Deserts, kings and temples...

Within half an hour of leaving Cairo (note, without getting lost!) we were back in the silence and vastness of the desert that we are known to love so much. The first oasis on the western desert loop was Bahariya which takes you back in time to a world of mud huts, donkeys and women shyly looking out their doors at the funny tourists going by. The ingenuity of these people in their decorative use of mud, cement and bricks is really incredible. We used Bahariya as a base to service the bike and enjoyed two days of peace and quiet after Cairo. The road to the next oasis takes you through the white desert which is breathtaking; the construction of the Romans and Pharaohs is something to see, but Mother Nature wins hands down each time. The dusty oasis of Farafra marked the end of the white desert and we wound on through the next day to the green and lush oasis of Dakhla where we spent the night being entertained in a Bedouin camp and enjoyed the local hot spring. The last day was a bit of a stretch to Al Kharga which wins the award for being the least attractive oasis by far! The desert loop is incredibly about 99% of good bitumen, an amazing feeling to fly along through sand, stones and so many colours. The tourist police were our constant friends with an average of 8 check point stops per day.

After 5 days in the desert even we as desert lovers were happy to see the green created by the Nile as we headed into the west bank of Luxor. We are staying in a time warp hotel that was built in the 1920’s for archaeologist digging in the Valley of the Kings; dinner is served on silver trays with dome lids by very attentive young men – bit lush really!

We spent today in the Valley of the Kings (which was sadly very disappointing) but then enjoyed the Temple of Hatshepsut and absolutely loved the Karnak Temple. From tomorrow we are really on the long route south, destination tomorrow is Aswan where we hope to finalise our ferry booking for Monday which will take us into Sudan.

Die Wüste…..

Wir lieben die Wüste und dieser Abschnitt der Wüstentour war ein absolutes Highlight. 1500km auf einem dünnen Asphaltband durch alle möglichen Formen der Wüste nur unterbrochen durch 4 Oasendörfer.

In der ersten Oase haben wir dann am zweiten Tag den überfälligen Service für das Motorrad erledigt. Wir haben uns Zeit dafür gelassen und früh morgens angefangen, als es dann dunkel war hatten wir es geschafft mit Hilfe unserer Taschenlampen auch noch die letzte übriggebliebene Schraube unterzubringen. (Vielen Dank nochmals an Harald für das super Training).

Am dritten Tag kamen wir dann in die weiße Wüste, einfach phantastisch!!! Die Menschen errichten großartige Bauwerke von denen wir schon einige auf unserer Reise bewundern konnten, die Natur schlägt sie alle.

Nach fünf Tagen hatten wir auch diesen Wüstenabschnitt geschafft und waren froh etwas Grün zu sehen. In Luxor haben wir uns dann wieder ein paar Altertümer abgesehen: Das Tal der Könige, den Tempel der Hatsepsut und den Karnak Tempel. Vom Tal der Könige können wir leider keine Fotos zeigen da dort das Fotografieren verboten ist.