Kom-ombo to Edfu to Luxor to Cairo

Egyption Police hard at work! So many of them sit around all day with their guns.

Our tour leader was called Emad and he called our group Lovers. I think he thought it meant Friends. This notice was on the board on the boat. Hate to think what the other groups thought we got up to!

Beautifully preserved decoration at Kom-O=ombol Temple. and Emad.

Look at the detail on the fingers. Incredible

The people who cleaned our room on the boat left us s differrent creation made out of the towels each morning.

Typical scene of Egypt. People waiting for the bus.

Beautifully preserved statue and Queen HHatshepsut's temple. And me. I'm the one with the camera and the shawl. Covered shoulders and knees.

Downtown Luxor.

Queen hotchipsoup's temple, unusuale with 3 stories and carved out of the cliff.

This security guard offered to pose for a photo, then wanted money for doing it!

No blog last night. As tourist numbers are well down (currently about 40 boats on the Nile instead of 300) our boat has a number of seperate tours running from it. As all the tours are slightly different there has been quite a bit of rejigging of timetables so we can all sail at the same time:)

So last night we were on deck watching the cruise ship go through the lock at Edsa. What an amazing experience. Everywhere you go here men and children stand in your way and are very pushy about selling you things. I have learned to stay very close to the tour guide because otherwise they are just awful. Yesterday morning when we got off the boat the were all over me. The only way to deal with them is to make no eye contact, keep moving and say no!!! This boy of about 10 would not leave me alone he stood in my way as I tried to go round him and I swear he was trying to shove his braclets up my nose. I almost pushed him out of my way. It is so sad as we feel very sorry for them but if you buy from one you are doomed. It is a real problem and stops us all looking at things we might otherwise buy.

It was dark when the boat approached the lock. This boat has 72 cabins so is not small at all. I was standing beside Suzanne, one of the lovely aussies and we could see something on the water right in frnt of the boat. as we got closer we could see there were 2 small row boats with 2 people ( a child and an adult in each) so close to the boat they disappeared at times. Turned out they were selling things!!!

They threw towels and tablecloths up to people on the boat. Hard not to catch something thrown like that, then when the boat was lowered in the lock, the top deck where we were was level with them and them expected to be paid. They raced around the lock with no regard to their safety. I just couldn't believe my eyes!

The other reason there was no blog last night was that it took 45 min to load 6 photos the night before and One of those is a problem. So I decided to leave it for tonight.

So we went yesterday to the Kom-ombo temple, then the Edfu temple which is the best preserved one due to it being low lying and covered with sand for generations. Then we had 4 hours to relax on board while we sailed. So relaxing just laying in the sun watching the world go by.

So this morning we started early as we needed to be at the airport by 12pm. First to the Valley of the Kings. It was extremely hot even at 9am. We visited 3 toombs, Ramses iii iv and ix. Just amazing place to be.  Tomorrow we will go to the Cairo museum which is where most of the teasure found in those toombes is now.

Then we went to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut ( pronounced hot chip soup). Beautiful temple and amazing lady. She was one of only 5 Queens to rule Egypt. She was the daughter of a Pharoah and to gain power she married her brother (just a busines arrangement, quite common in those days) unfortunately he died soon after :).

So now we are back in Cairo. We are the only ones on our tour tomorrow which is gr8 as we can go where we want. So will do the pyramids, Cairo museum, Citadel and cotton factory.

Then off to Dubai on Monday to start the trip home.

I want to do a blog on driving before we finish. I thought France, Italy and Turkey were bad enough but my god Egypt!!!

Can't wait to be home now.  Although this hotel is wonderful and Dubai is very good too.

So far have managed to stay well in Egypt. Only 2 nights 2 go.