EGYPT  2001:

The next stop after Queen Hatshepsut Temple was the Valley of the Kings.  Although there were many tombs in the valley, we were only given tickets to visit three of them.  Fathy told us that he will take us to the three best and most colorful tombs.  A tourist could spend a long time in the Valley of the Kings because there are so many tombs.  We began by hopping on these long train cars which took us into the valley.  The first tomb we visited was KV 6, Ramses IX.  This was a long, straight tunnel full of colorful and decorated walls.  The pictures begin with the one of the white sign of KV 6.

The second place we went was the Tomb of Amenophis II.  Unlike the first tomb, this one winded around a lot.  It was also very nicely painted and decorated.  A funny thing happened on my way out of the second tomb.  I had just turned the first corner to head out and all the lights went out.  I heard people panicking because without lights, the tomb became completely dark.  You would not be able to see your hand in front of your face.  Because I was part of the way out, I was able to walk along the walls until I turned a corner where a little light came through.  As I came out into daylight, I realized that Dr. Wahby and some other people in our group were still in the farthest part of the tomb.  After waiting a while for the rest of the group to emerge from the cave, Dr. Wahby finally came out.  Below is a picture of him coming out of the very dark cave.  It is the darkest picture in the set.  The rest of the group was saved when a guy came down with a flashlight shortly after Dr. Wahby came out.

The third and final tomb we saw was KV 35, Amenhetep II.  This tomb seemed to be deeper than the previous two and was not very colorful.  The highlight of this tomb was the large stone coffin cover at the end of the tomb.  The picture of this is the very last one in the set.  The stone coffin top was hollow underneath.  I was able to duck and crawl under it to see that it was beautifully carved from both the inside and out.

Two of the pictures below are of tombs that I did not go inside of.  The first is KV 5.  I took a picture of the outside of this one because I had recently seen a program on TV about the restoration of this tomb.  No tourists are allowed in this one because of restoration.  The other tomb was King Tuts.  I have a picture in front of the tomb but we didn't go in because Fathy said it is small and there is not much to see inside.