There are many ways an independent traveller can visit the archaeological sites on the West Bank of Luxor, and I have tried most of them over the past few decades: tour bus, taxi, tuk-tuk, with the locals on an overcrowded microbus, hitching a lift on the back of a small service truck full of bottled water and cans of soft drink, hanging on the back of a friend’s moped, and of course walking until my feet are sore. But having never ridden a bicycle in Egypt, I decided to tick ‘Luxor Bicycle Ride’ off my bucket list.
Setting off
As I am not a confident cyclist, I decided to venture out to some sites away from the more famous temples and tombs. I planned to head south as far as the small temple of Isis at Deir el-Shelwit, which I had not visited for several years. This route would take me away from the busy tarmac roads and allow me to cycle safely over the flat sands of low desert that define the area. I hoped to be able to cycle past the spoil heaps of Birket Habu, a large lake/harbour that the Eighteenth Dynasty ruler Amenhotep III built during the second half of his reign; past the site of his royal palace in an area now known as Malqata; and look for a curious structure associated with him that lies nearby. I had read that this monument is located at a place called Kom el-Samak (Arabic for ‘Mound of the Fish’), but I had never visited it. I asked a local friend whether I would encounter any difficulty with the local police, and he informed me that visits by an independent traveller are allowed anywhere between Medinet Habu and the Hotel Al Moudira.
For the first couple hundred metres, I was on the dreaded tarmac road that I had wished to avoid, but it was too early for large tour buses. Turning left out of the hotel, I took a two-minute detour by the ticket office to see how the excavations of the so-called ‘Golden City’ were proceeding. Since I last saw the settlement, the serpentine mud-brick walls have been cleaned, and the whole site was looking smart and presentable. As I was on a bicycle, it was possible to stop by the roadside and take a photo.
Excavating Wiltshire