The West Bank and Valley of the Kings

It's 6:45am. The telephone rings to wake us on our first morning in Egypt. Needless to say the sun is shining and we have a fantastic view from our window (port hole !) over the River Nile, towards the West Bank and the Valley of the Kings. Breakfast starts at 7am and we have to be in reception by 7:50am to meet our guide as we start our first excursion. Our guide, Aassem (Sam to his friends) introduces himself to us. He is a qualified and registered Egyptologist and he is going accompany us on all of our excursions during the stay in Egypt.

Once on the air-conditioned coach, he tells us about our first stop - the Temple of Queen Hatshepshut. As we travel along the West Bank, Aassem tells us a bit about his country, about its history and lays down a few guidelines about our trips. Every site, he says, has a "tourist trap" where we can haggle to our hearts content - after the guided tour ! Punctuality is important - the boat has to sail on time and the itinerary is a very busy one.

He gives all of his groups a name and decides to call us Amentie which means "Goddess of the West". Amentie prepares the dead before the long trip to the hereafter. She's often presented as coming out of a tree carrying food and drinks. Amentie is a merciful force who helps mankind like Hhat-Hhor, Iset, Maat, Sechat, Neith, Selket and Nephtis. Unfortunately there are other darker forces but these are always outnumbered and outsmarted by the benign One and ones.

He also seems to take a particular shine to my daughter, who at 14 is the youngest on the boat and is interested to learn that she is studying archaeology at school.

And, so on to our first stop - Queen Hatshepshut's Temple, or as Aassem calls her, Queen "Hot Chicken Soup". Entrance to the site, just as Aassem had said, was through a mini-bazaar with lots of touristy things that one could buy. Obeying his instructions, we walked to the main entrance where we saw our first sight of Egyptian security. There were a number of guards armed with automatic weapons and each of us had our bags searched. Not really suprising as this was the site where 62 tourists were killed in 1997 and it was reassuring to know that the Egyptian government cares about its visitors. Despite Aassem's warning, the guards didn't seem to consider my daughter as a terrorist in disguise !

This is the view from the second level. On the day that we visited, the third level was closed for restoration work. Nevertheless it's was an incredible sight and much bigger than I had imagined having seen it on television. These photographs don't do it justice. It must have been magnificent when it was built.
	View from the first level

The hieroglyphs behind the columns can still be very clearly seen and they retain their original colours. None of the colours are retouched as although we know the materials used to make the paint, we don't know the recipe. Consequently, it is a world wide rule followed by all Egyptologists and archaeologists that none of the colours must be touched up. I found it amazing that after 3500 years, the colours are still visible and vibrant. I don't think my decorating will still be around in 5500 AD !! The hierolglyphs record Hatshepshut's expedition to Punt and a tree stump from a tree brought back by her can be seen in the grounds.

Hieroglyphs inside Queen Hatshepshut's Temple

We couldn't leave Hatshepshut without a group photograph ! Our guide, Aassem is the distinguished looking chap on the front row with the dark shades ! This was taken about 10am and it was already very hot !
	The obligatory group photograph of the Amentie group..and no I'm not saying which one is me !

Leaving Queen Hatshepshut behind, we boarded our coach and headed towards the Valley of the Kings which was something I had been looking forward to. Again, we ran the gauntlet of the bazaar but there was also a refreshment shop on the site. We were taken to the entrance of the valley by small road trains known as "chuffas", very similar to those used in Disneyland (but somewhat worse for wear !). Arriving at the entrance, it was a bit chaotic but Aassem gave us our tickets which entitled us to enter three of the many (62) tombs. If you want to visit the tomb of Tutankhamen, you need to purchase a separate ticket (40 Egyptian pounds or about £8). Having come all this way, there was no way I was going to miss it. However, you can't take your video camera into the Valley of the Kings, so leave it on the bus if you can, or you must leave it with security at the entrance. Also, if you want to photograph inside a tomb, you need another ticket at 5 Egyptian pounds (about £1) for each tomb. Note that flash is not allowed !!

