Wake up call was at six this morning. I actually slept all the way through. After breakfast we headed out to the west bank of Luxor. In ancient times the east bank was for the living because that where the sun rose. The west bank was for the dead so that where the Valley of the Dead is. The ancient pharaohs stopped using pyramids because they were so big they attracted thieves so they starting hiding the tombs. We saw three different tombs, some of which hadn't been finished before the pharaoh died. The colours are fantastic, still vivid after some three thousand years. It was really hot in the valley. I was dripping sweat by the time we left and it was only nine in the morning. We were warned not to buy any of the stone figurines from the venders as they were probably concrete painted with shoe polish. After the Valley of Kings we stopped at an alabaster gallery where we could watch them make the real thing. I did buy a piece I'm really happy with.

Then we went to the Hatchipsu mortuary temple which is a huge complex for making mummy's. There are a lot of temples and mortuaries here because Luxor was the capital of Egypt for a long time. By this time we were sweltering. I almost wanted to give it a miss we were that hot but I'm glad I didn't. It was well worth the heat. The view from the third level was gorgeous. We couldn't see it but apparently directly across the Nile was Karnak. The mortuary had been build directly in line with the huge complex.

We were back to the boat just before twelve and set sail shortly after that.

The cruse is really smooth. I had heard the engines but didn't realize we were moving until I headed up to the roof where I could see everything moving past. I spent most of the afternoon in the pool on the roof which was divine. The water was cool and beautifully refreshing after the stinking hot morning. We must be travelling pretty slowly because we keep getting passed by all the other cruse ships. There are three hundred and twenty cruse boats on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan but the new minister for tourism has put a cap on it now so there'll be no more.

Cruising along is fantastic. There are maybe two dozen people on the boat so there's miles of room.

We passed through the lock around six and docked for the night at Edfu on the other side.

Dinner tonight was a six course meal. I tried, I didn't finish any of the courses but still I was so full I couldn't finish my main and had only a few mouthfuls of desert. After dinner the staff put on a Nubian musical demonstration. It was pretty good. Loud. They asked all the ladies up to dance.