This day was Coptic Christmas - and it seemed that this was recognized in this primarily moslem country.
Got moving a little later, got our things together. Before doing the final pack, Fiona and I went off to get our bus tickets. Outside the station there were a whole lot of minibuses - far more than usual - in a huge jam. In amongst the minibuses and people we found the Canadian and his the Chinese girl we had met on the minibus coming to Luxor. They told us that he trains were not running because o some problems on te line. We figured that it could well be in Cairo even though BBC (which I had earlier managed to find on the TV set in the room) had not mentioned anything. The Canadian was happy because the Chinese girl had decided to take a plane and said that she needed company - so told him she would pay for her ticket. Ironically this was the same girl who, when the taxi driver had suggested that a tip was in order, had claimed that she was a poor student. We went off to find the Superjet office. It turned out that it was closed and when we tried to phone the offices, there was clearly nothing going on. The office was next to the Upper Egypt bus office and there was a group of people outside apparently deciding on whether to take the bus to Cairo. We decided we should just go with Upper Egypt (even though our previous experience hadn't been that good) rather than miss the trip back.
Bus tickets in hand we returned to the hotel to pack our bags and take them down to reception for safekeeping (the bus was only due to go at around 6pm). We headed out at around 11.30 and found a boy selling falaffel sandwiches.
Next we went to the market - which was somewhat quieter than the previous time we had been there. I bought a couple of scarves early on and took a look at some of their spices. As is often the case in Egypt, the market started with mostly tourist stuff and eventually changed into a local market. with a kilometer or so of local goods - vegetable stands, large hunks of meat outside butcheries, live chickens, pigeons, ducks and in this case many fish stands (something we had not seen before). We found these markets more interesting in a lot of ways particularly as the locals don't try o force things on you.
At the other end of the market was an overpass and we headed back towards the Nile. Once there, we spent some time walking along the new area being built next to the river, generally just passing the time until we decided to go back to the hotel to make some food for our evening trip and for Guy to finally get his sunset pictures.
Lauren was keen to take a Caleche (horse drawn carriage) ride so we decided that this would be a good time to take one. We chose one of the many lining the Nile and asked the man to take us to our hotel. Lauren and I got the decent seats and Fiona and Guy ended u with the far smaller and far less comfortable ones. The man took his whip to the horse and Lauren felt that maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Still, after the horse got going we all felt a little better (although Fiona and Guy continued to complain). I kept confirming with the driver that he knew where our hotel was, but he continued to go in the wrong direction (away from the hotel). Eventually, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he REALLY knew where he was going at which stage he stopped and asked someone. He apologised and took us back to the hotel - of course asking for a backsheesh in addition to the 20LE we had paid for the trip.
We had a couple of hours before we had to leave. Fiona prepared food - Egyptian bread with chicken we had bought + tomatoes, onions and (separately) the remainder of our honey and cheese. At around 5pm, Guy finally got his (less than impressive) sunset. I prepared our apple tea (whisky) an we headed out by 5.30.
There was a crowd waiting for the bus when we arrived and after 15 minutes or so the bus arrived. We all stood there gormlessely while the driver washed the outside of the bus. Finally he allowed us to load our packs and we boarded. The bus left3 minutes ahead of time (6.27) and before long we were on the road.
The bus drive was (predictably) long and uncomfortable but on the plus side, there was air conditioning and was in generally better condition than our previous one. On the down side, my seat was broken and I could not put it back at all. Fiona swapped with me at the first stop and then Guy swapped with her at the next one. We had been a little confused about how long the journey would take (the direct trip to Cairo was only about 700km) but after a couple of hours, it became apparent that we were following the route to Hurgharda rather than going directly to Cairo. I was thankful that we had not chosen a day bus - as we had seen this route previously. We recognized the first stop by the chairs, tables and the disgusting toilets. At first the driver put on some soothing Arabic music, but after the first stop, it was movie time. This meant loud and aggressive Arab movies which didn't help our goal of sleeping at all! We fed the beast at 7.30pm and after that it was time to get some shut eye. Lauren continued to read, I think I got a bit of sleep, Fiona struggled and Guy had no problem at all - regardless of where he was sleeping.
