Mattopia Jones

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Biking to Tut

With the camera bouncing around on its strap, I made this video as Iheaded out, by Matt-powered bicycle, to the Valley of the Kings. It was truly one of the greatest adventures I've ever had while traveling and this video, as goofy as it is, still brings back great memories. Gotta love that noisy little bicycle.

While this is only a brief clip that captures the rickety nature of the transportation, don't underestimate the thrill. I wheeled my way up the valley and when I saw Howard Carter's house on the hilltop, I was on the verge of tears out of pure excitement.

There's more story to tell regarding this bike ride, including a bizarre incident involving a guy who wanted to be my tour guide to the Tombs of the Nobles. What the heck? He's just hanging out. No badge. No ticket booth. My Eyewitness Travel book made it sound like everything was so self-evident.

Far from it.

This guy followed me around on his moped... up a hill... and down... around... then I finally ditched him at the classic fork in the road, where some police were stationed. What a freakish incident. Me on a bike being followed by a guy on a moped!

Anyway... more about that later, including the stunning revelation of who actually needed to be my tour guide to the Tombs of the Nobles.

I arrived at the Valley of the Kings around 11:55 and was disappointed to see a sign that said King Tut's tomb closes from 12:00-14:00. That was no problem, though. The standard ticket allows admission to three tombs, so it was easy for me to spend a couple hours playing around in the dirt and exploring.

Prior to the Egypt trip, I remembered seeing a show on Nat Geo or History about Tut and how his mummy was being returned to where it belonged. For some reason it was stuck in my mind that they had moved his mummy to the Egyptian Museum. I was disappointed by his absence there, but the artifacts on display were stunning. His golden death mask, for one, was breathtaking. An awesome piece of work.

But, no. Tut was not at the Egyptian Museum.

It was most definitely worth hanging around to visit Tut's tomb. It's small. Tiny in comparison to the sprawling complexes of KV 11 and KV 34, for example. However, nothing can top going in and being greeted by a soft-spoken old man who pointed out the finer points of the tomb's permanent resident: King Tut himself. With a pen light, the man pointed out things like Tut's hair and fingernails.

Incredible.

This day was quite possibly the greatest day I've ever spent traveling.

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