Sophie’s World

 Wednesday 9 January 2008 at sunset

At sunset, we stroll over to Luxor Temple, smack in the middle of town. Talk about living in history. Karnak and this temple are at opposite ends of Luxor’s gorgeous avenue of sphinxes.

Two obelisks once stood in front of the pylon here at Luxor Temple. One you may have seen at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where it has been since 1836. It’s an interesting temple, with depictions of Ramses II’s war with the Hittites (in present-day Turkey). There’s a twelfth century mosque at one corner of the temple - The Mosque of Abu al-Haggag.  Even Alexander the Great shows up here, having created his own sanctuary in one of the antechambers.

That’s all I catch before I start to feel faint. Must have caught a bug. Most everyone does in Egypt. Also, a certain little person has gotten a heavy dose of temple fatigue. The only thing to soothe her is to be carried on someone’s shoulders. Luckily, big sis is a good sport.  Fortunately, this is happening right here in the middle of Luxor – a very easy place to return to.  

It appears I’ve got a bit of a fever, so I forfeit the last dinner and the farewells on board. Sad, but unavoidable. The girls do all those things without me. That’s something, at least.

Still Wednesday 9 January 2008

The Memnon Colossi are two, well, colossal statues, about 20 metres high, made from crystalline quartzite, that originally were part of a huge mortuary temple. They likely depict Amenothep III, who had this temple built.

2 025 years ago, an earthquake caused a huge crack in one of the statues. Interestingly, as the temperature rose in the crack, air escaped and caused a musical sound every morning. Food for mythmakers, indeed. In the Greek era, the ancient Greeks believed this was Memnon, the mythical Ethiopian king slain by Achilles at Troy. And so the singing statue of Memnon got its name.

About two hundred years later, Emperor Severus (the Romans had taken over by then) had the statue restored and no more singing. A little sad, don’t you think?

Since no singing can be heard, Cat starts looking around for something more interesting - and finds two young peddlers with grazing donkeys.

After lunch, we skip across the corniche to have a closer look at the fab Winter Palace hotel, another Agatha Christie favourite. Also, it’s where the closest cash machine is. The gardens are huge; green, tranquil and just beautiful. There’s even a sheesha-corner where you can lie lazily on sofas outdoors while indulging.

Sadly, tea on the large terrace overlooking the Nile isn’t served until 4 o’clock. There just isn’t enough time to do and see everything here in Luxor.

But Luxor is easy to get to, and we promise ourselves to return and stay a few nights at this superb hotel. Also, it’s much friendlier than the Old Cataract in Aswan. No entrance fee.

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Wednesday 9 January 2008 - really early Another morning up bright and early at 0500. Totally worth it to see the Valley of the Kings before the hordes. Except for the guards at each grave, we ... [Continue reading this entry]