Christmas Day

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do today, so I set out walking towards Luxor town centre. Much to my surprise, after the jackal and the hawk of previous days, as I crossed the road by the entrance to Karnak I came across a black cat sitting in the undergrowth washing itself. Bast! 3 times is no coincidence, the gods are looking out for me. I walked on knowing that I had to come back to Karnak later. Against my better judgement, I decided to hire a Caleche.

The Caleche is a horse drawn carriage, aimed squarely at the tourist market, that presupposes that there is some kind of romanticism in being taken for a ride – literally and figuratively. Having experienced the behaviour of Caleche drivers last year, I am not sure why I elected to take one. After haggling the man down to an agreed upon 5 pounds Egyptian for a 3 kilometre stretch, we set off. Initially it was the usual “where from – welcome in Luxor” conversation, (although I should have been warned perhaps, when he asked me if I was looking for sex) until, with a kilometre to go, the driver wanted to know about baksheesh for his horse. I asked him to stop and let me off, whereupon he demanded his 5 pounds plus 5 pounds English for the horse. He then demanded 100 pounds Egyptian and started shouting. I gave him his 5 pounds Egyptian and another 5 pounds Egyptian for the horse and jumped off the Caleche to much cursing and swearing. I really should have known better.

My walk from here to the Luxor Museum was a joy as I strolled along the river fending off offers of taxis, caleshes, feluccas, motor boats and alarmingly an Egyptian wife.

The Luxor Museum, although small, is a delight. Well laid out exhibits cover the New Kingdom, mostly 18th Dynasty, from the stele of Kamose, who was instrumental in the expulsion of the Hyksos, to the Wall of Akhenaten, made of blocks recovered from Karnak. I left the museum for the weekly market in the middle of Luxor.

A riot of colours and smells mixed with manic hooting hits you as you step into the Souk. Again being the only European meant I was the main target for every stallholder, which meant a lot of Laa Shukruns (No Thanks). Again I must point out, that in no way is this threatening, everything is shouted with a warmth and a sense of fun. I cannot tell you the number of conversations that ended with “next time?” “maybe!””maybe next life?” and mutual laughter. It really is good to be here again.

I couldn’t finish without visiting Karnak once more. I found a taxi, dropped the price to 15 pounds – no extras – no baksheesh and headed back. In a short space of time I have become a regular with various shopowners calling “hello Sous Africa” and even the ticket seller said welcome back. I resumed my search for relevant broken masonry among the thousands of pieces lying outside the main tourist area until a guardian told me I wasn’t allowed there. Then he offered to take me to a closed chapel. The chapel was to Khonsu, the son in the Theban Triad (Amun, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu). From there I headed East, in the direction of what was once the Gempaaten, to the Temple of Osiris, another closed temple with some fine wall inscriptions. My third “off the tourist trail” site was the Temple of Ptah and Sekhmet. Amazing – instead of asking if I wanted to “take photo” he asked me if I wished to pray. This place gets stranger by the minute. I had to pay baksheesh for all of these private visits, but it was worth it. I think after 3 days of Karnak, I have done most of it.

Saying goodbye to Karnak, I headed west to my regular dining spot for coffee and some time to watch the Sun begin to sink over the necropolis as the endless river flows towards Cairo and the Delta.
I leave tomorrow.