EGYPT – Nile Cruise, Day 2

Luckily, my common sense kicked in and I realised that because of the heat, all our excursions would be either early (and I mean EARLY) departures, or in the evening, so after a relatively early night, we were off to the Valley of the Kings.



Unfortunately, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are two of the few places that photos are not allowed – even of the outside – and I had to leave my camera on the bus. The Valley of the Kings is also one of the most terrifying places I have ever been.

We congregated for out guided tour in the shade and because Yahya our guide was droning on a bit too long, my mind and my attention started to wander to the group/gang of demin-clad men being rather furtive in the corner. The more you watch someone trying to be discreet, the more suspicious they become, and once they took out machine guns and several ammunition clips from what looked like a Tescos carrier bag, I was mildly petrified. When they then tucked them into their jeans and disappeared into the crowds, I decided to ask the guide about them, and he replied that they were there for our security. Well, that’s OK then – I feel much safer now!! As we were leaving, I was insulted by two sellers who shouted after me 'probably German' because I wouldn't buy their postcards - seems a of an assumption to me.

It was at the Valley of the Queens that we came across the most ingenious beggars. When visiting the tombs they normally stamp your ticket but one guy gave me a piece of a cereal box. I thought it was a bit weird but as it was hot and a tad claustrophobic, I used it to fan myself. It was only when we left that they demanded payment for the ‘fans’ – cheeky whatsits!



We crossed the desert again heading towards the Colossi of Memnon on the way back to Luxor. I had time to study the settlements out of the window and it’s truly amazing how some people live; mud huts with no electricity and no running water. Apparently, the government offered them brand new flats in Luxor with all mod cons, but they don’t want to leave as they are all convinced they will find the equivalent of Tutankhamun’s tomb in their garden so they spend most of their time digging…



Perhaps the Valley of the Kings had been over-hyped for me because although there was no doubt that the place was impressive, it just didn’t live up to my expectations. The Hieroglyphics were much more colourful than we’d seen before at Karnak and the Luxor Temple, but for me the highlight of the day were the Colossi of Memnon.



These massive statues are 18 metres (approx. 60 ft) in height and weigh an estimated 700 tons each – blimey!

The Legend of Memnon
The Memnon legend was attached to the northern of the two statues by the Greeks. A fissure ran through the statue and when the ancient stone was warmed by the early morning rays of the sun it was heard to give an eerie moan. The Ancient Greeks thought that the statue represented King Memnon, and the sound was him greeting his mother Eos. Unfortunately attempts were made to repair the statue by the Romans, and since this time the Colossi have been silent.



After lunch we settled on the sun deck for an afternoon of cruising from Luxor to Edfu via Esna. It was fascinating to just sit and watch the world go by as well as the ‘Sudan’ an old paddle steamer which was the setting for Agatha Christie's ‘Death on the Nile’. One of our fellow passengers ran down the deck in a bikini (not a good look for her) to snap a photo whilst screaming 'don't look at me'. Don't worry love, we won't!



All too soon the sun was setting behind the palms and I was looking forward to getting to Esna lock just after 6pm. It may not be the most exciting sounding place, but we’d been told that if we had to queue to get through the lock, sellers would approach on boats and try to sell us stuff from the water!



I’d been having a sneaky snooze when I was woken to the sound of ‘halllooo, halloooo’. Outside the window was one of the smallest fishing boats I have seen with two blokes in it – one desperately rowing against the current to keep alongside us and the other doing the hard sell whilst balancing precariously on the back!

The idea is that he throws stuff up to you and if you like it you chuck the money back down in a weighted plastic bag. The haggling really takes a different turn when the buyers have the upper hand i.e. holding the goods on top of a cruise boat and not throwing them back until a sensible prices has been agreed, and the air was filled with cries of ‘You crazy man’ and ‘I give you carpet for your wife’ – not entirely sure what sort of deal that one was!