Day 6: Felucca Cruise - Luxor
In the morning you will visit Kom Ombo and Edfu Temples. Then you will arrive in Luxor in at afternoon, tour the East Bank of Luxor. Here you will experience the massive Karnak temple and historic Luxor temple, overnight at your hotel.
After watching sunrise on the Nile and breakfast, we were off the felucca and headed to Luxor with a few stops along the way.
First up was temple Kom Ombo. This is another temple on the side of the Nile. This was even busier! One thing I hadn’t mentioned about felucca was our tour group of 11 was split in two, 5 joined a 5 star cruise ship while the rest of us choose the traditional felucca sail boat. Anyway, these cruise ships, which are large and numerous, can actually dock at this temple, meaning all the cruise ship passengers disembark, trample through the temple and then pile back onto their boat.
The temple itself was very good, despite the crowds. One of the highlights was an ancient calendar in hieroglyphics. The temple itself had lots of large columns and many well preserved pictures and writing on the walls. The story was interesting about two gods who lived together but fell out as one was lazy and didn’t do any cleaning, while the other did all the ‘housework’. The temple was then divided into two halves! A good solution to an age old problem! 
Down the road, just passed a semi trailer full of camels, was our next stop. The Edfu temples. This stop was 
not so busy, yay, possibly as its off the river, no massive boats with loads of tourists! The main attraction in this temple was a chariot that used to be used to carry the god of the temple to visit a god in a different temple on the other side of Egypt. The inside of the temple was also designed being with a high ceiling at the entrance, which gradually decreased to being a low ceiling at the back where the chariot was lived. This was to allow the god to be able to see out, but not let people be see in at the same time. The temple itself was really quite big to look at from the outside and in very good condition. 
Before arriving at the hotel our guide took us to a local diner where for about $2 we ate a massive local dish, rice, noodles, veggies and a curry sauce over the top. It didn’t look the best but was very nice, an authentic Egyptian experience! The day ended in Luxor, where we had the afternoon to relax. The hotel had a roof top pool where we met up with the other half of our tour, who had arrived earlier off the cruise ship. The evening was spent in a pitiful ‘Irish bar’ with terrible music and no Guinness! Still not sure what actually made it an ‘Irish bar’.
Day 7: Luxor
After breakfast we tour the West Bank of Luxor. We start the tour with the World famous Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir El Bahary) and the great Colossi of Memnon, the last remains of Amenophis III’s temple. Then take the overnight first class train back to Cairo.
Today was possibly my favourite day of the tour, surprisingly! Yes I loved chilling out on the Felucca and on the beaches in Dahab. And after seeing so many temples, who would have thought! But Luxor was definitely a highlight, if not the highlight. We did the West and the East bank in one day.
Our first stop was a quick photo opportunity with a couple of massive sculptures. Two Egyptian looking guys in a sitting position, randomly in the middle of nowhere. Slightly crumbled but still very impressive. Then it was on to the Valley of the Kings. Sadly no photos here (cameras prohibited), I guess you will all have to see it for yourselves! The valley itself is very dry, dust and hot but Tourism Egypt is all over this, train cars to escort the tourists up to the tombs.
The tombs were incredible. The valley has something like 30 known tombs, still looking for more. Not all are open at the one time, and of the open ones the ticket only allows entry to 3, which is plenty. Our guide was good, telling us which were the better ones to visit, giving us the history and what to look for once we went inside. They were just like tunnels with small chambers. The walls were covered in well preserved paintings, prayers and stories. The preservation of these from thousands of years ago is incredible, much of it is still in color. Thankfully, the main ones have protective glass on the walls, to avoid the stupid tourists that touch or scratch bits off (like we saw one guy do!). Only one of the tombs was discovered before the tomb raiders got to it, Tutankhamen. This tomb is in the valley but we didn’t visit, extra charges, plus apparently it is the smallest of the tombs and was also partially unfinished.
