to ask a colleague and never return. i am told that the sight of them is supposed to reassuring - maybe for each other!