A question for anyone who has done the Red Sea coast to Luxor run under their own arrangements rather than the ship's. We call at Safaga in early November and are given roughly eleven hours ashore. The ship's own excursion covers the Valley of the Kings and Karnak and has us back by six. I am tempted to arrange a private car and guide myself, chiefly so that my wife can sit down in the shade whenever she needs to. She manages about two hours of walking before that becomes the only subject of conversation. What I cannot pin down is an honest figure for the drive. I have seen three hours quoted and I have seen four and a half, and the difference matters a great deal when the gangway closes at seven. If anybody has timed that road in the last year or two I should be very grateful indeed. We are in no hurry to see everything. One temple done properly would suit us far better than four at a trot. I should add that we have no interest at all in the alabaster workshop, which I gather is sometimes folded into the day.
