M-whY

On top of that, they were trying to cram a whole lot into half a day. Most of today's sights were located on the west bank of the Nile, whereas Luxor town is on the east, and the closest bridge linking the two required a 10km detour south. Two minibuses ran around town first, picking up passengers from other hotels first. By the time we reached the Valley of the Kings, I just knew the morning would be rushed.

Gad was again our guide. It was a bit chaotic, as he had gather everyone together, collect money for entrance fees, go off to buy the tickets, then round us all up again to pass them out. Now I have nothing against him personally - he may very well be bursting with fascinating information - but it was like listening to some of the college professors I had. What good does it do me if you can't present it in a manner that's understandable? Gad went on in his broken english for a while, then were given some free time to explore on our own.

62 tombs have been excavated in the valley, some belong to persons other than pharaohs, and not all are open to the public. The last, and most famous, is that of Tutankhamun, the only one found with all its treasures intact; Grave robbers centuries ago got to all the others centuries ago. His has been deemed worthy of a separate ticket, but according to Gad, not necessarily any better. Instead, he suggested four that we might find most interesting.

"Ramses I, III, IV, and IX," Tess and I repeated, commiting them to short term memory.

The first of the set we found was of Ramses III. "No photos inside," warned its keeper. Reliefs along 125m of corridors and all the adjoining side chambers were still in full color. The mummy, sarcophagus, and its lid have all been moved to museums though. I didn't understand a pictogram of the hieroglyphs, but it was more interesting than any art gallery I've ever visited. Ancient Egyptians believed in the importance of afterlife, and spared no expense in building their tombs and funerary monuments.

Ramses I had a much smaller tomb, simpy a short corridor leading to a single chamber. The most likely reason for this is that he only ruled for one year. The quality remained excellent though, and the pink-granite sarcophagus had been left (or put back) where it was found. Our tickets only allowed for entrance into one more, and running out of time anyways, made quick work of Ramses IX.

"That felt really rushed," Tess and I agreed. The magnitude of the crowds contributed to the hectic air; Apparently, every West Bank tour happens in the morning, and all of them go to the Valley of the Kings first. The valley didn't have quite the somber mood you'd expect from royal burial grounds.

As happens with large groups, people get lost and lose track of time. Precious minutes were wasted before we were back in the vehicles and brought to our next stop: An alabaster workshop.

"Time for the driver to get his commission," I heard someone grumble. We were robbed of another thirty minutes here; Five went towards a demonstration on how to tell real alabaster figures from fake ones, and twenty-five in the store upstairs. Even if I wanted to buy some a bust of Nefertari or something, I wouldn't do it here. Just out of principle.

I didn't see anyone else leave with souvenirs either. At the Temple of Hatshepsut, we again listened to Gad's spiel - I didn't catch anything more than Hatshepsut was Ancient Egypt's first female pharaoh - and everything else, like how she is depicted as female in some places yet clearly male in others, was learned from Tess' Lonely Planet Egypt.

"I only have a Lonely Planet Middle East," I admitted. "It's only got like 25 pages on Egypt. (I was exaggerating.) Hardly enough for a country with so much in it."

"Oh, well I'm off to Sudan tomorrow. You can have it if you like, I won't need it anymore."

"Really? Are you sure? Thanks!" I know I've ripped on the LP a lot, and admission fees and transportation costs are always outdated no matter which edition you buy, but the one good thing about their books dedicated to individual countries are the 'boxed texts', which are often well written and very insightful.

I don't need any book to tell me Hatshepsut's funerary temple is a fantastic piece of work though. The way it just merges into the mountain face. Looking up, I saw...

"Are those people up there??"

High above us, a handful of tourists were hiking over from the Valley of the Kings. A clearly marked path led the way. Artisans and workmen used to walk the same route thousands of years ago. The view from above must've been amazing - I had a notion to head up myself - but being shackled to the tour group, didn't have the time.

A couple who had forgotten where our meeting point was held us up some more, and they were finally located, we were taken to Valley of the Queens. Only two of the 75 known tombs were open to visitors; The Tomb of Nefertari, hailed as the finest in all of Egypt has been closed indefinately, making me feel a bit robbed. There was an initial outcry when Gad announced twenty minutes for both, but excepting a mummified fetus displayed in a glass case in one of them, there wasn't a whole lot to see.

A quick photo stop to at the Colossi of Memnon, and that was it. The rest of the day was ours to do as we pleased. Aaron and Chanda wanted to check out Luxor's museum; I was more than content to just sit on the Corniche, next to the Nile and in front of the Luxor Temple, and unwind. Tess joined me until she had to catch her train later that afternoon. A couple kids approached us as we chatted, trying to sell us tissues. They were persistent, but miraculously stayed out of 'annoying' territory.

"They can see us caving," grinned Tess. And we were easy targets. Sitting on a bench in the shade, we showed no inclination to moving. Every ten minutes, they'd stop by to see if we had changed our minds. Finally, we gave them half a pound each, and waved off the packet of tissue they held out.

"Halas? (Finished?)" asked Tess. The two boys smiled and nodded, and ran off as if we had made their day.

Today was New Year's Eve, and so Aaron, Chanda, and I felt like we had to do something to mark the occasion. Not being in a big city like Cairo, we didn't have many venues to select from, and wound up at a crowded pub where no one knew the official time. Each table had at their own countdown to 2006.

"Happy New Year!" we toasted, then celebrated again thirty seconds later when the next guy's watch hit midnight.

Several ancient ruins on the West Bank of Luxor were not included in our tour this morning, and I'd like to be back someday to visit them. So my new years resolution is pretty simple. Find a job and begin stashing away money again. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity then to climb the cliffs near Hatsephsut's temple and the Tomb of Nefertari will be open by then. And next time, I'll know to spend more than just two days here!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!