December 19: Luxor, Egypt

December 19,2009 \(Sandra): We have a few hours in the Egyptian airport and thus can work on our blog. Two highlights: Walk along the River Nile Promenade, viewing the cruise ships, felucas (old Egyptian sailing boat) and ferries - the same river Cleopatra sailed along. We enjoyed watching a young boy play on the water with his small play feluca (see picture). Souk/bazar/market. We walked along the tourist souk and the local Egyptian souk, next to each other. They differ in the floor, the merchandise, and the clientelle. The tourist souk had an even, clean floor surface, colourful and abundant merchandise and many tourists. The 'in your face' hassling was unbelievable! The local souk floor was seriously uneven, cluttered and difficult to walk along. There was less merchandise and few tourists. This was an eye-opening experience, especially for K and A. We bought a few pashminas (decorative scarves), wonderful aroma-therapy ground cinnamon, a tamarind ball, some hibiscus flowers for tea, and some saffron. We also observed local artists painting hieroglyphics. We are all healthy and doing well and looking forward to meeting Tante Karin and Onkel Klaus in Germany for Christmas.