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Hey Toto we're not in Kansas anymore


Well here I am in Luxor as I am typing this. In an internet cafe listening to some funky latin type music and smelling...well you don't want to know....

The flight over was good and the tour rep was right there to meet me which was great - he helped me get a visa and get through customs and got me to the hotel. I was woken at 5 a.m. the next morning by the call to prayer - fell back to sleep and an hour later was woken up bya rooster of all things! In the middle of this huge city. Next morning early we were off to see the pyramids. I knew they were in the suburbs but when you can see them through a satellite dish well it's a bit shocking. I was underwhelmed I must admit - I mean one part of me is saying holy shit little old me is seeing the pyramids and the other part was saying well there they are - now what? Most of the group went into one of the pyramids but they were not for the weak of knee (me) or claustrophobic type (me) so I walked around and got harassed by all the camel guys and kids selling postcards. We drove to a look out and saw the three from a distance and had the usual picture taken and that was kind of cool. Then we went to see the sphinx which was neat - more photo ops. We had lunch at a fast food stands - a falafel for 20 cents. Can't beat that. Not all food is that cheap trust me!! Then on to the Egyptian musuem which is unbelieveable. You need weeks to see it but we had to make do in a couple of hours - luckily we had a guide who showed us the best bits. Tutatuckan - well you know the guy - his casket and tons of stuff from his tomb plus so much else I couldn't list it here. And I paid extra to see the mummy room - kind of gruesome but hey, I can say I saw several mummies - and royal ones no less.
Last night we took the overnight train from Cairo here to Luxor - oh my. A journey we get to repeat - from Aswan to Cairo. Our guide (who is from Canada and is very nice) told us that we had an especially noisy car. A bizarre thing happened about 10 - was sitting listening to my earphones and someone knocked on the door and it was two men. One said to me quite agitated "Communication" and I pulled my ear phones off and said what and then the other said oh singing okay and they left! I told Carolyn, the guide and she had no clue what was up with that. Too weird! Anyway I turned my MP3 player off and read instead! Arrived into Luxor early and we were bussed to our boat - the SS Melodie. Gonna save this bit now in case it crashes.

Comments

Pat said…
Laurie great report but you dint go into the Pyramid????

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