Leaving Luxor

Hard to believe, but my time in Egypt is already over. Our group had our last supper together last night, then flew back to Cairo way-too-early this morning, where most headed back for one more day in the capital leaving Elizabeth and I to tour the Cairo airport for many-more-hours-than-we-needed. It was an adventure in itself though, and I have to admit it is pretty cool looking at the departure board and seeing Bagdad, Kuwait, and other exotic locations instead of Vancouver and Winnipeg. We finally found our way to the checkin counter for her flight to Istanbul, then I ran the hassle-gauntlet on my own one last time (I hope... No I am not going to give you bakshish for pointing me to the bathroom 10 meters away!!!) to catch a shuttle to terminal 1 before catching an evening flight to Jordan.

Highlights of the past few days:

- we spent Wednesday sailing on the Nile on a feluca, a traditional Egyptian sailboat. I managed not to get sea sick despite the unusually windy day, which was good given I was already battling traveller tummy that day. It was nice, but not my activity of choice and I was happy to switch to the support boat for the afternoon to enjoy easy access to the bathroom and beer fridge. Spent the evening strolling through a local village and playing group games on board the ship before retiring back to the feluccas for a group sleep over. Or awake over, given how bloody cold the wind was. I was lucky enough to find an extra blanket in the middle of night so I slept much better than others. 

- Thursday we caught the bus and finished the journey to Luxor by road, stopping at a couple temples enroute. I can't remember the names at all, each temple is impressive but completely blurring together now. I do remember driving through what appeared to be a more lush area of Egypt, passing dozens of tractors and countless donkey drawn carts, each loaded with mounds of sugar cane. Luxor seems to be more affluent then the other areas we've toured here. 

- today began with a donkey ride to the valley of the kings. Apparently I looked like the cowboy of the group so they gave me the difficult ass to ride, along with instructions to be "strong with it" because it was "naughty". Was quite happy when one of the girls quit riding and I got transferred to her "bob marley" mule, who was so well behaved it was almost like riding a fully automated robot. 

- the valley of the kings is significant in that some 60+ tombs of various pharohs have been found here, all dug so deep into the mountain that the colors on the walls have been very well preserved. This was the burial location of choice after the Pharohs realized pyramids attract a lot of tomb thieves, although they didn't fair any better here and Tutankhamen's was the only one that survived through antiquity unraided. 

- a couple more blurry temples followed before another local lunch. Maybe it was just the traveller tummy talking but I much prefered the Nubian one in Aswan. The others carried on to Karnak temple for the afternoon, but I was templed-out and needing some rest so just crashed back at the hotel. 

- one last note about Egypt, the food here is quite good and abundantly cheap, by design. Even at the tourist prices, we've been able to eat for a few dollars a meal, feasting on pita bread, falafel, and kushary, but I haven't managed to find any hummus that rivals Dubai yet. Fingers crossed for Jordan. 

On to Amman this evening, then I'll meet back up with Kevin and from the group in Petra Monday before taking a dip in the dead sea Wednesday, then the long journey back to Calgary Thursday. Hard to believe it's that close to being over already, although I am getting a bit of an itch for some home comforts now too. Have to admit though I am going to miss just  hanging around here, taking in the sights and sounds, and hearing the call-to-prayer several times a day. It's been very authentic. Shokran Egypt. 

Salama
Greg