Tomb Raider

Luxor, Egypt

Well, first let me say that the Pharoah has finished with his revenge. For now. Let's hope it stays that way.

I should briefly mention the hike up Mt. Sinai from a few days ago. We hired a taxi from our hotel (for 500 egyptian pounds or about 87 bucks) and he left around 10:30 pm. Three hours later we arrived at the base of the mountain and began the ascent. It was pretty touristy...lots of big groups and people riding camels to the top. But it was neat because tours have to be led by local beduoin guides. Interesting culture there, that honestly I know very little about. But I'll have some pictures of them.

The hike was fairly easy, although we all totally underestimated how cold it would be. By the time we got to the top at 4:30 a.m. it was sooooo cold and a bitter wind came in from the west. We hired a blanket and mattress to use at the summit, and then we huddled with the masses to wait for the sun to rise. I was really hungry and luckily sweet talked a few Aussie girls into giving me a few biscuits. They had lugged 5 kilos of food to the top for a picnic and I think were happy to share.

Sunrise was nice -- and worth the cold hike in my opinion -- and I'll put up some pics soon.

On the way out of town, we stopped at St. Catherine's monastry at the base of the mountain. The monastry is old...dating back from 1500 years ago.

We hopped on a plane early yesterday morning and arrived in Luxor seemingly a few minutes later. Luxor is a pretty small town, and the economy seems to be completely dependent on tourism. So many people hawking this and that -- from cheap souvenirs to carriage rides to restaurants. Yesterday we visited a mummy museum and took a faluca to "banana island" up the Nile River.

Today was definitely a highlight, as we visited the Valley of the Kings and saw several of the tombs that the old pharoahs were buried in over 3000 years ago. It was amazing to see how ornate the artwork/design is, and also awesome that the tombs have lasted so long. I felt like Indiana Jones -- or at least was reminded of the film. Very interesting, but unfortunately couldn't take any pictures due to restrictions.

This will probably be the last post for a few days, as I take a night train tonight to Cairo, then fly out tomorrow evening for London. Then I catch a flight to Atlanta for Megin and Dean's wedding, and then on to BR on Sunday.