Good Morning Luxor!

Eric and I look an overnight train down to Luxor. All the trains were sold out and we had to wait until 12 in the morning to board a train. The policy here in Egypt is that tourists have a separate type of train. It is usually the slightly faster train and also the one that usually costs twelve times more than local prices. The rule of thumb is that tourists are not allowed on local trains, although I would later find out that there are plenty of ways around that policy.





Egypt is kind of like the rut of the family. There is tons of hand me downs. From the old school 60/70’s style taxis, to the retired Finnish ferry I took from Jordan to Nuweba, and now even the trains are hand-me -downs. The fast trains are old French and German ones. We were able to get on an old Spanish train. The tourist police got us tickets and allowed us to take a non tourist first class train down to Luxor.



We get to Luxor in the morning. Matt from Montreal has joined us he was the third tourist that the Egyptian policed ripped off that night. We find a hostel near the train station and get a good price for a three bedroom. I wanted to save Valley of the Kings/Queens when we have a full day so I convince the guys to check out some of the walkable sights.
One of the temples that we visit Matt recognizes. He perfectly describes what’s around each corner as well as what each hallway leads to. Apparently this temple is fully recreated as a level in one of the tomb raider’s. It was pretty interesting to hear Matt talk about how this is part where you have to jump up grab that ledge, climb and jump over this other structure.



One of the temples that is just near the center of town has a night admission. The temple is lit up in incandescent lamps exaggerating all the carvings and hieroglyphics. It was a different mood at night and felt more authentic for some reason. The entire time I am in Egypt, I get this sense that I am in a theme park. Everything just seems so fake. Most of the ruins aren’t ruins at all. They are actually renovated landmarks, with fresh cement creating perfectly symmetric surfaces of walls, floors, columns and obelisks.