We arrived at Heathrow Airport on Monday, 22 May, packed and ready to embark on our journey to Egypt. I did my best to hide my impossibly large belly so as not to encounter any of the problems that we had from the airline when we had returned from Austria a month earlier. It worked and no comments were made with regard to my pregnant state, we were offered our boarding tickets, and we moved to the waiting area of the airport to prepare for our departure. And we waited. And we waited.

Our plane left over an hour late, causing our late arrival into Luxor to be pushed back to almost midnight. We were met at the airport by the Longwood Travel representative and learned that there were about 5 other couples from our plane who would also be joining our cruise that evening. Obtaining a visa at the airport proved easy as we simply paid 10GBP a piece and had a stamp stuck in our passport. Not too shabby and only slightly dodgy.

We arrived at our cruise ship shortly after 1:00a.m. and dropped quickly into bed. The next morning we were up at 7:00a.m. to get ready and prepare for breakfast. We learned that we had been given assigned seats in the dining area, which turned out to be a huge blessing. There were two other couples placed at our table, both of whom were also on a 4-day cruise (everybody else was remaining for 7 days). Both couples were older but we quickly developed friendships with them and ended up also touring Cairo with Pete and Carol (who happen to live in Croydon!). Breakfast was followed by a meeting to explain the upcoming events and discuss optional excursions. Our journey then began.

Our first morning we had free leisure time in Luxor. Scott and I got a horse and carriage to be taken into the city centre with the plan of visiting the mummification museum. Our driver decided to take the "scenic route" in which he stopped by many of his friends' shops, hoping that we would purchase something and he would also get a commission. The biggest downfall of the Egyptian people is that they take every opportunity to try to take advantage of you and rip you off. Luckily we were aware of this but in the end we never had the opportunity to tour the museum because we ran out of time and had to return to the boat for lunch. Still, it was interesting to see the heart of the town of Luxor.

After lunch, we joined our tour group and headed to the Karnak and Luxor temples. This was our first opportunity to see real life hieroglyphics and truly bask in the amazing creations of the ancient Egyptians. Karnak temple was by far one of the highlights of the entire trip. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples situated on 247 acres of land. This vast complex was built and enlarged over a thirteen hundred year period. The walls and ceilings of the temple are covered with hieroglyphics and etched pictures, all of which tell a story, typically one that is related specifically to the god or gods that the temple is dedicated to as well as the pharoah reigning during the construction of the temple. The temple included amazing architecture far before its time, including precisely sized bricks, columns, obelisks, and rows of sphynxes, to name a few.


Many pictures later, we headed to Luxor temple. Though not as impressive as Karnak temple, it too offered its own history and character. After Egypt's pagan period, a Christian church and monastery was located here, and after that, a mosque was built that continues to be used today. Two red granite obelisks originally stood in front of the first pylon at the rear of the forecourt, but only one, more than 25 meters (75 feet) high, now remains. The other was removed to Paris where it now stands in the center of the Place de la Concorde. There are also multiple large statues of Rameses II, who was glorified all over ancient Egypt.


At both temples, we encountered random Egyptian men who would attempt to lead us to back rooms or small spaces. At first it appeared that they were attempting to lure us away from the masses to rob or attack us but we quickly learned that they wanted to show us something "special" (which they probably made up) in exchange for money. Frequently they would tell you that if you touched a certain part of a wall in a specific way you would have good luck. Once again...trying to take advantage of the tourists.-


We returned back to the ship late that afternoon, tired but thoroughly satisfied, hopped in the pool to cool off (the temperatures were in the 100s but bearable due to the fact that it was dry heat) and then had dinner and relaxed on the ship for the rest of the evening. The next morning we had to be up by 4:30a.m.

The complete collection of the pictures from this first day can be viewed on our family website.