Well man, it has been a while. Where was I? Oh yes, Luxor. That was pretty cool. Whilst at the same time being fiercely hot. The first day in Luxor was spent bouncing around on the back of a donkey taking a tour of the Valley of the Kings. The VOTK is astonishing, mainly to see the lengths that the Egyptians went to never to have to visit their relatives again, and the desert scenery is stunning but what made the day for me was the donkey derby. It is virtually impossible to look cool when on the the back of a donkey, and my rear end will probably never recover (despite spending most of last summer learning to ride the donkey's larger relatives), but if you get the chance to race a donkey leave your style and street-cred in the hotel and do it. You won't regret it. Laugh? I nearly died! (literally)

Other things we did in Luxor:

Watched an excruciatingly tacky light show in the Karnack temple. The temple itself was very impressive, however, and well worth a more traditional visit.

Went food shopping by hoarse and cart. Pretty cool. From now on all my trips to Tesco will be conducted thus. It was also a new experience when shopping for fish to have a catfish handed to me still wriggling and then watch while it was coshed senseless, behedded and gutted with a cleaver whilst I was standing surrounded by hung remains of various parts of camels, cows, and other less recognisable gore strung out along the sides of the street. A far cry from vacuum packed supermarket offerings and closer to a scene from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

At least you know its fresh, eh?