Our last stop in the West Bank was the Temple of Hatshepsut. Still hot and dusty, and another tourist train from the main gate to the temple. The temple is 3 levels built into the side of a mountain. The top level had 26 soldier statues along the front of it, each about 3m tall and colored (back in the day). These day only about 6 are intact, remnants of others remain and most of the color is faded. The temple had more paintings and writing on the walls. There were also 2 massive sculptures, the size of the 3 storey temple, on guard out the front. 
After McDonalds for lunch (our guide likes us to eat western food to avoid getting sick, ironic huh!) we continued on the tourist trail. This time it was the East Bank and the Karnak Temple. This was by far the biggest of the temples we visited, and has the WOW factor that is experienced walking into the Colosseum in Rome. Built over the years by various different rulers, each would add a bit more trying to outdo the previous ruler. 
The result being open spaces, a parade of sphinx’s, huge stone gateways, massive columns, obelisks, holy lake and temples. There was even a story about one ruler who didn’t like his predecessor. So the obelisk that the predecessor built, he completely buried it in stone blocks so it was no longer visible. Some of these have fallen away and the obelisk is visible sticking out the top of the rubble.
After a long day we walked back to the hotel, on the way Peter (the guide) got us some sugar cane juice, an Egyptian favourite. Then it was off to the horrible Irish Pub for some more horrible western food. Last stop for the day was the train station, for another overnight train ride. This time the 6 of us were in one cabin, meaning we could stretch out, Peter and Christina slept on the floor!
Note - Apologies it has taken so long to get the blog up to date, its been such a busy summer! Sadly it means that a lot of the detail and story’s we have been learnt I can’t remember.
Day 8: Cairo City Tour
After breakfast, a guided visit of the Egyptian Museum, the old city of Cairo where you will see Coptic Cairo, the Hanging Church, the cave church, Islamic Cairo, Saladin Citadel, Mohammed Ali Mosque, the old Cairo bazaar (Khan El Khalili) and El Fishawy Coffee Shop, overnight at your hotel.
It’s a goods thing we were a bit more comfortable on the train. We did get some rest, not a great night sleep, but enough.
In the morning you will visit Kom Ombo and Edfu Temples. Then you will arrive in Luxor in at afternoon, tour the East Bank of Luxor. Here you will experience the massive Karnak temple and historic Luxor temple, overnight at your hotel.After watching sunrise on the Nile and breakfast, we were off the felucca and headed to Luxor with a few stops along the way.
First up was temple Kom Ombo. This is another temple on the side of the Nile. This was even busier! One thing I hadn’t mentioned about felucca was our tour group of 11 was split in two, 5 joined a 5 star cruise ship while the rest of us choose the traditional felucca sail boat. Anyway, these cruise ships, which are large and numerous, can actually dock at this temple, meaning all the cruise ship passengers disembark, trample through the temple and then pile back onto their boat.
The temple itself was very good, despite the crowds. One of the highlights was an ancient calendar in hieroglyphics. The temple itself had lots of large columns and many well preserved pictures and writing on the walls. The story was interesting about two gods who lived together but fell out as one was lazy and didn’t do any cleaning, while the other did all the ‘housework’. The temple was then divided into two halves! A good solution to an age old problem! Down the road, just passed a semi trailer full of camels, was our next stop. The Edfu temples. This stop was 
not so busy, yay, possibly as its off the river, no massive boats with loads of tourists! The main attraction in this temple was a chariot that used to be used to carry the god of the temple to visit a god in a different temple on the other side of Egypt. The inside of the temple was also designed being with a high ceiling at the entrance, which gradually decreased to being a low ceiling at the back where the chariot was lived. This was to allow the god to be able to see out, but not let people be see in at the same time. The temple itself was really quite big to look at from the outside and in very good condition. Before arriving at the hotel our guide took us to a local diner where for about $2 we ate a massive local dish, rice, noodles, veggies and a curry sauce over the top. It didn’t look the best but was very nice, an authentic Egyptian experience! The day ended in Luxor, where we had the afternoon to relax. The hotel had a roof top pool where we met up with the other half of our tour, who had arrived earlier off the cruise ship. The evening was spent in a pitiful ‘Irish bar’ with terrible music and no Guinness! Still not sure what actually made it an ‘Irish bar’.Day 7: Luxor
After breakfast we tour the West Bank of Luxor. We start the tour with the World famous Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir El Bahary) and the great Colossi of Memnon, the last remains of Amenophis III’s temple. Then take the overnight first class train back to Cairo.
