Christmas Break Part 4: Luxor

I will start off by saying that Luxor was probably one of the most amazing places to see, but one of the worst places to be. The locals that I came in contact weren't very good people. The hassling that we had to deal with was ridiculous. Everywhere I walked there was some "Harami" (thief) trying to rip you off. They throw out sales pitches like, "any T-shirt you like in my store 10 pounds" you go in and you pick one that you like and they say, "Oh that one... It's 30 pounds." WHAT!?!?! Does that make sense to you, ANY shirt for 10 pounds and then they change 30! Anyways, on and on it would go from "Felucca Captains" trying to sell an amazing ride on the Nile, to young teenage boys trying to sell you hashish because as we all know EVERY American is a stoner and wants to buy hashish! That brings up a really funny story, though.

We got off of our mini-bus coming from Edfu and there was a guy waiting for us to convince us to go to his hotel. We politely said no and kept moving. He kept following us dropping his price lower and offerring nice perks like free breakfast, cheap laundry, hot water, etc. until finally he got really desperate. I kept chatting with him as we walked and he said, "Ok, all of you stop, please listen to me! I will give you a free night in my best room AND a free JOINT each!" At first I figured I'd heard him wrong and then he said, "My best hashish!" All of us just started laughing, I mean honestly, who says that?! We just kept walking, ESPECIALLY after that because anyone who is messing around with hashish is messing with their life in Egypt. The penalty is supposedly hard time in prison and definitely not something to be tampered with. The reality is that it is probably whatever it would cost you to pay off the appropriate policeman, but I'm really not sure.

Luxor was really, lets say, GRAND. There were some amazing things to see. Here's what we did on our way to Luxor and in Luxor:

- First, we went to Karnak Temple. If I was going to describe Karnak in one word it would "HUGE"!!!!!! We spent all day at the one temple because there was so much to see. The famous ancient pharoahs each made there mark on Karnak by building a temple, collonade of statues, an obelisk, or a series of architectural masterpieces. I got to climb to one of the top of one of the pylons via scaffolding and it was a great view over the whole place. Karnak has a different feel from above.

- Next, while we were at Karnak, we met three French girls who were students in Syria to learn Arabic. At first they seemed pretty standoffish, but we ran into them later and went to get tickets together at the train station. We ended up going to coffee together with the Egyptian guy who bought the tickets for us and then riding with them on the train, but that's another whole story on its own.

-Next, went to Valley of the Kings. We saw a lot in one day. We went to the tombs of Thutmosis III, Amenhotep II, Ramses V/VI, and Seti II. Once we were done seeing these tombs, we hiked over to the other side and went to the Temple of Hatshepsut. The Temple of Hatshepsut was really remarkable and had a really tranquil magnificence to it.

-Next, in the same day as the Valley of the Kings, we went to the Temple of Seti I and Medinat Habu. The Temple of Seti I was a pretty memorable experience for me since one of the "guide/guards" took me to the top of it and I walked around. I got some pretty fun pictures on the top with me dangling my feet over the edge of the 80 or 90 feet high entrance. It was an experience I won't forget. Maybe it was just the adventure of climbing to the top of a 3000 year old monument, or the view, but whatever the case it was memorable all of the same and is probably an experience that I won't be able to repeat.

-Finally, we had some really intense bartering experiences. For instane, I met this British woman that was a shop owner and who was probably in her mid 40's. The wierd thing was that her husband was the 18 or 19 year old who owned the shirt shop. I didn't buy it at first and I still kind of don't, but once she was around the shirt guy was really aggressive with me.

I was sick of trying to negotiate a price for the shirt and eventually decided to leave. The kid got in my way and blocked the door. I said, "I'm going now," and he said, "No, stay." I said, "No, really, I'm done." Then his friend got in my way, too and I was just like "Oh wow, the two young guys are going to try and prove there manliness to their petophile girlfriend." I pushed my way by and the kid grabbed my arm on the way out and said, "Oh, you think you're a strong American" I said, "No, no Egyptians are definitely too strong." Then I tried to walk away but the kid grasped hold. I looked at him and had a brief moment of pity as he was trying to display his masculinity to his "wife" and then threw his arm off and kept walking.

I don't know why, but out of all my showdowns with shop owners this one was the wierdest. The kid was really aggressive! I'm pretty sure he wanted to fight me and there was just something really odd about him. I can't place it, but I'm guessing there was some seriously twisted junk going on with his "wife".

In conclusion, Luxor was another great experience and I really enjoyed it, even with the psycho shop owners and crazy tourist thiefs.