After visiting the pharaonic monumental remains you may feel inspired to take a trip back in time, about 3000 years, with a visit to Dr Ragab's Pharaonic Village. This is an educational tourist attraction, a theme park in which visitors are guided on a motorised barge through a network of canals where they will see scenes re-enacting life in ancient Egypt. Some of the areas can also be walked through.

The Pharaonic Village is situated on Jacob's Island, an area surrounded by trees close to the heart of Cairo. The idea was conceived by Dr Hassan Ragab who has spent many years working on faithful reconstructions of ancient Egyptian buildings, industries and crafts, which are presented here in the form of tableaux, involving many Egyptian actors and actresses, dressed in the costumes of the time.

Dr Ragab built his industry around the papyrus plant, which had become extinct in Egypt and it was he who rediscovered the ancient process of making paper from the plant in 1965. He founded the Dr Ragab Papyrus Institute in Cairo where visitors can see how the writing material is made. In 1974 Hassan Ragab re-invested the profits from his papyrus process and began work on the Pharaonic Village on Jacob's Island which opened to the public in 1984. In converting Jacob Island into a reconstruction of ancient Egypt, Dr Ragab began by planting 5000 trees of different types to screen the island from modern Cairo. He searched the world for plants and seeds and even birds which had flourished in ancient Egypt but were no longer present in the country, slowly building his collection on the island, which now includes 9 hectares of papyrus. The village still continues to grow with new projects and exhibits appearing regularly.

You will sail past the exhibits on a guided tour of the sights and sounds of Egyptian history and legend. There is an accurate reconstruction of an Egyptian temple of white stone, complete with its sacred lake - the centrepiece of the park. There are dwellings of craftsmen and farmers, a nobleman's villa, marketplace and pharaoh's palace. There is even a military camp. Many crafts and industries can be seen, including pottery and sculpture, weaving, boat building, and all kinds of representations of daily life and activities.

One of the greatest points of interest may be the recently completed replica of Tutankhamun's tomb, which features copies of the objects still in situ when the tomb was discovered. Using Howard Carter's notes and original photographs, Dr Ragab and his team have faithfully reproduced the entire tomb, with craftsmen often using the same techniques which were used in ancient times.

In recent years the park has expanded to cover other periods in history and permanent exhibitions include Alexander the Great, Coptic Christianity and Islam. A new section opened in July 2001 is dedicated to one of Egypt's modern heroes, President Gamal Abd el-Nasser, leader of the 1952 revolution for Egyptian independence. The exhibition includes rare photographs as well as newspaper articles covering Nasser's life.

Dr Ragab's Pharaonic Village can be found at 3 Al-Bahr Al-A'zam Street, Jacob's Island, on the west bank of the Nile (Sakiet Miky), at Giza. Tel 571 8676. Any taxi driver will know the way. It is open daily from 9.00am to 9.00pm. Tickets give access to all areas of the park and include the half-hour boat ride, entrance to all museums and Tutankhamun's tomb.