After getting our money back from the shady bus-ticket salesman, the rest of the day went great. We rode through the crazy traffic one last time (no lanes, no crosswalks, no stop lights, with random buses stopping wherever, mule wagons, horse carriages, bikes, motorbikes, cars, trucks, vans, etc. turning, diving, weaving, and dodging) before hitting the tourist road on the Nile to Karnak. We kept riding past Karnak, where Luxor showed its poor side again as the city transformed into unfinished buildings, rural checkpoints, dirty strips of stores, and fields of wheat and grass in the shadows of palm trees.
On the way there, we had a bike race with a kid and a friend on their shared bike. They seemed distressed that Laura beat us all (I’m used to her bad-ass biking), but smiled the whole race. Out in the rural concentrations, children ran along with our bikes, yelling “Hello!” and “Welcome to Luxor!” They didn’t grab us this time. I heard birds chirping, donkeys beying, and watched the wind blow shifting patterns in the fields, and felt good to be on a bike in the countryside.
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A nice photo off of the felucca (sailboat) Laura and I sailed on in Luxor. We went to “Banana Island” (not an island; but a tourist myth), paid off the “mayor” so we could tour the banana fields, had some bananas as our captain smoked sheesha, and then sailed back to the “port” (a docking area in front of a huge construction site). Once docked, we met all the children apprentices, a shifty guy named Hassan “Joker,” smoked real Egyptian sheesha (raw honey tobacco that gave us a buzz), ate kushary, looked at photos from trips past, and left the boat without the captain even asking us to tip him! Great experience.
Laura and I rented bikes for two days while in Luxor. Great way to get around, get off the tourists roads, and avoid most of the touting. The nice Asian man who took this photo joked that he wanted backsheesh for it. We looked at him puzzled and he laughed, replying “No backsheesh! My pleasure!” This was shot outside of the huge Karnak Temple complex north of Luxor.
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Friday, Laura and I rented bikes to run errands and visit Karnak 5 km north of Luxor. Our first stop was at the train station; we inquired at the tourist office about buying bus tickets to Dahab. Playing with his son, the nice man told us that the bus office was around the corner from the train station. So we walked the bikes over to a junky office, and, while standing outside a bit confused at the appearance, two men waved us inside.
As we entered, the man behind the desk rudely spoke to two Asian backpackers who where trying to see if they could store their bags there and return when they had to catch the bus. He offered them a price, they called him a thief, and he told them loudly to leave. He looked at us with all smiles and asked what we needed.
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Something changed during the last day in Cairo. After putting on the tough skin yesterday, and melting down the day before, the lotus flowers of Egyptian hospitality opened up a bit. I can’t quite grasp the reason why the nice Cairenes started showing up all at once, but I was finally glad that I got to be myself and share small moments with nice strangers.
Yesterday the cracks of a smile began to appear on the faces of the people we met, and today, Laura and I had many chances to smile, joke with, and generally say thank you to the generous bits of help we received.
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The overnight train from Cairo dropped us in to early morning darkness at Luxor. We got to our hotel a bit early, so had karkady on the roof top’s eating area, and caught the tourist balloons taking off. Though a one-party-ruled country, Egyptians love their satellite TV!
Still tired from the “sort of” sleep on the train, Laura and I checked in and decided to walk over to the Luxor Temple before the busloads of tourists arrived. We mostly beat the crowds, and enjoyed a self-guided tour of the complex (complete with mosque) of this ancient ruin. Caught this photo walking in through the First Pylon of Ramses II.
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Didn’t cross many streets today but spent most of the day near the souq and the el Hussein mosque with Saadia and her brother and sister. After doing a bit of shopping, getting great prices thanks to Saadia, we spent three hours at a cafe right across from the mosque. We spent the time eating chicken, smoking sheesha, and talking more about Sudan, the Middle East, and humanity’s urge to conquer and control. At one point, a woman stopped to henna a nearby woman, and Saadia noticed the Sudanese henna style. She asked the woman to come over to our table and decorate Laura’s hand. It was beautiful.
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