The Land of no Top Floors, Thu, 10 Mar 2022 | written by Simon
Jemma and Simon at a Graveyard, Ruins/Excavation, Temple, UNESCO site in Africa, Egypt

Today was amazing! We started off with Maria again, doing another overpriced Ibis tour. First, Ramsess III temple at Medinet Habu. Really amazing, easily one of our favourites – it’s all about tha pharaoh’s wars and victories, there is a lot of vanquishing, but also many very dynamic battle scenes – a refreshing change after all the static ‘pharaoh offering stuff to a god’ standard. Also, there was an ongoing restoration which was fascinating to watch.

We ended up spending more time than expected in there and initially Maria got a bit annoyed with us – but fortunately let go as we got to the Queens Valley. Where we saw three tombs, only one of which was of a queen and two of princes. Next, Deir el-Medina and the Workers Tombs.

We then got dropped off near the ticket office and spent the rest of the day going on our own, visiting the Tombs of the Nobles and the Ramessum. And hanging out in a nice guesthouse cafe and shop ran by an older Dutch lady, where Jemma bought an amazing new scarf.

  • The two parts of the day were roughly the same length and awesomeness, but the one organised by Ibis was 100$, while the one we’ve done on our own just 540 EGP (c. 34$). Honestly, we wish we never got anything booked through them, it’s so easy to get everything sorted on the spot.
  • We even forgot to get one of the tickets to the Nobles Tombs, but simply paid off the guard who let us in anyway. Naughty!
  • The Nobles Tombs area is massive and it was incredible just walking between them and finding the path to the next tomb on out list.
  • All of the places we visited are off the beaten track and are shockingly empty. The comparison to the Kings and Hatchepsut is incredible.
  • We really love the non-pharaoh tombs. They are simpler and less decorated, but somehow the paintings are much more vivid and dynamic than the fancy and expensive engravings. There is also a wider variety of themes, designs and patterns, with the vineyard tomb being by far the most awesome.
  • Finally, we also see where the knowledge of actual Egyptian life comes from – because all we learn from the pharaohs is how many millions of cows they sacrificed to Horus last Tuesday.
  • It’s amazing how easy it is to find a ride when you need it. We literally walked out on the street and some guy on a motorbike/pickup offered to take us straight away. It is shocking that Ibis would waste our money on hiring a driver who is waiting for us at the parking lot if it’s so easy to just get a ride when you need one.
  • Maria says that Jemma looks a bit like a famous Turkish actress. That might be why all of the kids from the several school trips to Habu Temple wanted a picture with her! She was pretty much besieged all the time.
  • Whenever we go shopping now, somebody is trying to sell us drugs.

In the evening, we went down the shore admiring fancy boats and enjoying some time away from the people wanting to sell us things. We ended up in a fancier residential area with some neat villas. On the way back, we went to an art cafe that had a high rating and wow, was that a good choice. Not only was the veggie food delicious – there was an exhibition next door, and the artist was sitting there with a bunch of student pals and their prof, playing music and singing together – and they just invited us to join the circle. What an amazing end of an amazing day!

Sunning

We spent the whole next day on the terrace, recharging in the sun. It’s gotten quite cold, actually, just about 25 degrees. Jemma loved belly dancing on the roof in a bikini, but even then people were watching from below and made her feel self-conscious. Sucks to be a woman here. There was a lot of reading and a nice walk in the evening.