September 18
So today was - terms of what we SAW as much of a "WOW" day as any. In terms of the EXPERIENCE it was "just great." Why? Well, first.....I have to admit that we've have seen SO many things that are astounding and unbelievable that we probably are somewhat "numbed" to how amazing EVERYTHING is. With that said, today as we visited these amazing sites our guide Hany was prohibited from going into the tombs and so there were no stories, no history, no background. And so, as I said.....what we SAW - as much a WOW, the experience - just great :) We started our day early as we boarded the bus for a one hour drive to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank (as we are docked on the east). And in spite of how close it APPEARED, it was quite a little drive.
Once we arrived at the Valley of the Kings we went through the obligatory market and had to weave our way through the many vendors trying to get us to purchase their wares. Into the visitors center where we watched a very short (3 min) documentary with original footage of the excavation of King Tutankhamun's tomb. We made our way outside where our guide Hany had lined up the electric carts that take you about 200 yards deeper into the valley to the core of the 60 tombs.
Of course EVERYONE wants to visit King Tut's tomb and that requires a special ticket, which of course was provided by Viking. We descended the nearly 30 feet down two sets of old stair cases and ramps to arrive in the two chambers open to the public. In the one chamber, still sporting the many original colors in the paintings on the wall was the outer sarcophagus of the boy king. Then across the tomb there lies his mummy, resting peacefully. After ALL the years of teaching about him, all the books, films and videos it was truly something to be looking at the real thing. He's been lying here for over 1,300 years!
We climbed back out of the tomb and met with Hany who explained that our admission ticket to the Valley of the Kings entitled us to visit any three tombs on the site. Given our time schedule - as we had a very full day planned - it was recommended that (a) if we only wanted to descend one or two other tombs, as they were all much deeper and steeper, that was ok and/or (b) the three tombs closest to that of Tut were the ones most recommended. We opted to do two tombs. The one we choose NOT to explore was the very deepest, but for me the main reason was that it was not very decorated. So we made our way to the tomb of Rameses III. This tomb is triple the age of Tut's (over 3,100 years) and you descend about twice that of King Tut's burial chamber (about 50 feet). The walls and ceilings were adorned with many paintings and hieroglyphics and were something to see. We went all the way to the bottom but there was nothing there so we climbed back out and decided we had time to do one more, so we headed over to Ramses I tomb.
Now this tomb was much less decorated, but it was something to see the sarcophagus at the bottom in the burial chamber. And much like the Ramses III tomb the artwork still largely had the original colors. He had ruled over 3,000 years ago but the descent was some 400 feet down a series of very long and steep stairs. Not so bad going down, but it was a workout going back out!
We walked back to the shuttle point, caught the electric cart back and made our way to the bus about fifteen minutes before departure time. Several of us remarked how very well thought-out and organized Viking had made the day to see so much. Up early to get here before the heat of the day (it was 76 degrees as we left the ship with an expected high of 102 today). After all the climbing and spending 90 minutes in the sun or in the stifling heat of the buried tombs we had a 15 minute air-conditioned ride to the "Carter House" where archeologist Howard Carter had lived while discovering and excavating the tomb of King Tutankhamun. An easy walk into the house and meandered around for 15 minutes before back into the A/C and traveling about 20 minutes to the Valley of the Queens.
What was next was a real treat, and like SO many other things it's another reason why we so enjoy traveling with Viking. We were headed to Queen Nefertari's tomb which after being discovered in 1903 was closed to the public for ONE HUNDRED YEARS. When it opened in 1995 it was decided that the tomb would only permit 150 people a day at a cost of nearly $100. It is a "privileged access" adventure for Viking guests and our staff was up early to secure tickets for us. PRETTY cool - and that's because this tomb is THE MOST completely restored tomb on the West Bank. We descended about half the distance as the Ramses I tomb into the first level of chambers then another fifty feet or so to the second level, both of which featured walls and ceilings depicting the queen in various gowns and in various activities. It was breath taking for all of us as we all remarked that it looked like the paintings were at best a few years old. Just amazing.
The final tomb of the day was a fairly simple one but you HAD to appreciate the significance of the tomb in how it was constructed. Unlike the first four we'd visited today which were underground, the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut was a three level, massive temple-tomb carved directly into the side of the mountain. Not much art work nor statutes, etc. But to stand far back and look at this massive structure you just had to wonder. I said to Kim and our four pals as we gazed at just before leaving, "I wish I could have seen the reaction when Queen Hatshepsut stood here with her chief architect and pointed to the face of the mountain and said, 'Carve me a three-story temple INTO the side of the mountain!" What an undertaking.
Hathshepsut
We ended the day by stopping at the Colossi of Memnon. For centuries these two massive statues - look at the size of them compared to the tourists in the photo above, have drawn visitors. But it wasn't until a year ago that archeologists began to unearth the tomb they guard (you can see some of the work in the background). And finally get this - they were each carved from a SINGLE block of stone. If that isn't amazing enough, the rock that they are carved from is not found anywhere near by - the closest place to find that type of stone is 700 kilometers north, near Cairo!
After the hour bus ride back we re-boarded the ship at 2pm for a late lunch and immediately set sail for Esna, our destination for tomorrow's activities!
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