This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw.

Sunday November 1, 2015

Egypt: Day 11, Part 3 – Luxor Stroll

In Aswan and Kom Ombo our cruise ship had been tied up in a row with another ship, so we actually left our lobby and entered directly into another ship’s lobby before getting to a gangplank to go ashore. However, in Luxor, hundreds of ships were tied up along the shore, sometimes 10 deep. But this time they weren’t fancy other cruise ships, but the decaying unused ones. Before I left on my trip, I had read another blogger who mentioned these “Ghost Ships” and that they often have guards living aboard them. So as we made our way from ship to ship in the dark, I could hear the distant hum of fans or televisions elsewhere in the ships. Moving from one formerly opulent lobby to another you could also see the numerous extension cords running off into the darkened halls, and the occasional cloth draped furniture.

One we exited the last ship and up the gangway we found ourselves on the opposite side of the street to Luxor Temple. Mikel talked to us as we crossed the street and tried taking as many photos as we could. We then walked to the Winter Palace so some of our group could get money out of the ATMs before we went shopping. Mikel took us to this wonderful jewelry shop. I looked around for ages trying to figure out what to get. I had my eye on some beautiful earrings and while trying to figure out a necklace drank some hibiscus tea from the seller. Elizabeth also wavered between buying a necklace but ended up not getting it.

Afterwards, people splintered off. Some went back to the ship to prepare for dinner, others went to Luxor Temple, while Elizabeth and I decided to go explore the local’s souk. I had already done most of my shopping in Aswan, so now I was excited just to look around. At one point the call to prayer happened. I took out my camera to film it, because I wanted to remember the sound. I then promptly forgot that I was recording. I stopped by a shop that had beautiful lamps outside, and the seller beckoned us inside. After looking at some copper plates, he ended up locking us inside until Elizabeth got us out!

We continued walking and shopping, at one point stopping for Elizabeth to look at some tablecloths like the ones I had gotten earlier, and then a shop where it took us a while to negotiate to buy multiple small camels. (At one point that seller brought out these large singing camels, to which I replied, “No that will scare the children.”)

We continued walking until we got to the locals market. We walked for a long time before trying to buy apples before realizing they weren’t good quality, and then we walked back.

It was dark when we exited the souk and we could see Luxor Temple and the Avenue of Sphinxes all lit up, so we walked along it for a while. I remember stopping to buy some peanuts from a seller, which tasted really good.

We bumped into Mikel on the way back and talked to him while we waited for dinner. As dinner started (our last in the cruise ship) Richard ran up to one of the other tables. He was so excited and said “I just saw Hawass at Luxor Temple!” He was greeted by blank looks, so he immediately turned to us, “I just saw Zahi Hawass at Luxor Temple!” Richard explained they had visited the temple and Hawass was there doing a tour or talk. I think I yelled and stood up. I seriously thought about running out of the cruise ship, through all 10 ghost ships, across a darkened street and around the temple to go see him. Bumping into Zahi Hawass in Egypt was a dream of mine!

But alas, dinner was starting, and I knew the cruise ship had a curfew. I wouldn’t have time to hunt for Hawass among the ruins in Luxor. (Thankfully I had already met Zahi Hawass in 2010 when he gave a talk in Denver. I have a lovely MASSIVE signed coffee table book of his and I got one of his signature hats signed by him!) I do regret not having time to explore the inside of Luxor Temple (as you can see from the photos you can see a lot from the street) so that will be on my to-do list next time around!

Richard chatted with us Ancient History geeks for a bit before we all braved the buffet. (By this point we had learned to let the Chinese tour group also on our boat to have their way first.) After a fun dinner, I came back, showered and got ready for bed. Tomorrow would bring me face to face with King Tut!