Pictures from Luxor

On tuesday night (12th of may), when I came back from Saqqara I took my luggage from the hotel and I went to Giza railway station. I arrived two hours before the leaving time, and I'm so happy for that because I spent one of my best time in this station.

It was the only place where I've met people (I mean locals) who wasn't looking for my money, people who have learnt English only to have the opportunity to cheat the tourists... Egypt (well, in the tourist places) is plenty of these kind of guys.

I spent more than two hours "speaking" to Abdala, and all the people that joined us along this time... He didn't speak Englis at all... Any of their spoke English... I don't know Arabic... We know what we were talking about, and we really enjoined the time we were waiting our trains... If you scape from the daily touristical routine, and you move closer to the people from Cairo you'll meet wonderful people.

Well.... so I catch the "sleeping train" (a train designed for tourists - 60$)... and I arrived at Luxor at 7:00 a.m.. I looked for a cheap Hostel where I could left my luggage, in order to start exploring the city a.s.a.p.. I got a room in Saint Mina Hotel (around 5 euros per night) just next to the railway station.

I visited the Karnak temple complex... Awesome!!

And the Luxor Temple... Great too.

On thursday, I wanted to have a normal English conversation of which ending wasn't "give me a tip". So I joined in a guided tour around the Occidental side of Luxor. For those who don't know all the ancient monuments that you can find in Egypt are placed according to the word "life". The life places, cities, etc. where the sun rise, on the oriental side. The Pyramids, tombs, etc. where the sun set, on the occidental side.

I visited The Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Bahri, and Deir el-Madinah...

It was a really hot day (around 40 degrees)... I paid a half day in the hotel (3 euros) to have a place to rest and have a shower before going to the railway station to go back to Cairo on the "sleeping train". The leaving hour was 21:20... I arrived to the station at 20:40... the train arrived at 23:30...

On the train I met an Australian guy (from Perth) who is working in London, John. But he didn't come alone... For those who have been following the blog "2 Months Jumping", you could try to guess it... YES, you get it!! Just when we were having dinner John shouted, "A mouse!!"... And it was true!! The mouse had come from Australia to meet me again, but he was smaller and darker, it should be because of the sun and the lack of food here... I dind't see him again... but I'm sure that he will turn up soon.

John was looking for a place to spend the friday night in Cairo, so we decided to go together. We rent a double room in Hotel Luna. I think that is a really good place to spent your time in Cairo not only because of the location (is just in the center), but also because of the price (8 euros/night/person).

One last advise... If you are looking for a good nightlife (pubs, clubs, discos,...) avoid Cairo. Go to Thailand... or to Spain!!