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Around Luxor : Egypt : Trip Report
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Getting to Luxor

Getting to Luxor was a trip in itself. To avoid having to lug our dive gear around for several days we arranged to have it transported to Cairo. We then had a small bus to transport us to Luxor. First we drove up the coast to an industrial city called Port Safaga, about 20km south of Hurghada. There we went to a large parking lot facility to wait for a convoy through the mountains and desert to Luxor. Unfortunately they had a small coffee shop there with vendors selling various trinkets outside. Lily couldn't pass up any opportunity to shop.

In Egypt tourists are not allowed to travel between major cities without security and the convoy provides that security for however many buses need it. At the departure time all the buses hit the road in a line with heavily armed security at the front and back of the convoy. Along the way are also checkpoints, I guess to make sure all tourists are traveling in the convoy.

The most interesting part of the convoy experience was once we got to the suburbs of Luxor we found that all cross traffic was stopped with yet more police officers at every corner. Only once we were inside Luxor did security pull over and the buses proceeded to their individual destinations. We didn't get to see much of the desert along the way since we were traveling at night.

Once in Luxor we were dropped off at the Winter Palace Hotel. It's a nice old hotel if you like fancy old historical hotels. The best part is that it's right across from the Nile and just a short walk to the Luxor Temple. If you've seen Agatha's Christie's Murder on the Nile then you've seen scenes shot in this hotel. Out back are also some very nice gardens.

There are two large temples in Luxor since this was for centuries the Egyptian capital city of Thebes. Across the river you can also find the burial places for many Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.
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Arriving at the Winter Palace Hotel at night.
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Decent rooms.
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The snazzy lobby.
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Very tall ceilings and wide hallways.
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Cool sitting room.
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Nice art.
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Sheila lounges in the Library.
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Back of the hotel from the garden.
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Nice pool.
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Tall Palm trees.
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Checking out the Shisha area.
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Is that some sort of Woodpecker?
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A Cactus? I haven't seen anything like this in the desert.
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Hotel during the day.
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Hot air balloons over Luxor.
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Melanie scores some Falafel sandwiches.
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Michelle and Sheila score booze at the only liquor store in town.
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Outside of town donkey carts far outnumber cars.
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Next: Visiting the Valley of the Kings.
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