The Redrum Hotel

A very uneventful day today. We had a swim in the morning, enjoying the refreshing water and Nile views for the last time, then packed up and headed for the bus station. We arrived around 11:30, hoping to catch the next bus north to Luxor. Well, there was a problem with the 12:30 bus and we found out it wouldn't be going, so the next bus was leaving at 3:30. Rather than deal with taxis back to town to do nothing, we sat at the bus station for a few hours and did nothing. We played some cards, had some lunch, and sweated in the heat. Nige had a good time chatting to a cute young boy, at least until he asked for baksheesh (a tip), which ruined it for him. Kids come up to us all the time and ask for baksheesh. They don't seem to realise that they're actually begging since they have done nothing to deserve baksheesh. It's pretty annoying.

It took about 5 hours to reach Luxor. We were dropped of on the side of the highway, caught a taxi to town, and found a hotel. We really wanted one with a pool, so we spent a bit extra to stay at the Luxor Hotel. The young desk clerk was a punk and Nigel took a quick dislike to him. Since it's not very busy right now in Egypt, many hotels are doing updates and modifications. I think we were the only people staying at this huge hotel. It was a bit creepy with abandoned hallways and echoing rooms. Just like the hotel in 'The Shining.' We had dropped our bags in the room (which was fine, and had a huge terrace overlooking the Luxor Temple) and headed out for some dinner. Luxor is quite expensive, being the most popular tourist destination after the Giza Pyramids. Being a warm night (well, actually it was still hot at 9:30 pm) we walked around a bit, found some food and then went to bed.