Day One - En Route & Arrival In Luxor
Monday, April 3rd 2000
Any trip to the airport is fraught and stressful, and this was certainly no exception. Admittedly we had given ourselves a good head start by staying overnight in a Gatwick hotel, but the early morning rush hour still rears it's ugly head. Whilst five hours flying is not exactly an epic purgatorial experience of Bali proportions, it's still not helped by yet again failing to obtain emergency exit seats for the extra legroom. Time and time again I walk up the aisle and see short people occupying these cherished seats. I thought Labour would have put an end to things like this. Stuck on the runway for an hour before taking off too. The leg's going numb. Not a lot I can do but will my life away closer to touchdown.
And time drags on... Finally, about four hours into the flight the perpetual cloud cover begins to clear, and I can see the Sahara Desert below. It's profoundly beautiful and I watch out of the window, transfixed until touchdown. I find the desert immensely humbling and a total enigma - wave upon wave of sand and mountains devoid of life, and nearly incapable of supporting it. All around the sandy mountains are gargantuan branch-like drifts of sand, and it's not until later that I realise that these are the remains of the once brutal and devastating annual Nile floods. These drifts create incredible kaleidoscopic patterns around the mountains, and just add to the surreal sense of seeing the desert for the first time. As a rule I hate taking photographs from the plane window, yet for once I feel it would be worth it, though unfortunately I don't have my camera to hand, so I instead try my best to commit the sight to memory. And then the Nile comes into view, which throughout it's length is surrounded either side by a couple of miles of lush green irrigated land, providing stark contrast to the barren desert encompassing the country.
Arrival in Luxor Airport is far from the ordeal I'd expected. The visa, which I'd expected to be a problem, is dealt with quickly and efficiently, and it's a far cry from the nightmare experienced at Barbados airport. Unfortunately the sun's setting due to our delayed arrival and so the drive to our boat is in darkness, stealing our chance to catch our first glimpse of Egyptian life. The boat, The Nile Bride is impressive, but not quite the 5-star opulence we were led to believe. The room is simple - we paid an extra £100 to have a top deck cabin, although this appears to be just the same as the other rooms.
I've not been on a full board holiday before, so this was a new experience - as was dinner. It's basically you eat what you're given, all in groups on large tables. I'm regrettably very finicky with my food - something I'm not proud of, but it proves to be amiable and perfectly okay. The beer is decidedly average - called Stella, though bearing little resemblance to it's western namesake. Still, can't really complain in what is essentially a dry state. It's funny how the small things amuse - all cans here are of the old removable ring-pull variety, as opposed to our new style of pushing the top inside the can (which I've always thought of as dubious, hygene-wise). I always find it fascinating to see what television is like in foreign countries, and the local channels prove to be the obvious inspiration for The Fast Show's Channel 9 - the difference between the two is infinitesimal - endless political programs and lots of bad moustaches. The feeling is enhanced by the extremely poor reception. Later I watch part of All The President's Men (with Egyptian subtitles). This is a film I have enough problems following, with its required knowledge of the American judiciary system. Not quite an obvious choice for foreign programming I would have thought.
After dinner it's time for the usual package holiday spiel. It's not something I feel entirely comfortable with - especially when there's talk of party games and other nonsense. It's frustrating - I'm here and want to explore now, and especially get the boat moving, but we're moored here for the night. It's almost tempting to wander into Luxor, but it's dark and we haven't got our bearings or our comfort zone hats on yet. You hear so much of troubles, and I really don't want to become another statistic just yet.
And so we're off to The Valley Of The Kings tomorrow. But, in their wisdom, the wake-up call is to be at 4:45am! Like, thanks for giving us the chance to relax a bit! Part of the entertainment for the evening is a good old authentic belly dancer. Frankly though, it's honestly not that different to something you'd see in Butlins. Mind you, the amusement factor is raised somewhat when she drags Lisa up on to the dance floor to partake in a bit of jiggying around., and most definitely will not take no for an answer! I still don't feel like I'm in Egypt really - the weather is cool, it's dark and I'm eager to get started.
We eventually retire and get off around midnight. How I look forward to the wake up call...