Once more two hours on the bumpy road back to Qena which we drive trhough to reach Dendera Temple. It´s a clean and beautiful twon. Our guide, who has his home here, tells us with a certain pride that two years ago Qena got a certificate as being the second cleanest city on the EARTH! The first one was an Asian city, perhaps Singapore, I don´t nkow. And we believe him, the city is very different from what we´ve seen sofar. True, here and there signs of wear show but the streets are clean and orderly, nowhere do we see the rubbish and mess so frequent in other places.

At the Dendera temple a newly built Visitor´s Center is receiveing us. A long, paved acess road leads up to the temple and only a small number of salesmen wave their shawls, t-shirts and booklets at us. We walk slowly through the temple, time is here a bit better but not engouh, for the convoy has to be back in Luxor before sundown. Mohammed, who has grown up in Qena, greets the guards everywhere, they all know him, there are happy smiles and handhakes everywhere we go. He points out all the interesting things to be seen at the temple, and up on the roof (Dendera is the only temple where the roof is sitll open for visitors, he can point at the ancient stairs of stone, and tell that when he was a boy, he and his friends used to rush up there and get a god look over the environment. Nowadays, there is a metal ladder to one side but no one is allowed up there on the highest part any longer. That is a pity for that is the only place where you get a good view over the Sanatorium and the Sacred Lake.

To get up on the roof where the New Year´s Kiosk and the Osiris Chapel is, you use the winding stair on the western side, but to go down, you use the western one which is much longer but not at all steep. Both stairways are decorated with images of the Bark of HetHert being carried by priests, led by the King.

Again there was not enough time to look at everything. I missed walking around the temple outside and so missed seeing the small temple for the Birth of Isis. Once again, I have to go back.

Not until we were done, did we see there was a couple of cruisers waiting on the river. Some cruises take you to Dendera over the day or so. Had we but known.... Another thing which we didn´t know, is that there are separate convoys to Abydos only and to Dendera only. Had we known this, we would have used them instead, for they will give you much more time at each place, as they do only one place per day.

On the waya back to Luxor, there were no checkpoints any longer and the police left us before we reached Luxor. Mohammed could tell us that there are suggestions about taking away the convoys and "make the roads safe" instead. I just wonder what that would require. Though perhaps with cars whiere the brakes don´t fully work (ours) and with the incredible pace that these convoys keep, it´s strange that not more accidents happen.