Going to the desert? Bring a coat.

Did I mention it was cold?

Shortly after arriving I called the front desk to report that he heat in my room wasn't working. It's about 64 degrees in here, a temperature that doesn't agree with me. Oh, says the receptionist, we don't have heat. Would you like a blanket? Um, no I wouldn't. I'm not going to bed, I'm sitting and typing at my computer.

The temp here is 60-ish during the day and pretty sunny, but drops rapidly as the sun gets low. What I learn is that Egyptian hotels are designed to keep the heat OUT, not in. Most of the year it's unbearably hot, so when it's cool they just 'add another blanket.' I'm quite a sight as I sit here blogging in my room with one or two scarves wrapped around my head, wearing warm, fuzzy socks and a couple of sweaters. I make quite a picture. So much for the desert!

All of my previous blogs took place during day one and I'm not exaggerating that we were up for 36 hours. Thursday night I went to bed at 2:00 a.m. and slept right through till Friday 4:00 p.m. Yippee!

Friday was pretty quiet... tried to get my head on straight (unsuccessful); We met with Sarah to set up a trip to Luxor then chatted with this remarkable woman for a couple of hours. We are lucky to have her as our liason her in Cairo. Dinner followed at 10 p.m., pretty funny...an Italian restaurant in our Egyptian hotel. More chatting with newfound friend Raqsanna of Chicago..then off to blog at midnight and getting to bed again at 2:00 a.m.

I'm much too excited to sleep, and tomorrow Aurel and I head off to the Museum of Antiquities for the day...and then...our first chance to see Randa Kamel herself!