Egypt
Browsing posts in Egypt
Seagul Resort
We are now in the Seagull Resort in Hurghada, having gone full circle. Our tour of Egypt has taken us ten days and we have seen pretty much everything of importance. Now we are on three days of rest. The hotel is enormous. From the front you would never know but once through the doors […]
Alexandria
This morning we continue north and view the Mediterranean from Alexandra. This was in fact an extra. Anna and I had initially decided to pass on it and visit the new Cairo Museum. We changed our minds when we found out we were several years too early. The trip to Alexandra is like changing worlds. […]
The Pyramids
Here it is, the penultimate day of travel and we can tick off the last really big one, the pyramids of Giza. I knew they were big but, in an Ayers Rock sort of way, they are bigger than you expect. While climbing is not allowed, even the thought sends palpitations through my heart. Our […]
Cairo
The train trip was uneventful as was our arrival in Cairo. We were not allowed to carry our suitcases. It was peoples’ jobs to do this. We sat on the coach hopefully waiting for them to arrive. They did so, but in their own time. We were then driven to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. […]
Aswan High Dam and the Temple of Isis
This morning started with a trip to the Aswan High Dam. Lake Nasser was created when the High Dam was built. Unfortunately it inundated hundreds of tombs and temples. Thankfully some of them were moved prior to the dams building. Of course these include Abu Simbel which we saw yesterday. The High Dam is 3600m […]
Abu Simbel
Today we hit a big one. We are going to Abu Simbel. We awoke at 2.15am to find that there was a wakeup call at 2.45 and departure at 3.30am. We were given a bag of breakfast and we joined the coach. The trip would best be described as the speed bump tour of Aswan. […]
Edfu and Kom Ombo
We docked while we ate breakfast. At 0800 we departed in carriages to Edfu Temple. Rickety old examples with Anna at risk of falling out. I did not find out until later, but our carriage was also filthy. My fawn shorts were stained black. Nearly every woman in the group took the time to […]
Luxor on the west bank of the Nile
Luxor is a town of two halves. Today we visited the more rural west bank. The town has a bridge across the Nile but it was kilometres up steam from our ship so we crossed on motor launches. They were a little rustic but effective. They all had names. As we docked I saw one […]
Luxor by Night
 Dinner on the ship was good. Plenty of nicely cooked food and the company of 3 other English speakers, one From New York via Krakow and two from Las Vegas, one via Lodz. After dinner we toured Luxor by night. We were assigned to a horse and carriage. Our driver was Mohammed and the […]
Valley of the Kings
We were supposed to receive a 4am wake up call. When I woke at 5 and looked at my watch I had a quiet moment of panic. I woke Anna and then the door knocked. They wanted our bags. 7 minutes later we were dressed and packed and on our way. We paid our tab […]