The wind was blowing in the wrong direction this morning. Why was that a problem? Well, it meant the hot-air balloons all landed on the wrong side of the river and all the minibuses in Luxor were busy rescuing the various passengers. This meant by the time we got to the Valley of the Kings, the parking was already jam-packed with coaches. The visitor centre was also full, and I still needed to get the separate tickets for what was to be our first tomb.
Finally aboard the “eco-taf-taf” and off we go to the world’s most famous cemetery. The queues were phenomenal and as KV62 looked packed we elected to start with the deepest and the best in the valley, KV17, the final resting place of Seti I. A long series of steps takes you way down beneath the valley floor. Over 137m long, most of its eleven chambers are beautifully decorated, although there is a fair degree of damage caused by later excavations. This is a must do tomb and well worth the extra cost (LE2000 at time of writing) if you do not have the Luxor Pass.
The crowds had thinned a little, so we rushed across the central area for, perhaps, the most famous tomb in the world. Still plenty of jostling just to get to the descending staircase. People really are a bit strange sometimes – it’s not like the tomb is going anywhere. I still feel it is slightly disappointing to see the sarcophagus lid covering what used to be an amazing view of the coffin.
Next was the joint tomb of Rameses V and VI. An earlier conversation about constellations and ancient astronomy made this a perfect tomb to visit as the ceiling depictions are outstanding, as are the scenes from the Book of the Earth showing the Sun’s journey through the hours of darkness. Another magnificent tomb.
Our last tomb before lunch was KV11, my favourite tomb in the Valley of the Kings. I think it is the contrast of the tomb decoration against the white of the walls that does it for me. Currently, you can only go so far into the tomb as there is ongoing work at the burial end.
For me. Seeing the look of wonderment in the eyes of my guests when they first enter the tombs in the Valley of the Kings is the ultimate. We have all heard the name in countless documentaries, but to actually be there is quite a different experience. No documentary really gives you an idea of the enormity of these funerary undertakings. I will admit to getting a huge amount of satisfaction from doing these tours, and I like to think the people who come on them feel the same.
The sheer numbers of tourists had meant each tomb had taken longer to get through, notably the number of would-be fashionistas and digital creators who caused traffic jams in most of the tombs.
Time for lunch. A short drive saw us pull into the parking area of the oldest rest house on the West Bank. A haven of peace with virtually no tourists, which was quite refreshing after the chaos of the valley earlier. Replete, we set off back towards the Kings Valley road but instead of turning we made our way to the parking area of Carter’s House.
Built in 1910 by Lord Carnarvon, this was the base of Howard Carter’s operations all through the discovery and cataloguing of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The house contains many items that reflect the era and in the grounds is a full-scale replica of the famous tomb. Worth a visit for those extra pics you couldn’t get in the actual tomb.
It was agreed by all that we had done enough for the day, and we would forgo our venture into the Western Valley and the tomb of Ay. It was particularly hot in the valley and the vast number of tourists had meant that we had spent a good deal of time in the sun. We elected to return to our hotel for an early supper.
