Tomb explorer

After all those temples, a new chapter on my journey begins…

Visiting some less known tombs along the Nile.

Before I start exploring those tombs, I bring a brief visit to the Red and White Monasteries near Sohag. Not really worth a stop over, but since it’s along the road, it won’t bother that much.

Once we’ve left Dendara, we’re continuously accompanied by the police, for our own safety… In Asyut this leads to the heathen situation that they want to put me in an hugely overprized hotel, since all smaller hotels in town refuse to accept a stranger escorted by a bunch of police officers! I refuse to pay and ask Adel to drive straight to Minya. This trip is further as expected, but we can’t return to Asyut, since the police has thrown us out because of the hotel story. When we cross the provincial border between Asyut and Al Minya the next morning to visit the tombs of Mir, the car has received a fine from the last day. Speed limit issue is the official statement…

Nonetheless I can enjoy some exquisite tombs along the road. The Akhenaten tomb in Tell El Amarna strikes me because of the particular clear and strong energy it houses. It feels as if I am back in the Great Pyramid… The Akhenaton complex over there feels really worthily to pay a visit. A little known chapter in the rich Egyptian history.

The tombs of Mir are very old, showing early paintings. The real highlight of the trip are the stunningly decorated tombs of Beni Hasan, describing all-day life of the rich people. I finalise with a trip to the Frazer Tombs, but those are hardly worth mentioning.

This is a less known traveled part of Egypt, however I liked this off the beaten track experience. There were a couple rewarding places, making up for the long distances that had to be traveled.

With this visit my Egyptian adventure stops for a while… My next adventure will be a kung fu training camp in China, along with some sightseeing between Beijing and Hong Kong.