Ancient Egypt

Egypt.... A passion? A dream? An obsession? Whatever you choose to call it, this was something I have been enthralled with for years. I never imagined that I would actually be able to visit it, mind you, but I dreamed on...I read more and more books set in Ancient Egypt, bought more Egyptian artifacts and visited the museum's Egyptian Treasure section multiple times.... So, when I was randomly browsing the internet one day and saw a travel group planning to travel to Egypt later that year, I joined it right away; if not to travel with them, but to learn more Egyptian factoids.

Then, dream turned into reality. My husband (let's call him B) and I decided to join this group on the Egypt tour!!! Excited does not even begin to describe my emotion during those 6 months leading up to the tour date! I'd like to lay down my experience here, so that maybe one day, if visiting Egypt was one of your dreams, you realize that you can be there to experience the magnificent culture and beauty of the temples, first hand!

Tour Type: Guided, Land + River Cruise

Tour Company: Globus, Avalon Waterways

Tour Duration: 11 days (including travel)

Day 1: Thanksgiving 2009 (Nov 26)

Board our intercontinental flight to the Land of the Pharoahs!

Traveler Tip: We flew Alitalia, our first time with them and if I can help it, definitely our last time. THE worst airline I have flown till date - dirty and I mean DIRTY restrooms, apathetic service, age old aircrafts made this flight barely bearable!

Day 2: Nov 27 2009

We arrive at Egypt airport and apply for our Egyptian visas - costs about $15 - $20 and can be gotten in a few minutes. For those who are not US Citizens (including Permanent Residents), you have to apply for a visa beforehand and have it stamped on your passports.

There is a foreign exchange facility right there and you pretty much get the same rate everywhere else too. We board our bus to go to Mena House Oberoi (five star hotel, right by the Pyramids). Pleasant surprise when we got there - we were all upgraded to Pyramid View rooms!!!! After a refreshing welcome drink, we all head to our rooms. Wow - the view of those magnificent pyramids from our rooms was just breathtaking!!! And to see them at sunrise against the crimson sky... leaves you speechless!

Dinner: Mena House has several restaurants with fantastic veggie options like Lentil Soups, Grilled Vegetable Sandwich, Hummus and Falafel and so on. If you have any food allergies, though, please be sure to communicate more than once with your waiter, as they don't seem to understand the concept of allergies in Egypt.

Day 3: Nov 28 2009

Our tour officially didn't begin till 3 PM, so we headed out on our own in the morning to the Pyramid complex. B & I chose not to go into the complex today because we were going there tomorrow anyway. But to see these gorgeous structure up close was exhilarating! After a few pictures, we walked back to the hotel and took up a shady spot under a tree by the pool... Ahhhhh, relaxing..... Well, we were to remember that lazy afternoon for the rest of our tour, as that was our last :)

At 2 PM, our Tour director came in early and apprised us of what to expect. Shocked? Not really, we knew it was going to be a little exhausting, and we thought we could handle it. Little did we know :) Anyway, after our introductory meeting, we all opted to go visit Old Cairo and see a few spots on our own. So, 2 taxis were arranged and we huddled in and headed to Cairo. Boy, was that a joy-ride! The traffic in Cairo is just complete.... how do I put it?... CHAOS! No one follows rules and you can get stuck in the middle of cars, buses, donkeys and other animals packed like sardines in a can and stay there for several hours, sometimes! If you are going from the United States where you are used to clean, streamlined roads, you are in for a shock! But then, remember, it's their culture.... So just embrace it with open arms!

So anyways, we went to this Gayer Anderson museum - which, if you remember, was featured in the James Bond movie - The Spy who Loved Me! The "museum" is actually two houses that were the most well preserved houses in Cairo at their times. They are right next to the Ibn Tulun Mosque and there is a beautiful view of the mosque from one of the courtyards. The house itself has several period furniture pieces and has other delights like a secret room behind a cupboard, a Harem room (!!) and a Birthing room (You gotta see this one!).

