We were checked into our hotel at 100 mph and then rushed off to
the Savoy Hotel to meet our guide who was taking us to the Valley of the Kings
etc. Didn’t like him much, big group – people everywhere. Caught a ferry across
the Nile, then a small bus – CHAOS – people, buses, hawkers, noise everywhere.
I went to Hatshepsut’s temple ... But desert, sand, dust, rock, heat!!! Wow!!
Imagine in Summer.
This is Hatshepsut’s beautiful temple.
The most beautiful sight in Egypt in the Winter of 1986 can be seen slightly
obscured bottom left.
Then to Valley of the Kings and ...
alabaster factory
“This guy is an OPERATOR”
said one of the Americans.
The guide took us
first into the tomb of one of the Ramses ... and then to Tutankhamen’s little tomb.
There was a line up in the heat and it was very crowded inside. Lyn stayed
outside while I went in.
One poor Australian lady came out from
the crush white and sick. I helped her. She was obviously wealthy. They flew
their own plane over here. Nice though.
I had had enough
of our guide and when we were given an optional 30 minutes I left Lyn and her
new friend and ran off up the valley to find the tomb of Thutmose III. The
entrance is halfway up a cliff. It was, compared to the gaudier tombs we’d seen
earlier, beautifully simple. The masterpiece is the cartouche-shaped burial
chamber with the Amduat unrolling around the walls like a giant papyrus. I had
a blissful couple of minutes and then I had to power walk all the way back.
Lyn kept her surely unique record of visiting Egypt without
entering tombs...
Our fearless guide stopped to pray (or was he collecting his cut
from the alabaster shop?) and sent us all back to the ferry. With several
others we got on the wrong ferry, went on a tour of every cruise boat in the
river, and eventually arrived back at the Hotel Isis by cadging a lift with the
lady Lyn had rescued. My highlight of the morning was Thutmose III but no doubt
Lyn most enjoyed the side trip!
... just got to our rooms when the guide rang for the next tour –
No way Jose!
We refused to miss lunch for an afternoon tour of Luxor. After lunch
we had a nap and then took ourselves to the Temple of Karnak. It was one of
those inspired decisions ...
 |
| This is how you took a panorama photo with a Kodak instamatic in 1986 |
 |
| Leon - in shorts |
... walked around ourselves ... felt good ... huge place, great lake,
hypostyle hall – saw a man on top of a column. Had tea (piggy but I’m just
starved lately) then haggled for a magazine for Leon ... to bed EXHAUSTED.
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