Guest Book

Your practically a local now

"Luxor makes a good base from which to explore pretty much the whole of Upper Egypt - that's from Abydos to Aswan - and more. Mara House became my little home from home from which I ventured out, mainly across the river to the west bank, where I walked, cycled, motorcycled, bused and taxied all over the place visiting temples and my friends in Qurna, the community of people whose villages ring the ancient Theban necropolis on its eastern flank. (visit www.mandoxegypt.wordpress.com for more stories about all that.) One could also ride (horses or camels but that ain't really my thing)

Whereas West Bank and Qurna is a very much more rural, very quiet experience. Mara House is situated in the Inner City right behind the very busy railway station and just 15minutes walk up El Nozri to Luxor temple and the lively area around the souk where little restaurants like Ali Baba offer has nice food (Egyptian or International) and beer plus one of the best views of any restaurant.

So I lodged my entire two weeks at Mara's where they looked after me very well. I was in room 4 - one floor up on last time - very nice quiet room - with a large glass topped dinning table on which i could lay out my books and laptop. Very comfortable there.

I also had the opportunity to go on one of the longer day trips to Abydos in the company of Mara, Mohammed and Amr. There should be links to some film of this on the mandoxegypt site or youtube. Journeying to this famous pilgrimage site has long been one of my ambitions. The journey on this new desert road was fantastic - desert scenery all the way then a gem of a temple - with not one but two guides to show me the special bits. We had a lot of fun and even managed to step briefly onto the Osireion, which was dry.

Several hours there wasn't enough enough and I must go back - if only for more gossip from Mara (but I am a nerd). We then got to Dendara for last two hours - which is best time to see it - more than enough there to keep one busy for the day.

Coming back in rush hour I think on reflection I'd get off at Jazeera on the west back and catch the public ferry over and walk back to Mara's rather than spend an hour via Luxor Bridge which is quite far upstream. Even so its probably a detour one should make at least once - just to see the bridge and uptown or is it downtown Luxor.

Many thanks to Noor, Asdar and Sahry for looking after me so well in the Hotel. Keeping my room looking so fresh and providing such nice breakfasts every morning and tea whenever I needed it. Coming back late I'd often get a call from Sahry just to make sure I was OK - which is nice really - people in Egypt really do go the extra mile ... thank you - hope to see you all on my next expedition."