Egypt: Valley of the Kings & Temple of Hatshepsut
The Valley of the Kings is one of the those magical places that you grow up hearing about: The curse of King Tutenkhamun. You can imagine how thrilled we were to spend time there!
It was a scorching hot day, even in the morning, when we entered the hidden valley to find an area containing 60-odd tombs. Knowing that the crowds would gather as the day wore on, we headed straight for King Tut! Incredibly, we actually had the place to ourselves! We descended steep steps to enter two rooms of the tiniest of tombs. Hard to imagine that so many artifacts were crammed into 4 small rooms. The sarcophagus chamber was covered walls and ceiling with beautifully colored paintings of King Tut making offerings to the Gods. Alas, no photography is allowed in any of the Valley tombs because the painted walls are over 3000 years old and mustn’t be allowed to fade. As a special treat, in a glass case right with us in the tomb, was the mummy of Tut himself, with his head and hands uncovered. Spectacular! Apparently they only bring him out every few years.
We climbed back out and spent some time exploring a couple of other tombs. By now, long lines had gathered as we all trudged down steep steps or ramps into each tomb. The crowds couldn’t detract from the amazing colours painted on the walls. Some of these tombs must have taken decades to paint. Almost every inch of every room and corridor portrayed a scene or God, many showing the challenges that await the Pharaoh in the afterlife. We visited Ramses VI and Ramses I.
Then we headed out of the valley to visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, amazingly restored from ruins by the Finnish, I believe. It has a spectacular location, beneath a cliff at the end of a long valley, looking out toward the river. This day was our hottest in Egypt and by the time we had finished exploring we were almost dead from heat exhaustion.