Got moving a little later, got our things together. Before doing the final pack, Fiona and I went off to get our bus tickets. Outside the station there were a whole lot of minibuses - far more than usual - in a huge jam. In amongst the minibuses and people we found the Canadian and his the Chinese girl we had met on the minibus coming to Luxor. They told us that he trains were not running because o some problems on te line. We figured that it could well be in Cairo even though BBC (which I had earlier managed to find on the TV set in the room) had not mentioned anything. The Canadian was happy because the Chinese girl had decided to take a plane and said that she needed company - so told him she would pay for her ticket. Ironically this was the same girl who, when the taxi driver had suggested that a tip was in order, had claimed that she was a poor student. We went off to find the Superjet office. It turned out that it was closed and when we tried to phone the offices, there was clearly nothing going on. The office was next to the Upper Egypt bus office and there was a group of people outside apparently deciding on whether to take the bus to Cairo. We decided we should just go with Upper Egypt (even though our previous experience hadn't been that good) rather than miss the trip back.
Bus tickets in hand we returned to the hotel to pack our bags and take them down to reception for safekeeping (the bus was only due to go at around 6pm). We headed out at around 11.30 and found a boy selling falaffel sandwiches. 
Next we went to the market - which was somewhat quieter than the previous time we had been there. I bought a couple of scarves early on and took a look at some of their spices. As is often the case in Egypt, the market started with mostly tourist stuff and eventually changed into a local market. with a kilometer or so of local goods - vegetable stands, large hunks of meat outside butcheries, live chickens, pigeons, ducks and in this case many fish stands (something we had not seen before). We found these markets more interesting in a lot of ways particularly as the locals don't try o force things on you.
At the other end of the market was an overpass and we headed back towards the Nile. Once there, we spent some time walking along the new area being built next to the river, generally just passing the time until we decided to go back to the hotel to make some food for our evening trip and for Guy to finally get his sunset pictures.
Lauren was keen to take a Caleche (horse drawn carriage) ride so we decided that this would be a good time to take one. We chose one of the many lining the Nile and asked the man to take us to our hotel. Lauren and I got the decent seats and Fiona and Guy ended u with the far smaller and far less comfortable ones. The man took his whip to the horse and Lauren felt that maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Still, after the horse got going we all felt a little better (although Fiona and Guy continued to complain). I kept confirming with the driver that he knew where our hotel was, but he continued to go in the wrong direction (away from the hotel). Eventually, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he REALLY knew where he was going at which stage he stopped and asked someone. He apologised and took us back to the hotel - of course asking for a backsheesh in addition to the 20LE we had paid for the trip.
We had a couple of hours before we had to leave. Fiona prepared food - Egyptian bread with chicken we had bought + tomatoes, onions and (separately) the remainder of our honey and cheese. At around 5pm, Guy finally got his (less than impressive) sunset. I prepared our apple tea (whisky) an we headed out by 5.30. 
There was a crowd waiting for the bus when we arrived and after 15 minutes or so the bus arrived. We all stood there gormlessely while the driver washed the outside of the bus. Finally he allowed us to load our packs and we boarded. The bus left3 minutes ahead of time (6.27) and before long we were on the road.
The bus drive was (predictably) long and uncomfortable but on the plus side, there was air conditioning and was in generally better condition than our previous one. On the down side, my seat was broken and I could not put it back at all. Fiona swapped with me at the first stop and then Guy swapped with her at the next one. We had been a little confused about how long the journey would take (the direct trip to Cairo was only about 700km) but after a couple of hours, it became apparent that we were following the route to Hurgharda rather than going directly to Cairo. I was thankful that we had not chosen a day bus - as we had seen this route previously. We recognized the first stop by the chairs, tables and the disgusting toilets. At first the driver put on some soothing Arabic music, but after the first stop, it was movie time. This meant loud and aggressive Arab movies which didn't help our goal of sleeping at all! We fed the beast at 7.30pm and after that it was time to get some shut eye. Lauren continued to read, I think I got a bit of sleep, Fiona struggled and Guy had no problem at all - regardless of where he was sleeping.
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