Visiting son!

Last week I was delighted to have my son here for a week in sunny Luxor. It has been over 2 years since I last saw him in person (Skype video does not count!), so it was brilliant to have him come and visit.
We had a mixed week of sightseeing and chilling and I do have to say, it was great to just sit and chat. Mind you, we had no choice if we were home as we have had no satellite here for almost 2 weeks now (building on the roof is yet another story!).

I am not sure what my son thinks my life is like here, but on his first day here, he found himself on the felucca with a group of 7 French ladies!!! All of them wanted to kiss him (well they are French) and only a couple of whom speak any English. But he coped and I hope he enjoyed himself.  I am sure if they had all been very young women, he would have been far more happy with the kissing thing. The following day he sailed the River Nile again....... this time with some friends of mine who were celebrating their wedding anniversary!

Yet another day found us at Tod temple and then in Esna, where I was happy to see that they are doing a lot of restoration work on the temple there.... some of the colours they are finding under the soot are incredible! Myself, the son and a friend enjoyed our trip immensely. We finished off the Esna part of the day by a walk through the souk! Wonderful fresh veggies and fruit at a fraction of the Luxor price! I was in my element and completely forgot that my son maybe was not so comfortable with it as I was. Culture shock indeed! But he coped and eventually we found our way back to the transport where we headed back north having a stop at Moalla on the way back. After numerous childhood accidents involving falling and breaking arms.... I have to admit being a tad concerned at the deep holes in the tombs there and went all "mumsy" in case he fell in. But he didn't and we left in one piece. Elhamdulilah!  At every place we visited we were on our own...... tourism may be suffering but it is perfect for sightseeing if anyone is here! Empty temples and tombs and space to wander around..... wonderful.

We also managed a day on the West Bank involving the Valley of the Workers, Nobles tombs and a couple of visits to the Ramesseum Resthouse, where we bumped into friends and had an enjoyable beer or two. And then we WALKED home!  Ramesseum to the Ramla....... after sunset, in the cold, wrapped up like mummys, but thoroughly happy.

Our week together went all too quickly and before I knew it, we were heading back to the airport and his flight home. But he will be back soon, at least he said he would!

Irynefer TT290

Yesterday, as part of my son's visit here, we had a wander around around the mountain, starting at Deir El Medina.
I was delighted to find that I got the chance to see the tomb of Irynefer (TT290) as Sennedjem closed on Sunday.
We got the tomb to ourselves, although I was disappointed to see a small group of tourists on a minibus taken to the tomb of Inerkhau and then watched as they were herded back to their bus without taking the little extra walk over to the north side of the village to see the newly reopened tomb of Irynefer! For goodness sake........ a ticket includes both tombs, the village itself and the small Hathor temple! Do these guides not want tourists to see anything here?
Anyway, I digress......... the tomb itself was beautiful! Beautifully painted with some excellent scenes depicted. On one wall was an Anubis with a mummified body on a lion headed bed....... lovely....... I particularly liked the paintings of a white wigged man and woman...... (not sure who they were), the painting of Irynefer and his wife with a cute little white cow, and Irynefer drinking from a small lake.
I do now need to do some research and find out more about this tomb, but it was well worth seeing and I would recommend anyone getting the chance to visit should do so.

Sorry I have no pictures..... obviously it was not allowed!

NMEC museum in Cairo

Al Ahram Weekly. Report on the NMEC museum Cairo

Interesting reading about the ongoing project to develop the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat, Cairo.
I cannot help but notice the final paragraphs setting out the idea of all the Royal Mummies being moved here, "to recreate the experience of visiting the tombs in the Valley of the Kings".  Combine this statement with the intention to build replica tombs on a hill on the West Bank of Luxor in Gurna, and we do have to ask if it will not be long before the Valley of the Kings itself becomes permanently closed to the general public, and only extremely large amounts of money will allow access to visitors.
I personally would not pay large amounts of money to take a holiday here if I could not see the real thing. I can go to Vegas and see a replica of Tut's tomb and have fun in the casinos at the same time!