Day 35, 8 August 2012, Edfu Temple, Esna Lock, Arrival in Luxor - Edfu Temple is 5 minutes from the Nile via horse & buggy. Another incredibly well preserved temple - this one in it's original position! Dedicated to Horus, the falcon god as you can see from our smiling faces in the cover photo. The horse and buggy ride from the ship to the temple had me flicking mentally through the travel insurance policy with regard to patently dangerous activities. Eventually decided holding on was a better use of time and energy and strongly encouraged the driver (jockey?) not to whip the beast for fear it would drop dead before we got there. Slow and steady won the race and since our guide and the tickets were with us, it wasn't as though we were missing anything. The temple was gorgeous and honestly I don't think we appreciated it enough but sleep is rarer than temples on this tour and it's frightfully hot even at the crack of dawn. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edfu). Very beautiful and will post some more pix but back to the boat via the Egyptian Ferrari and off to the pool deck to experience our first river lock at the town of Esna where the level of the Nile drops significantly. The day ended with docking in Luxor. This town contains a third of the world's monuments. Not Egypt's. The World's! Having spent a bit of time in the sun, we sensibly waited for sunset before venturing ashore to the local market and a teensy bit of clothes shopping - one pair of trousers having given valiantly all through Africa have bitten the dust and a replacement pair was necessary. Luxor was tempting us even as we walked back to the ship and saw the remains of the ancient, but under restoration, Avenue of the Sphinxes. In Ancient times this avenue was lined with 1200 sphinxes and linked the Luxor Temple to the Karnak Complex, 2.4 km away. Recently houses and businesses built on top it have been demolished and part of the avenue restored. Watch this space for progress shall we say - the revolution put a great many great things on hold. Our last evening aboard saw a belly dancing show - all very nice and quite modest - but the highlight of the evening was a whirling dervish - Probably a "been there" experience for us - but between the mesmerising whirling and the neon lit skirts we all thought levitation was a possibility by the end of his show. Relatively early night thank god(s) and no wakeup call scheduled - check out tomorrow. We will miss the cruise boat, however Luxor awaits - tomorrow night, "Luxor Temple by Night".