Egypt do-it-yourself, no...tour!!!

EGYPT: DIY TRAVELLERS, NO....TOUR!!

About twenty years ago, one Christmas, I astonished my parents by asking for a very unusual gift for my age (10), not the classic radio-controlled car track, nor the new Atari, nor even a new bicycle, but surprise of surprises, a book on Ancient Egypt. After a moment of bewilderment and disbelief, I read in their eyes a sort of barely concealed satisfaction and so a few days later we went to choose my much-marvelled-at gift. So more than twenty years ago my passion for Ancient Egypt and for Egyptology in general was born, but although I had the chance several times in the following years, I never made up my mind to plan a trip to the places I had so dreamt of. I wanted to make an unforgettable trip, but without relying on travel agencies, and I kept wondering whether it would be possible, given the Egyptian and generally Middle Eastern political situation.

This year I made up my mind and after reading a few accounts (by the way, how sad it is to keep reading about people who have been to Egypt at Sharm, Marsa Alam or on a Nile cruise without having seen Cairo or the Valley of the Kings!!!!), I decided that the time had come and, thanks also to an Alitalia offer (return Milan-Cairo for 200 euro), I set off with my partner for an unforgettable adventure....

6 DECEMBER Our plane takes off on time at 21.50 from Malpensa airport and after almost 4 hours of flight we land at 02.40 at Cairo airport. We buy the visa (about 12 euro each), pass through passport control without problems and in a few minutes, then leave the terminal to reach Terminal 1 from where at 05.00 the other flight to Luxor departs. As soon as we step outside the airport we are greeted by some shady characters who would like to convince us to take a taxi, but we, although exhausted, hold out until the shuttle arrives that takes us in 10 minutes to the domestic flights terminal. The Egyptair flight to Luxor (bought online for 70 euro) is perfectly on time and very comfortable.

7 DECEMBER LUXOR

We arrive in ancient Thebes at 06.00, collect our luggage and by 06.30 we are already at the hotel (taxi airport-Luxor 30 pounds = about 4.2 euro). We stay at the Partner Tutotel, a relatively modern place near the centre on Salah el Din St., we pay 20 euro for a double with a generous breakfast included in the price. We rest for about an hour and after breakfast, around 9.30, we set off to discover the ancient capital of Egypt, not before however stopping at the station to book tickets for the night train that will take us to Cairo the day after tomorrow. We head therefore towards the banks of the Nile to the ferry boarding point (opposite the Luxor Temple) that is to take us to the West Bank, and here the problems begin: we are practically set upon by real vultures offering us excursions of every kind.

Still a bit sleepy after a sleepless night, we give in after a few failed assaults and entrust ourselves to one of them who promises to take us by taxi to all the sites of the West Bank. The first rip-off happens at the ferry boarding, locals pay 1 pound, we despite my protests pay 4 each (could it perhaps have been a bribe for the taxi driver??), and note that on the second day, mindful of the rip-off, we show up at the boarding with one pound and get through without problems... Anyway, having reached the other bank we find the vulture's brother waiting for us, who explains the tour we should do, I stop him at once and tell him to take us first to the Valley of the Kings, then we'll see.

Arriving at the Valley, I pay the taxi (40 pounds, about 5.2 euro, practically a theft, and to think he had started by asking us for 200, the cheek!!!) and free the taxi driver, also because our intention is to do a bit of trekking and reach the Temple of Hatshepsut directly from the Valley on foot, but he insists and says he will wait for us at the end of the walk, what a pain.... Before leaving I had planned the visit knowing that the ticket entitled you to visit only 3 tombs (35 p with the Isic Card about 4.6 euro) plus that of Tutankhamun to be paid separately. I had opted for those of Ramesses VI, Sethi I and Thutmose III, unfortunately the first two are closed, so we see those of Thutmose III, Thutmose IV and Ramesses III.

We start however with the most famous and celebrated tomb of the Valley, that of the very famous boy pharaoh Tutankhamun, also because we find it surprisingly empty, there is no one, the barbarian horde of all-inclusive tourists has already passed...we buy the ticket (40 p. each about 5 euro) and after leaving the camera with the keeper we descend into the tomb, cross the corridor and so arrive in the burial chamber. The emotion is very strong, after having read a thousand and more books about the discovery of the century, we are finally inside this mythical tomb, but I must tell the truth the structure itself disappoints us quite a lot, it is rather small and above all it is empty, the only thing of some note is the wooden sarcophagus that contains the pharaoh's mummy (which, moreover, is invisible).

We leave the tomb with a mixture of joy (for having enjoyed it in complete solitude) and disappointment (we expected something more...). We head towards the tomb of Thutmose III, among very few tourists and a lot of policemen who offer themselves for improbable photos to receive an even more improbable tip...the tomb is reached through a steep iron staircase that crosses an even steeper ravine, at the entrance the guard, as will also happen in the other tombs, offers to follow us to illustrate the beauties of the tomb, but we decline the offer foreseeing yet another trick. We cross a deep shaft via a walkway and arrive at the antechamber richly adorned with hundreds of images and supported by two pillars, we continue and reach the burial chamber where the pharaoh's quartzite sarcophagus carved in the shape of a cartouche is proudly displayed.

This tomb repays us for the partial disappointment of Tut's, it is truly lovely and its inaccessibility makes it even more interesting and above all isolates it from the tourist chaos of the rest of the Valley. We leave this oasis of peace and quiet and throw ourselves back into the chaos of the central tombs of the site, we visit that of Ramesses III. Fortunately we avoid a mega group that is coming out of the tomb just as we enter, it is truly long (about 125m) the walls are decorated with vivid painted high reliefs depicting the ritual texts of the tradition, with scenes of daily life alternating with figures of the pharaoh in the presence of various gods. The tomb turns out to be very beautiful but, because of its central position within the Valley, also far too crowded, which prevents us from enjoying it in blessed peace and religious silence as we would have liked.

We leave this site too and decide to throw ourselves back among the mountains going to visit the last tomb, that of Thutmose IV. Isolated and reachable after a short but intense climb and ignored by a good part of the visitors, it turns out to be a wonderful discovery. The tomb is very large and very deep, two flights of stairs descend to the burial chamber in which there is an enormous sarcophagus covered in hieroglyphs. We enjoy the magic of the place in perfect solitude for more than 20 minutes, after which, at the arrival of the first tourist, we return to the surface and after a moment of relaxation with a view over the entire Valley we set off for our walk towards Deir al-Bahri. We knew that the path leading to the Temple of Hatshepsut started behind the Tomb of Sethi I, but since