Sunrise in the Valley of the Kings

The road to the Valley of the Kings at 5:30am is unlike any other road in Egypt. The usual chaos of the Luxor corniche has given way to absolute silence, broken only by the occasional call of a night bird from the sugar cane fields below the Theban hills.

We arrive as the horizon turns from black to dark blue to gold. The valley entrance is ours. Our Egyptologist, Mariam, smiles at the guard — he knows her — and we are waved through before the ticket office has officially opened.

The Valley of the Kings holds 63 known tombs, though only a handful are open at any given time. Today, we have three. Ramesses VI's is first: a dizzying kaleidoscope of astronomical texts and vivid pigments, the ceiling a map of the night sky as the ancient Egyptians understood it. Tutankhamun's is last — modest by pharaonic standards, but charged with meaning. The golden sarcophagus gleams in the morning light.

By the time the first tour bus arrives at 8am, we are already sitting on the terrace of the Winter Palace, drinking tea and watching the Nile run gold.