Back from far away

I am back from a short visit to a beautiful land along the Nile; it is just 4 hours to fly there, but it is far away nevertheless. As requested by many: Here are some of the travel details.... I was in Luxor and Safaga. That's basically it! In Safaga, which is a calm green place in midst of a dry desert, I enjoyed the pleasures of the Red Sea.

In Luxor I felt obliged to visit the temples and tombs which are just amazing and I had completely forgotten how impressive they are. Sometimes, this year's trip was a déjà-vu kind of thing but mostly I had the impression to see things the first time. As a matter of fact I was in Egypt 20 years ago, all by myself, travelling by train and bus and visiting almost every monument between Cairo (the pyramids) and Assuan (Abu Simbel). As there are many monuments to be seen, I was totally exhausted by the end of this 4 week travelling and, due to a severe lack of money, I experienced quite some strange hotels.

This year, it was somewhat different and I treated myself with one of the nicest hotels in Luxor: The Jolie Ville, which is situated on an island in the Nile, with a view over the river, the green band of palms and fields on the other side and the desert mountains. Every evening, I would sit on the terrace overlooking the Nile and watch the sun go down. And I would think about egyptian men living in a time 4000 years before ours, building temples for their priests (temples, they themselves were mostly not allowed to visit) and hoping for the Nile bringing enough water. I would sniff my arms, sprayed with my old Jicky or a vintage version of Coty's Chypre and I would be amazed how well composed they are and how they fit into this enclave of luxury; thoughts that usually lead to an extra tip for the waiter in the dining room, hoping to shift the unequal balance in this world just a little bit.