http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Egypt , Upper Egypt , Valley of the Kings en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:41:43 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:41:43 UTC 31008This morning we went to the West Bank to explore the buriel grounds in the Valley of the Kings and Queens.The remote barren valley of the Kings was the the necropolis of the New Kingdom pharaohs. By digging their tombs deep into the Theban Hills pharaohs had hoped that it would stop robbers stealing their priceless possessions buried with them. It was an unsuccessful strategy. Despite http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-332871.html Twelfth Thirteenth Stop Valley of the Kings LuxorNext along the Nile river was the fabled Valley of the Kings. Before entering the valley we stopped at the Colossi of Memnon and Hatshepsut's memorial temple. The actual Valley of the Kings is a region where 500 years worth of Pharaohs and nobility from the New Kingdom were buried 16th 11th century BC. The mummies of some of the most f http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-298415.html The next morning Janice's condition had improved slightly the fever was down and she was able to make it out of bed to visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu. Dave our tour leader had 'arranged' read bribed the guard to let us in first so that we could get a few minutes to ourselves and look around in relative solitude. The temple was built in the Ptolemy period but is important because it clos http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-255724.html Early pick up at hotel for flight from Cairo to Luxor. The airport was a madhouse and we had an agent getting our boarding passes. Then hundreds of people pushed their way through the single security line to the waiting room. We were supposed to ldquolistenrdquo for our flight to be called and it was really just the guy at the door saying flight numbers. You had to be standing there to hea http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-217443.html On Sunday we hired a minibus and a wonderful guide called Tony and visited the Valley of the Kings. The entry ticket entitled us to visit three tombs they were all fascinating with wonderful paintings and illustrations on every available bit of wall space. It is astounding that some of these looked as fresh as when they were first done over 3000 years ago.We also visited the Temple of Hapshet http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-214741.html I have used my student ID all over. From Portugal for entrance into an art exhibit to Egypt to entrance into King Tuts tomb. It was magnificent. You cannot take pictures inside the tombs except for Baksheesh otherwise known as a tip. I had ny camer checked for illegal pics luckily i pussed out upon first entrance. http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-75583.html Once again we were up at the crack of dawn this time to go to the Valley of the Kings. I was shocked to learn we had to ride donkeys 7 miles or kms each way I can't remember which. It ended up being a laugh as we had a race down the road. Just before we reached the end my donkey went for a bit of a bolt and I completely fell off which had me in a giggling fit. Then we were let loose to explore 3 http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Egypt/Upper-Egypt/Valley-of-the-Kings/blog-64874.html