Our alarm went off at 6:30 am and we packed up to meet with our guide, John, for the second part of our Luxor tour - the Valley of the Kings and the Queens. Before we left, our local agent showed up for a few minutes, but left before a mini-bus arrived. Not impressed. So, when the bus showed up, we got on and hoped we had picked the right one. Luckily, we had, and we headed out towards the site with another diverse group of travellers, including a South African, ...

Off exploring! Our neighbourhood, once more, was very, very authentic (meaning the sidewalks were broken up and there was garbage and debris everywhere), but within moments we were in the heart of a neighbourhood and a street filled with non-tourist shops. We were delighted not to be attacked from every side by the store owners but, instead, many people simply called out a hello as we walked around, including an entire group of school children who came over to sh...