So to go there when it was not very crowded was a very special experience, and to be one of only three people, alongside the Missus and a mutual friend, in the tomb of the boy pharaoh was astonishing.
You have to pay extra to go into this tomb and in reality the tomb is much smaller and much less well decorated than many of the other tombs in the Valley. But it's the tomb everyone wants to visit and the mummy was in situ and the stone sarcophagus and a gold one were also there so it was a strangely intimate moment at one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world.
We also visited three other tombs (as the entry ticket allows), one with stunning hieroglyphic decorations, one cut very deep into the rock and one very big and impressive tomb. And they were all amazing in their own ways.
The Valley of the Kings is a strangely stark yet beguiling place as all the good stuff is hidden in rock-hewn tombs under the ground and, when you start your descent down the corridors and start looking at the wall carvings, you do get the impression that you're involved in some sort of bizarre time travel.
Sadly all cameras are banned from the Valley of the Kings so we couldn't take pictures but it was a simply stunning day. I was so blown away I didn't even give the Collossi of Memnon much of a second glance.
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