I am now writing the next two posts in between flights back to Australia and at the moment I am sitting in Egyptair Business lounge waiting for our flight back to Rome. From Rome we travel with Emirates to Dubai where we have a few hours before we connect to Brisbane and then on to Cairns. I think we will be in transit for 30 something hours, however I am trying hard to not think about it.
So.....Luxor.
Luxor was like a breath of fresh air (literally) after Cairo. As we flew in we could see the mighty river Nile and irrigation channels running east-west, north-south, crisscrossing the lush green countryside. The Nile is now under control with the Great Dam being built some time ago. Before that the Nile flooded vast areas of Egypt, hence the fertile soil. The dam according to some Egyptians is a blessing and to others it is not. It depends whether you are a city dweller or a country dweller.
Across the road from our hotel many, many Nile River Cruise ships lay anchored. It is coming into their quiet time now as the temperatures soar to 50 degrees Celsius in the summer months that lay ahead. Nobody wants to be here in the summer months!
Luxor city has a population of around 400,000 but does not seem like a crowded city. It is so incredibly clean with not a piece of rubbish anywhere to be seen and you can tell the residents of this lovely city are very proud of it. When we were travelling to our tour destinations we passed many farms where the farmers were very busy harvesting the wheat before Ramadan commences on the 5th May and finishes on the 4th of June. During this time Moslem's do not eat or drink anything between 3.30am and 6.30pm so it is best not to work in the soaring heat as they cannot consume water to quench their thirst.
As I have mentioned in the previous post we are staying at the magnificent Winter Palace built for King Farouk. It is one of the most beautiful places we have ever stayed. As you walk through the wide corridors you can almost imagine yourself to be royal! There are lounge areas that are definately fit for a king and can we talk about the foyer (photo taken from the third floor). And what about the three sided elevator. I’ve only seen them in movies!
The gardens are magnificent and we had the pleasure of walking through them to have lunch poolside on one of the days that we stayed there.
The Winter Palace has such a wonderful history and most famously when the Englishman Howard Carter, announced to The World on the stairs of the Winter Palace that he had discovered King Tutunkanem’s tomb. What a find!
(I am now sitting in the magnificent Emirates Lounge at Rome International Airport after our flight from Cairo. I just commented to Philip that is by far and away the best airport lounge that we have ever been in and we almost have it to ourselves....)
Anyway, back to Luxor. Needless to say we loved Luxor and already we are talking about when we might return to perhaps do a Nile River Cruise.
Till my next post (probably from Dubai) sleep tight....
No comments:
Post a Comment