Hotel Habou – Valley of the Dead, Egypt

Having spent the first days of our expedition to Egypt in Cairo, it was time to venture to other parts of the country. Next on the agenda was an overnight train ride from Giza to Luxor, where he would visit the Valley of the Dead, the site of King Tut’s tomb, as well as many other rulers of the ancient kingdom.

Arrival in Luxor was greeted with an empty stomach and sunrise! After a delicious breakfast at the Winter Palace, we found out that there was no hotel for us for the next night. As is the case in third world countries, our hotel reservations were canceled without notice. I don’t think we ever had any, due to construction delays, the hotel we were going to stay at was not finished yet. The reservations had been made assuming the hotel would be open.

It was decided that the only thing to do was to leave our luggage in the lobby of the Winter Palace! With much reservation and assuming that my possessions would never be seen again, that is what I did.

They assured us that rooms would be found for us by nightfall, so after a hearty breakfast in the spacious but sanitary restaurant, we set off to see the sights of Luxor and Karnak.

After spending the day visiting Karnak and wandering the streets and not seeing my valuables for sale in one of the local shops, I was pleasantly surprised when I got back to the hotel, my luggage was still in the middle of the hotel lobby, untouched.

A friend John and I were met at the gate by a fellow traveler who informed us that the manager of the Winter Palace owned a ten-bedroom house on the other side of the Nile in the Valley of the Dead, if we wanted we could drop by! the night there! WOW! Visions of crystal chandeliers and white-gloved butlers flashed through my head, oh my!

The evening itinerary included a sound and light show at Karnak. As the night drew to a close, the adventure was about to begin. Returning to the Winter Palace, a bellhop escorted us to the riverbank, where a small boat was waiting to transport us across the river. Nile, where our room, chandeliers and butlers awaited us! The ferry, something straight out of the “African Queen”, was extremely crowded with standing room only! Somehow I started to get the feeling that this could turn out as I had envisioned!

Landing on the other side, it was only a short ride in a super subcompact car to our hotel. When we pulled up in front of the hotel, all my visions of chandeliers and butlers vanished!

This place looked like a condensed version of the Alamo!

All the rooms were occupied, we all had to split up, it would be boys with boys and girls with girls. Me, being the outsider, was chosen to share a room with a young Englishman!

It was getting late, time to go to bed! Another surprise awaited me, the open door there was my bed, a double size cot, with a large cat lying on a mattress that can best be described as “highly inadequate”. The cat immediately made a squeak and bee lined up to the door as the manager tied the window blinds up with string. That will keep that pesky cat out, not to mention serial killers and thieves!

I tucked my camera and gear bag under the bed and against the wall, put the strap around my arm, knowing I was safe from thieves and prowling cats, settled in for a good night’s sleep.

Sunup brought a surprise, he had survived the night! It’s time to shower, shave, and eat breakfast on the sunlit patio!

The plumbing in Egypt is quite crude, upon entering the communal bathroom, I noticed that the pipe supplying water to the bathroom was too short, the water was running all over the floor instead of falling into the sink, not our usual custom in the US , we are so spoiled !

We’re going back to Cairo tonight, I think I’ll wait to shower and shave until tomorrow.

After a nice breakfast in the patio, I realized that we were in front of the Habou Temple, what a surprise! It was darker than a black cat in a coal bucket last night and no one saw it!

A day awaited us to visit the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens as we eagerly boarded our bus, then headed back to Hotel Habou where the rest of the group would meet us for dinner, after enjoying a good meal. It was a short trip across the river to the train station, our train was waiting to transport us back to Cairo.

It has been quite an experience, quite unexpected, whenever I think of Egypt, Hotel Habou always comes to mind, along with the warmth and hospitality shown by the Egyptian people.