Entrance fee for Gayer -Anderson Museum is about 30 Egyptian Pounds (LE) for foreign nationals. You cannot take any purses inside, so make sure that either have someone guard it outside or you don't carry a purse for that visit.

We decided that the ride back was enough excitement for us and headed straight to the hotel to have dinner!

Breakfast: Buffet with loads of fruit, hummus, dates, etc - plenty of veggie options

Lunch: Khan El Khalili restaurant (same as previous day's dinner)

Dinner: The Moghul Room (Indian) - reservations essential - very good food, plenty of vegetarian options, pricey.

Day 4: Nov 29, 2009

Today, we woke up early, and were out of the hotel by 7 AM. We headed over to the Pyramid Complex, where B and some of our fellow-travelers went for a quick visit into the Pyramid of Khafre (the second largest) to look at the burial chamber. I am claustrophobic, so I opted to stay outside with some other folks. But those who went inside said that you would have to literally crawl in some portions and that the chamber itself is empty without any engravings or inscriptions. We then headed to the Great Sphinx, which is by the pyramids, only a few hundred feet over. It is breathtaking to see that the Sphinx is actually carved from a SINGLE ROCK!!! Amazing!

We also went over to the place where we could see all three pyramids together - great photo opp!

From the pyramids, we headed directly to riding camels! If you have never ridden them before, are a cleanliness freak or are very finicky, please skip this! I am not going to explain why :D

After riding camels, we head over to nearby Sakkara to see the original and oldest step pyramids there. Memphis is a short ride from there where you admire the 40-ft statue of Ramses II. We also stopped by a local carpet weaving school for children to learn how the beautiful Egyptian carpets are made.

Next stop after the Carpet School was the Egyptian Museum. Filled with beautiful curios and artifacts ranging from thousands of years, this is a must see! The famed King Tut's artifacts are all on display here and you will not regret your trip!

Traveler Tip: Cameras or Camcorders are not allowed inside the museum, so if you don't want to entrust your prized possessions to the Museum authorities, please make sure you leave them in the car/bus. Taking your purse is not advisable either.

Whew!! THAT was our first day of the tour! Packed with action and adventure!

Breakfast: Buffet with loads of fruit, hummus, dates, etc - plenty of veggie options (Mena House)

Lunch: Local Cairo restaurant, falafel, hummus, babaganoush (minced eggplant) and salad

Dinner: Khan El Khalili restaurant, Mena House

Day 5: Nov 30, 2009

This morning, we visited a Papyrus factory where we saw a demonstration of how papyrus is made. The "factory" also sold several kinds of paintings made on papyrus, beautiful colors and themes. B and I chose not to buy anything here, but we captured some of these works of art on our camera.

Later, we headed over to the airport to board our flight to the beautiful, resort town of Aswan! After a brief stop at Aswan Dam overlooking the man-made Lake Nasser, we headed over to the Nile where we boarded a felucca. A felucca is a traditional wooden sail boat that can be found in only one or two countries, including Egypt. Munching on fruits, we sailed to the nearby Kitchener Island, where we took a stroll in the Botanical Gardens. On our way back to the hotel, we were treated to our first sunset on the Nile. You have got to be there to see how beautiful it is!

A relatively shorter day, we were gearing up for the spectacular visit the next day! An early night at the Hotel Mövenpick - a great choice! Our room was overlooking the Nile and desert and was simply beautiful and we were greeted by a traditional Hibiscus herbal tea, yum!

Breakfast: Mena House buffet breakfast

Lunch: Fruits on the felucca and falafel on the bus, courtesy of our Tour Director!

Dinner: A fantastic buffet at the Hotel Mövenpick, the best dinner I had throughout this trip!

Day 6: Dec 1, 2009

Today, we checked out early from Mövenpick and headed to the airport again, this time to board a short flight to Abu Simbel.

