Our sailing felucca, being slowly pushed forward by the wind deliberately approached the middle of the river. At the scheduled time he was waiting for me. On the embankment I met Captain Ben and we agreed on a boat-trip down the Nile river in the evening. I bought a bottle of cold water and went back to Luxor. The cameras were continuously turning off due to the heat, and even in the shade it took them a lot of time to cool down. By noon everyone had escaped the temple, except me. The sun in the sky was getting higher making the stones extremely hot. Despite the ancient age, many fragments, sculptures and pylons are still well-preserved. The construction began in around 2,000 BC and lasted for 13 centuries. In fact, it is a whole city consisting of 33 separate temples and halls. Karnak Temple is really huge: it has the total length of 1.5 kilometres. Previously, the temples were connected by a large sphinx walkway. It is situated 2.5 kilometres from Luxor.

In the morning I headed for Karnak Temple - the main sanctuary of the New Kingdom. Twilight was descending, azan started to call for a prayer. I chose several good points, took some photos and then waited till it grew dark and illumination turned on to take some photos again. The tremendous sculptures and columns looked absolutely impressive. Later in the evening I went to Luxor Temple. I thanked him and promised to drop in later to have some tea. He was the one to explain the things I had just seen. In the market where I went to buy water, I got acquainted with Ismail - a textile seller. So, I would rather buy some water and return to the hotel. Well, I had seen enough, and it was getting too hot in the sunlight anyway. If you want, you can stand with us near our car and watch it'.

It is quite dangerous for you, a foreigner, to be here. But suddenly someone took me by the elbow. The festive procession was moving along the bank of the Nile, gradually deepening into the streets of the city. The stones appearing on the surface served as the foundation for the mosque. It was built atop the ruins of the ancient Amun-Re temple, which were covered with sand at that time. The mosque dedicated to him is also here. It turned out that it was 'Dora' - a festive march, veneration of Sheikh Abu Al Haggag, a rather respected Muslim saint and patron of Luxor. There were platforms with decorations, carts, cars and painted boats (they were carried on shoulders) all this was accompanied by songs and drums. I didn't hesitate to put on a bold face on and dived under the rope to join the parade. Boys were pulling the rope to fence the crowd from the procession. All of them were 'dressed' in scarves and ribbons all this festive procession was passing me by, accompanied by clamour and songs. And it was when the show began! A camel caravan appeared from around the corner. A crowd of people was running towards me, all of them had long sticks which they used to ride herds of camels. Just in case of something interesting might come up I took my camera with me.ДЄnd I did see something interesting. In the morning I went out to buy some water and have a look around. It felt like this taxi was last serviced back in the days of pharaohs: the rear view mirror was attached with a wire, the bumper was about to fall, the engine failed every now and then, but still, our car moved on! Finally, I entered my hotel room and being totally exhausted fell on a bed. Soon, after quick bargaining with a taxi-driver I cut the price twice and got into the creaking car. My flight was delayed and I arrived in the city in the late night. From Cairo, where I was photographing the pyramids and the citadel, I headed southwards in the direction of Luxor.

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