January 12, 2026

Giza (Cairo), Egypt > Luxor, Egypt

Oh my God, it is 02:30. We will be leaving in an hour for the airport here in Cairo to catch a 06:15 flight to Luxor. Seems incrediable that we have to leave three hours and forty-five minutes before the flight, but that is program. We know that it should only take about forty minutes to get to the airport. At this hour their can’t be any traffic.

The number of vehicles on the road at this hour is actually impressive. It isn’t bumper to bumper or anything, just a lot of cars. The Egyptians have no understanding what the white lines on the road mean. They also don’t seem to mind just stopping in the middle of road for what reason, I am not sure. Maybe to answer the phone? The cars on the right hand side of the road are picking people up or dropping them off. People are crossing the wherever they want, seemingly without regard to the traffic. Why there aren’t dinged up cars and dead people all over is a mystery.

We arrive at the airport. They stop and “search” the car before letting us enter the immediate area of the airport. We are met by the representative from Kensington at the curb. Tip the driver, and we are off into the airport. The very first thing is a scan of the bags. One through that it is off to the check-in counter to drop the bags. Now I checked-in on line, and apparently that helps but the line for economy check-in is very long.

The representative from Kensington takes us directly to the business class check in. We aren’t in businesss class, but there is no line here. How it does it I am not sure but we get checked-in and he leads us to the passport control. This is a far as he can go here, so we tip him, and head into get our passports checked.

Then there is another level of security. This time of ourselves and personal carry-on articles. This is just like any American Airport security, maybe even a little more through. We even have to take our shoes off.

Once through passport control and security we find ourselves in the “duty free” gauntlet of shops. Where are the gates? How do we get the hell out of here? People are buying things, but it makes no sense to me. These prices maybe advertised as duty free, and they maybe, but they aren’t profit free. Meaning they are not priced much differently than what you would find on the street. In some cases it really looks like they are price higher.

It is a fair piece to the G gates, and it takes us a minute to get there. We still have nearly an hour before they begin the boarding process. Not too far from our gate is a café Torino. We have the breakfast boxes from the Four Seasons, but a nice cappuccino would be good.

I order three cappuccini. Just about two seconds later a large mass of people arrive at the café. This is a small place with maybe twenty tables and three times that in chairs. Our timing was simply impeccable. Mary and V had found us a table. I went to the pick-up area and got out cappuccini. We sat and relaxed for a while and enjoyed our cappuccini and brioche.

About an hour before the flight we headed to the gate. There is a waiting area upstairs but the actual gate is downstairs. There is another security screening at the entrance to the gate seating area. One line for men and another for women. Another through screening, shoes off and a personal pat-down. We find the handicapped seating hear the entrance to the walkway to the plane and put ourselves down.

Although they indicate the boarding will be one hour before departure, which would have mean they started the boarding at 05:15, the actual boarding didn’t start closer to 05:45. We got on and took our seats. Again, these economy seats aren’t the super small American economy seats, they are somewhat comfortable. I can’t report on the flight because apparently, I was asleep before they finished loading the plane, and I didn’t wake up until I felt the wheels hit the ground in Luxor.

Again, upon arrival we were met by a representative from Kensington who took us to baggage claim and out to our waiting guide and van. Our guide for this part of the trip is Honai (sounds like honey). He suggests we simply leave the bags in the car and start our tour of Karnak immediately.

Honai was careful to explain with was the largest open-air museum. People were building on the temple for 1,400 to 1,700 years. It is dedicated to three gods of ancient Egypt – Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Although there are statues of many different pharaohs and their queens here.

It was known as Ipetisut (The Most Select of Places). Again, photos do nothing to give you any concept of how large this place is. From the pylons at the entrance, to the road lined with sphinxes, the Great Hypostyle Hall with its massive columns, the few remaining towering obelisks, it is truly unbelievable.

The avenue of the Sphinxes, where you enter the complex, is a road which runs about two miles to the temple of Luxor. Now most of the road doesn’t exist anymore but the Egyptian government is working on relocation of the people and houses which are currently on the route so they can rebuild and join the two temple complexes. It is remarkable to see the hundred of sphinxes which are already here and in Luxor, it is difficult to imagine a road two miles long lined with thousands of the sphinxes.

The colors of the 2,000 – 3,000-year-old paints are remarkable. We can’t make a paint like this anymore, now it all fades after a few years. The carvings are deep into the walls and columns. The mastery of the construction and artistry of the workers is amazing. Again, photos do no good, you have to visit here to truly understand how great the Egyptian civilization was.

After visiting Karnak we were driven over to the Temple of Luxor at the other end of the avenue of the sphinxes. Again, the sheer size of the complex is mind blowing. You couldn’t build anything like this today. Today everything has to be done yesterday so we can turn a profit tomorrow. The “profit” the pharaohs were interested in was a long peaceful afterlife which was going to last for an eternity.

Long term vs short term goals do make a difference. A pharaoh would begin building his eternal house the day he was crowned. Although it seems suspicious that it didn’t actually begin sooner, or perhaps they “borrowed” another pharaoh’s plans or expanded on existing plans. Which is basically what they did in the city of the living, Karnak, they expanded and added to an existing temple.

They had two or three thousand years to build all of this. That is longer than most of Europe has been out of the dark ages. There is one additional sense you get out of this, and that is that every religion, every story, has probably been played out in Egypt long before it was given to us.

We arrived at this boat just as it has gone noon. We were able to check-in to our rooms and get settled. The rooms are small compared to Regent, but they are nicely appointed and comfortable. We have two twin beds, not our ideal setup but workable. The bathroom is small but well appointed. It has a bathtub and a very complex shower that has a remote control. We probably won’t take the time to figure it out.

One thing they do have is a laundry service. I went though my suitcase and pulled out everything I thought could use a wash. As with most hotels and ships, you get it in in the morning and you get it back that night. Mary will send her’s tomorrow. Harry V is getting his together. We’ll send them out in the morning.

Once we got settled it was time for lunch. Lunch is down on the lowest deck. The Sonesta St. George, our cruise ship on the Nile, is about 74 meters (245 feet) long, and about 15 meters (48 feet) wide. It has fifty-seven cabins and suits and can carry up to 118 passengers. We have been told, even though this is “high season” here that there are only about fifty passengers.

Working from the bottom up, Deck 1 is the main dinning room which runs the width of boat. Compared to Regent the ceiling is low maybe three meters. The dinning room is fairly large, and tables are assigned to guests, it isn’t open seating. It is perhaps a little disconcerting that the bottom of the windows on each side of the room are at water level.

You ascend the light-colored marble staircase, flanked by dark wrought iron balustrades topped with red mahogany wood to arrive at Deck 2 . Deck 2 has what would be described as the main lounge/bar. Nicely appointed, light and airy. No good table for playing cards, but what the heck we aren’t here to play cards. There is a dance floor in the middle of the room. Deck 2 also contains the entrance off and on the boat, the main receiption area, and there are a few cabins on this desk as well. So, lounge at one end, again running the width of the boat, the receiption in the middle and the cabins at the other end.

There is a large crystal chandelier hanging from Deck 3 in reception, which gives the area a little more grandeur and openness. The marble staircase leads you up to Deck 3. As you reach the top of the staircase there is an opening in the deck looking down to the second deck, surrounded by the same dark wrought iron balustrade topped with red mahogany in the idle of which is the top of the crystal chandelier. This opening divides the deck into two separate areas for cabins, one on the aft of the boat and one forward.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria