Much better than expected, we think when we meet the driver who was organized by the handling agent already 30 min ahead of the appointed time in the hotel lobby. Even more surprising that our trip to the international airport of Cairo only lasts 30 min instead of the one hour it takes under normal conditions. So we assume - with some luck - our flight plan can be opened half an hour early at least.
The outside check proved that our engine cover really was a valuable investment. A thick layer of finest dust from Sundays sand storm covered our D-ESAY everywhere. The diabolical stuff really creeps into every corner. Luckily the critical engine parts were well covered by the cover. Only the dust on the aircraft surface and the wind shield has to be removed manually.
Ready for the engine start, apparently our aircraft is too small for Cairo International. The flight plan simply is vanished and remains disappeared even after intensive search of the Ground Delivery Controller. Some hectic telephone calls later and after our handling agent kindly insists we finally take off on time, unfortunately losing the time savings of the morning completely. We encounter best weather conditions en-route across the desert to Luxor International. After Cairos big-city hectic rush we find a shady little place with 35°C on the shore of the Nile one hour after touch-down. Cruise ships and sail boats pass quietly. It’s really difficult to motivate ourselves for the afternoon sight-seeing tour to Luxor Temple.
Thanks to Samar (our trip guide) we decided to have breakfast already at 05:30 to start our tour on 06:00 next day. Although we are not completely alone, we have a perfect chance to look at all the beautiful grave decorations. At 08:00 o'clock you really feel to be ‘cooked’ by the sun already. Then in the temples of Karnak we meet the usual 5000 tourists again… nevertheless this milestone of history impresses us deeply.