Day 9. Sun 21st September
The Valley of the Kings.
Today we visit the Valley of the Kings, the most famous of the dozen or
so burial sites and monuments that make up the Necropolis of Thebes. To
avoid the worst of the heat (and, with luck, the worst of the tourists),
we are woken at 04:00. Two modes of transport are available, donkey or
hot-air balloon. I opt for the donkey, as I will have other opportunities
to take a balloon flight. For those who are only here for the one week
it is the only chance, and they grab it. (It is also possible to
reach the Valley of the Kings more conventionally by road, and a taxi is
a third option, but nobody takes it except Mohammed, the guide, who obviously
knows something we don't about the donkeys!)
We cross the Nile from the realm of the living, the east side, to the
west side, in ancient times exclusively for the dead. There is a slight
delay at the donkey stables while a suitable donkey is found for Oisìn
who, at 6' 4", finds his feet still on the ground when astride the standard
model. Finally we mount up and are off. There is a good deal of jostling
to begin with as each donkey has his favourite companion, and his favourite
position in the procession. A saddle of sorts is provided, but there are
no stirrups, and the ride is exceedingly uncomfortable (I suspect the men
suffer more than the women).
We ride up into the desert hills, and as the sun rises we can watch
the rest of our party ascending in their balloons.
The Valley of the Kings is totally surrounded by hills, and we look down
at it from the top before walking down - the final descent is too steep
for the donkeys. Up to 4000 tourists a day visit this necropolis, and already
it is becoming crowded. There is a covered area with seats just next to
the only toilet, and we sit in the shade and eat our packed breakfast while
we wait for the balloonists.
Our ticket entitles us to visit three tombs, not including Tutankhamen's,
which costs an extra 40EGP (£4). On advice from Mohammed we visit
Rameses III, Merenptah and Rameses IX, all New Kingdom pharaohs from the
19th and 2th dynasties, around 1200-1100BC. The carving and painting in
the tombs is quite amazing, but, as usual, we are not allowed to photograph
in the tombs as the light from the flashes gradually bleaches the colours.
The tombs are all apparently unfinished, and one theory is that this was
deliberate, representing the the belief that the life of the soul is still
incomplete when the body dies.
Tut's tomb is much smaller and less impressive - he was after all a
very minor Pharaoh, ruling for only 10 years before being murdered (so
it is thought) in his early twenties. The two inner sarcohpagi are present,
as is the mummy, but inside the sarcophagi, so we cannot see it. The outer
sarcophagi and most of the other treasues we have already seen in the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo.
After drinks and a loo break we set off back up the hill, pestered
as always by traders. I decide that a souvenir wouldn't go amiss, and buy
a scarab off a young lad for 32EGP, bartering him down from 55.
From the top of the hill we have a magnificent view of the Nile Valley,
and can see quite clearly how sharp the dividing line is between the irrigated
valley and the surrounding desert. We can also see several other ancient
monuments, including Ramesseum, built by Rameses II but now in ruins. This
was the monument that inspired Shelley to write his poem Ozymandias.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear;
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remain. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands strech far away.
A little further on, and we look down on the magnificent Temple of Hatshepsut,
the first female Pharaoh. It was at this temple that the massacre of the
tourists by terrorists took place in 1997. The path takes us down to the
temple and we spend half an hour or so looking round it. It is quite unlike
any of the other temples that we see in Egypt.
The donkeys are waiting for us just down the road from the temple. We are
told to ride the same donkey on the return journey, a request which causes
some little confusion as the donkeys have all been home since they dropped
us off, and the group that has come back is not the same - mine, for example,
is not amongst them. Also, additional donkeys are provided for the balloonists,
some of whom look like they wish they were going home by balloon too. Eventually
we are all mounted, and we head for home in the heat of the day. Martin
has quite a nasty turn at one point, but luckily we are just around the
corner from the stables, and a sit down and a cool drink soon revive him.
Once the donkeys are safely home we all have a drink at the Nile Valley
Hotel, where we will eat this evening, and then catch the ferry back to
the east bank.
After pizza for lunch we are free for the afternoon. Ian, Isobel and
I hire a felucca and go for a sail up the nile. There is very little wind,
but it is very pleasant to be on the water. Several of the others decide
to posh it ip, and go for afternoon tea at the Winter Palace.
We return to the Nile Valley Hotel for dinner. They have just opened
their second floor restaurant and we are apparently the very first guests.
The other Explore group are also there, and I run into the two girls that
I met at Athens airport on the way over. Their leader will be in charge
of the felucca group next week, and Maria will be taking over their group.
The meal is completed with a group of local musicians obviously laid on
for our pleasure, but they are truly dreadful, and we don't stay late!
