http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20638 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20638 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20291
Stay at the five-star Sonesta St George; eat at John & John's; use the services of Pharaohs Travel run by a local guy named Mohammed Qenawy (graduate Egyptologist).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/20291 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19796 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/19796 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18984 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18984 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18674
The town is growing quickly and is becoming more and more popular from year to year. A lot of building work is also going on in the town and it is becoming a popular area for people looking for property investments. I'd recommend visiting.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18674 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18048
A welcome escape from the hustle (and hassle) of Luxor!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18048 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17899 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17899 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17832 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17832 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17804 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17804 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17582
Just go directly to passport control. I've been here a couple of times and I've seen everyone paying for these visas, when they have no intention to either leave the resort or the Aqaba coast. The Egyptians are very happy to let entire planeloads of tourists pay for a visa they will not need.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17582 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17428 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17428 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17121 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17121 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17093 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17093 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16927 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16927 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16893
Objects from his reign form one of the most spectacular displays in the Cairo Museum but few ever visit his short lived capital city at Tell el-Amarna (which gives its name to the period and the artistic style of the times). Little remains of the city itself (although the setting is highly atmospheric) but the tombs of the king and his courtiers in the cliffs and wadis to the east are among the finest in the country, and mercifully free of marauding tourists – I was the only person at the site the day I visited.

A visit requires several hours and is probably best arranged as part of a stop-over in the nearby city of el-Minya (150 miles south of Cairo) which has several comfortable hotels. A military escort is required to travel through this part of the country although there is no real threat – it’s more like getting the VIP treatment.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16893 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16892
The Aswan High Dam and the Bond-villain-style ‘false mountain’ built for the relocated Abu Simbel temples are two obvious examples.

Another is this ‘Friendship Bridge’, built with largely Japanese money, spanning the Suez Canal and carrying the road link to the Sinai peninsula. Our coach from Port Said to Ismailia (going alongside the canal) took a diversion just to go over the bridge, turn right around and come back across.

The main span over the river is only a few hundred metres, but there is a ‘run up’ of almost two kilometres on either side. The bridge looks cool rising out of the desert as you approach and then the crossing gives you – briefly - a chance to look directly out over the length of the Suez Canal.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16892 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16891
Here, you get to see the earliest pyramid – the so-called ‘Step Pyramid’, which is still impressive in size and is set in a partly-restored ‘complex’ of buildings. Various other pyramids in more or less romantically-ruinous states are scattered around the site, together with some of the most wonderfully decorated private tombs in Egypt.

With these, though, as with lots of sites in Egypt, it’s almost impossible to say what will be open and what won’t, because that information seems to change rather haphazardly. Get here under your own steam by a taxi from Cairo to make sure you can wander around the many acres of ruins without worrying about getting back on to a coach.

One thing not to miss is the pyramid of Unas – start at his pyramid and then walk down its ‘causeway’, which has private tombs built all around it.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16891 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16890
As for food, the Kadora (pronounced A-Dora) and the fish market offer some of the best seafood in Egypt.

A pleasant way to end a day's exploring is to take a calèch ride from near the Cecil Hotel, along the Western harbour, and then retrace your route on foot for a bite to eat at the fish market.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16890 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16889
The fact that it's on the edge of town might make it inconvenient for
some, but I found it eliminated most of the noise from the downtown
area, while still providing a major thoroughfare for catching a cab.

Its private, wonderfully under-populated beach, and a room with a balcony overlooking both the Montazah Palace gardens and the
Mediterranean were also welcome perks.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16889 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16888
One of their predecessors, Sneferu, did much of the ground work however. He erected two monuments of his own at the much quieter site of Dahshur, a few miles south of Giza.

The earlier of the two is the ‘bent’ pyramid, so-named because the king’s architect got his sums wrong and had to change the angle of incline halfway up. The second, the ‘red’ pyramid was an unqualified success: a straight sided pyramid, smaller only than the great pyramid itself.

The interior of the red pyramid with its corbel vaulted ceiling is well worth a look, and the bent-pyramid preserves much of the outer casing that was stripped from the Giza pyramids centuries ago. The lack of tourists gives you a chance to take in the immensity of these monuments.

Although you kind of have to go to Giza, I highly recommend seeing Dahshur as well – it’s what Giza ought to be like.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16888