Abu Simbel is the home of two massive temples built by Ramses II for himself and his favorite wife, Queen Nefertari. It is here that you see the huge statues of Ramses II in a sitting position. Apparently, this temple was actually way out in the middle of present day Lake Nasser, but when Aswan Dam was built and Lake Nasser was created, the temple had to be relocated to a small hill, block by block!

Words cannot describe the beauty of the location, with the blue waters of Lake Nasser sprawled out in front of you, in contrast to the sand colored temples. The temples themselves are impressive, with their huge, gigantic statues and inscriptions. This is often termed an optional trip, but for me, this is an absolute essential part of the whole Egyptian experience.

After we finished at Abu Simbel, we flew back to Aswan, where we boarded our cruise ship - The Royal Lotus! My first cruise ever, this was really exciting. A welcome lunch later, we headed to Aswan market to find local treasures and do some shopping for a welcome party later that night!

Traveler Tip: Egyptians are fascinated by tourists, Americans in particular. They try to touch you, stroke your hair and even make comments that are probably considered unacceptable in American culture. Then again, all we need to remember is that their culture is a lot different and that they are enchanted with fair skin and blonde hair, as it is certainly not common there. If you do not like them touching you/your hair or you dont want to buy their products, please let them no politely or say "La Shukran", which means, "No, Thanks" and they will usually leave you alone.

Traveler Tip: Baksheesh is a very common way of life in Egypt. Baksheesh literally translates to "charity", but is generally used with the concept of tipping in Egypt. It is their way of making that extra cash and making a living. So, carry $1 bills with you, specifically for tipping. Also, while shopping, make sure you don't display all the money you carry - the prices will go up if they see how much you have!

Breakfast: Mövenpick buffet breakfast

Lunch: Cafe at Abu Simbel

Dinner: Royal Lotus (Cruise ship)

Day 7: Dec 2, 2009

If waking up early was exhausting, everything just vanished after the delicious buffet breakfast on the cruise ship that morning! Made to order eggs, every kind of bread you can imagine, fresh fruits.... mmmmmm....

After that breakfast, we headed over to the famous Granite Quarries of Aswan to see the Unfinished Obelisk. This is said to have been commissioned by the only female Pharoah of Egypt - Queen Hatshepsut (our TD told us to remember her as "Hot chicken soup", pronounced with a Chinese accent :P), who has other obelisks as well. This obelisk was unfinished, however, because there was a crack in it when they tried to chisel it out of the rock. Even so, it was beautiful and HUGE!

After the obelisk, we went to the island of Agilika in a motor launch to the Temple of Isis. I had read about it, seen pictures, but nothing even came close to what it was in reality. Just plain beautiful! Some heart-wrenching stories and a whole lot history later, we were ready to head back to the ship and start cruising down the Nile. Or rather, up the Nile, in our case.

Our ship had a shaded area on the top deck with chairs/tables, lounging chairs, a Foosball table and ping pong table. The rest of the afternoon was spent in trying to win Foosball, which I am sorry to say, I didn't :( But, if you get a chance to cruise down the Nile, please do... It's simply breathtaking, especially the sunset!

We came up on the town of Kom Ombo and the temple for the Crocodile and Falcon Gods, Sobek and Horus the Elder, respectively. This is a double temple that is symmetrical along the axis. So if you went to one side of the temple, it is built the exact same on the other side! Of course, inscriptions differ.... This is also the place where you can find an ancient Egyptian calendar and also an inscription of what seems like a set of surgical instruments!!! Whoa, the Egyptians were way ahead of their time! We also saw a snake charmer outside the temple :) with a live cobra and one of our fellow travelers draped it around her neck (ughhh)

Traveler Tip: You will find several small markets at each of these temples with vendors trying to sell you scarves, or long tunics or some such thing. But, the best place to buy anything is a big market like Aswan Market or even better, Khan El Khalili market at Cairo (if you don't mind the crowds).

