A long bus ride

Best sleep yet - all night undisturbed until the prayer call at 5.30 - and a rooster which refused to stop trying to wake the dead! Bit of a holdup after breakfast - the bus had a flat battery. But they got it going after five minutes. A Swedish tour group had also stayed in the hotel for the last two nights; they left just before us. The day is grey as we drive through streets littered with trash. People are heading for work. A grandmother in black robe is taking a child to school. Crumbling houses, dirty washing hanging outside. Motorbikes ducking and diving between other vehicles.

Suddenly we are out of town and there are green crops on both sides and a canal on the left. It really is intensive farming. Most crops are small and green at present. As everywhere, people smile and wave in response to our waves. A few sunflowers add a touch of colour. There's a field of mandarines surrounded by a brick wall. Yet another photo of President Mubarak. A group of boys jump up and down, shouting and waving as the bus passes. A group of white herons perch on the bank of the canal. At the next village a donkey pulling a cart full of green fodder has been stopped. A goat has its front feet up on the wheel of the cart; it's happily eating the fodder. We have caught up with the Swedish tourists but we're not going very fast.

By 10.30 the sun has broken through the murk. There are mountains in front of us. Suddenly we are in a city with highrise appartments of 6-8 storeys. There's a canal, lots of electricity pylons, oil tanks, modern office blocks. It is Asyut, pronounced As-yute. It has taken us two and a half hours to go 110km, which means an average of about 44 km per hour. Coptic Christians believe that on the flight into Egypt, Mary, Joseph and Jesus sheltered in caves nearby.

It's complicated being on the road. Rami explains that there are three different checkers: police, tourist and road security and we must stop at each. Each goes down the list. 30 New Zealanders. Going to... Your name and phone. Driver's name and phone. Okay. Go. Then they call the next checkpoint to advise them that we are coming. But it's all for our safety.

We go on and on and on and on. Eventually we arrive at the Cenotaph Temple of Seti I which was built during his reign from 1294 to 1279 BC. It's a fabulous place to visit, but the police have said that we must get on the road again in 1 hour! We are really put out, as this is one of the very special places to visit. We have to run to see as much as possible at a site which needed at least two hours. There's wonderful art and just outside is the Osireion, a symbolic tomb of God Osiris, which was discovered in 1902 and dug out in 1926. I run round like a mad thing taking photos "no flash".

We dash back to the bus on time, but the battery is flat again. About 10 men push and thanks be, it starts. And we're off. It's after 3 pm and there's a long way to go yet. We come to the Nile and for the first time it looks the width I'd expected. We cross over and follow the east bank south. There's a big mesa hill on our left and reed islands in the river.

As we travel south we see more and more houses with some colour. A few are cream or lemon or turquoise. White bricks are still much in use, but also other colours, some in patterns. There are millions of sugar cane plants. Ripe dates are hanging in great bunches from the trees. On and on and on we go.

Finally we are on the outskirts of LUXOR. The sun has set and as we drive through the city we pass the wonderful temple, floodlit! Magic! It has taken us eight and three quarter hours to get here! Our hotel is the Sheraton, really nice. I get on with my blog for the first time in some days. As I finish and walk out, Some of our group come down the street, looking for a meal. I join in and we find a very nice restaurant. The owner shoves tables together so that ten of us are seated and we laugh and joke as we wait for our meals. Wonder of wonders, there are cooked vegetables - only my second in Egypt. The waiter laughs as one by one we each order chicken or meat "with vegetables". He's thrown when John asks for fish "with chips."