We had decided to try to get to the Valley of the Kings early so as to miss some of the crowds. It opens at 6:00 a.m., so we decided to leave the hotel at 6:00 and get there around 6:30-6:45. The downside of this plan was that we had to get up at 4:30 . . . a.m. . . . in the morning. We got to the lobby in time to grab some breakfast buffet, and away we went.

As we approached the Valley of the Kings we passed Howard Carter's house (see picture at right). It was Carter who discovered Tutankhamun's tombs and all of its fabulous riches. We arrived at the Valley of the Kings at 6:30 and there were already several buses in the parking lot. We got our tickets, which allow you to see three tombs. Ahmed suggested Seti I, Rameses IX, and Siptah. We wanted to go into Seti II, which is supposed to be really nice, but it was closed for renovations -- as was the tomb of Nefertari, Ramses II's favorite wife, who is buried in the Valley of the Queens.

We went to Siptah's tomb first. It was fairly simple. It consisted of two long, straight corridors, followed by a very short corridor and a room with four columns. There was a false door in the far wall of the columned rom and a ramp in the center of the room going down to the burial chamber. In the burial chamber there was the stone lid of Siptah's sarcophagus. A mirror was placed on the floor so that you could see the inside of the lid, which had the figure of a godess carved into it to protect the pharoah. All of the walls and ceilings in every room were covered with scenes of the pharoah's good deeds and offerings. Many of the scenes were both painted as well as engraved. This tomb also had a mummy inside it of one of Siptah's henchmen. It was off in a niche on the side of the second corridor.

Next, we went to see the tomb of Seti I. Seti's tomb was unfinished at his death, he only ruled for three years. When the pharoah died the workers stopped work on the tomb, and just do whatever was necessary to bury the pharoah. Most of the walls were rough-cut and had not been plastered over yet and the columns were only partially finished. the design was similar to that of Siptah, except twice as big. There were two long, one short, one columned, a ramp down, followed by two long, one short, a columned, another ramp down, and then the burial chamber. Everything past the first ramp down was closed off, but it was very rough, looking more like a mine-shaft then the nice neat squared-off corridors that were completed.

The last tomb we visited was that of Rameses IX. Anne went to see Rameses III instead. This tomb had better preserved artwork, including a picture of the sky goddess arching over the Earth and other people, Gods, and Goddess, on the ceiling of the burial chamber. This was the only tomb we visited where there were a lot of people.

Neither guides nor cameras are allowed in the tombs. Guides were banned starting a few months ago because it became too noisy with multiple guides shouting to multiple groups. So Ahmed would explain the contents and interesting features of each tomb before we entered. Then he would wait outside, with my camera, for us to return. the valley was choosen because it was remote, difficult for potential tomb-raiders to find and get to, and because there is a natural pyramid-looking hill at the top.

Next we headed to Hatshepsut's Temple. As a general rule, cities, temples, and all things relating to life were built on the East side of the Nile, where the sun rose. Tombs, pyramids, and all things relating to death were built on the West side of the Nile, where the sun set. However, Hatshepsut's temple was a mortuary temple, so it was built on the West side of the Nile.

As previously noted, Hatshepsut was the first female ruler of Egypt. She frequently portrayed herself as a man (see picture at left) as a sign of strength. the temple is dedicated to Hathor and her husband Horus. Hathor is generally portrayed as a woman with large horns and a sun disk, she is the goddess of fertility and the harvest. Horus is normally portrayed as a hawk or hawk-headed man. The temple consists of three levels, the upper two of which are open to the public.

On the second level we watched some workers restoring parts of the temple. They would clean some of the scenes or replace missing stones. In the center of this level there are scenes detailing Hatshepsut's mission to Somalia. The scenes show the boats sailing to Somalia, laden with Egyptian goods, the much darker Somalians, the ships sailing back to Egypt with Somali goods three years later, and the now-tanned Egyptians.

When we were done, we headed out to an alabaster shop/factory. We were introduced to the main guy, and he showed us the three different types of alabaster (red, white, and green) and how they shaped it into various shapes. The two men shaping and filing the alabaster worked on it the entire time we were in the shop, and it certainly appeared to be real pieces they were working on, and not merely a show for the tourists.

