Night Train to Luxor

It’s incredibly rejuvenating to have a leisurely dinner in a quality restaurant, board a train with a small but comfortable private sleeping room, and fall asleep as you watch the moonlit Nile Valley roll by.

Other writers have called Luxor ‘a huge outdoor museum.’ That’s an apt description. The partially-restored ruins of two massive temple complexes are just outside the city center. Thebes, the ‘Valley of Kings’ where Tutankhamen and the other Pharaohs sleep, is a few miles away across the Nile. This is the highlight, and will give you a new appreciation of ancient civilization.

Budget a half-day to see Luxor Temple and the even larger Karnak site. Visualize the stately concourse, lined with stone columns and statuary, that once connected the two. Today, you can walk between them on a wide, pleasant pedestrian promenade along the riverfront.

Luxor, population 150,000, has the name-brand hotels and other amenities you’d expect of a world-class tourism site. Some areas are dusty and deteriorated; others quite attractive. Multi-day Nile cruises from here are extremely popular in the tourist season, but in August most ships are idle.

This is a site no serious world traveler should miss.

Quick Tips:

August is not an auspicious month to visit Egypt --- especially the deserts of the West Bank. Temperatures routinely hit 90-100 and can go even higher. The weather in Luxor itself was generally bearable. On the other side of the river, the heat was definitely unpleasant and even debilitating at times. (Many of the sites require uphill walks of a quarter-mile or more.) I was there in August only because I had to be for the special airline promotion I was taking advantage of.

The intense mid-day sun challenges photographers; the flat light obscures textures and wipes out highlights if you’re not careful. Serious photographers should sacrifice some sleep and visit in early morning. Many of Egypt’s archaeological sites close to tourists at 4 p.m., so late-afternoon sun isn’t an option. My own photos had to be retouched with Adobe Photoshop, which I also used to decapitate a pair of tourists who blundered into one of my shots, (Fortunately, there aren’t many of these in August.)

Here’s a very professionally written and designed website that’s profusely illustrated --- including maps ---and far more scholarly than my journal:

Tour Egypt.

Best Way To Get Around:

In Karnak, and between there and Luxor Temple, I did all my sightseeing on foot. This required walking seven or eight miles a day, but almost all of it was on sidewalks or the wide riverfront promenade. The latter had shaded benches every 50 feet or so, so it was easy to stop and rest before becoming seriously tired. Between the temples, you can stop to visit the Luxor Museum and other attractions.

You’ll be harrassed by taxi and rickshaw drivers, but if your hotel is near the river you can charter a felucca (a small, distincively-rigged sailboat) instead.

Heat fatigue wasn’t usually a problem here, thanks probably to the Nile. The West Bank desert was another story! Wherever you are in Egypt, especially in the hot off-season, protect yourself from the sun with a hat and skin covering. I was told that pickpocketing and other street crime against tourists was rare, but advised to take sensible precautions. (Like, leave that fancy watch in the hotel safe.)

Railstation to hotel and hotel to airport required taxis. As I recall, they were U.S. each with the (expected) tip, overpriced for the distance covered, in my opinion.

The New Karnak Hilton, a large, modern property, is 4-5 miles south of the railstation and airport at Luxor. It’s just beyond Old Karnak, at the far end of the Corniche, a broad riverfront highway. The site includes a large, garden-like park adjoining the Nile and, from my room, I could look across the river to the desert hills of the West Bank.

The room was spacious --- two queen-size beds, as I recall --- and, as you’d expect from an upscale chain like Hilton, included a very well-furnished bathroom. Though arriving hours before the ‘official’ check-in time, I was given an upstairs room with a private balcony. (My immediate reaction was to extend my stay another day.)

The hotel restaurant offered a wall of picture windows overlooking the garden and river, with a mezzanine-level main dining room and a ground-level alternative with both indoor and outdoor seating. The continental menu included many items that appealed to my Midwestern U.S. tastes and the food was what I’d consider high-quality. Wines and liquors were expensive, but no more so than in other high-tax countries.

One of my favorite memories of Egypt was of the night I spent in the Hilton’s huge swimming pool, long after dark, floating on my back and looking up at constellations I’d never seen before.

The New Karnak Hilton at Luxor was less pricey that most Hiltons I’ve stayed at but remember: mine was an off-season rate. Service was superb, and the presence of an in-house travel agency made changing my plans considerably easier. This hotel is farther from center-city Luxor than many of the upscale properties, but I highly recommend it.

This high-rise hotel overlooks the Nile (a plus) but is hemmed in on three sides by major traffic arteries (a minus). It’s within a block of the Egyptian Museum (a plus), but, because of the traffic, getting there can take 5-10 minutes. Once you make it to the museum, another short walk takes you to the Sadat ‘Metro’ station.

My original room looked out over expressways and the ruins of an earthquake-ravaged building. On returning from Luxor, I was on a high floor with a magnificent view up the Nile. Rooms on both of my stays were spacious and well-furnished, as were the bathrooms. The baths had more toiletries than one could ever use and bidets --- a European amenity that I wish more North American properties would offer.

