the Valley of the Kings are over 60 tombs , with more being discovered every day . The pharaohs chose this site as their graveyard and built their tombs far underground , hoping to prevent robbers from taking the treasures they would need in the afterlife . Sadly , most of these tombs were robbed , but one was discovered intact in 1922 , the tomb of King Tutankhamen . The boy king was found buried in coffins , one inside the other , made of solid gold and wood . We visited the tomb and saw his mummy still resting there . Most of the artifacts , including the solid gold sarcophagus and the iconic gold death mask now reside in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .
The following morning , we saw the Valley of the Kings from an entirely different perspective , a hot air balloon . The experience and the view were stunning , from the colorful balloons being blown up in the early morning darkness , to the magnificent sunrise , the flight over the temples , sand dunes and greenery of the bank of the Nile , ending with a sandy landing with locals anxious to sell their goods . They anticipated our arrival and approached via bike , motorbike , donkey and foot .
Now it was time to relax and we were off to Hurghada , on the Red Sea . How quickly the lush greenness of the Nile gave way to the stark landscape of the Sahara ! We saw only a few trees during our entire two-hour drive . Our hotel , the
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN APRIL / MAY 2018 gmhtoday . com
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