We went inside and were offered the customary drinks. Then we were shown where everything was, and what the different products were made of. After that we were told to simply put anything we wanted on a table and when we were ready everything would be priced for us. This was a nice departure from the hovering, constant-pressure of the papyrus shop, and other establishments.

I found a cool green alabaster jar, about 5.5" high and 3.5" in diameter. It looked very dark, but when you put a light inside it it glowed brown, red, and green. It reminded me of prehistoric cave drawings, and I really liked it. I also picked out a smaller, 3.5" high, white alabaster jar in the same basic style. Becca picked out a couple of the small, white jars, a larger white jug with two handles, and a hole in the bottom to put a candle. She also noticed a black onyx vase that she liked if we could get it cheap.

The guy who gave us the tour totalled it all up, £235 for each of the small white jars, £695 for the white jug, £350 for the green jar, and £450 for the black vase, for a total of £2200 ($350). Of course, because we were such great customers, he dropped the price to £2000 ($320). This was a bit more than we were prepared to pay, so we replaced the white jug with one without the handles, and were down to £1700 ($280). We removed the vase, and were hoping to get to £1100 and he offered us £1100. So we replied that we thought £1000 was a much better price ($160). After some haggling we ended up at £1000. After counting up all of our Egyptian Pounds, we found that we had £1006 between us. So that left us a little low on cash, but we could always get more from the ATM at the hotel.

Meanwhile, Anne picked out the same jug that Becca had liked and ended up getting it, and some white alabaster scarabs for £420 ($80). They gave my mom a necklace made of turquoise-colored beads, and two to Becca and three to Anne, one for each child. I complained that I was not getting a necklace, so I got a scarab instead. Free is good.

Becca was still coughing a lot and had a sore throat. She had some of the mint tea and it really soothed her throat. However, her stomach was upset from all the medicine. Not knowing that she was ill, our store guide mentioned that eatting the mint grounds at the bottom of the cup of tea helped settle your stomach. Becca tried it and sure enough, it worked!

On the way back to the hotel we saw the tour bus that had ended up in the canal. It did not look in the best of shape as all of the windows appeared to be gone and it was festooned with dents. Next we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon. They are a pair of huge statues of Amenhotep III just kinda sitting in a field. We took a few pictures and then headed back to the hotel.

We noticed a couple of strange things about the houses. The first was that most seemed to have been left unfinished. There would be beams extending up above the roof as if they were planning another level and had not completed it yet. We asked Ahmed about this and he confirmed that a lot of houses were not completed. However, he did not offer an explanation. The second thing we noticed was houses without a roof, or just a thatched roof. This appears to be a result of the fact that it does not rain very often. The final thing we noticed was these decrepit looking brick huts with satellite dishes on top. They looked very out-of-place.

We had decided to take the optional tour to Dendera, except Anne who had decided to take advantage of the spa services for two-and-a-half hours. Becca, who was still not feeling well, decided not to risk another long bus trip. So mom and I had to be back in the lobby by 1:30 p.m. to meet the bus and get to the convoy by 2:00 p.m. As it was noon when we got back to the hotel, that left us 90 minutes to pack, check out, eat and meet up with Ahmed.

When we got to our rooms I got a call from the MISR Travel representative who said that he had gotten one of our rooms held until 4:00 p.m. So we moved everything into one room and headed to the Terrace for lunch. We ordered and then I headed back to the room and finished packing. Then I hit the ATM, checked out and returned to the table in time for my food to arrive. I got shish kabobs and fries. We were a little late leaving (1:45), but despite stopping by the MISR Travel office to drop off our bags we made it to the convoy with three minutes to spare.

