October 15 – Aswan-Luxor
The first class train reminds me of the good old days lounges. Walls and armchairs are upholstered in damask fabric, the seats are wide and comfortable, the journey passes quickly.
Contrarily to Aswan station, extremely ordinary in its grey cement, the Luxor one is very elegant, with lots of statues in Pharaonic style, spotlights, and advertising maxi screens.
We immediately notice that Luxor, more than Aswan, is devoted to tourism; it’s in fact much more clean, tidy, equipped with traffic lights which drivers seem to respect (pity that the same does not happen with the prohibition to honk), and there is police everywhere. The taxi drivers who assail us as soon as we come out on the square are immediately chased by a couple of cops, and we relaxedly walk to the temple. Skirting the square in front of it, and passing the Hathor Hotel, our attention is attracted by the glittering lobby of Susanna Hotel.
I foresee a massacre, however the rates (for a double including breakfast) are: back room 25 USD, side room (souk view) 30 USD, front room (view of the temple of Luxor, with balcony) 35 USD. We inspect all of them, choosing a quieter back one (the windows seem pretty well soundproofed)
It must be said that the whole building seems recently renovated, electrical systems seem to be made in accordance to international rules, rooms are quite small, but very comfortable, bathrooms nicely tiled, and equipped with bathtub (with clean plastic curtain).
From the restaurant on the seventh floor, we can enjoy a wonderful view of the temple already lit for the evening, and on the avenue of sphinxes
We decide to stop here for dinner, the menu is limited, but the food is good, and we spend little, 72 EGP for two chicken steaks with various side dishes. Then, to help digestion, we explore the vast square in front of us. Past the heat of the day, hundreds of people flock to the flowerbeds, groups sit on the ground with children running around. Many play football. For a refreshing karkadè we head into a multi-storey modern-looking building, which houses many kinds of restaurants. The top floor houses “The roof” a tiled bar, dimly lit, frequented by young Egyptians, where a band is playing live traditional music
October 16
After a poor breakfast, compared to the previous days one, but more than enough compared to Italian standards, we visit the temple of Luxor (50 EGP)
In the afternoon, in the golden light of sunset, we visit the Karnak Temple (65 EGP), and then walk back to our hotel
October 17
At Nefertiti Hotel, within walking distance from ours, we book a day trip (90 EGP excluding entry sites), to visit some of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings (80 EGP + 4 for the train), the temple of Al Deir el-Bahari (30 EGP + 2 for the train) and Medinat Habu (30 EGP).
The heat is stifling, there will be 38-39°C, this time we have a human guide, included in the price, but I find hard to follow his explanations, I often get distracted. Brazenly, I read in the front of him my Lonely Planet and other papers I printed. The 80 EGP entrance fee applies to three tombs, if you want to see more you have to pay more. The frescoes are beautiful, very bright colors. Our guide takes us to the tomb of Ramesses III (KV 11), Ramesses IV (KV 2), and a third one whose name I can’t remember !! 🙁 We pass close to the Tuthankhamen tomb, but can’t visit it, since it would be our fourth, we just stand at the entrance to read the panels. The tomb is almost empty, all the equipment are exposed at the Cairo Museum, which we will visit at the end of our journey
The majesty of the rocky landscape in which it is embedded, like a jewel, the temple of Deir el-Bahari (better known as the Temple of Hatshepsut) impresses me a lot. The natural setting is beautiful. I get involved by the personal stories of the queen, fighting her stepson, like on some a kind of Mexican telenovela
Medinat Habu is a temple closer to the western bank of the Nile, and outside the circuits of the great tourists coaches. We are there at 13.00, a relatively calm time. In many areas, bas-reliefs, columns and statues are all for us
When we are back, at 14.00, we are destroyed. We guzzled gallons of water, but it was not enough.
Before that, we stopped to eat at the Jamboree Restaurant, mentioned on Lonely Planet. Those premises on the roof terrace, so nice in the evening, are torrid during the daytime. We wake up at 17.00 prayer. Calmly, we stop at the post office for the postcards rite, we head near the station, at the Upper Egypt bus office, to buy tickets to El Quseir, or reserve seats.
The clerk explains that the shortest way, rather than changing in Safaga with a direct connection to Marsa Alam or Shalatein, is to reach instead Qeft, and from there take a bus that will go directly to El Quseir. Reservations are not necessary.
We have our dinner at the Nefertiti Hotel restaurant. Since the souk sellers are particularly annoying, some of them place right in front of us preventing us to go on, we prefer to stroll along the Nile, or stop in the shops at fixed prices. I shop at the Fair Trade Center (indicated by Lonely Planet) that promotes fair trade by helping the Bedouin women community. I buy brightly colored rugs, and brass jewelry. The shop is very busy. After that, we move to Gaddi, a bookstore near the Old Winter Palace Hotel, to snoop around. There are many interesting books, even for children, but all of them are written in English. I mention also a baker, near Hator Hotel, which sell exquisite products (1 EGP for a croissant)
October 18 – LUXOR
A relative relaxing day, dedicated to the discovery of the city of Luxor. The Luxor Museum is brilliant (80 EGP entrance), designed with modern architectural criteria, elegant, sober, all the exhibits are illuminated by spotlights artfully arranged. There are beautiful jewels, amulets, and a pair of mummies.
After that, it’s the turn of the Mummification Museum (50 EGP), worthy to visit as well. A human skull impresses me particularly. One sectioned half is exposed, the bandages and traces of preservation resins are yet clearly visible in the interior. I contemplate it ecstatically, as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world! We have lunch in a restaurant close to the museum, crowded with package tours tourists, treated like soldiers. They do not even have to time to relax for a moment, they have not yet swallowed their last bite that already guides push them to stand up, take a boat, already waiting for them with engine on, ferry the river for other visits. We reject the buffet menu, and we opt to order à la carte
For dinner we opt for Kebabgy Restaurant, with more expensive prices, due to its setting (it overlooks the Nile)