Today was possibly my favourite day of the tour, surprisingly! Yes I loved chilling out on the Felucca and on the beaches in Dahab. And after seeing so many temples, who would have thought! But Luxor was definitely a highlight, if not the highlight. We did the West and the East bank in one day.
Our first stop was a quick photo opportunity with a couple of massive sculptures. Two Egyptian looking guys in a sitting position, randomly in the middle of nowhere. Slightly crumbled but still very impressive. Then it was on to the Valley of the Kings. Sadly no photos here (cameras prohibited), I guess you will all have to see it for yourselves! The valley itself is very dry, dust and hot but Tourism Egypt is all over this, train cars to escort the tourists up to the tombs.The tombs were incredible. The valley has something like 30 known tombs, still looking for more. Not all are open at the one time, and of the open ones the ticket only allows entry to 3, which is plenty. Our guide was good, telling us which were the better ones to visit, giving us the history and what to look for once we went inside. They were just like tunnels with small chambers. The walls were covered in well preserved paintings, prayers and stories. The preservation of these from thousands of years ago is incredible, much of it is still in color. Thankfully, the main ones have protective glass on the walls, to avoid the stupid tourists that touch or scratch bits off (like we saw one guy do!). Only one of the tombs was discovered before the tomb raiders got to it, Tutankhamen. This tomb is in the valley but we didn’t visit, extra charges, plus apparently it is the smallest of the tombs and was also partially unfinished.
Our last stop in the West Bank was the Temple of Hatshepsut. Still hot and dusty, and another tourist train from the main gate to the temple. The temple is 3 levels built into the side of a mountain. The top level had 26 soldier statues along the front of it, each about 3m tall and colored (back in the day). These day only about 6 are intact, remnants of others remain and most of the color is faded. The temple had more paintings and writing on the walls. There were also 2 massive sculptures, the size of the 3 storey temple, on guard out the front. After McDonalds for lunch (our guide likes us to eat western food to avoid getting sick, ironic huh!) we continued on the tourist trail. This time it was the East Bank and the Karnak Temple. This was by far the biggest of the temples we visited, and has the WOW factor that is experienced walking into the Colosseum in Rome. Built over the years by various different rulers, each would add a bit more trying to outdo the previous ruler. The result being open spaces, a parade of sphinx’s, huge stone gateways, massive columns, obelisks, holy lake and temples. There was even a story about one ruler who didn’t like his predecessor. So the obelisk that the predecessor built, he completely buried it in stone blocks so it was no longer visible. Some of these have fallen away and the obelisk is visible sticking out the top of the rubble.After a long day we walked back to the hotel, on the way Peter (the guide) got us some sugar cane juice, an Egyptian favourite. Then it was off to the horrible Irish Pub for some more horrible western food. Last stop for the day was the train station, for another overnight train ride. This time the 6 of us were in one cabin, meaning we could stretch out, Peter and Christina slept on the floor!
Note - Apologies it has taken so long to get the blog up to date, its been such a busy summer! Sadly it means that a lot of the detail and story’s we have been learnt I can’t remember.
