El Minya day excursion from Cairo ,the tomb of Khaty Tomb , Beni Hassan tombs , the old and Middle kingdoms
Overview
El Minya or Fayoum Oasis
Escape the crazy Cairo traffic with two epic day trips. Head south for about four hours to El Minya, where you will hike up to the cliffside tombs of Beni Hassan. You will check out Bakhet III’s tomb with its wild, ancient wrestling wall paintings, Khaty’s 11th-dynasty chamber, and Khnumhotep’s beautifully decorated tomb. After grabbing lunch at a local joint, you will explore Tell El Amarna, the revolutionary capital built by Pharaoh Akhenaten, the guy who flipped Egyptian history upside down by worshipping the sun god, Aten. You will head back to Cairo in the evening.
Or, take a 1.5-hour cruise southwest to Fayoum Oasis. Check out the massive Roman waterwheels, then head down to Wadi El Rayan to see Egypt’s only waterfalls inside a deep desert basin. You can jump on a traditional felucca boat ride across Lake Qarun, fuel up with a local lunch, and head deep into the desert to Wadi Hitan (Valley of the Whales). This UNESCO site is packed with actual fossilized whale skeletons and prehistoric reefs. Both trips are the ultimate mix of history, nature, and adventure