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Egypt

Valley of the Kings
We crossed the Nile on our way to the Valley of the Kings, and Breck jumped out to help photo-record the scene. We had to pass through a number of checkpoints as well, where police and army guards checked passers-by.
We finally arrived, checked out the map of the area, and hopped in a little cart to get exploring!
We could see the trails that criss-crossed the hills all around us, leading to and from tombs that are scattered about. There were tons of Egyptian tourists going into the site as well, and they seemed determined to have a good time!
  
Our tickets were good for 3 tombs, and so we headed down to the first one that most people go to - Ramesses. The walls and ceilings were decorated with brightly colored murals, all throughout the long tomb.
And yes, there were signs that said "No Photo." And yes, Alea told me not to take pictures. And yes, I took some pictures. And yes, I got caught. And yes, they hauled me off to a office, took up an hour of time, and made me pay a fine. Blah.
But things were eventually settled, and we continued on through the other tombs in the area.


It was a hot, dry, dusty day, and we passed numerous gangs of workers hauling rocks, Indiana Jones style," throughout the canyon. 
We headed off to Hatshepsut's tomb, which is one of the most beautiful buildings around. Adorned with statues and paintings, it is is perhaps the best state of preservation of the large buildings on this side of the river. There were tons of tourists around here as well, all exploring how the Egyptians planned to take care of their rulers in the great hereafter.

Anubis - god of the underworld - reigns in this wall panel


Alea and Breck do their best (once again) to walk like an Egyptian!

The wall murals were fantastic - illustrating all sorts of divine claims to the throne

Rows of pharaohs and a hawk-eyed Horus kept watch over the temple.


Our last stop of the day was at the gigantic statues known as the Colossi of Memnon. They guarded a temple that has washed away due to Nile floodings over hundreds of years, but give a fitting idea of just how much 'stuff' there was built during the Egyptian kingdoms that no longer even exits.

Leaving the tomb, we exited past a newly-constructed shopping area that cast such interesting shadows from the sun blocking ceiling...

But never fear - new stuff is being made all the time, as this alabaster carver demonstrates while plying his trade
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