Woke up at 3AM when the train made a stop. I looked around me to see if anyone else was awake. Ruben and Rachel were awake so I turned to talk to them. What follows has been entitled the ‘Jeff Incident’.
Jeff was one of the two random people that picked up with our group. Some members of our group made some ‘special brownies’ for the trip. Ruben, Rachel, and I did not partake (each for our own reasons). They ate the brownies earlier on during the trip. Jeff had a few and was now, at 3AM, tripping balls.
He was super paranoid. He was telling us that the people on the train were trying to set him up. He said that there was some hash near his feet that somebody had planted so that he would get kicked off the train. He kept going for 15 minutes. Finally he decided that he was going to move seats (but all the others were taken) so that he wasn’t near the set up.
Despite our arguing he decided to leave and move up front. In his defense we did find something that looked like it could be a block of hash (the three of us have no clue..). Anyways we call him and find out he has decided to get off the train at the next stop. Which would leave his stranded in Upper Egypt. This of course would be a horrible idea. Foreigners aren’t typically welcome in Upper Egypt outside of a few select areas. There have been cases were foreigners have been kidnapped… stupid stupid idea.
Anyways Ruben and Rachel went after him and argued with him for a half hour. They came back and sent me in to try a different angle. I just tried to calm him down and get him to come back. Eventually he saw that there was no point in getting off early. He couldn’t get a ticket either way and might as well wait till we got to Luxor.
Feeling we had accomplished a small victory we returned to our seats and tried to sleep for an hour or two before Luxor. The next thing I remembered is being awoken by an Australian guy telling us our friend had gotten off the train. Great… just great. We spent the last hour on the train trying to reach Jeff and figure out what was going on.
Eventually we got him to buy a ticket and agree to meet us in Luxor.
We arrived at Luxor and the eight of us got off and found our guide waiting. He led us to a minibus which we piled into. From there we thought we were going to our cruise to drop off our bags and grab breakfast….. ya we were wrong. From the train station we were going straight to the Valley of the Kings. No rest for the weary I guess.
I was in and out of my nap on the way to the Valley of the Kings. We arrived, paid our fees, and went on in. We couldn’t bring camera’s in, and most of the valley is closed to tourists. However, we still got to see many of the sites where the Upper Kingdom Kings were buried. We got to enter three tombs and examine the hieroglyphics and paintings. It was amazing to see the intricacy in carvings etc. Just imagine being the one carving and making a mistake…. Ooops I ruined this entire wall.
From the Valley of the Kings we were taken to a local granite carving shop. The owner introduced us to the many rocks and materials used Upper Egyptian carvings. We went through the process of carving from the quarry to finished product. He then showed us into his show room. The show room definitely was filled with fakes. Kinda disappointing after he showed us the legit way.
From there went to the Temple of Hatshepsut. They did many of the funeral ceremonies and mummification rituals here. It is a well preserved and intricate temple. Even from far away its size and intricacy is apparent and awe inspiring. To get to the temple one must climb two long flights of stairs that make it appear gigantic. Well worth seeing.
Filled with people trying to hawk their goods, but if you looked past them you could appreciate the history and majesty for what it was.
Afterwards we to the boat to drop our stuff. We arrived a bit before 1 PM. The ship wouldn’t let us board until one, so we waited for a fifteen minutes and then walked on. We filled out our paperwork and were assigned our cabins. Ruben and I decided we were going to room together. We moved in our bags and claimed beds.
Showers were the next item on our agenda. I went first and Ruben followed. It is surprising how good a new pair of clothes can feel despite the lack of sleep.. felt like a new man. At one we were called for lunch... the sharks began to swarm.
Ruben and I went up and grabbed two plates of lunch buffet and a plate of dessert. Lunch was chicken shish tawook and lasagna and salad… so good. After lunch we broke into small groups and relaxed.
Ruben, Jessie, and I walked to the local store and picked up water and coke for the group (food was included but drinks weren’t). We then headed back and decided to play some cards. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing various card games while drinking coke with a splash of rum.
Dinner was served at 7:30. Unfortunately it wasn’t turkey, stuffing, and gravy.. Oh well. There was roast beef, fish, potatoes, salad… a large assortment of food. None of it was particularly stellar, but they made up for quality with quantity.
After dinner we decided to head into the city of Luxor and check out the town. We caught a cab who drove from our boat to downtown. From downtown we found a nice café, drank tea, and played backgammon. One of the girls in our group was able to get an internet connection on her IPod so we all took turns calling home using skype on her iPod.
After awhile we all split off into small groups to explore the surrounding area. Ruben and I checked out the souk and chatted with some Egyptians. At 11:30 we all met up again near the café to catch a cab back.
Once back to the boat we all crashed from exhaustion.
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