The museum and the Luxor Temple are open till 9pm

The museum and the Luxor Temple are open till 9pm.Getting around Luxor by bicycle will allow you to get up to the Karnak temple, and around the west bank, where most of the sites are. Hire a bicycle for EGP5-10 (pounds 1 or pounds 2) per day, and get the ferry across the river. All of the tours will take you to at least three tombs in the Valley, but there are many more worth seeing, so two trips is a good idea.Some of the best tombs are from the early 18th dynasty (around 1,500 BC), including those of Amunhotep II and Thutmose IV.Independently, it's possible to get out to the Valley of the Kings by bicycle, but don't try it if you're not used to cycling - it's not much fun when you have a headwind, it's 45 degrees, and the springs start poking through the saddle on your hired bike. The other option is to walk, or take donkeys over the cliffs into the Valley. This should only be tried in the cool of the early morning but at least you get to see the sunrise for your trouble. Luxor donkeys have been bred carefully over centuries to bring out particular character traits, and Luxor bicycles are usually more intelligent.Finally, the west bank has some great sites which few tourists venture to, and the tombs of the workmen who carved the king's tombs are amongst the best in Egypt.Try to see the massive temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, with its 3000 year-old paint still fresh on the walls.WHAT TO DO IN CAIROA FANTASTIC (and unusual) place to start your holiday is the Cairo Tower, on the island of Zamalik. Built in the late 1960s with Russian help, it offers a view over the whole city, and all the way out into the pyramids.This way you'll start your holiday on a more cerebral and scenic plane than most visitors, who spend their first hour in Cairo traffic on their way to the pyramids at their busiest time.If you're on an organised tour, it'll include a visit to the Egyptian Museum.

However, two visits are a good idea whether you're travelling in a group or independently.Most guided tours look at the treasures of Tutankhamun, and then it's back to the bus and on to the carpet shop. There's lots that you'd miss on a single trip, like the mummies of the greatest pharaohs of Egypt.Nearly all of the pyramids are near Cairo (there are nearly 40 major pyramids), and the two pyramids of Dashur are not to be missed. Built when the Egyptians were still experimenting with pyramid building, the first was started at too steep an angle, and had to have a rather major design change half way up, hence the name: "Bent Pyramid".The other is nearly as big as the Great Pyramid at Giza, and the massive burial chamber can be appreciated in spooky silence, without hoards of other tourists They can be visited in a half-day taxi trip from Cairo. Taxis are easy to use, and cheap - EGP60 (pounds 10) or so for half a day, plus a tip of 10-12% (tipping is very important in Egypt, for any type of service).The famous Pyramids of Giza are visited by every tour group, but it's hard to appreciate them when surrounded by other tourists and the din of coaches. Instead, go in the evening, when it is possible to hire camels or horses and go out in the desert to see the sunset - and take some arty photos.. MY SILENCE last week was not brought about by any lack of subject matter.

Instead I was enjoying the considerably better weather in the south of Spain. There, as here, there is much concern over the way in which income from investments has declined For the average UK ex-pat the effect has been dramatic. Spain is in Euroland and pre-EMU convergence brought interest rates down with a thump. True, the European Central Bank has moved them up again, but deposit interest is nothing like that to which many people became used. Investment providers have been inventive in their endeavours to deliver higher returns to a market that is, perhaps, not as well educated as it should be. The situation over there seemed little different to here, with high-yielding corporate bond funds clearly much in demand, not always with positive consequences for investors.I doubt many fully understand that these high-yielding funds achieve the yield premium over British Government securities by purchasing bonds of a lower quality.

Managers will say underlying portfolios are well diversified, with professionals at the helm.I have no argument with that, but the reality is when interest rates start to tick up, as they have done recently, this end of the market tends to get hit more severely than higher-grade bonds.But the real trouble is that the underlying investor has little understanding of this. The most vulnerable find themselves seeking those investments that inevitably carried the higher degree of risk. No wonder elderly people, dependent upon their investment income, and seeing their living standards declining with it, are seeking alternatives, ones often beyond their true comprehension.Take the latest run of derivatives-based products. This is financial engineering on a grand scale, more suited to the trading floors of multi- national banks than the drawing-rooms of little old ladies.Put simply, an investment product provider will create an investment instrument which invests part of its portfolio in zero dividend bonds, or similar, to guarantee as far as possible the return of the original capital, using the balance to acquire positions in the futures market that will enhance the overall portfolio return.In particular, there are a number of products within which "put" options are sold against various market indices, thus creating value within the portfolio to distribute as income. The risk, of course, is that the put is "called".In other words, that the market in question falls and the investment portfolio has to make good losses that might have been incurred by the purchaser of the option.Confused? Imagine how a retired, 70-something widow feels.Selling a put option in these circumstances is taking a bet on the market in question not falling. The buyer of the put option is effectively insuring themselves against potential loss.If the market does go down, they will be paid by the seller. A number of recent products have included option contracts in a variety of markets, including London and Europe.