02
Luxor
2 days
Seeing the landscape from our train window, I regret that we do not have more time in Egypt. I arranged a guide, Ahmed, to pick us up in the early hours who takes us to Karnak and Luxor Temple. The temples, of course, are impressively beautiful but it feels like Ahmed is trying to teach us how to read hieroglyphs.
To his displeasure, our guesthouse is located in the West Bank. ‘So far from everything. This is a poor location.’ I let him complain as I admire the fertile farmland around us. We are happy to arrive at the quiet haven that is Nour El Balad, far from the touts at the East Bank.
The cook makes us the most delicious meal with tahini that I still dream about to this day. After a catnap in our beautiful room, we ask to rent some bicycles to explore the area. We are referred to what appears to be a small school and a man gives us some classic city bikes. In the warm sun we cycle through green fields with the Valley of the Kings in the background and people greeting and welcoming us to their country.
We are quite used to early mornings by now so sunrise in a hot air balloon is the next logical step. Together with the dew, we rise above the fields until we can see where the green patchwork gives way to the desert. The farmers and their children are already at work.
After a visit to the temple of Hatshepsut, the Valley of the Kings and the well preserved murals of Deir el-Medina, we can say goodbye to Ahmed. He was dissatisfied that we had not yet written a positive review after the first morning. As the losers that we are, we quickly wrote a positive comment on our tour to lift his and our own spirits.
One of the brothers at our guesthouse takes us to the river in his oldtimer Peugeot and we watch the sun set from a felucca on the Nile.