wombat7

Casual-Cairo/Grcxx3
Do either of you have any views or eperience with walking through the City of the Dead. I am considering visiting there and am thinking about doing it without a guide.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Grcxx3

I have not walked thru it (Debbie probably has) but I have driven through it many times.

On our first visit to Egypt, we drove thru on the way to our accommodations. The sun was just coming up, people were just beginning to move around, you could hear the prayer calls all around - it was really quite fascinating.

jahlie

My research lead me to believe that people living in the City of the Dead are homeless and desperately impoverished. If I am mistaken, I am both corrected and delighted.

Grcxx3

Many people in Egypt are "impoverished" according to our standards, not just the people in the City of the Dead.

kak113

We found less tourists at Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum in Luxor, which were both phenomenal to see and photograph and we enjoyed the relative peace and quiet. Ditto for the Red and Bent Pyramids at Dashur, and the Step pyramid at Saqqara. That day trip was one of my husband's favorites, because it really gives a perspective on the evolution of the pyramids.

I'd also suggest taking a longer felucca ride in Aswan, quite relaxing and beautiful.

andonius

From Luxor, you can do a daytrip to the magnificent and not much visited temples of Abydos and Dendera. It takes half a day to see both.
I think Abydos is one of the most beautiful and well preserved temples in Egypt. It's almost intact, has it's original ceiling and the paintings are superb.
Dendera is also a very big and beautiful temple with superb colums.
In both of them you can really apreciate the aspect an egiptian temple had in ancient times.

Grcxx3

Another vote for felucca rides! They are so peaceful and relaxing. And I always loved watching the activities along the river bank!

So - grab some snacks, beer/wine (and paper towels) and enjoy! Keeping in mind, however, that with beer/wine and no bathroom on board....a couple of hours is about all most people can take!!

abby97

Oh how I wish I could have relaxing picnic on a felucca right now . . . glorious!!

Grcxx3

Me, too, abby! Me too!

I had dinner last night with a bunch of "Cairo ladies." There were 11 of us, spanning time in Cairo from 1996-2009. Several of them are close friends from my time there. We had fun talking about what we missed (felucca rides were one) and how we managed to insert Egyptian ways of life (words, philosophies) into our lives here in Houston! It was great fun!

abby97

How fun!!! I'd be interested in hearing more about inserting Egyptian ways of life into your life now -- sounds fascinating!

jahlie

This sounds better and better. Where do you think is the best place for a felucca ride?

Casual_Cairo

Grcxx3 - Next time you are in town, we'll go out on a falouka and I'll show you all the sneaky little places along the shore in Maadi that have toilets that you can use when you need to. As a CH3er, of course we learned to imporvise on the boat, and to get the captains to be assertive about finding toilets along the shore.
One - if you go north, there is a very nice club on the far side of the river that has more beer for sale - if you run out, and extremely nice bathrooms.
Another time, I remember having a guest that HAD to go now! Did you know the barges that are sometimes anchored near the islands have a squat toilet on them? You are out in the open, but when you squat down, no one can see anything but your head sticking out. LOL It's a hoot, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. I remember the customer was very happy to have it and was even in a mini skirt. I'm sure the men working on that barge are still talking about that day.

BonnieN

you have gotten many good replies. I would find a copy of lonely planet cairo which i think is out of print. it has good guide to the museum in cairo and more important, very good walking tours to see the real cairo. use taxis to get around, negotiate and they will take you anywhere you need to go. spend a day at saqarra/dendur which is really great and you could take a short camel ride there and feel in the desert. try to stay overnight in abu simbel - there is a terrific nubian man who has a lovely b&B. I could not stay there since he later told me that his internet was down and could not reply and there was no phone. you could go to abu simbel in the afternoon and early morning, before and after the tourists arrive. also leave time to see the west bank in luxor. it is very special. I especially liked the workers tombs. you can also go there by taxi. have fun,

bonnie

davecutter73

Try Alexandria as this the holiday destination of the Egyptian people. You can visit the library, Fort Quaitby, Pompei's pillar,Montazzah palace and gardens, and nearby Rosetta.

jahlie

It's interesting you mention Alexandria. Four of us are traveling to Egypt and one in our group really wants to visit Alexandria. Because of time constraints, we're thinking of doing that in a day trip from Cairo. I know that will make for a long day but that will probably be our only option. What shouldn't we miss?

We've already decided to overnight in Abu Simbel and are staying at the Abu Seti. I think I know the Nubian B&B you're speaking of - Eskaleh - that is supposed to have a very good restaurant. Is that the one? We'll try to make it to lunch or dinner there for the food and ambience.

Casual_Cairo

wombat7 - have you been here yet? Sorry I missed your question about walking through the City of the Dead.

It would not be something I would ever suggest tourists try as it might get unpleasant fast with begging children or whatever and without the aid of a car and an Egyptian to translate for you what is happening in some circumstances, I would be a bit worried for you. I never go in there without one of my drivers. If we walk, we have a driver follow us so we can jump back in the car if we need to.

I'll be curious to hear if you did it. I see it happening now and again by tourists and I assume they are OK, but they are usually in at least pairs.

davecutter73

in my opinion you have to visit fort quaitby this is the site of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (pharos lighthouse)there is also a small sea life museum where you can see the skeleton of a 25m whale shark found under the light house(hows about that for a guard dog) i also found the library fascinating so many books etc in one place also try and find time for the roman catacombs as long as every one is able bodied or fit enough for a long climb back up as for eating in alexandria we went to an establishment where the egyptian king used to play cards i forget its name maybe someone else can help with that.the food especially the fish was amazing and so cheap.if you need a guide from cairo to alexandria i can give you our guides email [email protected] he is brilliant and very reasonably priced , hope this helps.

jahlie

Yes it does. Sounds just about right for one day - along with some getting lost time. I'm curious about the restaurant. Do you remember what part of town it was in? Near what? Did it have a good view? Thanks davecutter73

davecutter73

i will email our tour guide for the name of the restraunt get back to you tommorow

davecutter73

still have not been able to find out the name of the restraunt but i can tell you that the view from its window was over a private beach and the med it was just off the main seafront road and as i said the food was amazing and cheap will keep trying to find out a name for you and lrt you know asap.