From Aswan to Luxor

At the last minute, I decided to ride in a van to Luxor instead of the train. It was worth it because we stopped at Kom Ombo and Edfu Temples along the way. I met a grad student from Delaware, and five languages were spoken in the can at some point: Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and German. As soon as a woman sat down next to me she started throwing up into a bag. Lovely. As we passed a truck full of sugar can, one the men riding in the back handed a cane to the grad student as we passed it.

Once in Luxor, I took the ferry to the West bank for one Egyptian pound (LE). The East bank was very crowded and busy, so I was happy to stay on the opposite side. My camp was 3/4 mile down a dirt road along the bank of the river. It was quiet, out of town, 500 feet from the Nile, and had great character. The host was very kind and helped me in every way possible. After he gave me a great dinner, we smoked sheeshe (Egyptian tobacco from a water pipe). Then he invited me to go with him and a friend to watch belly dancing. It was in a smoky nightclub with live music and beer. I enjoyed the eperience because most tourists would not get to see this part of the culture. The host's friend even offered a prostitute and hasheesh, both of which I declined.