Everthing's Coming Up Egypt

In Luxor, another tomb revealed. In Denver, city gets ready to welcome King Tut

Last year, when I visited Egypt, archaeologists and their helpers were busy excavating and sifting in dry earth on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor. Some people dig. Some look through what has been dug just in case some artifact is among the sand and stone. And some cart away the archaeological detritus. "Laborious" and "painstaking" are words that came to mind as I watched.

The efforts pay off when a major discovery is made like the one just announced by Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. A dig led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA),  discovered an 18th Dynasty tomb (1570-1315 BC) in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga, on Luxor’s west bank. Memphis Tours, which has nothing to do with Tennessee but which has been organizing trips to Egypt since 1955, posted the news on their blog. According to Dr. Hawass, the tomb belongs to the Supervisor of Hunters, Amun-em-Opet, and dates shortly before the rule of Akhenaten (1372-1355 BC). The image below is from Memphis Tours' blog.

 

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Denver Art Museum is getting ready for a blockbuster exhibit of  treasures from ancient Egypt. Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs will be in splendid residence at the DAM from June 29 through January 9, an extension of dates announced earlier. Back in 1978, I was one of the hordes who lined up for King Tut's first visit to the United States at a spectacular exhibit at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tut's was the only royal tomb found intact, with unsurpassed treasure, both in quality and quantity, because grave robbers had never breached it. Last year, in addition to visiting Luxor, I spent too little time in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which whetted my appetite for an encore. I only will have to go to Denver to satisfy that appetite, and the upcoming exhibit is important enough to attract visitors from afar.

The Westin Tabor Center in Denver this evening hosted a media event as a precursor to the exhibit. It is the first time these treasures will have appeared in the Rocky Mountain Region -- and considering how many millions the Government of Egypt requires to lend them out to other museums, the shipping, the insurance and security required, it might be the last time. My husband and I are museum members and have already bought our tickets, but for anyone wishing for a Denver getaway that includes line-beating VIP tickets, six downtown hotels are offering lodging/museum packages:

The Curtis Hotel

A Day In the Museum, A Night at the Curtis. Packages from $159 for one night's accommodations on the King Tut Floor (based on availability); $20 in Mummy Money (food and beverage credit for use in The Corner Office restaurant or Room Service); overnight Self Parking; 2 VIP Passes to King Tut, and a welcome amenity (either two Golden Nile Martinis or one Cairo Kid’s Pack). Book online or by phone, 303-571-0300 or 800-525-6651. Promotion code TUT.

Grand Hyatt Denver

Fit for a King. Packages from $159 for one night's accommodations, complimentary hotel parking, two VIP tickets to the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum and a welcome amenity. Book online or by phone, 303-295-1234 or 800-233-1234.

Hyatt Regency Denver

King Tut Package. From $159 for one night's accommodation in a Mountain View guest room  and two VIP tickets to the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. Book by phone, 303-436-1234.

Sheraton Downtown Denver

Pharaohs’ Affair. Starting at $129 per night based on two-night stay; $149 for one night for accommodations and two VIP tickets for the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. King Tut’s Treasure package includes accommodations, two VIP tickets for the King Tut exhibition at the Denver Art Museum, breakfast for two and overnight parking, from $159 per night based on two-night stay, $179 for one night. The best prices are on weekends. Hooray! Book online or by phone, 303-893-3333.

Westin Tabor Center

Pharaohs' Affair. Package includes one night and two VIP tickets starting at $179 per night; two nights and two VIP tickets from $159 per night. King Tut’s Treasure. Package includes one night and two VIP Tickets, breakfast for two and Self Parking from $209 per night; same offer for two nights from $189 per night. Also, weekends are the least expensive. Book online or by phone, 303-572-9100.

Brown Palace Hotel

Pharaoh’s Find. From $169, one night in luxury room and two VIP tickets. Booking code TUT. A Night to Treasure. From $199, same as Pharaoh's find plus two VIP tickets and enjoy luxurious accommodations accompanied by truffles dusted in 24-karat gold and valet parking. Booking code TREASURE. Book online or by phone, 303-297-3111 or 800-321-2599.

