Before we made our way back to the east bank, we went to the Ramesseum (Ramses II very own memorial temple) just to realise that tickets were not sold at the entrance itself and thus we could not enter. The guard at the sentry was kind enough (for a baksheesh or tips of course) to let me step in further to take a couple of photographs. With the mid-day sun scorching on us (there was hardly any shade nearby), we took another taxi (this time it was a passenger van) and it got us back to the pier at Al Gezira for E£10/S$2.50. We also alighted at the Colossi of Memnon for a brief photo stop and had a very good lunch at Pizza Land; this restaurant deserves special mentioning because of the value-for-money pasta they serve (had a Bolognaise spaghetti for E£7.50/S$1.88).

In a way, there were no other major highlights for the rest of the day. We got back to the hotel at 4.30pm (sun sets around this time during winter) and took a much-needed nap. When we woke up at 8pm, we went for dinner and found this nice joint selling Kushari (made of brown lentils, chickpeas, macaroni, salsa and a topping of Egyptian garlic & vinegar and spicy tomato sauce). Inexpensive and popular (see 4th photograph below), it is often acknowledged as the Egyptian's national dish. We end the evening by walking to As Souq (and beyond) till 11pm (somehow there were still quite a lot of people on the streets) before retiring back to our lovely beds.

Had the usual breakfast and checked out of the hotel. Headed straight to the station to catch the train to Aswan at 10am. Tried to take some photographs at the Luxor Train Station but was stopped by a policeman. Again, the baksheesh (E£2/S$0.50) did the trick and after the photos taken, the policeman even helped us get on to the train!

We definitely got a (pleasant) surprise after boarding the train. Although we were in the 2nd class cabin (E£33/S$8.25, 3 hours) to Aswan, it looked so much newer and cleaner as compared to the "1st class" train that brought us to Luxor from Cairo. As it was a day train, there were a lot more opportunities to observe the Egyptian countryside especially when the train is running just beside the river. While the land immediately beside it is often filled with lush vegetation or well-tended fields, the landscape will become drier and barren as one gets away from the river. This is probably not a big discovery; but a simple realisation on how important the Nile is to Egypt's fortunes.