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The relative lack of fellow tourists made our excursions more memorable which was prima- rily due to the fact that we were visiting at the beginning of the HOT season. During our visit to Edfu, we clocked in at 115 degrees, and yet Coleen managed to look flawless in her chiffon dress, heels, parasol and 20’s makeup. John was in various layers of pants, vest and jacket. Neither cracked a sweat. Me, well, any makeup that I had on had melted off my face and I was downing water like a camel returning from weeks in the desert. Who cared, this was all too fascinating! The week continued with one tem- ple out-doing the next. Each location seemed to top the last and the group grew closer each day with all of our activities on board and off, it was all so much fun. My highlight was Valley of the Kings. I was quite surprised to see how small King Tutankhamun’s tomb was (smaller than my tiny NYC apartment) and yet it contained over 5000 items in it. By contrast, Seti’s tomb was massive and contained the most exceptio- nal hieroglyphics that depicted the journey to the netherworld and passage to the afterlife. .
Our week was winding down and our final din- ner aboard the SS Sudan was a black tie affair with a sumptuous candle light dinner. After our dinner, we ventured off the boat to go on a spe- cial night excursion to Karnak Temple at Lu- xor. As we entered the temple, massive towering statues loomed large over you. Spotlights shown on the great ones and you could feel an eerie presence of the Gods and of those who walked those stone paths thousands of years ago.
The next day was our last in Egypt and we had free time to further explore Luxor or stay and relax at our hotel, the Winter Palace. Like the Old Cataract Hotel, this was equally as opu- lent. Designed and decorated to resemble a French or Italian palace.
The hotel has a regal aura -- grand hallways and lush tropical gardens that filled the expan- sive grounds. This 19th-century palace was
once a winter retreat for the Egyptian royal family and where Agatha Christie wrote her fa- med 1937 novel, Death on the Nile. It was from the imposing staircase that famed archaeologist Howard Carter announced he had discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. Some of us relaxed the afternoon pool-side while others went back to Karnak for one last archaeological fix.