How to visit the West Bank in Luxor

I visited Luxor in 2 days, the first I want to the West Bank, the second to the temples Luxor and Karnak.

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This part of Luxor is full of farms and there are three important tourist spots: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Queen Hatshepsut and Colossus of Memnon. The first one we visited was the Valley of the Kings. Unfortunately, it is strictly forbidden to take a photo on the spot. The guide explained to us that if anyone is caught taking a photo, the device is collected and you still pay a fine of 1000 Egyptians. The reason of this strict rules is because in the past photographers were taking advantage of this and publishing content in magazines that were worth a lot of money.

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The ticket costs 100 EGP, which gives you the right to visit 3 tombs. If you want it is possible to visit the tomb of Thutancamon for another 100 EGP, which is the only tomb that still holds the mummy. The tomb of Ramses can also be visited by an additional 50 EGPs. From the ticket office we took a golf cart which cost 4 euros for the entrance. It isn’t necessary to pick up the car as it is a 5 minute walk.

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In this part there is even a reception that collects cameras, I kept my cellphone and Go Pro. At the first tomb, I took 4 pictures with my cell phone, suddenly a guy appeared asking where was my guide and complaining I took pictures. Then I gave my Go Pro to him, saying he could check it out as I went up to call the guide. Meanwhile I erased the photos from my cell phone and came back. As he was very friend of the guide, he released me, and did not want to see the cell phone. After this moment of tension, I did not tried again. We visited two more beautiful tombs and set out for the next place, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Outside is pretty impressive but the internal visit is not worth the 100 EGP ticket price. I saw one archaeologist doing restoration in one of the walls.

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The coolness of this temple is the good conservation of the paintings and writings. It is possible to see the entrance of the tomb, but not to access it.

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We closed the day visiting the Colossus of Memnon, whose entrance is free as it was under restoration.

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The visit to those places was included in the package I booked with Mostafa guide, a nice guy, who has super fair prices and organizes all your logistics in Egypt.

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He has a facebook page and we partnered so that If you visit Egypt look for him and tell was Franz Explorer reference. The entry has a corridor of sphinxes.