Well we have had a busy three days doing everything and nothing! Luxor is like that - it is hot, brutally hot in the mid day sun 40 to 45 degrees! So to go see the sights you have to get up early and beat the sun and the crowds, then you are back at the hotel for mid morning and you do nothing all day (apart from the pool, the bar, the pool and back to the bar again - our hotel had a pool bar which made it even easier to do nothing).

So what have we done? Well the first job was to book everything via Jolleys - use them for the best price [1/2 the tour company's] for equal if not better quality, they are in a little glass fronted shop 100 metres or so from The Winter Palace and have been on the go since 1922!

Wednesday...

Friday (morning 5am)...

Hot air ballooning over the west bank. We've always wanted to do this and for 35 quid a person now was the time, floating serenely over the Nile, the western desert and the monuments was pretty special, we had a gentle landing in a corn field (which the farmers think is great as they get paid well for the crop damage), we even made it back to the hotel for breakfast at 9am.

One of the bingo brigade was on the bus taking us to the take off point and the street sellers were in full form. He was selling hard and she did not know how to say no, in the end she bought a sarong/wrap just to get rid of him, once we were moving she looked at it and said "I have no idea what it is, what is it? what am I supposed to do with it? I think I would have preferred it in blue" a fool and her money...

and I was offered a blank cheque for Kathy!!!