To the Valley of the Kings

Whatever the drawbacks of the country as a whole, there is no escaping the fact that Egypt possesses some of the worlds most stunning archaeology which, despite jostling crowds and queuing tour-buses, leaves an indelible impression of and admiration for our forebears. None more so than Luxor, built around the temples and graves of ancient Thebes: a source of inspiration to poets, artists and writers since not long after the original city was abandoned.
 
The manner in which the majority of people visit the tomb and temple complex of ancient Thebes, while providing some breathtaking moments, generally fails to reflect either the necropoliss enormous size or its orientation within the landscape. None of this is helped by the local authorities obdurately bureaucratic method of ticket-sales from an ever-moving point somewhere on the main road, which can cause intense frustration and certainly requires much forethought for anybody not relying on guides and organized transport.
 
However, this almost-circular route, starting at the ticket kiosk in Nag Kohlah and ending at the Tombs of the Nobles and the Rasmusseum, follows an ancient and still-used donkey-path (said by some sources to have been used by the artisans who involved in construction; others claim that they were taken on-site blindfold to avoid grave-robbing) leading up and along the length of the escarpment which hides the Valley of the Kings from the outside world. Along the way there are views of and potential detours to: the huge temple of Medinet Habu, the Deir el-Medina (the artisans village, containing their own hobby-tombs), the Valley of the Queens, The Valley of the Kings, Deir-el-Bahri and Hatshepsuts magnificent three-tier temple, the Asasif Tombs belonging to the later Nubian dynasty, the Tombs of the Nobles and the vast and pompous Ramesseum, inspiration for Shelleys great sonnet Ozymandias, where the kings vast and trunkless legs of stone still stand to this day among the broken remnants of the rest of his statue.