We were escorted around the first tomb (of Seti II) by Aassem and it was a bit busy so we had to wait to enter. He explained about how the tombs were built, who 'lived' there and gave us a brief explanation of the hieroglyphs. He also showed us some of the 'booby traps' included in the tomb's design to dissuade tomb robbers but went at pains to stress that these usually involved dummy walls and deep pits and not the sort seen in the Hollywood movies which always seem to use sophisticated machinery !

	The entrance to The Valley of the Kings... note the natural pyramid overlooking the resting place of the kings. That one is definitely not man made. The group of people on the lower right are waiting to enter Tomb No 62 - that of the boy king, Tutankhamen which is actually underneath the tomb of another pharaoh which is why it remained intact for so many years.
The entrance to the Valley of the Kings - King Tutankhamen's tomb is in the foreground

So what about King Tutankhamen's tomb - the only tomb in the Valley occupied by the original resident. Well, it was great to experience it and see the sarcophagus and wall paintings, and to say I've been there but I was a bit disappointed. I was also a bit annoyed about being asked for baksheesh when they took my camera off me at the entrance (as no photography is allowed inside), by the attendant inside for showing the entrance to one of the ante-chambers (which I had already seen) and by the camera "guards" when they gave me my camera back. So, unless you're really keen, don't waste your £8.

Overall, I would have liked to have spent more time in the Valley and visited more of the tombs. On the day, it was a bit rushed and I would have liked to have seen more. Perhaps on my return....

After The Valley of the Kings, we were taken to a shop which produced a variety of items from alabaster. We were advised that the shop was reputable and that if we had any complaint, both the tour company and the cruise boat company would seek full redress and exclude the shop from future tours if they did not comply. Here we were given an interesting demonstration which involved the owner dropping his wares on the floor tiles, to prove that his products were real stone as the floor tiles broke and the product didn't. Looking at the state of the tiles, he had done this many times before ! We were also offered complimentary Egyptian tea. This was also our first experience of bartering and Aassem advised us to aim for about 30% of the original asking price. We picked up a statue of Anubis, with an apparent asking price of 145 Egyptian pounds (about £30). Eventually we ended up with two statues for 135 Egyptian pounds (about £27) but I suspect we didn't do very well with our bartering skills and could have done better as Aassem gave my daughter a small alabaster cat and two necklesses with no complaint from the owner !

The final stop of the day was the Colossi of Memnon. These two statues are all that remain of the Temple of Hamenhotep III and sit in sugar cane fields at the side of the road so are free to visit.

The right statue was damaged by an earthquake in 27BC which caused it to 'sing' at dawn and it was believed that it was Memnon singing for his mother Eos. Unfortunately, it was repaired in 199 AD so the singing stopped.
	The Colossi of Memnon

So our first morning of site seeing came to an end and we returned to the boat, ready for lunch and for our first sail along the Nile through the Esna lock to Edfu. We spent the afternoon on the sun deck, with afternoon tea and biscuits served at 4pm - shades of colonialism here ! While we were "parked up" waiting for our turn to enter Esna Lock, our boat was surrounded by small rowing boats, all wishing to sell us gallebeos and Egyptian dresses. This involved throwing them on to the deck and throwing them back or throwing the plastic bag back with the money in. My wife and daughter bought one each for 20 Egyptian pounds (£4) which was cheaper than those on the boat which were about double, but do check them first as we were warned that some may have been worn .... and not washed !

As we entered the lock, I videoed it, but I was being shouted out by a policeman... somewhat worried that I was about to be arrested, I beat a hasty retreat until I realised that he was asking for baksheesh, which for a European was very strange to see a policeman acting this way. After passing through the lock, we attended the Captain's cocktail party prior to evening meal. Here we were introduced to each member of his senior staff. After the evening meal, which was beef soup, cheese souffle, veal, fried potatoes, green beans and stuffed tomatoes, followed by a crepe flambe, it was off to bed, ready for another early start !!