The next morning at around ten, our party of nine assembled and rented bikes from a dirty little shop down the street from the hotel. It was a mere nine pounds ($1.64) to use one for the entire day. Although this was unbelievably cheap, we got what we paid for, and not much more. These were old school, one-speed contraptions with iffy brakes. Mine had a bell, marking it as the deluxe machine in the group. Our plan was to ride these suckers to Karnak, an ancient temple complex on the outskirts of Luxor. It had been years since I’d ridden a bike, and I was a little nervous about my ability to cope with the traffic conditions we’d be facing. After a quick test drive, I decided I’d be ok. I checked out all the other bikes while everyone got adjusted. Brakes ranged from unreliable to nonfunctioning, and I had Mike get more air for his back tire since it seemed a little low. Everything else seemed fine. With everyone assembled, we plunged down the dirt ramp that led into the main street, and took off.
The bike ride was a trip. I’ve never experienced anything like the thrill of cruising through the rough, rocky streets of Luxor dodging trucks, motorcycles, buses, horse-drawn carriages, donkey-pulled carts, pedestrians, and other bikes, all the while trying to stay with the group. It felt like a scene from an action movie. After some initial confusion during which our party was separated, we made it to the paved road that would take us out toward Karnak. I rode ahead with Tim and Jordan, weaving through busy intersections and gliding between massive tour buses. So much fun.
We finally reached Karnak, where we left our bikes at the gate. The temple is my favorite tourist attraction in Egypt so far, and I expect that it will maintain that position. It doesn’t matter whether you know a lick of history or not – this place is impressive. Colossal pillars, elaborate hieroglyphics, ornate obelisks, and stunning statuary surrounded us at every turn. The place was jam packed with tourists like ourselves, but it was fairly easy to sneak off to quiet areas. I found a way to climb on top of one of the temple’s large chambers, which afforded an excellent view for pictures (which I would include if they didn’t take an hour each to upload).
After we finished up at Karnak, we rode back. Most of the group headed to the hotel after lunch, but five of us kept the bikes and took them on a ferry across the river to the west bank. Our goal was to reach Banana Island, which was rumored to be more of a peninsula. We weren’t positive how to get there. We rode out a ways until we reached the outskirts of town and then pedaled along a narrow dirt road parallel to the Nile. This was a rural area, filled mostly with palm trees and fields of tall sugar cane. Enmeshed in this scene were rich adobe-colored houses that fit perfectly into their surroundings. As we glided by, the men scattered throughout the fields and the women and children sitting near the houses shouted and waved to us. Kids ran along the rode with us, clapping and smiling. The scene was idyllic, serene, and I felt out of time for a moment, as if an illustration from a fantasy novel had come to life around me. I have probably never been more out of place anywhere in Egypt, but nowhere did I feel so welcome.
Eventually, we reached a small town, crossed the river again, and from there headed toward the “island.” It was protected by a tiny cluster of dwellings, which seemed to be inhabited mostly by small children occupied playing all kinds of indiscernible games. At the sight of foreigners, they abandoned their amusements and swarmed us. They were mostly dirty and shoeless, although one tiny tyke had a Spider-Man mask on. They babbled at us in Arabic and scraps of English, and tried to climb on our bikes. We stopped to entertain them for a few minutes, then tried to move on. This was difficult, as they clung to the back of our bikes, whether to detain us or amuse themselves I wasn’t quite sure. As we made our way away from their homes, they chased us and began signing a song:
Hello! Hello! Hello, hello, hello!
Hello! Hello! Hello, hello, hello!
As adorable as this was, the light was dying and we still had to make it to the island and back to the hotel. We extricated ourselves and made our way down a steep incline and around a sharp curve. A mass of greenery came into view separated from the bank we were riding on by a small land bridge. I coasted across and up to the fringe of the trees, where I was met by a cool wave of fresh, banana-scented air. Success! It looked like a jungle in there. We were ready to dive in, but wait, where was Mike? We looked back and didn’t see any sign of him along the path we’d ridden. After a few minutes, I called him.
“Yo, where are you?”
His reply, in the most excited voice imaginable: “I’m playing soccer with little kids!”
Lord help us. He finally made it to the island. It looked like a really neat place but we didn’t get to explore much, as we were quickly accosted by the island's residents/owners, who demanded money. We left rather than pay them anything. The ride back was relatively uneventful, and I think we all slept well that night.
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