There was a large outdoor terrace, with a swimming pool and shade-protected bar, about 20 feet above ground level. It had an unlighted area where one could park a lounge chair and nurse a nightcap in the dark while watching the river traffic go by.

The rooftop dining room had picture windows overlooking the Nile and skyline, but barely 25% of the tables had access to them. They filled up quickly and weren’t available to single diners. My one dinner there was excellent, but service began much later than I prefer and, after 9 p.m., the music was uncomfortably loud.

Early dinners could be had at an alternative restaurant on the mezzanine level. The food wasn’t as elegant as the dinner upstairs --- I didn’t expect it to be --- but service was excellent. Diners could choose between a buffet or menu entrees; both Continental and Arabic dishes were available. (The buffet was a nice way to check out some of the latter.) There were two large dining areas, both with views of the river. The restaurant was far too good to be called a ‘coffee shop’ but a little too large and informal to be called a ‘dining room.’ Though full dinners weren’t served before 5 p.m., lighter fare was available throughout the day. And there was --- get this --- 24-hour bar service. The evening I left for Luxor, the manager arranged dinner a half-hour early so I could take the Metro to the railstation instead of a pricey taxicab.

Though I normally stay in mid-price hotels, my travel agent suggested that an internationally-known brand might be a wise investment in a country that would be as unfamiliar as Egypt. It was. Just having Hilton’s concierge desk and on-premises travel agency at my service made life considerably easier.

The awkward pedestrian access keeps me from rating the Ramses Hilton ‘highly recommended,’ but its overall amenities and ability to offer special assistance as needed make it worthwhile for anyone willing to pay a little extra for quality.

Be advised: Egyptian hotels usually add a mandatory 12% ‘service charge’ to the rate quoted to your travel agent.

Le Pacha 1901 is a multi-level, multi-room restaurant complex on a barge docked in the Nile. It’s on the east bank of the long, park-like island that extends much of the length of downtown Cairo. Le Steak, on the lower deck, had a large bar and dining area and a somewhat more intimate section separated from the main room by a divider. Both rooms had water-level views of the Nile and East Bank. The host apologized for not seating me in a riverside booth --- ‘Can’t do that for a single,’ he said --- but gave me a deuce table within 10 feet of the picture windows. (The window booths did fill up with parties of two or more while I was there.)

I was early, the restaurant was relatively uncrowded, and both the service and the food were superb. Bar service included many name-brand American and Scotch whiskeys, albeit at a price. (Many Muslim countries ban alcohol; more Westernized Egypt tolerates it but taxes it heavily.) Our view faced east, so I couldn’t enjoy the sunset, but it was pleasant to watch darkness slowly settle over the busy river traffic.

To top off an already-perfect meal, the manager, upon learning that this was my final night in Egypt, bought me what what probably a very expensive cognac for an after-dinner drink.

Le Pacha 1901 is directly across from the Egyptian Museum, Ramses Hilton, and a major local bus terminal. It can be reached on foot by following the 6 October Flyover Bridge to a mid-span stairway, then down and to the north.

If I ever return to Cairo, I doubt I’d want to have dinner at any other restaurant. I can’t recommend Le Steak too highly.

After a brief pause to photograph the working-class village of Qorna, we headed directly for the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepshut. It loomed over the parking lot, nearly a quarter-mile away up a stone ramp. (The guide probably chose this first because the heat would only get worse later.)

To better impress her subjects and rival kings, Hatshepshut posed as a male during her reign. The original carvings, he said, portrayed her as one. Jealous successors later changed her back into a woman. Many of the frescoes and carvings are well-preserved and restored. Though we had only limited access to the interior, we could study, but not photograph, its successions of story-telling hieroglyphs. Photogenic exterior carvings abounded.

The tombs of the Pharaohs were built partially underground, then covered with dirt to disguise them as natural hills and conceal them from marauders. They’re in the form of inverted half-pyramids. The outer or upper rooms hold the remains and relics of lesser family members: in one tomb, the mummy of a stillborn royal child. The remains of the ruler himself lie in an elaborate sarcophagus in the lowest, innermost room.

The trouble with tombs, unless you’re an Egyptologist or archaeologist, is that they tend to resemble each other. The first, especially if it’s one of the more elaborate ones, is a ‘can’t miss.’ By the third or fourth, to me at least, it became ‘Been there, done that.’

The most famous tomb, King Tut’s, required a substantial admission fee not included in the tour price. Since all its treasures had been removed to museums, our guide opined that it wasn’t worth it. We used the time we saved to revisit Luxor Temple, which had been badly lighted the day before but was perfect for photography this afternoon. Less well-lighted, because of the flat mid-day desert sun, were the huge twin statues of Memnon and his queen, on the road between the tomb sites and the Nile River Bridge north of Luxor.

