A great place to hide

Luxor, Egypt New Kingdom pharaohs (1550 – 1069 BC) learned a good lesson from their pyramid-building ancestors, most of whose tombs were robbed before they had a chance to settle in.

Those pyramids, while loaded with status, might as well have had a “Jewels Inside” neon sign on each of them. Who knew how to find the goodies? Likely the very people who helped bury the king.

That had to change. So how about going underground? Great idea – for a while.

Today we visited the Valley of the Kings, a remote site on the west bank of the Nile. Desolate might be one way to describe it. Actually, it was one of the best organized attractions we have seen yet in Egypt.

One has to navigate the aggressive sellers of souvenirs to reach the ticket counter, by design. There are myriad possibilities for tickets, depending on which tombs are open that day and which ones you want to see. The revenue possibilities have been optimized, and the ticket seller even adds on a bit for himself. Egypt. Then a nice shuttle takes us closer to our goal.

We were a bit limited in what we visited by the accessibility of some tombs, and the fact that you can only see three, plus a few premium-priced ones like Tut’s. Long descents, low ceilings and very tight quarters were off our list. But we did manage to see three, and they were wonderful.

Our first was the tomb of Rameses IV, with wonderful tomb paintings still vibrant after all this time.

And then there was the magical one – King Tut’s. Not large, not fancy, but what a thrill to see. Though the Grand Museum purports to have his mummy, it’s actually here inside his small tomb, along with his sarcophagus. Not many pharaohs can say that.

The Valley is hot and dry, and the tombs are hot and humid. They rotate which ones are open so as to limit the damage visitors cause just by breathing. Some future day, none of them will be open…

Our last tomb was the most spectacular — the tomb shared by Rameses V and VI. The astonishing barrel-vaulted astronomical ceiling must have had 50 Michelangelos working on it. The sarcophagus of each pharaoh was thoroughly plundered but still so dramatic to look at.

Several tombs were not receiving guests today, but crowds just kept moving on. The street cleaner did the work of Sisyphus, and we even saw a woman in a wheel chair go no further than the end of the paved sidewalk. These tombs are in no way handicapped-accessible.

Our final stop was the nearby house of Harold Carter, his home and headquarters while he worked for years in the Valley of the Kings before he found Tut. It’s very well-preserved and presented. On the same grounds is a replica of Tut’s tomb. Replicas are probably the future of tomb tourism.

Don’s Food Corner

The sights today were thrilling. The food not so much. By now we’re used to it.

For the record, we went back to that “Italian” restaurant and decided not to be as ambitious with our ordering. We went for pizza. The choice of type of pizza was limited, so we both ordered margherita pizzas.

They looked pretty good when they arrived. But there was something a little off with the taste. Jo suggested that it tasted like garbage. I would have been a little kinder. But not much.

There are a few Egyptian restaurants in the neighborhood and I looked at the menus posted outside. The favored specialty of the country is pigeon, prepared in various ways. I’m going to pass on pigeon. I accidently ordered it 50 years ago in Spain. I was trying to get through an all-Spanish menu and didn’t recognize a specific word. The waiter said (in Spanish): “It’s like chicken, but different.” As soon as it arrived, I recognized it for what it was. I can only look at pigeon from Woody Allen’s perspective. Namely, rats with wings. I’m not eating rats and I’m not eating pigeons. Call me a snob.

Because we were unwilling to be adventuresome, we ended up with those weird pizzas.

Another day on the diet.