HOLIDAY BLOGS: Valley of the Kings and Queens

This is the ultimate part of an Egyptian tour. The valley of the Kings and Queens. It is the valley that is filled with tombs of Pharoes and Kings of the past. It is something to behold. We went into 3 tombs, Ramses ix, Ramses iv and Merenpta

h. We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the tombs but if the price was right, the people there would probably let you do what you want to do. I had one old guy take my hand and press it to the wall of King Ramsis tomb for luck and told me not to tell anyone. For an extra price we visited one chamber of King Tutankhamen. It was a beautifully painted room.

http://www.jimloy.com/egypt/kv.htm

We also visited 3 Queens tombs and saw the house that Howard Carter lived in when he discovered King Tutankhamen's tomb.

Unfortunatley my picture is not a good one as I had to take it while we were driving past it.
There is a link below with a short peice about Howard Carter.

http://griffith.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/gri/4hcart.html

After seeing the valleys hidden treasures,

Yasser took us to an Alibaster factory.

This is a factory that produces pots and statues from this almost indistructable rock. The men working there do all the work manually. They very kindly showed how a peice of Alibaster was transformed into something very beautiful.

Colossi of Memnon

Our next stop was the Colossi of Memnon. These huge statues once stood either side of the entrance to Amenhotep III's mortuary temple. They are something to behold. It is a shame they have not withstood the weather and test of time but are still spectacular to see. The size is very clear when you look at the people below.

http://www.akhet.co.uk/memnon.htm

The temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Queen Hatshepsut or Queen Hot Chicken Soup as Yasser called her was unique. She made herself King and is depicted with a beard. She sounds like a remarkable lady and was probably ahead of her time as she was living in a time when men ruled. She took charge of her own destiny. Siobhan is pictured with one of the many guides around the temple. Siobhan gave a tip to him for this picture which is customary everywhere in Egypt. Click on the link below to find out more about her.
http://www.bediz.com/hatshep/story.html

It was a very sad day as we had to say goodbye to Yasser f

or putting up with our westernised ways and for me at least attempting to speak the language but I did it so badly to the amusment of the Egyptian people. We will miss Yasser the most for his broken English, He had a unique way with the language and was often talking about the Egyptian god Hathor who had a "sun disk between 2 hornies". His English was far better than my Egyptian.

Also to all the staff on board the liner who had treated us so well and took care of us. We have 3 of us who are vegetarians and they obliged us with the most wonderful veggie meals we have had for a long tim

e. Thank you

Yasser and the crew on the Sonesta St George all of you have been wonderful.
We left the Sonesta St George cruise ship and headed for Luxor airport where we would fly to Cairo to stay in a third hotel, The Cairo Marriot. Tomorrow we would meet our second Egyptologist and many more