Smoking sheesa - our guide took us on a horse ride through old Luxor market the Muslim marketplace, bought us all his favorite ice cream and took us to a real Egyptian coffee bar we had Turkish coffee and smoked sheesha( apple tobacco ) it was very light- and of course I bought a hooka so we can all share when I got home. Will blog again when we get to Cairo in 4 or so days! Now time for dinner !

Ok, half a trip of gluttony time to cutback on the amount I put on my plate! You know you're in trouble when your swimsuit feels tight! For now on Egyptian food only ! Have I said that before? Well this time I mean it, though our wonderful guide Mohammed promises us that all extra will be shaken off of us as we hit the desert in our 4 wheel drives!

Sunburn temples obelisks airplane rides traffic jams hiking and merchandise hawkers! And finally a seat on the pool deck of our barge the royal viking our home for the next 3 days with a Sakkara( beer) and a view of the lit up temples at Aswan on the west bank of the Nile-sorry for the lack of blogs but alas , no wifi ! We are now in Luxor. Wi fi for today then out to the western desert- I've seen so many amazing things that I don't know where to start . I will ...

First to let you know, the blogs are a day or so off the wifi is good but we're so busy I don't have time to get to it. Yesterday , day 2 going by my outfits worn, we visited the tomb of Teti and the great architect Imhotep 's museum. We also saw the step pyramid and 3 of us all woman( I was probably the youngest of all, climbed into the red pyramid, quite a feat. The most exciting however was the drive there through small towns getting ready for the Eid ? Some...

Today Saqqara, and the temple of Imhotep! I have gotten myself more organized as have we all. Carrying less and leaving most on our very secure guarded bus by a tourist policeman with an oozie , by the end of our trip he was taking pictures for us.