We spent our second full day at the Mena House bumming around, relaxing, etc. We had massages in the late afternoon, which I hoped would solve my mobility issue due to my pyramid legs. The masseusse was VERY STRONG. Sheer brute force. I endured it, thinking that it must be what I need to release all my built-up tension. I did feel better afterwards, but Sweetie later noticed that I was extensively bruised along my spine as a result! It did look really bad.
Anyway, the night before we left for our Nile cruise, the pyramids were lit at night and it was very magical to see the Great Pyramid from our balcony, all lit up. We had dinner at a fancy, grand old-style restaurant in the hotel. There was a guy singing Lionel Richie, Eric Clapton, etc. covers (after a dismal pianist did a set where he was trying to play along with pre-recorded music. It was very clear that he didn't have the faintest clue how to play the piano. Bizarre.) The food was not great for a vegetarian like myself, but I loved the free appetizer (this was very common at all the restaurants we ate at -- free suprise appetizers -- so it meant we were always eating more than we planned).
The ride to the airport on Day Four was fine and I was glad we had Bales taking care of us, because I wouldn't have had the faintest clue what to do at the airport (the x-ray machines for you and all your baggage are at the entrance to the airport). While our Bales guide for the boat trip was checking us in for our flight to Luxor, a crying little boy walking past us and then proceded to puke all over the place. We relocated to put some more distance between us and the puking boy. I did notice, however, that the boy's mother and sister (?) were very diligent and wiped it all up off the airport floor and changed his clothes and tossed his clothes into a plastic bag.
The wait for our plane was AWFUL. Some dude was chainsmoking near us. And when we finally went to the gate, the air wasn't much better. We were ravenous, but the cafes at the airport were a terrible ripoff. Our plane was over one hour late, so we were waiting at the less-than-stellar Cairo airport domestic terminal for about 3 hours. It felt like forever.
Needless to say, we were VERY excited to finally land in Luxor and hop on a minibus to a small boat which shuttled us over to our "dahabiyya" sailboat for the week. The Nesma is a gorgeous sailboat, with six cabins and room for 12 guests. Haras, one of the crew, was waiting for us with a tray of drinks. They were apple juice, but I was so happy to finally be on the boat that I didn't care that they weren't alcoholic!
Lunch was served (it was 1730 by then!) and then we went back across the Nile to Luxor Temple on the opposite bank. It was lit (it was dark by then) and very cool! We saw great carvings -- it was all rather extensive.
Dinner was served in the elegant salon. It was delicious!! And I was not short-changed at all even though I was the only vegetarian. The food was amazing!
Sweetie and I called it an early night as we had a 5AM wakeup the next day for our balloon ride over Luxor!
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