"Illusion, reality, everything, nothing"

"Golden sands sparkling as with precious stones, azure sky speaking of distance immeasurable, incalculable ages behind, inconceivable ages before, death beneath us, rebirth above us, illusion, reality, everything, nothing - the desert spoke it all".

So relates the heroine as she departs the pyramids on a camel riding into the desert in "The Breath of the Desert".  I found the book lying in a stack in the bar in the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor.  Written by H. Clayton East and published in 1911, before the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, she may have been even more effusive about the “illusion, reality, everything, nothing” had she seen what came out of that tomb.

The hotel has a collection of books owned previously by the Luxor Library (there was a library stamp on the inside cover), an institution probably gone long ago into history, a victim of changing visitor demographics and, more recently, the smart phone. I came across quite a few resident expats, Brits, Germans, an Italian, so there may still be a community library running somewhere in Luxor
 
I had walked across to the hotel for a first and only beer since arriving in Egypt.  The place retains much of its charm from the days when people (or at least very rich people) travelled and encamped in hotels for days or weeks at a time.  “Electric light and lifts. Large gardens. Tennis.” runs an advertisement in a frame on the wall.  The list of notable guests hung in the hallway starts with Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922, and runs through to others like Rudyard Kipling (1929), the Aga Khan, Kemal Pascha (a.k.a. Ataturk – I didn’t think he took holidays), Jacqueline Kennedy, John Malkovich, Nicholas Sarkozy and "Al-Gore" (as his name is written).
 
Today was a full day visiting Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple.  Fascinating history but one tops out at some point on hieroglyphics and the unending vanity of the pharaohs and who and what followed them.  Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see what new insights are being uncovered and how these continue to change the understanding and interpretations of that period of history.  There’s a plan being implemented to link the two temples along their original access way across the city of Luxor and it’s going to be spectacular when completed one day.

I wasn’t sure whether to lead with a blip of the sunset over the Nile (the 15 minutes of light at sunset is the most special of the day) but decided instead to blip the image of tourists in horse carriages: the cart drivers' prevalence and persistence define so much of the experience in southern Egypt.  “Avoid them they’re all bad news”, said my guide. Which I did.  Nonetheless, I guess they're only trying to make a living.

Extra blips include Howard Carter, last light over the Winter Palace, sunset over the Nile, an image from Luxor Temple of domesticated cattle, locals dressed up for a normal day, and a view of the public ferry which crosses the river to the West Bank (rides cost one egyptian pound, or five cents).