Friday 7th October

The alarm woke me at 4 a.m. prompt and I jumped out of bed to get ready, trying not to wake my poor hubby who was still in the land of nod!!  I gathered everything together, remembering to take a hat and scarf to protect my head and neck from the fierce heat of the burners.  I learned my lesson on my first flight after the chain of my necklace got so hot that it left me with a burn mark!!  I met Suzie and KV-Explorer on the front terrace at the hotel then it was off on the mini bus to be taken to the motor boat for the crossing over to the West bank.  It was very encouraging to see that there were a few boats doing the same crossing, so it looked like the flights were going to be busy.  The balloon pilot was with us in the boat and explained everything to us while we had our breakfast which consisted of coffee and cake.  It was a lovely clear morning as we saw dawn slowly break over the Nile as we crossed.

 We were then taken to the designated site where all the balloons take off where there was a definite air of excitement.  We watched as other balloons took off and floated into the air and then we watched our balloon being inflated

 

After the balloon was inflated, we all clambered aboard the basket for our flight.  We were one of either 10 or 11 balloons in the air that morning.  What a great sight it was!  All the flights appeared to be full, and certainly everyone in our balloon appeared to be having a great time.  I think there were approximately five people in each of the four compartments of the basket and the pilot took his time to show us the various sights below, and spun the balloon slowly round to make sure everyone had a good view.  The cameras were snapping ten to the dozen to capture the scene all around us!!  In fact, an elderly frail looking gentleman was helped into one of the baskets complete with his oxygen tank, so don't think having a disability of some sort would ever stop you from doing this sort of activity as they seem to bend over backwards to try and accommodate you.

It was so good to be able to see two of the places from the air that we were scheduled to visit the next day

Medinet Habu

Ramesseum

I lost track of time up there and have no idea how long we were in the air, although it must have been about an hour.  I could have stayed up there all day - and that's from someone who can't stand heights!!  I think I saw most of the views through the camera lens however, but I had a fantastic time and loved every minute of it.

Here are a few more photos (again though, there are loads more at http://community.webshots.com/user/marlscat )

Floating in the air

Donkeys in the field

One of the local ladies having a better look at us!

I think perhaps we might have woken her up!!

I took this to show the livestock, but actually took a shot of the toilet/shower room!!  Spot the soap and flannel on top of the wall!!

Local children running to meet us

Time to deflate the balloon

Getting the balloon deflated

Local farmers

We were soon back onto the mini buses to be taken to the motor boats to be ferried back to the East Bank - after giving tips to the ground grew of course!  We were discouraged however from giving any money or gifts to the children - who were really very persistent and a little more aggressive than I have ever seen before.

I spent the rest of the day sleeping and resting at the pool to re-charge my batteries for another highlight of the holiday - dinner at our friend El Shazley's house later that evening!!

We contacted a taxi driver that we had used before in Luxor - his name is 'Donny Osman' - what a character, but reliable and friendly and wow, has he slowed down a lot!!  He terrified us one time by driving up a one-way street the wrong way and he used to drive like a lunatic, but now he's calmed down and I think we had the slowest and most leisurely taxi ride that we've ever had in Luxor!!

On arrival at El Shazley's we were given a huge welcome as always and a feast to eat - the table was groaning under the weight

As always, the meal was delicious and we were all full to bursting!!  Family and friends all gathered around and many photos were taken before we headed off back to Luxor in the taxi with 'Donny'.  Here is a small selection of photos

The back yard

Family & friends

Family & friends

Alley from house to main street

The main street!  (the spots are dust particles caught by the camera flash)

The corner shop

So, after a busy day, it was back to the hotel for the nightly nightcap on the balcony before bed - another night where yet again I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!!!

Thursday 6th October

Oh boy, it's such a hard life!!!  I just had to relax by the pool again and partake of nice cool drinks and fruit kebabs!!

In case anyone is wondering, this is a can of soda water!

Actually, I have just realised that I never took any photos of the fruit kebabs, so I'll just have to have a repeat visit to get one!!  The staff come round with nice cool towels as well and I did manage to get a photo of that!!

Our idea with the rolls and buying fillings from the supermarket worked very well indeed, so we decided to carry that on till the end of the holiday!!

At 3 p.m. that afternoon, the ten of us all set off on a guided tour of Karnak Temple, but this was to be special, this was to see some locked-off areas that members of the public don't normally get to see!!  When we got there, were were guided into the Director's Office where we had a short talk and then we all set off on the dusty trail!!  I was very snap-happy with the camera and here are a few photos that I'd like to share with you.

The Roman Baths

Khonsu Temple

Khonsu Temple

Inside Pylon No. 9

Recent excavations that discovered these superbly carved blocks that had been used in building by Hatshepsut

Statue of Sekhmet

There are loads more photos which can be seen in my albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/marlscat    There are just too many photos to include here!!  I took over 1500 in total!!

The gardens of the Winter Palace at night are also quite spectacular and at certain times of the year, the smell of Jasmine is just heavenly. I was busy with the camera at night as well and took some experimental photos

The shallow pool and pool bar

Pool restaurant

Experimenting with the star filter

As I was getting ready for dinner, my mobile rang and it was Suzie to give me the time for the pick-up in the morning for my long awaited balloon flight.  As expected, it was a stupid-o-clock time - 4.45 a.m. pick up, which meant an ultra early rise!!  My hubby did laugh out loud at that because he wasn't going so therefore would be able just to curl up and go back to sleep as I left the room!!

