The stretched 12 hours

That's what I promised when I signed off my last Egypt entry. About a week ago! I was in Luxor at that point, well in terms of writing, at least. Now I am back from Indiana, the fertile American equivalent of the vast expanses of Rajasthan. I am sure I can come up with a better comparison, but just can't think of it now :(

So, back to Luxor. Early the next day we set off for the famed Valley of Kings, Queens and (the not so fortunate) Artists. The complex, like all other things Egyptian that we had seen till then, was huge. While the Valley(s) of Kings and Queens respectively, included towering monuments and artefacts, the Valley of the Artists was much closer to the ground. Almost like burrows built above ground, I remember thinking. Even though it was the end of December, the morning sun was strong over the Valley(s). The perfect time to visit Pharaoh land for sure! After visiting the restored Queen Hatshepshut's temple, we headed back to the hotel.

A little later and Luxor was ready with it's trademark balmy evening. There's something about this place--it just beats every single quaint European city! So, out we went to dinner at a musical restaurant (yeah, that's what it was!). And of all things, they had belly dancing music and an open dance floor. You bet I tried and discovered I am no good at that particular art form ;) But it was good fun and then we had to call it a day.

More tomorrow for sure.

Back to the Nile

As soon as we step into the cruise ship, the first thing that we see is a Christmas tree! Well it was a couple of days after Christmas, true, but a tree on a boat (important to remember here, my first time on a cruise ship so I definitely wasn't used to the good life ;)

Freshen up, lunch and off we go. To the Karnak temple this time, a huge complex of ancient temples built by the Pharaohs. As Wikipedia correctly points out, only of the sections, the temples of Amun-re was open to visitors at that time. Walking through it though, you would not feel as if you were missing out anything by not seeing the other sections. The place was simply huge...everything was built to gigantic proportions and we kept feeling our own tiny stature. I think we still have a picture with an Egyptian army man against a backdrop of huge pillars, where we look like denizens of Lilliput land.

Citing extreme tiredness (I forgot to mention that our trip to Egypt had entailed three flight cancellations in three different countries and a resulting delay of a couple of days), we headed back to the boat, snatched a few winks and were out again. And as the sun set, Luxor lit up. We went back to catch a glimpse of the Luxor temple in the setting sun--it was fabulous--the night lights seemed to have added to the natural aura of the complex. A tonga (horse carriage) ride in true tourist style, Egyptian coffee in the Nile market, and the day came to an end. Though we still had some precious time left in magical Luxor and yes, adventures. In less than 12 hours!

Wandered too far

Today, I realized that travel's not really been the topic for the last couple of posts. But since I am th sole reader at the moment, I pardon this straying away. And tell myself that wandering from the path is the essence of true adventure. And isn't adventure at the heart of travel, after all :)

Well, I feel like going back to Luxor today--my ideal romantic place. Where you walk by the Nile and fall in love, with the easy river and the the town itself, a unique mix of European quaintness (is that a word?) and the chaos of Asia. And of course, Egyptian guys, who chase all 'foreign' girls ;) It's been ages since we went there, more than five years to be precise.

Our first trip out of India as a family and we end up in the land that played host to one of the world's oldest civilizations. No tour organizer Eurotrip for us--my off the beaten track parents believe in things that are far more exciting. Like walking down narrow ramps into the belly of a pyramid or wandering around Cairo in the middle of the night :) If only I was half as adventurous as they are!

Anyway, I still remember landing at Cairo airport, and finding our much mutilated bags after a long wait. Of course the next step was to avoid the rushing porters(?) who wanted to push our trolleys for us. (C'mon, we are from India, we know better!). And rushing into our waiting Minivan--one of the few times in my life when I felt like a VIP although which VIP would step into a minivan...

And then the chaos of Cairo! Coming up tomorrow...that is, later today.