Pharoic Village...worth visiting...

Hello!

I've never seen the Pharoic Village mentioned on this board and I don't think I've ever seen it mentioned in a tour book re: things to do around Cairo.

My Egyptian friend/pharmacist recommended a visit before we left for Egypt. We had planned a light day for our first day in Egypt...a drive to Memphis, Sakarra (sp?) and then we decided to try the Pharoic Village later in the day. www.touregypt.net/village We were so pleasantly surprised with this attraction/museum and saw things that we didn't see elsewhere in Egypt.

The village is the creation of Dr. Hassan Ragat, who wanted to create a living museum depicting life in ancient Egypt. Using live animals, costumed actors and very realistic sets, he's created multiple dioramas of various trades, temples, etc. A boat takes you slowly though a canal planted with native marsh grasses; you see replicas of major Egyptian Gods and Godesses. We had hired an English speaking guide who explained in detail what all of the symbols and statues represented.

After debarking the boat, we only had time to visit four of several museums Dr. Ragat has put together. We enjoyed two dedicated to Abdul Nasser amd Anwar Sadat, an Islamic Art museum and a (to scale) replica of King Tut's tomb (We later saw the actual empty tomb and the artifacts from the tomb, but it was quite amazing to see how the room actually looked before things were removed).

We were sorry to miss the other museums, what looked like some good shopping and a restaurant that smelled heavenly, but the Village was closing.

We had anticipated that this might be a bit "hokey", however we were pleasantly surprised at the sophistication involved in putting this entire project together. We didn't see any other tourists that day...only Egyptians. It's a wonderful experience for both adults and children of any age.

If you decide to go...Enjoy!

murphysmum;)