Notes from a Sandy Spot

Another early start (well, actually compared to what is to come, this was a positive lie in) for a coach journey to the station to catch the 8.40am train to Luxor. Various grumblings from the group about the prospect of having to carry the cases along the streets again to meet the coach but were pleasantly surprised by finding the coach directly outside the hotel.

And 20 yards down the road we found out why large coaches in narrow Cairo streets aren't such a good idea - we were completely blocked from progress by some parked cars that gave us no room to get around. To make it more interesting, we were then sandwiched in by a school bus and some cars ... much to the amusement of the policeman who had now woken up (or more correctly had been woken up by all the hooting of horns). This was not good. We experimentally went backwards a bit, and then forwards again before having to basically reverse the entire length of the street whilst narrowly (and I mean narrowly) avoiding lots of parked cars and vans etc. Eventually with the help of lots of people guiding the bus from behind, the driver emerged triumphantly into a turning space to spontaneous applause from the group who now still had a chance to catch the morning train after all.

I'd kind of imagined a 3 or 4 hour journey but it soon transpired that the trip to Luxor was estimated at 10 hours ... they don't print that in the brochure for some reason! We had a first class carriage which gave us rather comfortable seats (although no tables) along with air-conditioning and the services of a chap who spent the entire journey wandering up and down the carriage service tea / coffee etc.

One of the advantages of being male is that loo trips aren't as urgently required as for the fairer sex and judging by the comments from Anne and the others, this was probably just as well - by all accounts it was a rather unpleasant experience and one I'm happy to have missed! We spent the journey chatting, reading, being forced to do the odd su doku puzzle and generally watching the world go by. The train goes through some distinctly "dodgy" areas and so it was fairly reassuring having some not-so-secret police on board. We were amongst the more adventurous members of the group and ventured into the buffet car for a coffee (incidentally for some reason the Egyptian idea of coffee almost always seems to be Nescafe) and a sandwich. All the bar stools were occupied when we entered (and we were the only Europeans) but a couple of businessmen kindly gave up their seats for us and we duely sat down and ordered.

It's fair to say we stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs ... but whilst it was a little unsettling, it's nice to have had the experience.

Some time around 6 or 6.30pm the train arrived in Luxor and we disembarked onto the most ridiculously narrow platform you can imagine - we're talking maybe 4 feet wide here and full of pot-holes / missing chunks etc. Getting off the platform was certainly an experience - not least due to all the people trying to get on at the same time!

Outside the station our next mode of transport for the day was to be a Caleche ... or horse drawn buggy. Some of the horses looked in much better shape than others and there was definately an air of dubiousness amongst the group as to the wisdom of this particular element ... however it was really the only way of getting to the boat and so Caleche it was.

Comedy moment when my bag fell off the seat in front and nearly ended up on the back streets of luxor, but the driver managed to catch it and we made it in one piece, although perhaps with slightly more frayed nerves than would have been ideal. A strategy for future caleche journies was definately in order and Anne had a plan on that front that would soon be revealed ...

And so there we were ... hundreds of miles from Cairo and now aboard our boat, the MS Doma. Just 14 cabins and so a nice size for our group which had 23 people. Quick beer in the bar and a bite to eat and then we were off once more on a walking tour of part of the city! This was probably our first major exposure to all the hassle you get from street vendors who attempt to sell you stuff at every turn. It's all a bit of a culture shock to those of us used to price stickers on the bottom of things you might be considering buying and at times saying no to people simply resulted in them running down the street after you clutching their wares! It felt really rather aggressive at first and it took until almost the end of the holiday before we started to get the hang of it ... at which point it becomes relatively pleasant, if a bit wearing.

Tour complete, Anne & I ventured out to get some money from a cash point I had spotted and this had a comedy moment all its own. At first all went well, card goes in, select "English" and then it's just like using an ATM at home ... until you get to the end when whilst the machine still has hold of your card, the instructions change to arabic and you have 1 of 2 buttons to choose from. I guessed they were saying something along the lines of "do you require anything else" and on the basis that the top one was probably yes, I hoped pressing the bottom one would give me my card back ... but knowing the canny Egyptians it could equally have been selling me some camels or T-shirts or authorising them to clone the card! Thankfully the card came back without incident and so we retired to the boat fighting our way through the street vendors who were still insistent on selling us their wares.

Early start the next day for the balloon trip over the valley of the queens ... and by early I mean before dawn!