We went to the Lantern tonight for dinner.  As ever, Debbie was an excellent hostess and we had a really nice dinner. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the bakers again to buy rolls for lunch.  I think they must have remembered us from the night before and reckoned we were 'locals' as the price dropped from 4LE for eight rolls, to 2LE for eight rolls!!

It was then back to the hotel for the usual nightcap.  I set out everything that I needed for the morning and remembered to set the alarm for 4 a.m. and sincerely hoped that I would not just go back to sleep when it rang!!

Wednesday 5th October

This was another lazy day at the pool.  When your surroundings are just so beautiful and tranquil, it's really hard to pull yourself away.  I always describe the pool area here as being like a little oasis in the middle of Luxor.  Even though there is basically traffic at all sides, you're really not that aware of it even although the drivers continually sound their horns all day and night!!  My time in the gardens was spent in and around the pool and experimenting with my new camera - this was its first real test and I went around taking some experimental photos.

Reflections

Gardens through the fisheye

Shisha corner through the fisheye

Today we tried lunch at Hamees, which is near to Sinbad's cafe where the cats are, so again if you don't like cats, then you won't like here!  Actually, we were not impressed by the food and, again, as seemed to be becoming normal, staff seemed to send out for ingredients before making up and serving the orders.  It's probably a bit hit and miss as to whether you get a good day or not, but at least everything was edible.

Before dinner tonight the ten of us all went out on a motor boat sail at sunset, which was really good.  I love being out on the Nile as it's so peaceful and relaxing and at least with a motor boat you don't need to rely on the wind to go out on the river.  These are just a few photos that I took

Tonight we walked along to Deans Bistro for dinner which we thoroughly enjoyed - that chap Dean certainly likes his music and the friend that we travelled with had a good conversation with him about what he was downloading as they both seemed to have the same interests.

As we walked back to the hotel that night we had an idea - as we passed by one of the two or three bakers shops, we decided that as we had been let down by the recent lunches, we would buy our own rolls and then go to the local supermarket for the fillings!  So, that's what we done.  It only cost us 4LE for eight yummy rolls!!!

Some of the goods on display at the bakers

If this worked out well, we decided that we'd just continue with this idea for the rest of the holiday!  With our purchases in hand we walked along to the Memphis cafe for our usual coffee then it was back to the hotel for nightcaps - can you tell that we are creatures of habit??

Tuesday 4th October

I was up bright and early this morning to go to the livestock market with Suzie and her mum and Mr and Mrs KV-explorer and, after breakfast, clambered aboard the mini bus to be taken there.  On arriving, it was an extremely busy place and very very dusty - there was just dust everywhere that was being kicked up by animals and traffic.

You've got to be aware that this is no organised animal market like in the UK - it looks like utter chaos, but I expect there is some sort or order somewhere!!  There are no livestock pens either, so you need to be very aware and keep your eyes open as these animals are only tethered by ropes to their owners and it would be very easy for one of them to get away.  Some are tied by the legs, but not all.  You need to be careful where you put your feet and where you stand - being at the back end of a cow is not a good idea!!  Apart from the livestock, you'll see men sitting at their stalls selling sticks and farming tools.

It seemed to cause a bit of amusement to the locals seeing us lot tramping about taking photos, but no-one said a bad word to us and we were left to carry on wandering around looking at everything - we were probably somewhat of an oddity to the locals!!


Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what goes on

Having a bit of a struggle keeping this one under control

This was one very noisy cow!

We almost swapped KV-explorer for some of these!!

This was the little calf that DIDN'T want to go to market.  It ran off and a chase ensured till it was captured!!

My tips for this trip would be to make sure you wear comfortable shoes - it's not a good idea to wear sandals here.  Take wet wipes with you and make sure you have cloths for wiping your camera!!

After a good look round here, we dusted ourselves down a little and headed to the Temple of Tod which is just a short run from the livestock market.

The Temple of Tod was smaller than I imagined and is situated in an enclosure just at the edge of a village where the village houses look down onto it.  It was really quite pretty and it was very enjoyable just walking around here with no hassle at all from any guardians.

Here are some photos

Washing day!!

This very pretty little girl and her mum seemed to be quite amused at the sight of some tourists wandering around

After we finished looking around here, we left to go back to the hotel for some relaxation at the pool then lunch at the cafe, but that's when our friend had a bit of a bad experience that put her off her lunch - the bag of crisps that had been used appeared to also have had some ants inside it!!  When we related the story to Bob62 later that day he reckoned they must have been 'Walkers' crisps!!

It didn't put us off from going back later to meet our friend who lives 'in the village of the Cobra' El Kobhy, but we just had drinks with him and arranged to visit him and his family on the Friday night.  Our visits to his home are always one of the highlights that I look forward to, and this year there was a new baby to meet. He now also has a new mode of transport, which he was very proud of

El Shazley with his motor bike

Tonight, my hubby and I and our friends met up with Suzie and her mum, Mr & Mrs KV-explorer and Mr & Mrs Bob62 at Puddleduck, which is a restaurant situated in the 'Little Britain' part of town. We all had a really super meal there and a few laughs.  The owner, Jill, allowed Suzie to play some Scottish music much to the disgust of our English friends!!  This was KV-explorer's reaction

Not impressed by the Scottish music!!

This is some of the delicious food on offer

Spring rolls & chilli sauce

Very yummy chicken shawarma wraps

We all then headed off for coffee to a nearby new shisha bar where, not surprisingly, Bob62 and KV-explorer sampled the shisha and the rest of us had coffee and soft drinks.

Gleaming shishas

After coffee, we headed back to the hotel for our usual nightcap then I think I was probably asleep before my head hit the pillow!!