Cairo: Airport Impressions

You can't tell a book by it's cover, but I'm not sure whether or not there's a corollary about countries and their gateway airports, but here's my first impression of Egypt. Cairo International Airport (CAI) not only serves Egypt's capital and largest city but is also at the crossroads where the influences of the Gulf States, Africa and Europe meet. Terminal 1 has recently been renovated, Terminal 2 redevelopment has "been initiated" and a new Terminal 3 is "under construction and scheduled to open soon."

If you arrive without a visa, as many/most foreign tourists do, don't go straight to passport control. Go to the bank, where $15 will buy you a Monopoly money-size visa that will be pasted into your passport and decorated with an impressive official stamp. Also, don't expect anyone to take the entry or customs declaration forms that you filled out.

My initial impression therefore is of a bureaucratic country with systems that are not necessarily intuitive or logical to the outsider.

Car Rental Companies: Really Highway Robbers

Airlines aren't alone in digging deep into customers' wallets

Airlines have been getting a lot of static for unbundled air fares that make a bargain ticket no bargain at all when all the add-ons are, well, added on. This is especially irritating because many of them used to be included. But the arlines are pikers compared with car-rental companies, and it appears that locations at some airports are worse than others. My friend and fellow travel writer and blogger Hilary Nangle, with New England frugality running through her veins, got quite a travel shock when she rented a car in the Phoenix. She wrote on her Facebook page:

"Welcome to Phoenix: one-week car rental, $179 for a Toyota Camry PLUS taxes and fees, $195 (concession fee recovery 11.10%; county surcharge, $17.44; Customer facility charge, $42; Op/Maint/Bus/Recv and energ Srchg: $8.02; Tax-15.30, $82.10). By the time I added insurance, my $179 rental was $636.10."

Nangle is not an inexperienced traveler, but car rental companies are cagy unbundlers and have been for quite some time.SmarterTravel.com warned of hidden fees back in 2004, well before airlines were affilicted with raging unbundling fever. And last year Chris Elliott, travel consumer advocate, wrote "Broadsided: 5 New Car Rental Fees to Avoid"  on his award-winning site.

The truth is that travelers are often in a rush, especially at airport locations, and don't have time to read contracts or bills carefully -- or are a bit embarrassed to do so. Additionally, since many car renters are business travelers who expense their vehicles, companies can institute policies that are not generally questioned by those who don't pay the bill. But more and more, it pays to slow down, taking time to read and question suspicious add-ons to those lengthy contracts when picking up a car invoices when returning it.

Couple On Display in Free "Hotel Room"

Hotel room set-up in corner storefront promotes hotel -- and displays guests

Duncan Malcolm and Katherine Lewis of London are spending five nights in a luxurious New York hotel room. The BBC reported that the tradeoff is that they any passerby can look in on them as they relax, watch television and do what people generally do in hotel rooms -- except that the bed is screened from view and there is a private bathroom. This is part of the promotion of a hotel that the BBC did not identify, and the couple view it as an extension of their Facebook presence. Would a free, glass-front micro-tel be the equivalent of Twitter?

Colorado Summer Destinations

High-country escapes for Coloradans and visitors alike

"Colorado warm-weather getaways" has been on my to-do list for several weeks, but Denver Post travel editor Kyle Wagner beat me to it. Today's Travel Section is headlined "Where to bike, climb, fish, raft, hike, drive, golf and more in Colorado." She wrote, "Staycation, statecation, playcation, mancation, spacation, nakation, babymoon, girlfriend getaway. Who cares what it's called? We have just four words for you: Get out of town."

 Below are links to her suggestions in some of Colorado's terrific mountain towns (plus Colorado Springs at the foot of the mountains), so thank you, Kyle.

• Aspen/Roaring Fork Valley
• Colorado Springs
• Crested Butte
• Durango
• Grand County
• Gunnison
• Leadville
• Summit County
• Telluride
• Vail

What's missing? Off the top, perhaps Grand Junction/Palisade/Wine Country, Ouray, Pagosa Springs, Redfeather Lakes, but including any or all of them would have required more pages than were available.

