Song Long and Hello

After about 31 hours of traveling, we are in Egypt! Layovers in Bangkok and Kuwait afforded plenty of people watching, especially as many Egyptian men gathered at our gate, buying duty-free tang and mars bars for their family. From the window flickered the lit coast of China, the Persian gulf, dusty hills and patches of farmland in Iran, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia and oil tankers off the coast, the Red Sea and finally Egypt’s dry rugged landscape and the green band of the Nile Valley.
We landed in Luxor at 11:30, and after a fight to procure a luggage cart, met our host outside. A cab ride to the hostel included views of Luxor temple, the Luxor museum and mummification museum, feluccas along the river, and many side streets and alleys of Luxor.
After settling into our hostel room, Josh and I went wandering for lunch/dinner. We had had four airline meals before this, and although the filafal in the last flight was tasty, we were looking for something with a little more sustenance. Trying to balance between stern and polite, we walked through a market of venders, touting their goods. Putting a scarf on my shoulder and refusing to take it back is not the way to get my money. We actually want to go shopping, and probably would buy a lot of things, but the constant assurance of a fair deal turns off our desire to look for one. We bought a couple of paintings on “papyrus” that is probably banana leaf. They are beautiful, so I guess we’re not too concerned about their authenticity.
After our meal, we went out on a felucca for sunset. Leaving at 5, Josh and I, a German guy staying at the hostel, our boatman (17 years old) and his helper (10) spent three hours up and down the Nile. The birds are incredible, and the flocks of egrets exactly how I imagined them. We got off at banana island to rest and explore. I’m assuming the island is named for the banana farm we walked though. Our captain has us smell the different fruit tree leaves, identifying mango, guava, mandarin, orange, and fig. I was fortunate to see a Hoopoe (also found on Kinmen, Taiwan) and get an excellent picture. After a snack of bananas, we got back on the felucca and sailed for several hours, watching to sunset and enjoying the fresh air and water.