Valentine’s Day

 A planned balloon ride over the desert was cancelled due to the expectation of high winds. Consequently the scheduled 2am wake-up call was bumped back to 7am.

Following breakfast the day started with a water taxi ride to the West Bank of the Nile where our bus driver was waiting for us.

Our first stop was the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut a large terraced three story structure set into the face of a large mountain.While the first floor was mostly in ruins, the second featured several supporting columns and rooms on each side painted in a variety of colours with ceilings representing the heavens with hundreds of stars. On the top floor were several statues and an inner courtyard.

Our “educational” stop for the day was an alabaster factory complete with a humorous “demonstration” of the hand work required to produce a finished piece. We were then taken to a display area featuring hundreds of, (most likely) machine produced vases, statues etc. Having purchased several pieces on our trip to Italy last year it was a no brainer to realize the prices were inflated by a factor of 4 or 5, so anyone paying more than $25 for a $100 piece was not getting the bargain they were hoping for.

Having suffered through another hour of my life that I’ll never get back we  headed off for what was probably the highlight of the trip- The Valley of  the Kings.  The Valley itself was about 2 Km long, winding through some tall and rugged hills that were mostly sandstone. Covering a period of about 500 years (1600-1100BC) it contains the burial tombs of a couple of dozen members of Egyptian royalty including the tomb of King Tut. Many were located deep within the walls of the valley, some with false entrances and traps to deter robbers. (These hidden vaults were found to be superior to the pyramids as they were less accessible to the risk of grave robbery.

The entry ticket allowed visits to 3 toms in total, any extras requiring additional cost.

We visited 4 in total, All were entered by a fairly long (200 ft) tunnel with amazingly detailed paintings and hieroglyphics on the walls.

We chose not to visit the King Tut tomb because, a) lineups were too long, b) entrance fee was 3 x higher than other tombs but c) was the main reason- nothing much to see as most contents had been removed and were in various museums around the world. 

During our visit to the tombs of Ramses 5&6 there was a power failure, plunging everything into total darkness for several minutes while we were in the deepest part of the tomb. While the power stayed off for several minutes it only took a few seconds before people were flipping on their cell phone lights, bathing the area around the sarcophagus in a rather creepy half darkness. An actor in a mummy suit would have been a perfect accompaniment but sadly it didn’t happen. 

One must wonder how the workers survived in the darkness and oppressive heat preparing the tombs. As most of the entry shafts were fairly straight they apparently used polished copper sheets like mirrors to reflect light further into the tunnels. During our visit there were moderate crowds and outside temperatures of max. 20C. I can only imagine the crush and heat in late April, May when the number of tourists increases.

 Leaving the valley we made a brief stop to take photos of a pair of tall but fairly damaged statues of the pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife. Located on the West Bank just across from Luxor, the presence of pickpockets, vendors and begging children did not encourage a lengthy stay.

Returning to the ship, again by water taxi, we finally cast off around 2pm  while we were having lunch, heading south ( upstream) for the 200km (approx) trip to the town of Aswan.

 Shortly before 5 two locals in a row boat pulled alongside and tied on to the front of the ship, thus allowing them to be towed while they opened up and displayed plastic bags full of table cloths, blankets and jalabyas, while screaming prices at us while we looked down from the top deck. Calling counter prices passengers settled on an agreed price. The boatmen then tossed the requested product up on deck for examination. (Quite a challenge, as they were lobbing them from water level to the top floor of the ship.) If satisfied with the product the payment was placed in a plastic bag, the boat pulled in tight against the ship, leaving little risk of it falling into the river when dropped. Over an hour some dozen transactions were conducted in this manner- leaving the boat’s clothing and fabric vendor in a pissy mood because “ I have a business to run and these guys are selling polyester while my product is pure Egyptian cotton.”

 

He was a lot calmer later that afternoon when suckering us into buying clothing for a Jalabya party that night, several of our party dressing up like locals with full head gear and a two piece “Arab” outfit. They are amazingly comfortable to wear but I think they might draw some funny looks if worn while grocery shopping in small town Ontario!

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