Valley of the Kings

 Jan 16^th

After work on Sunday, we crossed the Nile en route to the Valley of the Kings. We ate an Egyptian quick lunch (1 Egyptian minute = 10 regular minutes, so it really wasn't that quick) on the West Bank at a place called the Nile View. The place is outdoors with a roof overhead and decorated with Egyptian linens and ceramics. The chicken shawarma and lemon juices are to die for. Without a doubt it soon became one of our favorite restaurants.

We weren't allowed to have our camera, so I don't have any cool pictures to show you. I believe the Japanese (I could be wrong so don’t hold it against me) created a model of the entire valley. It looks like the mountain is an iceberg, but it makes it much easier to see how far the tombs delve into the mountains. It really is unbelievable how deep some of them are. What’s more unbelievable is how much our passes really do for us. Besides getting in for free, we are recognized as important people, allowed to cross some of the barriers, and one tomb was reopened for us after it had been closed at the end of the day. Being called “doctora” because I can read some of the hieroglyphs makes me feel that much more special. King Tut’s tomb and the Great Pyramid are some of the only exceptions to our passes. However, Maggie, one of the grad students who worked in Dr. Zahi Hawass’ office, has a special pass with no restrictions for up to 4 people. Unfortunately since many of the guards cannot read their own language and the inspector of the site had already left, we had to save Tut for another day. As long as I get to meet him before I leave I’ll be happy.

The model of the valley from the top

From below