The girls at the Luxor school supported by OAT were delightful. Next week: Karnak) We left Cairo at 7:45 am. During the one- hour flight to Luxor the Nile River was on our right and the desert and the Red Sea were on our left. Luxor is the world's greatest open- air museum. This site of ancient Thebes is the home base for Luxor and Karnak on the east bank of the Nile and Valleys of the Kings and Queens on the west bank. These temples and tombs rival any historic treasures anywhere.

Thebes was the capital of Egypt from 2055 BC to 1213 BC, from Montuhotep through Ramses II, from the union of north and south Egypt to the Persian invasion, almost a thousand years. The modern city of Luxor sits astride the three- kilometer causeway that connects the temples of Luxor and Karnak. There are tourist hotels, backpacker hostels, gift shops, restaurants for all tastes and budgets, and the local market (souq).

By 10 am with the sun pushing the temperature above 80 degrees, our group of 24 left the Steigenberger Nile Palace Hotel and gathered with Mohamed Ali, our trusted guide, for a two- hour tour of Luxor. We could have spent two days studying its wonders, but time wouldn't allow it.

Warner smokes shisha in the Luxor souq. The central feature of Luxor is the Temple of Amon- Ra built by Amenhotep III and Ramses II for religious ceremonies. The avenue of sphinxes begins in front of the huge seven- story tall pylons which are flanked by statues of Ramses II and pink granite obelisks. The temple extends over 260 meters and includes multiple chambers, halls, and walls covered with stories of the heroics of the pharaohs.

After leaving the temple, we visited a school sponsored by our tour agency, Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). The K- 6 public school of 1070 students and 74 teachers welcomed us and acknowledged the support given by OAT and the US AID program. The children were delightful and burst into a cheer for Obama when we entered.

Linda and I had lunch at Maxine's, a restaurant in our hotel. The tomato orzo soup and lasagna were very tasty. Our hot air balloon trip was cancelled due to high winds so we napped and tried to catch up on the sleep we lost having to get up at 5 am to catch the plane.

The souq (market) in Luxor was full of interesting vendors. That evening was spent in the Luxor souq. Nazer and his horse, Nadia, gave us a breathtaking carriage (hantoor) ride through the narrow alleyways alive with vendors of all persuasions, hype, and fragrances. Linda and I stepped down from Nazer's colorful carriage and joined Ali and the others for a shish- kabob dinner.

The appetizer was shisha - a smoke from the Egyptian hookah. There was only one smoker in our group, but many of us avid non- smokers joined in the cultural experience. A ball of honeyed tobacco was placed in the clay bowl on top of the hookah and covered with a piece of perforated tin. The waiter placed some lighted coals on the tin and sucked away on the mouthpiece on the hose drawing smoke from the glowing coals down into the water jar. The smoke bubbled through the water and into his mouth. "Aaah, it is ready," he said and offered plastic tips to us.

Linda placed the tip on the mouthpiece and took a long draw. She coughed softly, then let out a few lit- tle bursts of smoke. "I never was much of a smoker," she said.

Paul the Vet was a real master at the hookah. He even blew a few smoke rings. Mary Jo huffed and puffed and got nothing but laughs.

I took the pipe into my hands and imagined myself a virtual clarinet player. As I

fingered Smoke Gets in my

Eyes, the warm honey mist curled out of my nose into the Egyptian night. Ah, how sweet it is!