The Valley of the Kings with a pyramid shahped mountain just there.
The pyramid used to be the sacred burial places for the Faros but there was a problem with them. They were very easy to spot for grave robbers. Somehow when they walk across the desert around Giza they said hey that big pile of stone over there - I wonder if there is something of value inside. Hence they went in and got all the stuff the dead Faro should use in the afterlife. And now the Faro had to go through eternity without all the things he need. Something had to be done - the faros had to hide there graves in some place where nobody - especially the grave robbers - would ever find them.
They found a place in the desert half an hour drive away from Luxor today - must have taken a lot longer in the old days though.
Far far away from Hatshepsut funeral temple
In the valley of queens they decided this was a good resting place and buried the wife's and sons of the faros here. In a neighbouring valley - the Valley of the Kings - the faros were laid to rest for eternity. In these valleys they hid the graves underground with no visible sign above the surface that anything special was under the ground.
Down in this area the faros would be able to stay in peace forever - yeah right. They were buried in extremely well decorated graves which took a lot of skill to prepare - hence the best craftsmen in all of Egypt had to be used. These men would of course be sworn to secrecy about the whereabouts of the graves but when a faro did his successor wanted the best craftsmen in Egypt to work on his grave.
Why not walk a bit closer otherwise I never get up there.
Where did he find them - well they were right next to him and they were just done finishing of the grave of the dead faro. Hence these men with the secret knowledge of the exact location of a grave containing more wealth than they could ever imaging were kept alive. For some strange reason they thought it was a waste of all those good things to be kept in the graves - hence they dug everything out just a few years after the faro where put to rest.
In fact all the graves were robbed in ancient times - except one. A small insignificant little grave not worthy of a true faro. But then again it only contained a very young and insignificant faro. This one grave were hidden under a pile of rubbles from a much bigger grave of a much more important faro for several thousands years until one man started to dig his way through all of the Valley of the Kings.
Got up there in the end - the view is not that bad from the top.
His name Howard Carter. He found one grave intact with an unbroken seal - and inside he found the tomb of the faro Tutankhamen. His one claim to fame is to be found in his grave nothing during his lifetime made anybody remember him.
Today you can visit three of the graves on your entry ticket - the one grave they will charge you twice as much as the entry ticket to three graves is - you already guessed it Tutankhamen - even though this grave is smaller and less well decorated than the other graves.
Going down to the graves is very different from the other Egyptian monuments. The graves are not imposing like the pyramids or the big temples. But they are well decorated with lots of carvings of hieroglyphs and drawings of different scenes from the faros life. Because these graves have been underground protected from the sun and the humidity in the air for so long the colours are remarkably well preserved till this day. Unfortunately to preserve the colours they won't let you bring your camera and flash. Hence you can take no pictures to keep with you.
After visiting the three graves and ignoring the overpriced visit to Tuts grave it was of to see one giant funeral temple. The temple for the only women to become faro of Egypt before Cleopatra. Faro Hatshepsut was not well liked by her successor and he tried to wipe her out of history but failed. Today you can go and see her great funeral temple which is not hidden because it was only used to mummification process and then left empty without any great treasures to be hidden. You can go up and have a look around on all the floors and go inside - even though it is just a part of the whole complex the temple itself is huge when you walk towards it is seemingly growing in size for every step.
Walking around the desert makes you sweat - oh it is good to go back to the pool at the hotel.
