A New Millennium in Egypt

Journal: Monday 6 March 2000

It’s a new millennium, or is it? I thought that was next year, but hey, everyone seemed to be celebrating the end of the century at New Year. Anyway, I’m back in Egypt with my friend Jenny. Just like me, Jenny couldn’t wait to get back here and we started making plans and checking out flights as soon as we got home at the end of October, this time travelling once more with Egyptair and staying in a hotel in Luxor. Good old Egyptair. We arrived only two hours late after being held up for some unexplained reason at Heathrow, but that’s quite normal.

It was late when we arrived in Luxor and I was worried that the taxi I had arranged to collect us from the airport would be long gone, but the dear driver had checked our arrival time and was there waiting for us outside the terminal. I was so pleased to be here that I don’t even remember driving into town. We had booked a room in a small Egyptian run hotel on the East Bank, the New Radwan on Sharia Manshea near the railway station. If people ask where the hotel is I will say that it’s next door to Twinkies. Everyone knows Twinkies, the most exquisite patisserie in Luxor. The New Radwan may be a little less glamorous than our last hotel, the Sonesta, but it has been recently refurbished and is very clean and comfortable and the friendly staff were very welcoming to a couple of tired and disheveled travellers. With a double room for only LE80 (£4.00 each) a night, I knew straight away that we had made a good choice. The Sonesta last year was beautiful but I always felt a bit uncomfortable telling the locals I was staying there. I could see the dollar signs light up in their eyes! Added to that I felt that my clothes, after a day crawling around the tombs, didn’t quite fit into those luxurious surroundings, where most of the clients wore business suits. I still prefer the smaller Egyptian hotels as they have much more character and it is nice to get to know the staff.

One thing that surprised me getting here late tonight is that it is very cold. I hadn’t expected the temperature to be so low. I hope it warms up tomorrow. Jenny and fell into bed around midnight after unpacking. Neither of us felt like going out into town, which is very unusual for me.