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(Feb 11, 2019)

Early early start to fly to Luxor for a 5-day cruise up the Nile (Luxor -> Aswan) with stops along the way to see Egyptian ruins. Our boat is a 5-story floating hotel called the “Nile Dolphin”.

I am picked up from the airport and driven to the boat. It is noticeable that we are outside of Cairo. Life feels slower somehow here. I guess anything compared to Cairo will feel slower. Perhaps it’s just the absence of Cairo’s crazy traffic. The atmosphere and the palm trees (they grow dates) remind me of a tropical country but the dry heat and the desert in the distance makes the resemblance in my head a short-lived one.

It’s quickly becomes obvious why Nile is associated with life. Yes, one only needs to open a map of Egypt to see the green areas around Nile. However, I truly feel it as we are driving through the plantations (mostly sugar canes and wheat), next to the irrigation canals, and surrounded by agricultural activity. Still… those desert hills in the distance don’t let you forget that you are in a dry, desertous land. Sand is everywhere.

Luxor is full of very impressive archeological sites. My afternoon involves a private tour of the Karnak Temple complex and the Luxor Temple on the East Bank of the river Nile. The ancient Egyptians associated the East Bank with life (sunrise).

The ruins are spectacular. Not much more to say really.

An ATM at Luxor, with its own staircase. Why not? 🙂

Previous days: Egypt – Days 1, 2
Next day: Egypt – Day 4