The day after my birthday, Fiona, my Mum, Dad and I headed off to Egypt to fulfill a long held ambition to see the Pyramids and cruise the Nile. For my parents, having only been to Europe once before, let alone never visiting a country like Egypt, it was very much out of their comfort zone - but at the same time, a once of a life time opportunity.
We landed in Cairo late in the evening to absolute chaos and intense Egyptian heat. The arrival hall was more like the trading floor on Wall St, NYC, than an airport; but we nonetheless found our very useful tour assistant who guided us
through the visa
que and the long, long wait to go through immigration. Once all of that was out the way, we met the rest of our tour group and headed off to the "Pyramids view Hotel." It was pretty late by the time we made it, so went straight to bed.
Day two was all about the picture postcard stuff and Egyptian history 101. We started the day at the
Sphynx and the Pyramids, which were truly everything I had hoped for. Mum and I braved going inside the second pyramid, which was like walking into a sauna, after walking down a mine-shaft. I didn't mind the walk down and into the Pyramid too much, aside from having to crouch so much, but the heat was too much - so Mum and I headed back out pretty much straight away. Fiona and Dad visited the boat museum, which housed some findings of ancient boats around the Pyramids, which they said were excellent. I'm really glad my friend Bruce had told me what to expect from local people around the Pyramids, who basically just harass you and harass you, over and over, unless you buy something or ignore them. I was pretty use to such situations from the
Souks in
Marrakech, but this was a lot more pushy and in your face than Morocco. It was a pretty unusual experience for Mum and Dad, who got suckered in once or twice, but did learn pretty quickly. The
Sphynx was really fantastic and some of the most eye-catching parts of it were the beautifully carved and smooth, back legs, claws etc, which are still pretty much perfect.
After buying some beautiful
papyrus from a gallery, (highly recommended by our guide); he then provided us with some fantastic
falafel for lunch, en route to the Egyptian Museum. I had heard really good things about the museum, and having been blown away by the Met in NY and by the Hermitage in July, I did have huge expectations - and was not a bit disappointed. It was a really fantastic museum; small but full of Egyptian history and culture - and everything in it (except the Rosetta Stone) is original. From the slightly gruesome preserved animals, to the spectacular 11kg solid gold mask of
Tutankhamen, Fiona and I loved every minute of the museum. After a bus ride back to Giza and a few hours rest, we enjoyed a really lovely meal altogether as a group, and even had a birthday cake for my Dad's birthday.
The next day was
definitely not the best of the trip. Getting up early, we spent the day on the train from Cairo to
Luxor. The train ride was good, comfortable, lots of leg room, really good to see the countryside of that part of Egypt etc. But the toilets on the train were revolting! Thankfully, we got to
Luxor and joined our Boat, the M S
Duma, which was very nice; and had a yummy dinner on board.
Day three in
Luxor began by catching a boat across the Nile to the West Bank. While those light enough and keen enough (like Fiona) got to ride a donkey, the rest of us caught taxis up to the Valley of the Kings, via visiting the
Colossal Statues of
Memnon at
Khornd. Our afternoon in the Valley of the Kings was really brilliant. Despite the intense heat of about 34-35* we visited the Tomb of Ramses 4
th and
Thutmoses, known as the Warrior King. The contrast between the two tombs was quite amazing, with the colours and
hieroglyphics very, very different from the two periods. I'd certainly say the Valley of the Kings was a real highlight. After fending off a few more
souvenir sellers, we headed to the Temple of Queen
Hatshepsut. Less than ten years ago, tourists were gunned down and killed by terrorists at this site, and it was hard to put that out of your mind - trying to concentrate on the
fantastic carvings and statues. After lunch it was all free time. So after and a spot of relaxation on the boat, Fiona and I visited
Luxor Museum - a really excellent museum we thoroughly enjoyed, and then wandered a few markets.
Day 5 started early for Fiona, who did a hot air balloon ride over the west bank of
Luxor - which was quite stunning. With the rest of the group awake, we all then took horse-drawn carriages to
Karnak Temple.
Karnak doesn't have anything like the reputation of, say, the Pyramids of course, but it is just as spectacular. From the giant statues of Ramses II, to the "Forrest of Columns," with fantastic
hieroglyphic carving and colours,
Karnak was very much the surprise of the trip, and was quite brilliant. After that, we sailed on to
Edfu, passed the Dam at
Esna and the locks.
One of the more annoying aspects of a trip to Egypt is people harassing you to buy stuff. Some people really don't like it - others like me just accept it as part of the deal, and just ignore it. But one of the funniest things was that you couldn't even escape those entrepreneurs on the Nile!!! Two guys in a row boat decided, as their sales technique, to just row towards our boat and literally throw stuff up on deck, at you, hoping you'll buy it. On another occasion, we had two kids on a floating piece of wood,
paddle up to our
felucca to sing and try and get money out of us. Needless to say it was an interesting yet ultimately unsuccessful sales method; but hey - God loves a
tryer!
We sailed on, visiting the Temple of Horus at
Edfu and then to
Kom Ombo, special because it is dedicated to two Gods, Horus (the Falcon God) and
Sobek (the crocodile God). Sailing on further, we arrived at the beautiful city of Aswan. Then, Friday, was the day
i'd really been looking forward to. We were up at 3.15am (yes, you read correctly), for our 3 hour, police-led convoy bus ride
thru the dessert to the Temples of
Abu Simbel.
Abu Simbel is an amazing set of two temples which were actually moved by UNESCO during the 60s, over 50m upwards and over 70m back away from the water. Not only is
Abu Simbel breathtaking to look at, it is a truly engineering marvel. My uncle Mark had visited it over 15 years ago and described it as more spectacular than the pyramids, and
i'd say they were equally as impressive.
Saturday, our second to last day of the tour, we had our one and only sleep-in, which was well needed. After breakfast, we did a
felucca ride to
Kitchner island to see the botanic gardens, which was quite a contrast to the dessert, history and dirt to the rest of Egypt. We ended the day with a sound and light show at
Philae Temple. Most of our group really enjoyed it, but I was thoroughly under-whelmed. Sunday, we took the bus back to
Luxor, had a really good look and shop around the markets, before flying back to London on Monday.
And that was Egypt. Fiona says it was her best holiday so far and its hard to argue - we really had a fantastic time. Out tour group was great, full of really nice, friendly and interesting people. The tour company was excellent, and Mohamed our guide was absolutely brilliant. Egypt itself is a really amazing place, so rich in history, culture and fantastic people. It was everything I had hoped for a more, and wouldn't hesitate to go back.
