Location: Rezeiky Camp, Luxor
Miles travelled: 2 miles (on a bike)
Weather: 34ºC – Sizzling
Today we mostly listened to: Kings of Leon
We’ve been in Luxor for three days now and so far had a fantastic time. The Rezeiky camp is nice and we’ve even managed to meet some other overlanders whilst being here. Git and Pim from Holland turned up the day after us – they are travelling to Tanzania for a wedding – Johanna and Anselm – who have travelled with their dog all the way down to Cape Town and are now on their way back home – and finally George from Northampton who is cycling the whole way on his own – either really brave or slightly mad!
We visited the Valley of the Kings and Queens today on bikes – a great way to get around but awfully hot. The sites were good to visit, but not as impressive as we hoped – after all a tomb with no relics in it is just a tomb! The valley of the Kings was so busy, but the Valley of the Queens much better. Still it was a really pleasant day because we spent it with Pim and Git. Supper followed at the Rezeiky camp – a lovely Egyptian spread – and then beers in to the early hours.
We also spent another afternoon wandering around the streets of Luxor and the Souk. I don’t know how many times we had to say, ‘no thank you, I don’t want a felucca ride.’, or ‘no thank you, we don’t want to buy that fez’. It really is a sad state of affairs in Luxor with the pestering. On the one hand the shop owners rely on tourists and, with more people staying on big cruise boats (and never leaving!) and less people coming on holiday since the recession, I think business is tough for them. So the pestering continues to get worse.
We’ve also managed to speak to the famous Mr Salah whilst here and book ourselves on to the crossing to Sudan on Monday (hopefully). It all seems to be a little sporadic and has been the topic of conversation with the other overlanders most nights! We travel to Aswan tomorrow so we’ll find out then. Really looking forward to Sudan – Anselm and Johanna said the route down to Khatoum was one of their most favourite parts of the whole trip.
