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A guest post from Allan : Laura has mentioned some of our troubles with our various taxi drivers in Luxor. She has not wanted to get into too much detail, but she thought a guest post on the subject would be a good idea. So I’ll be the one giving you way too much information. In Cairo, we were extremely lucky when Tito at the Pyramids View Inn hooked us up with Abdul for our trip to Saqqara, Memphis, and Dahshur. During our second day with Abdul, driving around Cairo, he asked how we would get around in Luxor. (In addition to the sites near town, there would be at least one long road trip. Luxor was the kind of city where we would either need cabs everywhere or we would hire someone to drive us to various places.) We said we planned on asking at our hotel. Abdul said he would make some calls and see if he could assist. In seemingly no time at all, he had lined up someone to drive us for our entire stay in Luxor! He told us what this would cost; it was an amount that was more than reaso...

These posts are one day behind. I write in the morning, but cannot get an internet connection until evening. Our taxi arrangement should be great, but it has not gone smoothly. Today (Wednesday) we had three different drivers, and very nearly a fourth. With the exception of B'lal, none of them seem to understand the concept of being hired for a flat rate for the day. More likely, they understand it perfectly but are trying to make the day more profitable or easier. The worst of the bunch is the older gentleman who we’ll call Salvation Army, since he is so hot to take us to a thrift store, “where they sell everything you will like, madame, all at 50% off, to benefit the orphanage.” He took over for B’lal the day we arrived in Luxor. We asked to go to a restaurant, he knew a better one. We wanted to visit a certain store we had read about, he wanted to bring us to “the orphanage”. He was supposed to drive us home, but instead put us in a boat and another cab, and we had to pay for bo...

Yesterday was a full day of ancient sites and excellent Egyptian food. I woke up from a rooster crowing! Seriously, it called “Roo-uh roo-uh rooooo”. That was followed by the morning call to prayer. It’s a very pleasant way to start the day. We had breakfast in the lush, green courtyard at the hotel. Breakfast here is hardboiled eggs, yogurt, honey, cheese spread, and rolls. I miss those fig pastries and green falafel from Giza! After breakfast, our driver was waiting. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? But it’s a great way to go here. If you don’t go with a tour, there are no buses to any of the sites. There are always taxis hanging around, but you’d have to negotiate every single ride, and there would be many rides every day. It’s super convenient for us, and a good deal for the driver, B’lad. He showed up in a different car today. One back window was missing, and the other didn’t open. We’re hoping his regular car will be fixed before we go on a long road trip. We’re staying on the west bank...

Naturally we had to haggle for the taxi ride. Every transaction begins with an argument. We both really dislike it. We could pay the first price offered, but it is always wildly inflated. The train station is on the east bank of the Nile, where all the big chain hotels and most of the tourist scene is found. Our hotel is on the west bank, where the locals live and which is supposed to be great for great food. There is a bridge, which means quite a bit of extra driving, first south on one bank then north on the other. There are also ferries and many people with their own boats who will whisk you across. After crossing the bridge, some guards stopped our cab, asked to see something from the driver, then asked him to get out of the car and follow them. We had no idea what was happening and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The driver returned, gesturing wildly, waving what appeared to be a receipt for something. He paid something to someone, and he was not pleased. We drove down some t...

The train was interesting -- and eye-opening about the divide between the first world and the third. We decided to take the overnight train from Cairo to Luxor, as internal flights are quite expensive, and we are already taking three of those. The fare includes a sleeper car, dinner, and breakfast, and it ends up saving a night of hotel as well. I also thought the train would be fun. Locals talk about this train as being very special, because it’s made for tourists. There were many (apparently) Egyptian people waiting for the train, and they were obviously well-off. The Giza train station has two tracks -- one north, one south. There’s no board listing arrivals and departures, and the only clock on the platform is broken, permanently announcing the time as 10:55. The train itself is run down and dingy. It’s not disgusting, but in Europe it would never pass as first class. Once we got settled in, putting our bags in an overhead storage space, it was all right. Dinner was delivered, airl...

We had our last breakfast looking out onto the Giza Plateau, and the massive, ancient, extraordinary pyramids. I loved the Egyptian breakfast, and I loved the scenery. We packed up, left our things with our wonderful hosts, and took a taxi to the Giza metro station, and then to the Sadat station on Tahrir Square. The Egyptian Museum is the most visited site in Cairo, and one of the most heavily visited sites in all of the Middle East. Every tour bus, every Nile cruise, every school group goes there. Almost everything that was excavated from the pyramids and ancient royal tombs and temples lives there. And it is famously awful. The museum is notorious for its poor lighting, poor or nonexistent information, and haphazard displays. There are no audio guides -- a standard feature in museums for at least 40 years -- and no organized tours. Touts stroll through the halls, offering their services for a few coins. It’s clear that many of them have no specialized knowledge whatsoever. Many piec...

We had an awesome day of sightseeing today; I have much to report. We had planned to ask our hosts if they could connect us with a guide for Cairo sightseeing for Sunday. The plan was to do the Egyptian Museum today and sightsee with a guide tomorrow. While we were having breakfast, Abdul, our guide extraordinaire, appeared. Yes, he does urban tours, and yes, he’s free, let’s go today. He quoted us an extremely reasonable price, and asked us not to tell the Pyramids View guys. Fine with us. The one who does the work should reap the reward. On the way into town, Abdul told us about modern Egypt’s political history -- views on Nasser, Sadat, Mubaruk, and Morsi. He told us how the election of Morsi was 100% democratic, the first real election in the history of Egypt, and how people loved Morsi for cleaning up police and army corruption -- and how those benefiting from that corruption made sure his presidency could not last. This came complete with a fake revolution in which incarcerated f...