Egypt - Day 1 - Dashur/Saqqara - Tomb/Temple of Horemheb

So our first video here is showing us as we go from the temple, I mean the Pyramid of Unas, around this pit, which I probably didn't get the information on. I mean I was beginning to feel the heat at this point. Unbelievably windy and it was a hot wind. Wild travellers I suspect. I think I was pointing out the Pyramid of Unas to those people but they were off to the step pyramid I suspect. Was that their guide? No. Anyway, big pit. Obviously it must be a grave pit of some sort. Of course everybody wanted to be buried around a pyramid. Now we do go across these wide expanses. This is sort of an example. I think this is only halfway to the Temple of Horemheb, which was going to be his tomb originally until he of course became pharaoh at the end of the 18th dynasty and built something in the King's Valley. KB 56? Probably wrong there. But that number sticks in my head. Just an idea of the sort of massive amount of land you cover between monuments. And if you look at the shadows you see they're almost directly underneath the objects. Must be about 1130, 12 by then. And of course all I could think of was dull cowards, mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun. I think we're having a discussion on direction. Don't know why. I don't know why I'm checking things because in that sun you can't see a thing and I don't know why I'd want to stand around in it. Kindly note, no shade anywhere. The only shade was when you're inside something and then often the air was really hot but dead still, which seemed to make it worse. I tell you, some of these hills I looked at and went, oh my god. I really was quite pleased I had my Nordic poles with me. Although you will see later I gave them up to somebody else on the tour who didn't come quite as prepared. Luckily I could get by with a stick for most of the time. It was mostly for hills and that little extra bit of support or assurance. But I mean, just look. Walking across this, oh. I think this is when I started to feel the heat. Again, all with this action too that's magnetically attached to me. Of course I'm not magnetic but the lanyard is. And it has this neat little way of where you can wear part of it underneath your clothes and then the other part, then it can hang on the outside so it doesn't wobble around on the end of the lanyard. Might wobble a bit on your t-shirt. But it just seemed to go on forever. Oh, those are the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid in the distance there, which we go to at one point. Although I stay in the car for one and barely make it to the other. Now we're at the Temple of, originally Tomb of Horemheb. Very patient guard here because he had to sit with me while, because this is where I needed my little heat break. In this charming little antechamber too. Video at 11. Yeah, so at this point I'm sort of going, oh god it's hot. Trying to absorb what's in front of me. Although a lot of the time I think my mind was, let's just get on to the next stop. Oh, my second underground. Quite nice not having people around. I think the word I used mostly on the tour was extraordinary. I mean, when you look at this and you think of the age and... Oh, yeah. Wondering if I'm starting to complain about the heat. Because we're getting close to the point where I did feel it. Oh no, we go further into the back here first. Surprising I didn't lose my sunglasses. Yeah, I am definitely feeling the heat at this point. Oh, now you just have to listen to me being exhausted. This is why I say he was really good and patient. I just want to say the sort of... I was going to say idiot, but some sort of arrogant northerner. Oh yes, I can deal with this heat. I mean, we get this in the summer. We don't get anything like this. And of course, there's shade and in our summers we generally shelter from this. So back to Noel Coward and Mad Dogs and Englishmen in the noonday sun. Yeah, this is where it sort of starts hitting me. And then we get back to the entrance slash exit. And I look at those stairs and I think, oh, I will not make it. Still trying to sort of absorb things. I mean, one doesn't want to be rude. And that's the purpose of being there. You want to sort of see things. Hence why my video is really not that great, because one of those I wanted to sort of experience it through my eyes, not through a screen. And I'm not very good at video anyway. That requires too much thinking. And in 35 degree heat, breathing required too much thinking. Yeah, this is the little antechamber. It's a lovely little spot actually. Sat there on the right for about 15 minutes while the guide very kindly went and got some soft drinks, which is good, I think, for cleaning your mouth. And there we are sitting and some water. And I practically sucked back a litre of water when he got back. Oh, but it certainly revived me. We managed to keep going, although I wasn't up for much challenge. This is actually a video. This is not a photograph. That's how still I was for about 15 or 20 minutes, carrying on dulcetory conversation with the guide.