The hotel’s travel agent urged me to hire a private car, driver and guide instead of joining a tour group. It could be booked on short notice and would make far more efficient use of my very limited time. And, it would be blessedly free of competing tourists. Except for the Temple of Hatshepshut, where two people blundered into what would have otherwise been my best photograph, we had many sites almost completely to ourselves.

I paid $66 for car, driver and guide. Well worth it, in my opinion.

The hotel restaurant arranged an early dinner seating for me so I could take Cairo’s ‘Metro’ to the station instead of an expensive taxi.

The overnight train from Cairo to Luxor was a fast express, diesel powered, with a first-class section specifically reserved for Western tourists. This included two sleeping cars and a club car with a congenial bartender who spoke near-perfect English. There was time before dark to see the first Nile crossing and the southwestern outskirts of Cairo. Then, one could shut down the lights, nurse a final after-dinner drink in darkness, and enjoy the moonlight until bedtime.

The only drawback was that the schedule was designed for a comfortable arrival time in Aswan, not Luxor. In the half light of pre-dawn, the square facing the railstation was dusty and rather run-down looking: not at all what I’d expected of Luxor. However, the attendant who awoke me at 5 a.m. had brought coffee and breakfast, cabs were readily available upon arrival, and my hotel had a room ready despite my premature arrival. On the way, the taxi followed the Nile past two of Luxor’s magnificent temple ruins. This WOULD be what I’d come for after all.

Return to Cairo was via a late-morning flight on an Egypt Air A-320. The airport appeared nearly lost in the desert, just outside the green belt that extended along the east side of the Nile. Observing the contrasts between the fertile river valley and the barren brown desert sand was an experience I’d never have had by rail. Rail out, air back had been a wise choice. The Sphinx and pyramids lie directly under the approach route to the airport at Cairo; we got a good low-altitude look at them on the way in.

One-way airfare was U.S. $125. One-way rail with private sleeper and breakfast was considerably less. (I’d had to pay cash, in Egyptian Pounds, and didn’t keep accurate spending records.)

Ramses Station in Cairo has an English-speaking information office especially for assisting foreign tourists. Ask them to translate train numbers, compartment or seat numbers, and departure instructions into Arabic and you’ll do fine. (A list of the numbers 1-9 plus 10, 20,etc. is VERY handy to carry with you.)

One precaution: Different trains and different travel days require different ticket lines. Don’t stand in the wrong one! (The travel agent at the Ramses Hilton would have had my sleeper tickets delivered for me, but it was a holiday and the messenger was off duty. Since I had a free morning, the challenge of doing it on my own was kinda fun.)

A final note: Cairo’s ‘Metro’ is modern, clean, and will get you most places you want to go. Please remember, though, that by Muslim law the front one or two cars are reserved for women travelling alone or with children.

It was late. I was tired. I’d spent nearly an hour getting my visa and clearing customs/immigration at the Cairo airport and was looking forward to a quiet night and soothing drink at the Hilton that I’d reserved for a few nights before heading to Luxor.

Instead, I blundered into the middle of the Egyptian equivalent of a Shriner’s convention --- except that these were real Arabs. Thursday night in Cairo is like Saturday night in the U.S., and this Thursday was apparently an extra-special one. Half the Arab world, it seemed, had gathered in the hotel lobby. Being Muslims, they didn’t drink alcohol but they did smoke hookahs, elaborate pipes filled with water and other substances. (It wasn’t a ‘recreational’ smoke I could recognize.) Whatever they smoked, like America’s pseudo-Arab Shriners, they PARTIED.

The Arab equivalent of a small marching band climbed halfway up the lobby’s grand staircase and launched an impromptu concert. At first I resented the noise, and retreated into an off-lobby cocktail lounge where I could at least partially escape it. But then the band tore into something that --- despite the strange instrumentation --- strongly resembled a New Orleans jazz group doing ‘The Saints.’ I asked the bartender to open the doors, so I could hear better, and decided this was a party I could actually enjoy. After all, I’d done the same sort of ‘barnstorming’ myself years ago in a drum and bugle corps.

By Saturday, they’d all gone back home and I almost missed them. And, I kinda wished I’d asked one of them to let me try his hookah.

It was my first time in a predominately Muslim country, and there were a few other cultural differences to get used to:

- The carpet spread on the floor of the main railstation is not for welcoming visitors: It’s where the faithful kneel to face Mecca for daily prayers. Walking over it while wearing shoes is a serious offense. Luckily I only did it once -- and was forgiven --- before catching on.

-The ‘Metro’ --- or subway --- is clean, convenient and fast. However, according to Muslim law, the front car is reserved for women travelling alone or with small children. Blunder into it, if you’re a male, and you’ll be shooed out --- sometimes forcibly.

Cairo has many private athletic and social clubs that look like public parks but are not. They may not be identified as private property in English-language signs, but if you get hostile looks that say, ‘You don’t belong here,’ give a gesture of apology and leave.

Though taxi drivers may rip you off for petty change, Cairo is actually very friendly to Westerners. But the friendliest receptions go to visitors who learn and respect Muslim customs.