Day 19: Luxor

I spent my last night in Dahab and woke up early to start my trip to Luxor. I did not do much Monday, it was mainly spent traveling. The ride to the airport was okay; the mountains were beautiful, but the fields COVERED in trash were disgusting. There is trash everywhere.

When I arrived in Luxor, I went straight to the Luxor Temple. From this temple runs Sphinx Row, which runs all the way through Luxor to another temple, can't think of the name right now. Luxor Temple was pretty cool. Each location I visit I see something that is older than the last. The Temple was crowded with tourists, it was like someone had stomped on a massive ant pile. While I was taking pictures, some Egyptian man asked me to take his photo, great opportunity, so I did. Afterwards he asked me for money, I'm not that gullible of a tourist, I have been heckled before.

When I was done with the Temple, it was already nightfall. I went back to my hostel and then walked around outside for a while. The whole area around my hostel is a huge local market, so It was a great experience. I started talking to one of the locals who spoke a little English. He has a good friend who is from and live in London. He wanted me to help him write his friend a congratulatory letter for on his new son. While helping him, I got to know more of his friends who spoke English. One thing led to another, and we all ended up hanging out in the city that night. The showed me around the market and told me some places to avoid and what to do when you are getting heckled. We sat down and smoked Shisha (American Hooka) and drank tea. They would not let me pay for anything, it was Egyptian hospitality. Afterwards, we (four of us) hopped on his motorcycle and took a short drive to Sphinx Row. My first thought was not to do this, I can't really describe it but there was something about the kindness of these people that made me feel comfortable around them. we hung out by the Row and talked about their lives in Egypt and how their jobs have been geared around tourism their whole life. After all, I am traveling to learn, not only about the country, but of the culture. Sure I could have just stayed in last night, written this journal entry, and gone to bed, but where's the fun in that? Even thou their English was poor, it was still an experience of a lifetime.

I ended up heading back to the hostel around 10:30pm, they dropped me off on the motorcycle (pretty exhilarating ride!), and I wanted to get some good sleep because I had to wake up at 4:00am for a hot air balloon tour of the West Bank. I didn't really get much sleep, because there was a wedding going on right outside the hostel that was still going on when I woke up. I won't spoil you with any details of the tour. You will have to wait until the next entry.

Until next time.