Day 16. Sun 28th September
Return to Luxor
For some reason we spend most of the night waiting to pass back through
the lock at Isma, which is actually quite nice as it means the ship is
stopped, so we have a night without the noise of the engines. However,
we are woken at dawn by the call to prayer booming out over a set of loudspeakers.
Our first real lie in. We are called at 8:30 for breakfast at 9. My
arm is still very sore, I hope it isn't a problem in the desert.
Ash finally beats me at backgammon, after which I play scrabble until
lunch (causing some controversy through the playing of the word "dactyls").
We arrive back in Luxor about 2 (the journey downstream is significantly
quicker than the upstream leg) and have the afternoon free. Oisìn,
Jo, Lisa and I go into town. They are all due at the jewellery shop to
pick up the items the ordered before we left. I go to the Old Arkhashom
Shop and, somewhat against my better judgement, splash out on a very beautiful
but very expensive silk rug. We're talking real money here, not Egyptian
prices, well into three figures GBP, and although I do manage to knock
him down a bit, I've never been very good at haggling. I suppose I assume
that because the shop is recommended by Explore, and because we are dealing
with something of real value rather than the usual tourist junk, that I
am not going to be ripped off. Unfortunately this turns out not to be the
case - when I get the rug valued on my return to England it turns out to
be worth less than half what I paid for it. Ah well, we learn from experience,
and it will still look very nice in the front room.
The Sheraton cafe is closed, so we meet up at the Metropolitan, a bit
further up the quayside, and have beer and coffee and chocolate eclairs.
When I get back to the Doma who do I find drinking coffee on deck but Nigel
and Anne. The felucca group have also made it back to Luxor, and have apparently
thoroughly enjoyed themselves despite their less luxurious living conditions,
and I am slightly jealous (the felussa option was, in fact, my forst choice,
but it was already full when I booked). It seems that Nigel and one of
the girls in our group, Sue, know each other as they both work for Christian
Aid. I unwrap my carpet to show them, and Nigel comes within a hair of
spilling beer on it, so I wrap it up again quick.
Both groups are booked into the Nile Valley Hotel for dinner. It is
a strange evening, a holiday reunion before the holiday is even over, but
very pleasant. We meet some of the others who joined at the beginning of
week two, although most of them are just doing the one week, so it is a
brief encounter. Two couples whom we don't know will be joining us for
the Desert Extension, but neither has come out to dinner.
We cross back over the river and go back to the Metropolitan for more
beers and chat, and then return to the Doma to give the felucca group a
guided tour and show them what they've been missing. It is a merry evening,
and I don't get to bed until after 1 - some of the others are apparently
up until 5.