Nightswimming..
Trip Start
Jun 06, 2009
1
44
Trip End
Ongoing
Luxor, Nile River Valley, Egypt
Friday, October 23, 2009
With every mile that went by, nature would give us a hint that the Nile was growing ever nearer. On the horizon whispers of green flickered in the harsh sunlight, shrubs dropped their brown parched twigs in favour of fresh new leaves and flashes of crimson warmed the eyes as the bougainvillea showed it's true colours.
The city of Luxor stands on the east bank of the River Nile. Bordering the river a tree lined boulevard provides a n ideal place for a morning or evening stroll. On the water await herds of luxury, Nile cruise ships, their gangplanks busy with ferreting staff loading new provisions for the evenings journey. Smaller, motorised boats drift from east to west ferrying families and workers from their homes on the west to their places of work in the busy markets and hotels of the east bank, home to the tourist. Overhead the bright green trees burst forth with explosions of purple, pink and scarlet flowers, while tradiational horse and cart wait in their shade for the next available tourist fare.
As well as a feast for our Desert weary eyes, Luxor also meant a feast for our stomachs as 22 dishevelled souls filed in through the doors of McDonalds. For many, if not most, describing McDonalds as a feast is nothing short or sacrilege, but this one came with a view no other has, the 3000 year old, Luxor Temple.
We were staying in the City for 4 nights and were given the option to upgrade our tents for ensuite rooms. All but the most hardy took up the offer and paid the few pounds extra for the pleasure of a bed and private bathroom. Which, given the hangovers that were to follow over the next few days, was a gift straight from the hands of the Egyptain Gods.
Irish Bars, there's one in every town, and that by no means excludes nearly all of Africa! Murphy's bar in Luxor was to be our first. Within 20 minutes we'd managed to drown out all others by commencing a round the table, homemade karaoke party. Who needs a microphone when you have empty beer bottles and a dozen drunk truckers. Another what was to be our first but was definitely not to be our last, drunken ritual occured that night, midnight swimming. Now the great thing about midnight swimming is that, unlike the name suggests, it can be done at any time after dark, requires only underwear and a body of water large enough for at least 6. By 3am the post bar revellers had dwindled to a mere 4, and by 4am all but the everlasting ex-marine Gaz Green were tucked up in their beds.
I feel no need to write anything about the following day, as the alcohol induced coma prevented me from remembering all but the sickness, which I'm sure neither of us wants me to recall.
Enough of party time, it was now back to the Egyptians and their history. An early start was in order for a trip to the Valley of The Kings. The dawn sun cast it's glow across the water and the Nile transformed into a ribbon of gold. On the other side a dozen donkeys waited patiently to take us onwards towards the Valley floor. We rode past fields of sugar cane, through the west bank outskirts and onto the main road towards the Valley, where the donkeys would rest as we explored further into the ancient tombs. From above the Valley looked like a tidy quarry, a little dissapointing when you're expecting something spectacular to match the infamous name tag. But the real treasure here is underground. I cannot even begin to touch on the history of Egypt, it's people and it's Kings so I'm not about to try. This site where even now they are unveiling new and undiscovered burial tombs contains 63 rock cut chambers, each one hand painted in outstanding and exceptionally preserved hierogliphics and scenes from Egyptian mythology.
Oh hell, that's enough of history for the day, lets get back to the fun stuff. Genesis Karaoke bar was to be the venue for this evenings frivolities. A place that is home to an ostrich, a great dane the size of an ostrich, a horse and a camel all tucked up in the backyard. And, oh yeah almost fogot this one, an indoor swimming pool. Yes, it was Nightswimming the 2nd.
The following morning came and went, the afternoon I'm sure must have made an appearance and the evening dropped in to say hi sometime around 8. I was beginning to wonder if my body could take a further 4 months of binge drinking, midnight swimming and stodgy hangover food. Ah well, there's always Sudan, and unless you're partial to 100 lashes, you can't drink there. But first there was Aswan, and the Nile feluccas and another swimming pool.....
