Luxor

I decided to make my way down to Luxor or 'Upper Egypt' (Cairo, which is north is 'Lower Egypt' because the Nile is the only river that flows up) .  I also decided not to stay in the touristy East Bank but on the West Bank, where there are just a few guest houses.  I had found one online called ‘Flower of Light’ and all the guide book said is that the proprietors had a different viewpoint.  I wasn’t sure what it meant, but I was up for the adventure. 

Sailing on a felucca 'up' the Nile

So I made me reservation. Later I decided I needed a ride from the airport to the West Bank, about 45 minutes away and I emailed the hotel asking for a ride.  They never wrote back, I thought ‘how can this person expect to run a business?’  So I set out with my 2 words of Arabic in a taxi with a driver who spoke 2 words of English.  It turned out to be a very interesting ride as he told me he knew where it was or rather when I asked ‘do you know where it is?’, one of his 2 English words was yes.  Armed with a map that didn't have 'Flower of Light' on there, many hand gestures, and possibly some divine intervention, we eventually made it to the ‘Flower of Light’.  

The mosque overlooking the garden

I was about to ask my hostess, ‘How can you run a business without checking email and providing rides to your guests?’  But when I arrived she informed me that not everyone makes it there, many ask to stay, but few are invited and some never find it.  It is only if you are meant to be there.  I thought that was an interesting way to handle this situation but when I walked into a magical garden brimming with jasmine and desert flowers, I was fine believing that I was special.    

My dinner companion after a trip down the chimney

My bedroom ceiling

The couple were from Ireland and left jobs  at IBM 5 years ago to follow a dream and  various ancestors’ footsteps to Egypt.  As I  was the only guest, I had many fascinating  conversations with the owners who would  cook up amazing vegetable dishes that I  would eat in this intoxicating garden that  was next to a mosque, with a cat as my  dinner companions and could hear the calls  to prayers.