In response to the terrorist attack in Luxor in 1997, the Egyptian government has taken steps to reassure tourists. One of these steps is the convoy system. All foreigners and any Egyptian married to a foreigner who wants to travel between certain places must join the daily convoy. This was what was showing up at the Karnak Temple on Saturday when we were there. The convoy is headed by a motorcycle cop, and there are a bunch of soldiers in a van in the back. In addition, every intersection is controlled and traffic in all other directions is stopped. Some of the intersections also have checkpoints, with gates, high stone walls on each side of the road, and little turrets with guards pointing machine guns out the little windows. You really feel like the President in his/her motorcade. At least it would have felt that way if I hadn't slept through most of the 75 minute trip to Dendera.

We arrived at Dendera just after 3:00 and were told to be back in the bus by 4:00. We were innundated with small children and villagers peddling stuff, but managed to escape into the temple. The temple was built during by Ptolemy and his sons over the course of 125 years, starting around 100 BC. Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt, but died nine years later. When Alexander died his empire was carved up and Ptolemy, an army commander, took over control of Egypt.

Ptolemy was advised that in order to maintain the peace, he should abide by Egyptian customs. So he build additions in Karnak and started construction of a temple to Hathor at Dendera. The artwork is much the same as in other temples, including the continued use of hieroglyphs. However, the Greeks felt compelled to show off their skills, so the writing is much smaller, the columns include corinthian tops as well as lotus and papyrus plants juxtaposed upon each other. They also have engraved, relief, and high relief pictures and hieroglyphs.

In addition to the ground floor of the temple, there are crypts below and you can also go up to the roof. The crypts were used to store the offerings and treasures and one of them is open to the public. In order to enter the crypt you have to go down a short set of wooden stairs and then duck under a 3' high opening. Once through, you can stand up again in a short corridor that intersects a longer corridor that is split into five or six pieces. the artwork on the walls is really incredible. Although very little of the original color remains, the detail on the engravings is extremely precise.

Next, we headed up the stairs to the roof. Ahmed said that there were 365 stairs, one for each day of the year. However, mom counted only about 130. The steps were very short and on the way up wound around in a loose spiral. On the way down they went in a straight line. On top of the temple there are more rooms, temples, and nice views of the remains of the outer walls. One of the rooms used to have a copy of the Egyptian calendar, until it was carted away to France. Now there is only a replica, which is all black.

We climbed up to the top-most accessible portion of the roof. From the top there is a staircase up the north wall. All along the wall there are engraved pictures of the gods. In order to ascend into the afterlife, the pharoah would have to pass a lock for each of the fourteen gods. The key? The god's name.

We descended back to the main level and headed out. On the way out my mom picked up a black scarf with gold hieroglyphs and a white cotton shirt with two white cartouches. We got back into our bus at 4:30 . . . OK, so we were a little late . . . and at around 4:45 we headed back toward Luxor with the convoy.

I actually managed to stay awake for the ride back. There was an incredible sunset, which turned alf of the sky a mixture of orange, pink, red, and purple. We even got to stop for a train on the way back. We had stopped for one on the way to the Luxor Temple on the previous morning as well. The gates are all manually controlled. We arrived back at the MISR travel office at just after 6:00 p.m. Anne and Becca had gotten a cab from the hotel and we dropped off all of our luggage and headed out to eat.

Ahmed showed us a restaurant on the second floor of a building right across from the Luxor Temple, which is lit up until it closes at 9:00 p.m. The food was really good, probably the best on the whole trip -- except maybe for those chicken McNuggets. Just kidding. They had lemon juice, which turned out to be really good lemonade. We got lentil soup, a salad, and either beef or chicken kabobs. You just can't go wrong with meat on a stick.

After dinner, mom and Anne headed over to a bookstore near the restaurant, and Becca and I headed over to the Luxor Temple so that I could take some picture of the temple all lit up. When we were done we walked back to the MISR Travel office and they were just packing up our minivan. We left at around 7:30 and headed to the airport. We had no problems catching our 9:30 flight back to Cairo.

The tour director, Mohamed, met us at the airport and got us to our bus back to the Mena House. We retrieved our bag from the conceirge and headed for our new rooms. We ended up on the second floor this time, and other than the balcony door locking, the room was pretty much identical to our original room. We had a big day ahead of us . . . OK, so we had no real plans other than to sleep late, but either way, we went to bed almost immediately.

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