Great Wildlife Viewing in Spring

At and near Rocky Mountain National, the critters are close to the road

Seeing wild animals in their natural habitat always gladdens my heart. Over the weekend, we took a friend from Maine for a drive to Rocky Mountain National Park. As we approached the park from the east (Estes Park) side via US 34, left via US 36 and on Trail Ridge Road as far as we could go to the winter road closure, we saw three of the park's big species: two groups of bighorn sheep (Colorado's official state animal), deer and elk.

We frequently see deer, even in our backyard, and watchable elk abound anytime other than summer, but bighorns are always a treat in the park. The Empire herd and the Georgetown herd sometimes graze close to Interstate 70 in the winter and are easy to spot, especially in the morning. But a national park provides a better backdrop than vehicles whizzing by on pavement.

Epic Snows 'Round the World

Heavy snows in the Alps, the Rockies, the Sierra and totally unexpected places around the world too

Scotland-based Patrick “Snowhunter" Thorne, who keeps track of such things, has reported "once in a generation” snowfalls on Mau Son Mountain in Vietnam, a meteorological curiosity but not necessarily germane for skiers. In the United Arab Emirates, In the United Arab Emirates, snow also fell on the northern emirate of Ras al Khaimah's Jebel Jais range. Thorne noted that the “situation [is] so rare that the local dialect doesn't even have a word for it.” Crown Prince Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, who is planning an indoor snow center larger than the highly publicized Ski Dubai facility, visited the area to see real snow.

Closer to home, Mammoth Mountain, Calif., was inundated with five feet of snow over four days, and Steamboat reports has been slammed with powder-bearing storm after powder-bearing storm (42 inches out of the latest for a season total of 119 inches) and currently has an 80-plus-inch base. Steamboat (right) recorded 42 inches from this storm, bringing their season total to 229 inches (just over 19 feet). Crested Butte snagged inches for a season total to 202 inches. In this same late-January storm cycle, Aspen Highlands got 39 inches of new snow, Winter Park 35 inches, Silverton Mountain and Snowmass each 30 inches, Aspen Mountain 27 inches and Copper Mountain, Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort, and Loveland are each welcomed 26 inches of new snow. Even Eldora, just 22 miles from Boulder, got a rare 19 inches of fresh powder. New England is expecting such heavy snowfall out of a storm today (Wednesday) that schools in Main pre-emptorily closed.

But wait, there's more! Snowhunter reported epic snows in the Alps. Austria's powder champ was Nassfeld, with about four feet of snow in a week. The Axamer - Lizum above Innsbruck, far better known to American skiers, snared 14 inches. The report that the Mölltaler Glacier has the greatest snow depth in the country with just under 11 feet on upper slopes and German's Zugspitz Glacier in the Bavarian Alps got 11 inches, which is encouraging in light of the world's shrinking glaciers. Zermatt is Switzerland's seasonal snowfall leader with 18 inches from the most recent storm and a seasonal snow accumulation of 33 feet on the glacier. "Snowhunter" further reported that in northern Italy, Cortina d'Ampezzo got nearly three feet of snow, and Limone Piemonte 20 inches. Arabba Marmolada has the most snow Italy with 16 feet on the upper slopes. In France, where the World Alpine Ski Championships begin next week in Val d'Isère, Jean-Claude Killy's hometown, conditions are splendid -- though racers prefer hard, hard snow to powder.

The Pyrenees have also enjoyed abundant snow, including more than three feet at Baqueira/ Beret, Spain, and 20 inches in Andorra just this week, but as elsewhere, it comes with significant avalanche risk. “The snow depth and quality is excellent, but the risk of avalanche is high, and we are strongly advising our customers to stay on the marked pistes,” Vincent Doutres, lift company manager at Cauteret-Lys, told Snowhunter. Andorra expects to offer lift service until the first of May. In Scandinavia, Sweden received recent major winter storms, including something like 25 inches at Kungsberget. Ski Kungsberget! In Scotland, as unlikely a ski destination for North Americans as Scandinavia, all five ski areas are operation -- a rare occurance.

And if you are interested in conditions in places like Cauteret-Lys or Kungsberget, either because you like to ski places no other kid on your block has, or you just like to know about offbeat things, check out Snowhunter's site (www.skiinfo.com), which tracks conditions at something like 1,500 large and small ski areas.