Day 182 - New Year's Day at Luxor Temple

January 05, 2019

Tuesday, January 1st, 2019

Today we took it easy in the morning. After a late breakfast, we walked to take the ferry across the Nile. Our apartment and a few other guest houses are on the west bank, but most of the city (all the hotels and commerce) is on the east bank. At first, we were going to take the public ferry but then another guy offered us to take us for the same price, so we agreed. Other tourists came and got on our boat. They were upset at the boy who was trying to convince them to go in another boat and pay him. I have to say, it's annoying the number of people that hassle you trying to sell anything!

We made it to the other side and immediately we saw the temple, right next to the road along the river, just like that, like was just a shop!

We walked around trying to find the entrance but we ended up at the mosque entrance which we found out was built into the temple. It was prayer time so we couldn’t go in to visit the mosque. The entrance to the temple was just around the corner. We had to pay to get in and of course, Gregory says something every time he sees that Arabs pay so little to get in while us tourists we get ripped off. Anyway, we paid and went inside. I wish we had hired a guide because I felt very lost with amazing statues, hieroglyphics and more…

In the end, I just decided to enjoy and admire the Egyptian writing and stories. There are very few signs explaining the temple and most are done by the University of Chicago. Another sad thing that I saw was a lot of trash in this amazing archeological zone. Finally, the last disappointment was not being able to walk down the Avenue of the Sphinxes. We didn’t know exactly why but it seemed under repair or something.

After we finished, we walked out to find a restaurant for lunch. We walked for a little bit and found a local restaurant. Maybe not a fancy or super clean, but decent. They told us to go up the roof, which was where they send all tourists, but it was getting cold so we wanted to sit inside. We all ordered simple dishes and enjoyed our food. My mom sent a boy to get her Diet Coke because the restaurant didn’t have it. Everything was fine until the bill came and of course, Gregory got up to discuss the price. I was mortified because I wanted things to go smoothly with my mom here. I’m sure Gregory surprised the manager when he started to read the menu in Arabic! The manager even admitted that he was charging "tourist prices" that weren't on the menu. I was mortified and my mom offered to pay the exaggerated bill. She said that it wasn’t expensive at all (about $35) but I explained to her that that wasn’t the point, it was the fact that they were ripping us off. My mom didn’t think it was worth it and I kind of agreed with her but at the same time, we are so tired of these double-standards in Jordan and Egypt. My mom’s argument is that they are very poor and need the money, which is true, but at the same is just not honest!

Anyway, after a few minutes with a local and a few other Westerners also complaining about their bills, we ended up paying 300LE instead of 550. What bothers me is that a pleasant meal turned into unpleasant after the bill and now every time is time to pay something, I worry about how Gregory is going to react! [Gregory's note: Lili is really exaggerating here. We haven't seen this situation where the guy totally blows off the menu and makes up a price! I mean, I've seen these guys make up prices, but not when there's a menu. As long as the prices are listed, that's what I expect to pay. But they expect some negotiation, it's their culture. Lili is just embarrassed to do it.]

The next thing to do was to find an ATM. It took us a while to find one that would work on New Year's Day! Finally, we found one. By then, I was so tired, feeling sick and overwhelmed with the constant noise and smells. I could see that my mom was very tired as well and wanted to go back home. We decided to split (I was nervous about it) and my mom and the kids went back to the boat with a horse and carriage while Gregory and I walked to find the grocery store.

A very nice Egyptian man guided us to the supermarket. When we arrived and we wanted to tip him, he wouldn't accept the money and apologized for all the harassment by the locals. I just couldn’t believe it. He said he was from Hurghada and explained that he also felt overwhelmed in Luxor. We told him that we wanted to offer him something to drink and he said that he was the one who wanted to invite us. We told him that we didn’t have time and we just wanted to do groceries. We filled up the basket with the basics, at least for breakfast. I couldn’t think straight. I just wanted to go home but we still needed to find a ride home. We got a taxi to the ferry. We took the public ferry and then walked a short distance with the groceries. We had dinner in our apartment.