Monthly Archives: November 2010

What an early start! A 6:15am wakeup call to avoid the heat and the crowds at the world-famous Valley of the Kings. It was short drive out of Luxor to the West Bank of the river, over the Nile Bridge where the business of the day was already taking place.

Just after 8:00am we arrived at the Valley of the Kings, with the temperature already a balmy 25C and the crowds gathering. Due to the heat and the weekend tourists, there were literally hundreds of people there by 8:30am. With so many people visiting, the Egyptian authorities know how to manage the queues, with groups moving efficiently without feeling rushed or uncomfortable.

The Tomb of Rameses III was probably the most impressive of the tombs we entered. Not only is it vast but it is decorated with complex hieroglyphs and images which must have taken many hundreds of man hours to complete.

The highlight for any visitor is without doubt the small chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Although the tomb is somewhat smaller and less impressive than the others, you still get a feeling of how it must have been for Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon when they opened it in 1922. The body of the boy Pharaoh has been returned to the tomb in recent years, but the treasures remain in the Museum in Cairo, which we also include on some of our cruises.

Our next stop was in Deir El Bahari, a short drive from the Valley, where we saw the magnificent Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, one of the most successful Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. This site often receives less publicity than the Valley of the Kings however the temple is a magnificent example of ancient architecture and construction.