M-whY

I had this fear we were going to oversleep and miss our stop, and so that must've set some sort of internal alarm in my head. By 4:30am, I was waking up every half hour to see if we were there yet. I was able to relax when I heard Aaron taking pictures of the sunrise behind me - at least someone else was awake. My worries were unwarranted however; At Luxor, nearly half the passengers got off with us. "The guy better be here," said Chanda. Someone from the travel agency was supposed to meet us on the platform. We found him holding up a piece of paper with Aaron and my name scribbled on it. Via car, we arrived at the hotel.

There are no official guidelines for transliteration between arabic and english, and so that probably explains its unusual name. Shady Hotel is correctly pronounced 'Shaddy Hotel', and supposedly comes from the owner's name. They took our vouchers and passports, checked us in, and gave us a run down of the day's activities. The first didn't begin until early afternoon.

"In the morning, you can take optional tour: Felucca ride to Banana Island, balloon over the Nile..." I had to make a decision?? The whole point of this was so I could sit back and let everyone do the planning for me.

Well, considering hot air ballooning would've cost 100 euros, and they were asking only E£60 for the felucca (which, by the way, is still overpriced, but we wouldn't figure that out until much later), the choice was fairly easy. We had an hour or so to wash up, then were taken to the docks.

A felucca ride is one of those things one just has to try when in Egypt. The small, canvas-sailed boats are everywhere on the Nile, and are the traditional method of river travel. Unfortunately, the wind wasn't strong enough, and so the captain had to call out for assistance. A little tugboat pulled the Lady Diana and the Happy Nile upstream. Lying on the cushioned seats and looking out over the banks was most relaxing after two packed days in Cairo. Maybe half an hour later, we reached Banana Island.

Banana Island didn't appear to be an island. Then again, water levels are fairly low this time of year, and the channel connecting it to the banks could've been easily filled had the Nile been 6m higher as it usually is. It didn't just have bananas either. Mandarins and papayas were also grown, though, as our guide explained, it was named such because bananas are the only fruit that was harvested all year round. He brought us out a bunch which had been picked two weeks earlier and had been given time to ripen.

"This is pretty cool, we're eating bananas from the island they were picked from," said Chanda. By the time we were ready for the return journey, the wind had picked up enough for the sails to be let out. Tacking back and forth, we were dropped off a little short of where we started from. Someone was again waiting to arrange transportation for us though. It's so easy when everything is taken care of for you.

A guide was even provided for our afternoon trip to Karnak. Understanding Gad, our Dasani-water-bottle-waving Egyptologist-in-training was a little difficult though. I tried hard - really, I did - to follow his explanations. For example: The temple was not the work of one individual; Egyptian temples were regarded as 'living' and built bit by bit over many centuries, each pharaoh added to and modified it as he saw fit. Damage to limbs and faces of reliefs were inflicted by early Christians who saw it as a way of demonstrating the Egyptians gods as powerless and no longer being able to see. The colossus in front of the second pylon was erected by and is the image of Ramses II. After his talk, we had some free time to wander.

"So where do we go first?" Supposedly, this scarab is supposed to grant a wish to whomever walks around it seven times. ("It's probably just a ploy to make tourists look stupid.") Past a couple magnificent obelisks, we reached the Great Festival Hall, and behind it, someone got sacrificed on what looked like a sacrificial table. Every bit of the 1.5km by 800m complex was remarkable. Those more eloquent than me have had difficulty describing it, and since I have the benefit of living in a digital age, I'll just pictures do the talking.

I think I'm in the majority when I say the Great Hypostyle Hall was the most inspiring. Anything that gives me fits trying to photograph is special in my book, and it's hard to believe there are 134 of them. "How did they erect them?" marveled Chanda.

"Duh, didn't you see that crane next to the pool?" Had the Egyptians had the technology we have today, who knows how much they could've accomplished. Perhaps the entire Nile would be lined with gigantic pillars.

Seeing these monuments lit by modern day torches is another advantage we had over the ancient Egyptians. Following the convoy of tour buses, we were shuttled over to Luxor Temple. Its construction was also overseen by multiple rulers. Begun by Amenhotep III, who built the first court, nothing major was changed until Ramses II came along. Two seated colossi of him guard the outermost pylon, the second court contained several more statues of him. If there's one pharaoh you just can't avoid hearing about, it's him.

"The McDonalds over there? Also built by Ramses II," cracked Gad.

From finding where Alexander the Great carved his name in hieroglyphs, to interpreting the mythological stories behind reliefs, there's quite a lot to absorb. So even though my activities for the next few days are planned out, it's not like I can turn my brain off and veg. Traveling like this is never completely mindless. It's just a little less work.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!