The West Bank

Saturday, Sept. 25
This day has been the highlight for me so far. At 6 am we set out for the West Bank and the Valley of the Kings. The hills are honeycombed with tombs, easily visible from the road. The magnitude of the excavations is staggering. The colours, images and scale of each tomb is similarly impressive. There were workers clearing a tomb robbers shaft, so we saw a basket brigade hauling the rocks. We had tickets to see three tombs, and we took the option to see Tutankhamum’s tomb as well. After all, by now we have seen everything else of his!

These are the tombs we visited: KV 11 – Ramses III; KV 47 – Septah; KV 62 Tutankhamun; KV 16 – Ramses 1. Words fail me in trying to describe the experience of descending the steps into the tomb of an ancient king. In some, there are scenes on all the walls and multiple rooms. In others, like Tutankhamun’s, only the final resting place of the sarcophagus has paintings. Just before I left on the trip, I heard a lecture on the paintings of his tomb, so it was a special moment for me to see them in real life. Cameras are not allowed in the tombs, but Abdu arranged for us to buy photos if we wanted. He is very organized that way. At each site he can help us navigate the essential buying and bargaining.

Even though we were given a generous amount of time in around the tombs, many of us could have spent many hours more learning about the fascinating legacy left to us by this amazing culture and their search for everlasting life. After negotiating the vendors and succeeding in buying a statue of the god Bes, god of laughter, we were back on the bus for the short drive to the magnificent funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. She is one of the few female pharaohs who left a significant mark of her reign. The temple nestles at the base of a hill and commands a view of the valley. From a distance, the temple is dwarfed by the cliffs but as you get closer, it has a commanding presence. As you ascend the long ramp, it becomes a powerful monument with a spacious, almost renaissance feeling. In its protected spot, the sun beats on it like a furnace.
We stopped for a quick look at the Colossus of Memnon, all that remains of the great temple of Amunhotep III and passed by numerous tomb shafts, monuments and evidence of other temples. It is all somewhat mind-boggling.

Back for lunch on board and relaxation while we sail to Esna lock. Just before the lock, small boats appeared is if from nowhere and latched, onto our ship. They tied ropes onto the ship so that they were pulled along with us. Suddenly a floating market materialized. Each boat carried an assortment of merchandize which they displayed to the passengers and encouraged us to buy. They would throw up a plastic bag containing an item for us to inspect and then the haggling began. Of course in many ways, they were in a losing position because once we approached the lock, they had to disengage. Some of them jumped off their boats and continued their sales while running alongside us on the lock wall. Many of us got caught up this strange marketing approach and I ended up with a couple of nice throw rugs. When you’ve agreed to a price, you put the money into a bag and toss it overboard. Even if you paid too much, it was worth the price for entertainment value. It is a dangerous but enterprising business for the young entrepreneurs.