The desert road along the west bank goes via Dendera, doubling the distance that a crow would have to fly, and has deteriorated over the last few years. The first section north to Dendera has a 90 km/h speed limit and we were bouncing around all over the place if we went anywhere near that fast. The second section, after we turned west, was much newer and the limit of 100 km/h was achievable and reasonably comfortable. So after about an hour and a quarter we left the desert road and headed into the city.
At the police checkpoint Tayeb was expecting no problems, but we had to wait for a police escort - 3 officers in a blue car that you might spot in one of my pictures. We easily located the palace on the corniche, about 600 metres beyond the railway bridge. The gate of course was locked, and there was no ticket office. But soon somebody let us into the small garden, and then took Tayeb off to find the custodian or tickets. Within a few minutes the custodian arrived, explained that the palace was not yet open to the public and there were no tickets. But he agreed to show me round.
The palace is substantially built, with marble steps and balconies. It was generally in a very good state of repair but had obviously been stripped bare at some time since Youssef's death. There was a substantial layer of dust throughout, and no lighting, so the staff kindly opened some of the doors onto the balconies and used the 'torches' on their smart phones. I was allowed to take a few pictures inside, and present them below. The outstanding features were the main fireplace and the prince's sunken bath tub. There was no wall or ceiling decoration and the only furniture was a few wardrobes and cupboards.
The views from the balconies were excellent. I've included some panoramas. The main staircase was in excellent condition, and the was even a lift that had been used by the prince's mother a long time ago. The secondary staircase (which I have a picture of) rises to the roof, but I didn't venture up there.
Afterwards, I walked round the garden and then shared a drink with the staff and police. Everybody involved was extremely helpful, surprised as they were to have a visitor.
I will include pictures from the journey in another post rather than confuse this any further.