W and I were up fairly early the next day, so we sprung for the buffet breakfast at the hotel.
Buffets for breakfast are sort of wasted on me because my stomach usually wakes up last, but we went for it anyway. After that we packed up, stocked up on some more bottles o
f water and tonic, and made our way to check out. We asked the concierge for a hand to get some transportation to the boat, and they seemed to be acting quickly, and
one cab arrived, but after 10 minutes we were still standing there waiting on a second car. When dave walked out to grab a cab, they finally chased down two for us, and sent us on our way. Getting out of the cabs and getting our stuff back required some intense negotiations, but we finally reached the boat, The Sonesta Sun Goddess. We learned from our visit the night before that the boat dock is well below the street level, and wondered how one get's their bags down, but sure enough several guys run up the stairs to grab your stuff
, each expecting a baksheesh. So, if you're counting at home, we've tipped the bellman at the hotel, the guys who brought our bags down from the street, and the guy who brings your bags to the room. It's never much, but you're always going in your pocket. When we arrived on the boat, they sat us down in the lounge with a cool glass of fruit juice while they checked us in and copied passports and arranged keys. It was one of the few free beverages you get on the boat, so drink up. After checking in and getting unloaded in the room, it was time for lunch. Our rooms were on the 4th deck, so you take a central spiral staircase down to the lowest passenger deck, part of which is below the waterline. We were officially all known as the Goodell Party, and we were given a round table big enough for the six of us that we would eat at the entire time. The food was good, and there was a large variety of items to choose from. After lunch we had about an hour before our first real excursion. We didn't quite know what to
expect as far as a tour group, but as we looked around at lunch time we couldn't find a whole lot of other unnattached english speakers. There was a large group of high school kids from a Latin Club in D.C. and we assumed they'd do their o
wn tours, but who knew for sure. When we showed up at the lounge, we saw there were only six others, so we'd have a really great sized group to do our excursions with. The 12 of us loaded onto a little bus with our tour guide and off we went to Karnak Temple. The details of all the temples we saw sort of blend together at some point, So I'll let you read the external links to get the real deal on them. After our tour of Karnak temple, we climbed back in the bus and rolled a mile or 2 down the road to Luxor Temple. Luxor temple has a room built for Alexander the Great, including pictures of him paying tribute to the local gods, and his name carved in the form of a cartouche. The Scale of both Temples is really impressive, expecially the columns. We made it back to the boat in time for afternoon tea, and then relaxed on deck until dinner time. After dinner, we witnessed more belly dancing, and then the boat turned pretty dead, since everyone had an early morning the next day. You get an Itinerary for the next day with your turndown service, and the next days itenarary started with breakfast at 6.
f water and tonic, and made our way to check out. We asked the concierge for a hand to get some transportation to the boat, and they seemed to be acting quickly, and
one cab arrived, but after 10 minutes we were still standing there waiting on a second car. When dave walked out to grab a cab, they finally chased down two for us, and sent us on our way. Getting out of the cabs and getting our stuff back required some intense negotiations, but we finally reached the boat, The Sonesta Sun Goddess. We learned from our visit the night before that the boat dock is well below the street level, and wondered how one get's their bags down, but sure enough several guys run up the stairs to grab your stuff
, each expecting a baksheesh. So, if you're counting at home, we've tipped the bellman at the hotel, the guys who brought our bags down from the street, and the guy who brings your bags to the room. It's never much, but you're always going in your pocket. When we arrived on the boat, they sat us down in the lounge with a cool glass of fruit juice while they checked us in and copied passports and arranged keys. It was one of the few free beverages you get on the boat, so drink up. After checking in and getting unloaded in the room, it was time for lunch. Our rooms were on the 4th deck, so you take a central spiral staircase down to the lowest passenger deck, part of which is below the waterline. We were officially all known as the Goodell Party, and we were given a round table big enough for the six of us that we would eat at the entire time. The food was good, and there was a large variety of items to choose from. After lunch we had about an hour before our first real excursion. We didn't quite know what to
expect as far as a tour group, but as we looked around at lunch time we couldn't find a whole lot of other unnattached english speakers. There was a large group of high school kids from a Latin Club in D.C. and we assumed they'd do their o
wn tours, but who knew for sure. When we showed up at the lounge, we saw there were only six others, so we'd have a really great sized group to do our excursions with. The 12 of us loaded onto a little bus with our tour guide and off we went to Karnak Temple. The details of all the temples we saw sort of blend together at some point, So I'll let you read the external links to get the real deal on them. After our tour of Karnak temple, we climbed back in the bus and rolled a mile or 2 down the road to Luxor Temple. Luxor temple has a room built for Alexander the Great, including pictures of him paying tribute to the local gods, and his name carved in the form of a cartouche. The Scale of both Temples is really impressive, expecially the columns. We made it back to the boat in time for afternoon tea, and then relaxed on deck until dinner time. After dinner, we witnessed more belly dancing, and then the boat turned pretty dead, since everyone had an early morning the next day. You get an Itinerary for the next day with your turndown service, and the next days itenarary started with breakfast at 6. The pictures here:
1. the view from our cabin
2. a picture of hatshepsut, that her son did not want us to see
3. Karnak's Hypsotyle Hall
4. Luxor Temple: it was buried by time and a mosque got built on top
5. A Christian Frescoe painted over heiroglyphics
6. Luxor Temple
And finally a Nile Sunset
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