11. Three Days in One: From Aswan to Luxor to Cairo to Amman. (12/28/22)

Greetings –

We prepared for a really difficult Wednesday, by getting back to our room at BenBen earlier than usual; getting totally packed by about 9:30 pm and showering so we could get up at 5:00 am to catch the boat and meet up with Allah to head back to Luxor to get the plane to Cairo and then on to Amman. But once again, hot water for just three minutes, We moved to a much, much less luxurious room that supposedly had hot water, but that too turned out to be hot water for only a few minutes. Anyway, we managed to be ready at 5:00 am—taking the little boat with the outboard motor to the dock to meet up with Allah and head to Luxor (a drive that can take anywhere from 2 hours to 5 or 6 hours!… depending….) We knew that Allah was a little anxious, worried about getting us to the Luxor Airport on time. The hotel packed us a little breakfast in fancy turquoise bags—sort of like getting a present from Tiffany’s.

Then off we went. Allah explained that he was going to take us on their “highway” and that at times we would need to pull these black curtains closed on the windows in the back. We did it about two times and then on the third time, we could see him talking to a cop at a checkpoint, and we could see him holding a little packet in his hand (which I assume was some cash) but then he was on the phone… and next thing a guy came into the car and sat in the passenger seat next to Allah. He said “halo” to us, and then he and Allah talked as Allah drove. We were able to open the black curtains. Then the guy got out and Allah explained that he was a policeman and a friend and he was “escorting” us to the next checkpoint. I suppose the “cop” got out to repeat this process with another car. 

Foreigners are supposedly not allowed on the highway, and there are these checkpoints from time to time. Allah said that if he got caught with us in the car the repercussions would be minor, but we’d lose a lot of time. So this “escort service” was the solution. It worked and we made it to Luxor in record time—about 2.5 hours. We had so much time that Allah suggested he take us to either another temple or some other tombs we had not seen or to a factory where they mine and make things from alabaster. We opted for the latter which might have been a mistake; but we were tombed out and templed out by then. We were also pretty tired and the temples and tombs require a lot of walking.

The alabaster place was– as expected—a bit of a “show” with a very large Egyptian man explaining how they mine the alabaster and how they create objects from the stones and how they polish it, etc. He was an amazing sales guy… always saying we didn’t have to purchase anything, but that he just wanted to show us things.. But you feel obligated after having him spend time. The best part was that it was just us; we weren’t in one of the many other alabaster places that had a lot of big tourist buses outside. And yes, we bought three very small and very simple alabaster candle holders (which the guy kept saying we could fill with perfume at the base and then light the candle and have a very romantic evening!) When we looked at a slightly larger version, he stressed it would hold more perfume for an even more romantic evening.

Then Allah drove us to the Luxor Airport where we waited for the plane to Cairo. You have to go through about three security checks to just get into the airport and then onto the plane; shoes off (no TSA Precheck!); computers out; hand body scan in addition to the metal detectors. Finally we boarded the plane for the very short 75-minute flight to Cairo. We were in business class so they even serve a meal in that short time.

By the time we landed in Cairo at about 3 pm we were really beat. Our flight from Cairo to Amman would not be until after midnight. Hanging out for at the Cairo Airport or at the “VIP” Lounge just didn’t sound great, so we made a very spontaneous decision to find a hotel (hopefully right at the airport) to catch a nap and shower with real hot water. Fortunately there was a Le Meridien within the airport, so off we went. Turned out to be a really good hotel, and we were able to get an “hourly” rate, since we’d be there less than 12 hours (actually just about 7 hours). It was probably the smartest thing we did. And turned out they had a really good Lebanese restaurant in the hotel, so we had a good meal before walking back to the Airport to get the flight to Amman.

More security checks, more body scans, and a very funny requirement to sign a book and hand write our passport number—very bizarre, but everyone, Egyptians, Jordanians, and foreigners had to go through this step. The flight from Cairo to Amman was also short—another 90 minutes or so, but by the time we reached the hotel, checked in, and got into our room it was nearly 4 am. 

We are actually at the W in Amman – very glitzy and filled with mirrors and colored lights wherever you walk. Since we were going to be in Amman for New Years Eve, we figured we should be in a party hotel.. and that we are. By the way, our room would house a family of about 6 in an affordable housing unit, according to Mike. The bathroom itself is probably the size of a market rate studio apartment. We are on the 29^th floor in a corner room with commanding views of the whole city. You enter the hotel at street level and then walk through what they call “the canyon” which is brightly lit with reds and purples and the spaces become narrow and then wide and narrow again—like a natural canyon!! 

More to come as we explore Amman

Fern