Luxor

On the East Bank of the Nile, the modern town thrives among the temples to the living. Across the river, the western Theban hills, with their tomb and temple openings gaping black in the beige stone, are dedicated to the dead. They are a constant presence in Luxor, as are the clip-clop and jangle of horse-drawn calèches and the twittering of birds. Along the tree-lined Corniche, clusters of tall felucca masts hem the shore, and the boat captains approach and ask: "Other side?" When you cross the Nile to the West Bank you enter another world, where beyond the narrow strip of lush farmland lie the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens—awesome rock-hewn demonstrations of political muscle.