The other main sights to see long before the creation of the Aswan Dam
and Lake Nasser were Luxor, Thebes and Karnak and together with Jock
Grey I went to Cairo and booked up a trip at the YMCA. Our train
companions were an American, Howard Sorrel and an ATS girl whose name
now eludes me. We stayed at the Hotel de Famille in Luxor on an upper
floor. In the afternoon, hearing an unusual sound of human voices we
looked out of the window and saw a procession approaching at a jog trot;
this was an Arab funeral and the women were wailing. The coffin was
carried shoulder high by six or eight bearers who changed places
frequently, it was open topped but covered with a green baize cloth and
the occupant was having a rough ride, bouncing around in keeping with
the jog trot.
Later we were given an extensive tour around the antiquities of Luxor
and Karnak; then crossing the river by dhow and going overland by estate
car we reached Thebes and The Valley of the Kings. There we toured
several tombs including that of King Tutankhamen.