It is HOT here! Renee was outside for less than 3 seconds before declaring that she would not be setting foot outside during the entire trip, particularly as her family is distantly related to polar bears and as such were not partial to temperatures over 100 degrees. Of course, there’s plenty to see inside too!
We’re staying at the Luxor. It looks like a giant 30 storey black pyramid with giant sphinx out front, it’s supposedly one of the city’s first fully-themed mega-resorts. It’s right between Mandalay Bay (where the wedding will be) and Excalibur (where some other members of our group are staying). AND it is all connected by tunnels and walkways and a tram. (Renee is much relieved).
Karen, the bell hop was telling us about how MGM had bought out the Luxor and it was now in the midst of renovations to make it a little less “egypty” and attract a “younger clientelle.” I thought that kind of sad. The old egypt-themed restaurants, the Isis and the Sacred Sea Room are gone. In their place…CatHouse. <insert sigh here>
As you may know, I love ghost stories about various places we visit. Previously, the Luxor had a Nile River Tour with a boat and a winding river inside the pyramid. It was removed as a part of the renovation but one of the rumors is that it was removed because guests kept seeing ghosts of the three workers killed during the Luxor’s construction whenever the river passed through dark tunnels. Cool, eh? Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) no ghosts were seen by us.
But some of the original design is still very prevalent so I’m glad we were able to go and experience it before things change too much more.
Obelisk and Sphinx inside the Luxor pyramid
Nice blog. Can’t wait to start my own blog.