The Travelling Myrt: Cross Egypt Challenge Part 2

So far the riding had been pretty easy. The longest day was yesterday and was about 305 km.

The next leg was going to be the longest yet at 450 km. We woke up at 4:30 to get on the road. It was a pretty uneventful day really.

The only problem I had was the fact I am just toooooooo big for this little damned scooter! I end up sitting where the passenger would normally sit. This doesn't seem like a big deal but there is virtually no padding on the seat there so by the end of the day I am hurting.

We made it to Luxor no issues and it was a nice little place

Here is Peter and I waiting in traffic somewhere in the town

You can kind of see here me sitting on the back of the scooter. The other issue was sitting like that put a lot of stress on my shoulders so I was pretty worn out after a day like today.

That evening some of uf went on a quick little tour of the Luxor Temples

While we were walking around the temples I saw a few people dressed in traditional Ukrainian dress. I was hoping Olga wouldnt see them because then I knew it would turn into a gab fest...

Well of course she saw them and they started talking. It didnt last long, thank god, or so I thought.... Then one of the ladies came back and started talking to Peter, who is Austrian and knows no Russian. Olga and I were listening and I think we were both in shock. Olga wasnt translating and Peter was just standing there confused. Finally I told Peter that this lady was going on about how beautiful his soul was and that he is a wonderful and great man. It seemed really strange but Olga confirmed that is more or less what was said... It made for an interesting evening!

After that we went to a light show but I would say 99% of us fell asleep during the light show because we were so exhausted.

The next morning we woke up again at 4:30 for the longest ride of the trip, 510km

Most of the ride would be through the desert. IT WAS AMAZING.

I have always heard about the great Sahara Desert and for once the place lived up to the hype. As I was riding I was trying to put into words how beautiful and mesmerizing it was yet I was speechless.

It was unreal to drive along and see the mirages. You would swear just ahead everything was flooded. Yet we would keep driving and driving and never come closer the the great flood that was in front of us. The shear emptiness of everything around us was astounding. Then to imagine it just kept going and going and going like this wow it was marvelous!

It was also HOT I dont know the exact high but it was past 100F, 38C, and so dry. When we stopped for lunch I just wanted to find somewhere to get out of the sun. The best we could do was one of the chase vans

We made it to our destination Abu Simbal 90 minutes ahead of schedule. There isnt much there but this temple. I was saddened we werent there in time for it to be open so we could go inside. Instead we watched a light show. It was very interesting. This temple was one of the highlights of the trip! They statues and carvings were stunning and monumental. To imagine all of this was done with hand tools and manual labor I was flabbergasted.

Day 6 was a short day only 285km to Aswan. We were even able to sleep in until 5:00!!!

We were haeaded back through the desert again! We got started a bit early in the morning I believe and were ahead of schedule again. So it was decided to have a prolonged lunch. Not all of us were happy about this because it was hot and there was no shade but things could of been worse.