A continuation

January 6, 2008 ... a ferry, or shall we say a boat ride, across the Nile for our camel ride. Had a great time, a very loopey stride, no problems as long as he keeps to a walk !!! Not sure how the photos will turn out as it's hard to look through the view finder and focus while the camel is moving. This afternoon our boat starts the northward journey back up the Nile. The breeze is too cool to spend much time on the top deck, much less lying in the sun. We dock in Edfu for the night. January 7, 2008 ... Up with the sun. More temples. They are glorious and each is unique but it's hard to keep all of the names straight !!! After the temple we walk through the local markets where the residents buy their food. Today is orthodox Coptic Christmas so things are quiet. Back on the boat for 8:30am and we depart again as we continue our northward journey. We pass through the Esna locks early this afternoon. This time it's daylight so we can see what's going on. We make it back to Luxor at 5pm and head into town for a walk about. The pollution is bad in Luxor - a mix of garbage burning and dust from all of the excavation work, but in either case there's a perpetual haze hanging in the air. We take a walk around the Luxor temple. It's lit up and looks beautiful. A mosque was built on top of part of the temple, utilizing portions of the columns as its support. January 8, 2008 ... another early start - up at 5am and across the Nile at 6am as we head to the west bank. We ride donkeys from the Nile into the Valley of the Kings - just over an hour. It was a blast - much like a horse without a saddle or stirrups, just a strapped on cushion and a string lead. Like the camel, the pictures should be interesting as I have no idea what I was shooting at. As the sun came up we can see the hot air balloons rising. The Valley of the Kings is rather boring in comparison to temples from an exterior point of view. It's simply a valley of rocks and hills. Built into the hills are 62 toombs that have been found and identified. A 63rd was found last year but it is still being worked on. Most tombs are no longer open to the public. Included in our ticket is three toombs, they are varying in shapes and sizes. In some the colours and pictures are extremely vibrant, unlike the temples where you can barely see any colour left. Unfortunately no cameras allowed. We pay an extra 80 E pounds (approx $15) to enter King Tut's tomb. It's very small and not complete in comparison to the others. He was only 19 when he died. Seems he's only famous because his was the only tomb found that had not been robbed and contained all of the artifacts. The reason for this is that Ramses II built his tomb higher in the hill over top of Tut's and the debris from his construction completed covered and buried Tut's entrance. Tut's mummy is displayed in a glass box within the tomb. The tomb also contains the outermost wooden sarcophogus. The balance of items and sarcophogis are in the Cairo musuem. We bus out of the valley, with a stop at the "worker tombs". These are much smaller and do not contain carvings, only plaster coverings on the walls and ceilings which are painted. We also make a brief stop for pictures of the Colossi of Memnon. All that remains here are the two 20m sitting statutes that would have flanked a temple entrance. After lunch on the boat Dave and I head out into Luxor for a shopping trip with Marie. First to a jewellery store - no bartering, fixed prices based on weight. I spend too much !!! Then a fair trade shop, before running the gauntlet at the tourist market. Marie's a "tough lady" - too tough according to the vendors !!! Back at the Luxor Temple. We go into the old mosque ruins built upon the temple. It's in poor shape but it's interesting how they used portions of walls and pillars exposed at the time of construction. By this time the sun is setting, and we're pooped, so we skip going into Luxor Temple and end up taking a carriage ride back to the boat. It's our last night on the board as tomorrow we head onto the Red Sea. January 9, 2008 ... Our convoy leaves at 8am as we're off to Hurghada. A half built resort area on the Red Sea. It's very strange to see so many shells of buildings everywhere, started and abandoned. Hurghada is popular with the Eastern Europeans. Many come here to dive. We eat "real food" - burgers. The Eqyptians don't consider this area the "real" Egypt. Dave, Stuart, Diego and I swim in the Red Sea. For me the water's beautiful - like Lake OK in the summer, for the rest it's too cold to come in. The best part is the refreshing swim and the pollution free air - the sky is clear. Not much else here - just a resort town to frolic in the water. January 10, 2008 ... Today we take a Hydrafoil ferry across the Red Sea to Sharm El Sheik. The crossing takes about 2.5 hours, a little chopping the middle half of the crossing but I was prepared and took my Gravol ahead of time. You wouldn't believe the yachts anchored in the harbour ... talk about a load of money floating around!!! Back onto the bus. From here we bus across the penisula to Doha, another but smaller, resort town. We have lunch and a short break. It's very windy so it is a tad on the chilly side for wandering the few streets and markets. Back onto the bus and we head inland and north to St. Catherine's. The monestary is supposedly the site of the burning bush. It's at the base for the walk up Mount Sinai. We arrive in the evening, quick pit stop at the shops for water, snacks and GLOVES before we eat a quick dinner and go to bed. Tomorrow is our earliest start yet ... 2:30am wake up call !!!