> We visited Luxor as a family last year and the Valley of the Kings is absolutely a must visit. The fact that these hieroglyphics are preserved so well over thousands of years is astounding. It feels as if the walls were painted last week.
Depending on the tomb, it might've been restored. Not sure if you saw Nefertari's tomb in the valley of queens, but it absolutely blew my mind. Having done very little research before going, I was shocked that the colors could have remained so bright after so many years. Then a spent a few minutes on wikipedia and found out that a lot of restoration work was done, starting in the 80-90's.
> I never felt physically unsafe while in Egypt but for example my 8 year old boy was shaken down for $$ for toilet paper in the bathroom. That’s how shameless the grift is.
The grift is crazy, but the toilet paper thing is actually pretty normal. I guess I don't know how much you got charged, but paying 5 Egyptian pounds(0.10-0.15 USD) for toilet paper was considered "normal". At least that's what some non-grifty locals told me at a bar when I was complaining to them.
You're definitely right about having a target on you 24/7 though. I'll probably never go back to Egypt because of it, I found it absolutely exhausting after a month of traveling there. It took me a few months to get back to my usual self and not immediately dismiss anyone that ever tried to talk to me.