Breakfast: Royal Lotus buffet breakfast

Lunch: Royal Lotus

Dinner: Royal Lotus

Day 8: Dec 3, 2009

A romantic horse-drawn carriage ride took us to the magnificent Temple of Edfu. This is the second largest temple in Egypt and is dedicated to the Falcon God, Horus. The Architecture and construction is very much similar to the Temple of Isis, but this is a huge temple and has a sanctuary with a boat shaped sarcophagus in the sanctum. This temple was built in the time of Cleopatra (yes, the famous one) and is one of the most well preserved temples of its time.

After the tour, we headed back to our ship on our horse-drawn carriage and had the rest of the day to ourselves. Lazing around on the deck, reading a book, drinking tea... all the time watching the beautiful sights along the Nile.... ahhhh.... I wish I could go back...

In the meantime, we reached our last stop, the ancient city of Thebes, known in the modern world as Luxor! Even at night, it is a beautiful city... And the temples at night are just breath-takingly beautiful! We went to the Temple of Luxor, with its obelisk and statues of Ramses II to greet us. It is here that you will find a long row of sphinxes leading all the way to the Temple of Karnak, Egypt's largest temple.

Breakfast: Royal Lotus buffet breakfast

Lunch: Royal Lotus

Dinner: Royal Lotus

Day 9: Dec 4, 2009

Everyday we woke up really, really early, and I mean early. But this day was pushing it to the limit! We had to be out of the door by 4 AM and on a barge. We were crossing over to the West bank today to go to The Valley of the Kings. But, what is getting up at 4 AM if there is no excitement added to it? Our boat got caught in a fishing net en route and the motor failed! So we had to wait for another boat to come over and "tow" us to the West Bank!

At the Valley of the Kings, we visited the tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses III/Amen-Messe and Tausert/Setnakht before heading over to Deir-El-Bahiri, the temple dedicated to Queen Hatshepsut (Remember Hot Chicken Soup?). Plenty of pictures and exploration later, we were on the bus going towards the two famous statues called the Colossi of Memnon. Some little girls were selling their hand made artifacts - little camels and such.... we all ended up buying one each to help them out. Such a cute, dirty little thing - it's sitting on top of armoire as a permanent reminder of my memorable trip to Egypt.

After a nice hearty lunch at the ship, we went back to visit the Karnak Temple Complex - the collection of temples dedicated to Amun and Mut. The temple is simply huge and its hypostyle halls are spectacular. Everything you find in each of other temples that we visited earlier are all combined in this one temple - obelisks, pillars, huge statues of Ramses II (He was an egomaniac, I think). We spent a lot of time at this temple and even got a special treat - we got to see a secluded part of the temple that was still being restored and a special statue of Mut - all thanks to an awesome TD! There is also a row of rams to match the row of sphinxes at the Luxor Temple.

Breakfast: Royal Lotus buffet breakfast

Lunch: Royal Lotus

Dinner: Royal Lotus

Day 10: Dec 5, 2009

A leisurely day, we flew back to Cairo and checked into the Fairmont Heliopolis. Whoa, what a hotel! It is modern and has several restaurants in its complex. B & I took the day off, while the others went shopping at the Cairo market and a light and sound show at the Pyramid Complex.

Day 11: Dec 6, 2009

Flight back to the US

On the whole, this trip was very fulfilling and one of the best trips I have been on. The advantage of choosing Globus for this trip was that we didn't have to buy tickets anywhere - so we avoided the long lines and the price of the tickets was already included in our package price. We also had the advantage of an armed guard traveling with us at all times to prevent any mishap!

Egypt has plenty to offer for vegetarians. Fresh fruits and vegetables, hummus, potatoes, freshly baked bread are only some of the varied choices you can choose from. Go on, take the trip and you will come back wishing the vacation could go on and on....