The last stop this day was at the Ramesseum, opposite Qurna. It was already late in the afternoon when we got there, the sun made the granite glow with a golden light. Visitor were few and soon we could walk around alone and peacefully.

The place is ruined to a large degree, most of the walls showed reliefs of the Battle of Kadesh and there is an enormous piece from a fallen gigantic statue of Ramesses II just by the entrance. You can see the cartouche on its shoulder. Then the well-known sight of the head in dark granite sits on the gruond in front of the Hypostyle Hall, looking somewhat forlorn.

Inside the Hypostyle Hall the upper part of the columns still carry color. Our guide pointed out how the ceiling seems to be floating by itself, as it rests on hidden fundaments on top of the columns. This is something you can´t see in the Late Period temples. The builders seemed to have lost the ability to make it this way.

Strangely enough there were no local guards. I can´t remember anyone trying to "guide" us around or beckoning to us to follow. They normally try to leave you in peace when they see y ou have your own guide along but here I didn´t see any of them. These older men are employed by the Egyptian Authorities to act as guards in the temples and ruins. They get a small salary but are always happy to find ways to earn a "baksheesh". We didn´t see any young boys among these guards, they all seemed to be at least 40 and way above. Maybe the young people try to find better means of survival.

Finally our car made its way back to Luxor across the Horus Bridge. It had been a long, wonderful day, full of light, sun, wonders and good conversations.