RELAXING AND TEMPLING ON THE NILE

15 April 08

Day 45

Kharga Oasis - Luxor (Rezeiky Camp)

341 km

BRUCE: Got on the road at about 9.30am for the short hop to Luxor. On the way we saw the Austrian bikers again. They had stopped at an ambulance station and we joined them and were invited to stay for tea by the guys who work there. The ambulance driver had built this awesome sheesha pipe out of a glass jar but the tobacco was too strong for me to join them. After that we travelled a little way with the Austrian guys when they stopped for a break and we later stopped for a cold slice of watermelon in the desert! Made it to Luxor at about 2pm and it seems a lot more relaxed than I remember. Found Rezeiky camp easily enough and it is awesome. It's right near the Nile with a pool and cold beer. All you have to do is write in the book what you drink from the cold fridge. Andy and Noeleen are here too and we had a great swim and chilled around the camp. We met an old Italian coupled who are travelling around in a camper. I got dragged to the papyrus factory with the dude and later he came around with a bottle of grappa and we had a few and tried to tell fishing stories. Nice guy although I'm not sure the grappa went to well with 5 pints of Luxor beer. An American guy Joel, with his wife, later showed up in their camper who have been on the road since 2001!

16 April 08

Day 46

Luxor (Rezeiky camp)

0 km

SARAH: Last night was so hot we had to sleep with our tent flaps open and just the mosquito net down, but I still didn't sleep well. The morning was getting hot quickly and we left for the Valley of the Queens at about 8:30am. We walked from our campsite along the river and were persuaded to catch a ferry over the river. We haggled him down to 1E£ each. The Valley of the Queens was very colourful inside the tombs. Only 3 tombs were open and from what I remember the colours of the wall murals were better preserved than the Valley of the Kings. We also saw a skeleton of an aborted baby. It was fascinating and looked full term. We then did some templing at Medinet Hadu Temple, before heading back to our campsite. We spent the rest of the day doing odd jobs around the car and swimming as it was too hot to do anything else.SUNRISE AT KARNAK

17 April 08

Day 47

Luxor (Rezeiky Camp)

0 km

SARAH: We'd decided to watch the sunrise at Karnak, my favourite temple, so rose at 4:30am! So we snuck out of the campsite with the guidebook and the tripod and marched off down the road. Although we knew Karnak wasn't far from us we still managed to head off in the wrong direction and a taxi driver started to hassle us. We succumbed to getting a lift after haggling his price form 50 down to 10E£. Driving 2km in the dark we arrived to find the gates closed and our driver became irate as he didn't have change for our 50. He still couldn't understand why we were up so early and kept asking 'why you don't sleep?' The ticket office only opened at 6am but we were hoping to see more of the sunrise through Karnak Temple ruins but the front pylons hid most of it. Still it was pretty as the sun rose at 5:30am between 2 palms. The yelling taxi driver eventually left after finding change and then we realised that we'd left our guidebook in his car! Damn. So he got more than his 50E£ after all. Karnak was beautiful in the morning sun. I just love the massive lotus flower pillars. The size is unreal and so impressive even second time around. In a half asleep state we enjoyed Karnak all to ourselves and treated ourselves to tea and coffee at the tea shop inside next to the lake. We left like wounded buffalo with the tea costing 40E£! That's the same as a nights accommodation. Still it was worth it and we got back to the campsite at 9am just as the Americans were leaving and the day was getting unbearably hot.The rest of the day was spent chilling, reading, filtering water, doing backup copies of our photos, washing, lazing in the pool and generally relaxing at our little 'oasis'! We had sundowners on the Nile which was awesome and then gave in to the hassling and let a nice man, Ali, take us to the half price Egyptian Bazaar. Of course we ended up at a papyrus factory and perfume shop and a place that sold all the touristy items we didn't want, but a trip to Egypt wouldn't be complete without one of these visits. By now we were hardened hagglers and bought some gift boxes and sheesha tobacco for practically cost price. Leaving a defeated salesman, Ali took us to the fruit market for fruit and veg at 'Egyptian' price. Of course we also went passed Ali's house in a poor back street and it really got to me how desperately hard it is for a man like Ali to make anything as the tourist season wanes. He was one of the few nice hasslers we'd met so gave him 10E£ tip and his face shone! It was a fun experience. Returning to camp I cooked a veg and Vienna curry and carried on chilling. I've really enjoyed Luxor and want to stay longer but we have to get the ferry from Aswan on the 21st. CHILLED ASWAN18 April 08Day 48Luxor - Aswan (Adams Home camping)261 KmBRUCE: The idea today was to pack up, head to a shop and meet the convoy to Aswan and 11am. It did not quite pan out this way and we ended up leaving camp at 10:30am after loosing a knife and spending ages trying to find it (it was hiding under a tree), having a swim, chatting to Joel and just chilling. Although we got to the convoy meeting point early we ended up missing it as we left the car to get ice creams and cool drinks and when we were on our way back we saw the convoy drive past us! No worries though as we headed off to Aswan on our own. We met the Austrian bikers again on the road which was cool, but other than that we had an uneventful trip. Got to Aswan at 3ish and found the campsite. There was another Land Rover there which turned out to be the Dutch couple, Darko and Brenda. It was too hot to set up camp so we went into town and found a place on the river to have a cool drink. We had the most awesome Mango juice and pizza to share. We went back to camp as the afternoon cooled and met the Dutch couple who seem really nice. It's great to meet some more overlanders. Had a relaxing evening and green tea at Adams Home. FERRY TICKETS19 April 08Day 49Aswan (Adams Home Camp)0 kmBRUCE: Well today was the day that we had to sort out the ferry. I got up at 6.30am, seem to be waking up earlier and earlier at the moment, and after a coffee and cold shower managed to wake Sarah up and got moving at 9ish into town with Darko and Brenda. We met Mr Saleh at the Nile Navigation Company and he sent an assistant with us to return our Egyptian plates, Carte Gris and obtain confirmation from the court that we have not violated any traffic laws. They took the whole morning and at about 2pm we finally paid our money and got our ferry tickets to Sudan. Ubhejane gets his ticket on Monday but at least we have the paper that says he is good to go to Sudan. Went to a pool at a hotel and chilled there for the afternoon. Got back to camp at 5ish to do some blog stuff and have dinner. We all seem a little nervous about the barge and the possibility of our Land Rovers going over the side and into Lake Nasser but I'm sure that it will all go well come Monday. I'm going to be sad to leave Egypt, it has been great and a very different experience from last time. But for me the trip really starts now as we head for Sudan and unknown territory!