Luxor(eous)

Arrived in Luxor this afternoon. Talk about culture shock within culture shock.

We left the Oasis after a frantic three days of excavation. Really rewarding but made the departure a little abrupt. It was sad to watch the dig-house and staff go through the back of the mini-bus. One of the more home-y homes I've had.

Luxor is a huge city on the Nile and a far cry from the three avenues of Mut. Our hotel is rather fancy, with a roof-top pool and cafe, and the streets are eerily clean. Too many old tourists in shorts for my taste -- we're going to have to adjust to being treated more as meal tickets than as curiosities. The Nile is absolutely beautiful here. We went down to the banks at sun-set and watched the sail-boats and cruiseships.

Cannot believe I am actually here. I had started to forget I was in Egypt. Suddenly what felt like eaons at the dig-house is a blink of an eye. Tomorrow we head down to Aswan and a bunch of sites around the first cateract. It's supposed to be the most beautiful part of Egypt and I think that will drive it home -- I'm here.