Been There Done That Too…

Luxor

// November 1st, 1996 // Egypt, Passage To Africa

Port Safaga and Luxor, Egypt – We docked in Safaga, our gateway port for Luxor and the wonders of the Valley of the Kings. We had another long bus ride ahead of us, over 3 hours, but this time we were staying overnight in Luxor, our base to explore one of the richest area for antiquities in the world. We again set out in a convoy of around 15 buses plus Egytpian security, and headed for Luxor across an even more inhospitable stretch of desert than the one we crossed going to Cairo. This one is so treacherous that everyone crossing it has to check in where it starts, and checkout where it ends.

As we got closer to Luxor and the Nile River Valley towns appeared along the banks of small rivers/canals that we started seeing. It became an intersting drive at that point. My favorite site was the water buffal grazing under the laundry. Arriving in Luxor, on the banks of the Nile we settled into our hotels.

Luxor is an odd mix of luxury hotel barges tied up next to the banks, with dumpy boats rafting to them; luxury hotels fronted by muddy semi-paved roads being used by both cars and horse drawn buggies, and next to half built hotels abandoned for a decade at a time. It seems that in Egypt you get funding to start a hotel, apartment building or office building and you start building usually running out of money 1/2 of the way through. The building stands unfinished until you manage to raise the funds to finish it which can often take anywhere from 10 years to never. This leaves a very odd mix of buildings, some done, some not.

While the hotel that I was at was very nice, what I had hoped was an anomoly in Cairo (the rude Egyptians) wasn’t. The same attitude prevailed here. It was very dissapointing. Rude, brusk manners, absolutely no courtesy or respect to anyone who wasn’t Egytpian, and a complete attitude of “Give us your money and get out.” There is one site in Egypt I haven’t seen yet, Abu Simbel, and I’m not sure I want to see it since I would have to deal with Egyptians again – they were that insulting. To top it off – there were a couple of crusty old British ladies at the dinner buffet at the hotel that cut in front of everybody in line because ‘They had been there for a week and weren’t going to wait because they were special.’

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