Hard Sell

Memphis Tours always builds in shopping time to support the local economy.  The crack salesmen at the Thutmoses Perfume Palace have perfected a surefire routine.  To soften us up, they invoked Chanel and Boss, who use the same scented oils to create their top dollar fragrances.

Ahmed instructed us not to bargain because the government had established the prices.  I intended to buy only a perfume bottle as a gift.

But after watching a glass blower, sniffing a lot of pleasant smells, sitting through a therapeutic demonstration and indulging in a complimentary 10-minute massage, I felt obligated to buy a bottle of mint oil.  Four or five drops in a cup of boiling water can soothe a cold or flu, first by inhaling the aroma, then by gargling with the water when it cools. We'll see.

Nora and Kwesi seemed more at peace about their purchases.  If I had been smart, I would have stayed on the bus like Sari and saved $60!

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut, one of the few queens to rule ancient Egypt, had to grow a beard before the priests took her seriously.  But if pharaohs are judged by their size of their tombs, she ranks up there with the best.

Is that rouge on her cheek?

Hatshepsut covered all her bases.  In death, she's depicted as the goddess Osiris, who promised resurrection after death.  

Thom posed with our new friends, Sari, an American journalist from Rome (far left), and Kwesi and Nora, a couple from Ghana celebrating their 10th anniversary.

I found a kindred spirit upstairs.

Here's Hathor, a goddess with the eyes of a cow.  More about her later.