Next Stop: Luxor, Egypt

After three hours of musical chairs (thanks to the ticket fiasco from Aswan) we arrived in Luxor at 11 p.m. so we crashed and got ready for the next day. This included finding a cheaper hostel before finding the Luxor Temple. Neither was hard to do as Luxor is full of budget options and the incredibly, columned temple sits right in the middle of the town.

While in Aswan "baksheesh" rang in our ears; in Luxor it was all we could do to not be run down by carriage drivers trying to give us a lift. Persistent does not describe these guys. They would follow us almost to our destination before giving up. The only way to get rid of them? Yell "no" twice and then GOODBYE!

We managed to survive the onslaught and found our temple. Just a little FYI for everyone out there go travelling when you are a student. Tickets are half the price and these things add up. To get into the Luxor temple cost 40 Egyptian pounds or $8. Not too bad but then in Luxor all you're doing is visiting tombs and temples and the bill will rack up.

That's because Luxor is a town that also straddles the Nile river, but while on one side is the more developed area with both the Luxor temple and the Karnak Temple. The Western side is filled with tombs of the dead ancient Egyptians (Valley of the Kings being the most famous) and these will cost you for every single tomb you want to enter.

Our first venture into the history-saturated town was its namesake's temple, which was originally connected to a second temple (Karnak) by a three kilometre road lined with sphinxes. Rumour has it that the Mayor is trying to reconnect them. This temple celebrated fertility and was the centre of life for the Opet Festival in ancient times. The other name for it? "The southern harem".

This temple is a bit of a variety show with a church, a mosque and numerous different courts and shrines dedicated to various Pharaohs and it is an incredible centrepiece to this town with papyrus bloom-topped columns and Ramses II statues that line the entrance.

(Fun little fact. There were two obelisks in front of the temple one now stands at La Place de le Concorde in Paris.)

After wandering through this Nile-side temple we headed for the river to fill our bellies. Unfortunately, I have not found Egyptian food inspiring. Unlike Jordan which had spices to spare in their food and Turkey which infuses its dishes with vegetables, Egyptian cuisine with its bread bases and pasta dishes are less interesting. To be fair to Egypt, I cannot eat flour so I might not be the right segment to comment.

Our second day in Luxor consisted of a three kilometre walk to the Temple of Karnak (the largest ancient religious site in the world) dodging felucca captains, carriages and massive tourist buses. The largest because at least 30 Pharaohs added to this complex that consists of four precincts. Perhaps the most overwhelming part of the temple was the Hypostyle Hall of Amun-Re, a 50,000 sq ft hall filled with 134 columns arranged in 16 rows. One hundred and twenty two of these columns are ten meters tall, and the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of more than three meters. The tops of these columns weigh an estimated 70 tons and one can only wonder how this feat was done without our luxury of machines! Maybe more amazing the colour on these columns has lasted!!!! We have to paint our roofs every five years and here this paint has held on for thousands of years.

After almost five hours wandering through this complex and barely surviving the streaming sun I headed back to our hostel. While in Jordan I found men harmless with their catcalls, in Egypt they would follow me until I ducked into a store. I guess not the worse case scenario, but my wallet didn't like it.

When my travel buddy returned from Karnak we headed for free tea on the hostel roof top to watch the sunset. It was one of the most stunning I had seen. What with the call to prayer also echoing through the orange filled sky it was a comforting way to end the day.

Our third day here and it was time to head to the other side. Unlike Aswan there's no mafia here and instead it's quite an organised affair with fun double-decker ferry that look like upturned elf shoes. While we had a set price for the ferry we were entertained with stories of how we needed a car ride from the passenger in front of us. Of course he would give us a good price!

When we finally docked we headed for the bicycle rentals. For about a dollar we were on our way. Thank goodness that's all because each of the tombs will cost you a small fortune.

We were warned not to try and do everything in one day so we spent our first afternoon around the Valley of the Queens and the workmen's village Deir el-Medina.

Cycling on this side of the river is a fantastic way to see the countryside if not the hottest way as it's pure desert over here! My favourite tombs of the day were definitely the workmen's village. These men worked hard to ensure the Pharaohs had their deaths documented and they spared little for their own resting places. Vineyards, pictures of their families and everyday life litter the walls. The only problem and probably a good one for the maintenance of these incredible paintings is the tombs are stuffy and coupled with the heat it wasn't long before I was out of there.

After a day spent more underground than above, we decided to take in the sunset where else but on a Felucca! Of course we had to go with the boat, Rocket, and the kind owner who brought us to Banana Island with details of the birds and other wildlife that descend on the Nile along the way. Unfortunately the Island wasn't as rustic as we hoped. The crocodiles? One poor animal stuck in a well. The bananas? Served to you on a platter on prepared seats that they tried to charge us close to $10 for.

Luckily, the sunset made up for it and a salad at my favourite restaurant here capped off a great day.

The next morning it was an early start to head for the Valley of the Kings. Baking. Yes that's about all I can say of our bike ride. Pure desert provides zero natural protection and the only respites are the tombs (rabbit holes in the side of the cliffs) or the man-made terraces. Kinda wished I was a camel at this point.

Our ticket, which cost almost $15 would only allow us to see three tombs so we tried to pick the most interesting. This included one that had been booby-trapped to try and protect the treasures for the Pharaohs afterlife. Yes, and Tutankhamen's tomb is here, but it costs extra and to be honest in the heat and after seeing the other three, we just did not have the interest. Plus we still had a hike to complete!

Not happy with sweating to the Valley of the Kings we decided to hike out of the valley, over the hill (more mountain if you ask me) down to Deir el-Bahri. Glutton for punishment? Not me.

Approaching this columned, cliff-carved temple from above was worth the painful dehydration. Even if the descent of shale and broken stones threatened to throw us down the hill.

What is known as the Northern Monastery consists, like most temples it seems, of multiple pieces built at various times. The inner court is actually carved right into the mountain while the outer court with its columns impresses and humbles anyone approaching it. Because it took so long, however, to get over the mountain we didn't have very long here. We had to return to our bikes waiting by the Valley of the Kings to then see the Valley of the Nobles for which we had tickets (you can't extend these tickets and the tombs close at 5 p.m. It was 4 p.m. when we finished at the monastery).

A frantic mountain hike and bike ride later we made it to the Valley of the Nobles which is less touristed and consists of mayors and the like who served the Pharaohs. Each temple had its own guide to open the gate and show us around for an additional "baksheesh" but it was worth it. These were beautiful and had them to ourselves! Not another tourist in sight.

Unable to swallow at this point, though I didn't have much patience to wander, we hoped on our bikes and jetted for the first shop we could find. A gallon of water and a chocolate bar finally revived us while a local boy entertained us with his few English words and our attempt at Arabic. So cute! Think he actually ended up eating more of the chocolate bar than us!

After a day in the desert I was exhausted and it was all I could do to eat dinner and crash into bed, but we had train tickets to buy and I was going to be damned if I left the train station without one to Cairo. Ha ha ha!

Four hours later, visits to the tourist police and station manager and we left ticketless. The next day we were finally allowed to buy a ticket to Cairo in an overnight train. Of course it was only in the first class car and it was double the price quoted in our guidebook, but at least we were leaving the South.

After a day of relaxing we were running late for the train. While my travel buddy grabbed a pizza at a fast food joint I grabbed a salad (being a coeliac this was about all I could get) from the same place. Little did I know how this would come back to haunt me.

Next stop: A bathroom in Cairo.