Accommodations & Food

If at all possible, don’t spend the night in Qena. Luxor, with its array of cheap, comfortable hotels, is only an hour away. If you must stay in Qena, the Hotel Dendera or Happy Land Hotel (tel. 32 23 30) is a I0-minute ride out of town near the Dendera Temple (see directions under Sights below). The hotel’s proximity to the temple and a well-kept public garden, as well as its shady patio and villa-esque layout, make it a wonderful place to stay, at least in theory. In practice, you’ll have to contend with the lizards, bedbugs, dust, and frequent water and electricity shortages. Rooms with fans LE15 per person, with bath LE20. For those who insist on staying in Qena, try the grotty New Palace Hotel (tel. 32 25 09), across from the train station behind the Mobil gas station (no English sign-look for the building that looks like a hotel). Rooms with baths also have fans. (Singles with bath LE10. Doubles LE8, with bath LE15.)

Restaurants in Qena lie mainly near the main square, on the street which begins at the train station. Al-Prince Restaurant will try to charge you tourist prices for its kushari (LEI.50, 50pt for Egyptians; beer LE4.50). Further up the road, past the square, is a new and quite clean restaurant. Look for the picture of the smiling chef and the chicken rotisserie in front (lkg of kabah LE22, kufta LE18, breaded and fried veal escalope LE5). Qena’s produce souk begins with tomatoes and melons near Hamdi Restaurant and runs east for 400m, ending with bunnies, pigeons, and other forms of meat.