Di and Cam

We've been procrastinating about this entry mostly because there is so much to write so... prepare yourself, it's a long one!

Eygpt has been close to the top of our list of places to see since before we came over to the UK, and as it has also been on Heather's list for a long time, we decided to plan our trip together.

Intrepid trips come highly recommended and are 'oldie-friendly' so we decided on the 15 day Discover Egypt trip. In a nutshell - and as descirbed on the website - the trip covers the following Egyptian highlights: "Wander among the Pyramids and the Sphinx, Stay in beach huts on the Red Sea coast, Visit a Nubian family for a local meal, Relax on a felucca down the Nile, Travel to the Valley of the Kings by donkey, Marvel at Karnak Temple, Visit peaceful Coptic churches in Cairo, Climb mystical Mt Sinai, Experience Islamic Cairo".

Trip map:

We spent the first two days in Cairo - a very busy, noisy and slightly dirty city - visiting the old Christian quarter: 'Coptic Cairo', the pyramids at Giza and the Egyptian museum. The pyramids were amazing and a first impression was just how close they are to the city (or, better said, how close the city has encroached on them!). The final picture below is of Di, Heather and Sabry, our Intrepid tour leader:

We went inside one of the pyramids - consisting of a narrow passageway to the pharoah's burial chamber - it was incredibly hot inside and very plain in comparison to the temples that we saw later in the trip. In fact, the only decoration inside the burial chamber was a large engraving of the name of the British archaeologist who discovered the chamder, in effect, graffiti!

After a luxurious (by Egyptian standards!) overnight train trip from Cairo to Aswan, we spent a day walking around the city before catching a boat to Elephantine Island to visit a Nubian family and our camel ride. The Nubian people are from the Nubia area in Upper Egypt - the area around Aswan - and it was a great experience to see the way they live and to share a meal and music and dancing with the family.

We had an early morning start on our second day in Aswan to join the 3am convoy to Abu Simbel. The temples of Ramses II and his (favourite) wife Nefertari. The temples are massive and even more impressive due to the fact that they were moved piece by piece to their current site when the Egyptians built the High Dam at Aswan and created Lake Nasser:

We stopped at two other sites, the High Dam and Philae Temple, on the drive back to Aswan:

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing after the early start. We tried our skills haggling at the Aswan souk (market) and got an early night before our departure on the felucca.

The time we spent on the felucca was one of the many highlights of our trip - despite one day that Di spent a wee bit dehydrated - and it was a welcome break from the frantic sightseeing in Cairo and Abu Simbel. The 'facilities' were basic hence our inclusion of the last photo below, Greg filling in the 'toilet' before we departed for a second day's sailing:

The two days seemed to fly by quickly and before we knew it we were back on land on our way to Luxor via Edfu Temple:

The next morning was another early start. This was our own 'fault' this time as we had opted to take a hot air balloon trip prior to our visit to the Valley of the Kings. The sunrise and views were incredible, in particular the stark contrast between the green banks of the Nile and the desert beyond. Between the balloon ride and our visit to the Valley of the Kings, we stopped for breakfast and met some local children:

Our transport to the valley was by donkey. Despite the look of our photos we were assured that donkeys have super carrying and pulling strength and Cam's donkey was helped along by the fact that Cam could put his feet on the ground Fred Flinstone-style!

The Valley of the Kings is the area where the pharoahs are buried. Following the break-ins at the pyramids in Giza it was decided that tomb robbers could be thwarted by hiding the location of the tombs. The chances of a break-in were further minimised due to there being constant work on the tombs and hundreds of workers at the site each day. We visited three large tombs that were intricately detailed with hieroglyphics and scenes (mostly portraying offerings to the gods to protect the pharoah in his afterlife). We also visited Tutankhamun's tomb. This was the only tomb discovered with all of the burial treasures intact (the location of the valley and the theory of minimising the risk of tomb robbers clearly didn't work!) and his mummy is still on display in inside. This tomb was different to the others as it had clearly not been complete when Tutankhamun died and was much less decorated than that of the others we saw:

We then stopped at papyrus and alabaster 'museums' which were really just shops with a short demonstration of the processes for papyrus paper making and alabaster carving. After a long day in the sun, we were pleased to have drinks and dinner on the roof terrace of our hotel and a post-dinner Sufi dancer and belly dancer show.

The next stop on the tourist track was Karnak temple, a large complex of temples in Luxor. The day was a scorcher so we spent a fair amount of time taking cover between the columns:

That night we caught an overnight seater train back to Cairo. This was a commuter train - a vastly different experience to the sleeper - but we arrived safely and after checking in at our hotel we were ready to tackle Islamic Cairo's largest mosque and the famus souk, Khan-el-Khalili. The mosque was the only place that we encountered where the girls on the trip were slightly 'under-dressed' hence the photo below!

From Cairo we headed out of the African continent to the Sinai peninsula. But before we reached the beach we stopped for a 'quick' climb up Mt Sinai (also known as Moses' mountain as this is where he received the ten commandments) and a visit to St Catharine's monastery (home of Moses' burning bush). On a clear day the views are spectacular, but although we couldn't see as far as Saudi Arabia, the sunset was amazing:

Apparently it is good luck to touch the burning bush (when in Rome...):

Dad: I took this photo with you in mind. I guess the local vet doesn't specialise in dentistry?!

Our final stop on the trip was Sawa Camp at Nuweiba. The Red Sea was incredible (and warmer than the Nile!) and we were glad for some time to relax at the beach, although of course we had the energy for a dive!

In summary, we had an awesome time and would thoroughly recommend a trip to Egypt not only for the amazing sights, but also for the cultural experience - miyya miyya walla ferakh al gameia!