We had planned with the hotel owner to have a driver for today. We went directly to the Valley of the Kings. It was just beyond where the greenery ends and not far from our hotel, really. The area has a total of about 62 known, royal tombs. These late dynasties decided against building big monuments with an inside burial chambers, such as the pyramids, instead cutting down into the mountains. Our ticket of 100 Egyptian pounds allowed us access to any 3 of the 12 which are currently open to the public. I'm sure with a little bribe, one could get a private showing of just about any site. We took our time. The geography of slab rock mountain against the stark blue sky made for nice viewing. We were there for about an hour and a half.
Next, we visited the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. You've seen the impressive photos in passing, I'm sure. It appears quite modern tucked into its mountain home. Imagine a woman pharaoh!
After that, we went to the Temple of Rameses III. And when leaving the area we stopped at the Collossi of Memnon.
I think we were back in a little over 4 hours. At a daily temperature of over 40c degrees, that seemed just about perfect. We took a take-away lunch from a local place in which we ate dinner yesterday. We contacted the owner of the hotel who managed to get us bus tickets to Dahab on Tuesday evening. It will take about 16 hours or so, but the ferries from Hurghada on our original route planning don't seem to be running. I think a little bribe was involved in the transaction.
This neighbourhood is nice. It it rural and one can bump right alongside the locals. I'd say this is about the only place in Egypt where I could envision spending winters. I think quite a few old, Europeans do. We walked by the river in the evening. We bought things, like fruit from little shops along the street. Very pleasant, except for the people trying to sell us something.