Off to the Valley of Kings. Went by bus instead of ferry and donkey this time - much more comfortable, but I guess not as adventurous! Very hot again, and had Mustafa as a guide, which meant long long speeches in the blazing sun. We went into three tombs again, including one where the queue was just ridiculous. It took ages to get down to burial chamber and the granite sarcophagus and then we couldn't work out what everyone else had been doing down there for so long....After the valley we went to Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple - by now it was unbelievably hot, but the temple was quite stunning. On the way to the cruise boat we stopped at an alabaster shop - no one was too happy about that as no one wanted to buy anything, and it was really awkward hanging around for over an hour while Tifa smoked yet another shisha. Eventually he finished, and we could go.
Went straight to the Cruise boat after that, and were allocated our cabins. OK boat, but definitely not the four star advertised - and not as nice as the Amy used by Imaginative Traveller. Had lunch, and then stayed docked at Luxor for the afternoon. We wandered around the souks for a bit and got some supplies in and bought some lovely throws and shawls, then I went to the top deck and lay in the sun for a while. After dinner, we finally set off up the river. Can't say it was the most restful night - someone apparently started trying to rebuild the boat from scratch at 2am and the constant hammering drove us nuts until 6.
Finally gave up trying to sleep at 6 and went up on deck. We were still underway, and didn't get to Edfu until 9. Had breakfast, and watched the other tour group (we were sharing the boat with a dutch tour group) leave at 9:30 to avoid the sun. We of course didn't leave until our tour leader could drag himself out of bed at 11. I don't think I've ever been so hot, even in saunas - it was like a case of sweat incontinence!! So once again, a lovely temple slightly diminished by a trip in the roasting midday sun. Our guide was brilliant though, a really nice and interesting guy. By the time we got back to the boat the Dutch were all relaxing in the airconditioning having done the temple in the cooler morning.....
We had lunch, then motored on towards Kom Ombo. The timing all got a bit messed up, and the poor kitchen staff had to hold dinner for us for ages, as we arrived in Kom Ombo really late after our late Edfu trip. We had the same guide at Kom Ombo, and it was lovely seeing the temple at night. One of the guys on tour was sick and had palpitations from heat exhaustion, so he'd gone back to the boat, and another few were also sick by this stage with a bad stomach bug (and unlike Imaginative Traveller guides, our guide's reaction was to slap them on the back and tell them they'd get over it - maybe they would, but since Antinal is a quick and effective cure, what's the point of wasting your holiday sick in a cabin if you don't have to???). Fed the guy with heat exhaustion some Gastrolyte and he started to feel a bit better by the next morning.
Back on the boat, we were pretty tired after a very hot day, but unfortunately sleep appeared to be out of the question as our cabins were directly under the dance floor and the most appalling sound was coming from upstairs. I gave up and went upstairs, and found a very loud party going on to celebrate an engagement party for one of the crew. The fiancee was really quite sweet. Managed to get a few beers (it was really quite difficult to get a drink on this boat for some reason), and stayed up for a bit. Really glad I brought good ear plugs though.
