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marielouise Citizen


Joined: 28 Apr 2009 Posts: 15 Location: Hastings East Sussex
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 5:43 pm Post subject: It GONE THROUGH THE ROOF |
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Thought I would update everyone on Luxor I came back from my 5th visit in April I now that every Country is in a financial crisis and I
Don’t know if anyone on the site has visited lately but just a warning the prices for all sites I.E the valley of the kings ect have gone through the roof when I went in Feb. Hatshepsut was free Now you have to go through a entrance rather like in the valley and there is a charge ?
food and drink is now on apar with the UK eg local beer costs 20LE around £2.90, meal around 260LE for 2 I don’t mind paying but the prices have gone up x3 since my visit in Feb
We have talked to a lot of locals on the east and west bank who have been told to leave their houses the government has given them new properties but a lot of them have told me that they didnt want to move but had no choice there house have now been demolished it was so sad to watch people standing as the house came down
We have also been told that they are trying to make Luxor like an open air museum??? isn’t it that already but with out the entrance fee next you will be charge to enter Luxor how sad
I will go back as I LOVE IT but the changes are happening so fast don’t know what I will find??? next time.
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Osiris II Vizier

Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 1752
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Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunately, we are seeing the passing of an era in Egypt, particularly in Luxor.
I remember my first visit there, years and years ago. The KV was a lonely, isolted place, that a few tourists would visit--mainly to see the tomb of Tutankhamen. There was no charge to go to the Valley, and most of the tomb-site were free, also. It was possible to go ther early in the morning and spend the entire day wandering through the various tombs. Those were the days!
Luxor itself was a sleepy little town. It was such a delight to go to the local market, and see all the fun places..and people! In the evening, we would take one of the old-fashioned carriages up the Corniche, and go to the light show at Karnak. Impressive!
Now, Luxor has become a large city. The old market has been torn down, to be replaced by a generic "mall". Luxor temple has out-priced itself on entry. Same at Karnak.
I realize that the SCA has to raise money to help defray the expense of maintaning the monuments, but I think the recent efforts are crossing the line, and they may get a back-lash of less tourists because of the cost. |
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Crook and Flail Citizen


Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 23 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:46 am Post subject: |
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Osiris II wrote: | they may get a back-lash of less tourists because of the cost. |
Hi, I wonder if you're right about that. Myself and my wife being of an "older generation", can only experience the wonders of Ancient Egypt via one of these Nile cruises, albeit one of the more "upmarket"ones. Even so, going in the so called low season (high temperatures), we've found the crowds of tourists in Karnak, Luxor, Valley of the Kings rather overwhelming. That said, we love the experience and cannot wait for our next trip in May 2010. Guess it's a case of "go with flow" (no pun intended)  |
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neseret Vizier


Joined: 10 Jul 2008 Posts: 1029 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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Osiris II wrote: | I realize that the SCA has to raise money to help defray the expense of maintaning the monuments, but I think the recent efforts are crossing the line, and they may get a back-lash of less tourists because of the cost. |
Part of the expense you see in Luxor today is for the installation of the Luxorian infrastructure (the creation of the plaza area, which replaced the ad hoc suq areas in back of Luxor temple), the new train station, and the creation of "tourist-friendly" areas (read: high-priced malls and highly developed (but clean) shopping areas). This is what the Egyptian tourism board thinks brings in tourists, but in reality, most tourists come to Egypt to "get the exotic" with the surroundings. So, IMO, and I've been going to Egypt for over 20 years now, they're ruining Luxor beyond belief.
Meanwhile, while money is spent on roads and spiffy plazas, they are not spening the money on affordable lodging (the Luxor Wena Hotel, one of the last "British style" hotels in Luxor and where I happily stayed for at least 5 of my 11 trips to Egypt, has been closed for almost 10 years, but was a wonderful 1900-1920's hotel, which made you feel (on a small scale) a part of the "Death on the Nile" kind of traveller. The State of Egypt owns the hotel, but takes no effort to try and renovate/develop it; so it rots away, just behind the Luxor Temple. ).
Rather, money is spent on larger and more expensive lodging, which seems (IMO) out of place for the smallness of the Luxor village. Since 2007, the hotel prices have risen outrageously on the East Bank hotels, and for no discernible reason, even with the credit crunch.
If you can get your own way, my suggestion is to forget staying in Luxor (East Bank) and see if you can arrange lodging on the West Bank. If a family holiday, one could possibly do very well by checking out Jane Akshar's Flats in Luxor, many on the West Bank, and merely taxi about on the West Bank (and/or take the local ferry back to the East Bank if you just gotta shop til you drop!). In the past, I've used special rates for East Bank hotels, but now, I'll probably be using Jane's flats for future stays as the prices are pretty reasonable.
Please note I am not in any way associated with Jane's enterprises here, but am merely noting what I see as a good deal. If you can find a better rate (and some hotels in Luxor and Gezira Village on the West Bank DO offer them), then obviously go for it.
It makes no sense to me, however, to spend outrageous sums for hotels, food, etc. when the main thing you want to do in Luxor (and Cairo, if you can get there at a reasonable price) is see the sights (ancient and semi-modern), and bargain a trinket or two.
As for Nile cruises, I have no experience. In all of my travels to Egypt over the past 20 years, I usually have specific sites I need to/want to see and a Nile cruise wouldn't take me to them anyway, so I have stayed away from cruises. I am used to planning out my time and places to see, as well as travelling at my own pace, so tour groups are also something I never indulge in either. I have bad feelings about tour groups, anyway, from other foreign trips and now avoid tours at all costs.
At any rate, this is my , from a long-time traveller to Egypt.
HTH. _________________ Katherine Griffis-Greenberg
Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Oriental Studies
Doctoral Programme [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
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Crook and Flail Citizen


Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 23 Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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Have read your post with great interest. Thanks for all that information. You've obviously seen a great many changes - not all of them good - during your visits there. I guess it's the same the world over, tourism tends to destroy the very thing that attracted tourists to a place/culture in the first place.  |
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elakazal Citizen

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 28
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Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:33 am Post subject: |
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I kind of disagree with the idea that prices have gone out of control (I was last there in January...it may have changed since). Yes, they've gone up, but they really are relatively modest when you consider the monumental task of absorbing that many tourists into that area without overwhelming the infrastructure (I always love hearing tourists complain that places are over-run with tourists, though I do it too), and then moving them through the ruins in such a way that preserves them for future generations (even as it stands, though, the level of care given such things is often well below what historic sites get in the U.S. and Europe). I don't begrudge them a little money. There was nothing I saw in Luxor/Karnak/West Bank that wasn't worth the money I paid to get in, and if that money (or some part of it after everyone gets their baksheesh along the way) can go to preserve that stuff, then even better.
Egypt to me is still a tremendous bargain. |
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Hekat Scribe


Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 320 Location: Luxor
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Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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elakazal prices have not changed since you were there in January and compared to most countries they are still an average very cheap.
I think half the problem is that organised tours charge far more than the ordinary admission prices and people only stay a short time on those tours.
We tend to spend a couple of hours on average when we visit any of the sites. Last time we went to Medinat Habu we were almost 3 hours and we only went round the outside, must go back if it cools down a bit. 46C today! |
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