Day 8: Cairo City Tour
After breakfast, a guided visit of the Egyptian Museum, the old city of Cairo where you will see Coptic Cairo, the Hanging Church, the cave church, Islamic Cairo, Saladin Citadel, Mohammed Ali Mosque, the old Cairo bazaar (Khan El Khalili) and El Fishawy Coffee Shop, overnight at your hotel.
It’s a goods thing we were a bit more comfortable on the train. We did get some rest, not a great night sleep, but enough.
Day 8 – Cairo City Tour. Off the train to the hotel, after a quick shower it was back on the bus and back into it!
The Egyptian Museum was the first stop, again no cameras! This was hard work! It was busier than the London Museums, but less spacious. The big tour groups all huddling around door ways and corridors didn’t help. The Museum’s collection is amazing. It was just our state of tiredness, the crowds and the fact that most of the artefacts were not labeled or even stored very well. The highlight was the Tutankhamen collection, which is what was found in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Gold everything! Heaps of jewellery, facemasks, furniture and pottery. He was buried in his tomb in 4 coffins of different sizes, all inside each other, each laced with gold. These are laid out separately in the museum. There is also rooms full of mummified animals (people in a separate room, extra charge), statues, jewellery and pottery. But after about an hour and a half we were ready for coffee, so we headed to the cafe to meet Peter and have a hit of Turkish Coffee, another Egyptian favourite!
Aaagh... Coffee. Feeling better, we were off to the Hanging Church. This was a nice old church built over the top of roman ruins. The church also had a miracle occur in there and an image of Mary is burnt into one of the pillars in the church.
After lunch, a bit touristy, but an Egyptian feed, we headed to the Old Cairo Bazaar. This is a big market selling all sorts of touristy goods, sculptures (we bought an Ibis), paintings, scarf’s, clothes and the usual key rings etc... It was very busy and the stall holders would not leave you alone, similar to Asia, gets annoying pretty quickly!
Exhausted we returned to the hotel. We were scheduled for a nights sleep followed by a 9hr bus ride in the morning to Dahab. Despite being exhausted we arranged for an earlier bus, leaving at about 3am, giving us an extra day on the beach! We had a few hours sleep, before jumping on the bus for another night of travel.
The Egyptian Museum was the first stop, again no cameras! This was hard work! It was busier than the London Museums, but less spacious. The big tour groups all huddling around door ways and corridors didn’t help. The Museum’s collection is amazing. It was just our state of tiredness, the crowds and the fact that most of the artefacts were not labeled or even stored very well. The highlight was the Tutankhamen collection, which is what was found in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Gold everything! Heaps of jewellery, facemasks, furniture and pottery. He was buried in his tomb in 4 coffins of different sizes, all inside each other, each laced with gold. These are laid out separately in the museum. There is also rooms full of mummified animals (people in a separate room, extra charge), statues, jewellery and pottery. But after about an hour and a half we were ready for coffee, so we headed to the cafe to meet Peter and have a hit of Turkish Coffee, another Egyptian favourite!
Aaagh... Coffee. Feeling better, we were off to the Hanging Church. This was a nice old church built over the top of roman ruins. The church also had a miracle occur in there and an image of Mary is burnt into one of the pillars in the church.
After lunch, a bit touristy, but an Egyptian feed, we headed to the Old Cairo Bazaar. This is a big market selling all sorts of touristy goods, sculptures (we bought an Ibis), paintings, scarf’s, clothes and the usual key rings etc... It was very busy and the stall holders would not leave you alone, similar to Asia, gets annoying pretty quickly!
Exhausted we returned to the hotel. We were scheduled for a nights sleep followed by a 9hr bus ride in the morning to Dahab. Despite being exhausted we arranged for an earlier bus, leaving at about 3am, giving us an extra day on the beach! We had a few hours sleep, before jumping on the bus for another night of travel.
Day 1: Cairo
Our first day in Cairo was spent exploring the Pyramids. First stop was the Sakkara Step Pyramid. This pyramid was actually the first to be completed in Egypt. It is a tomb from the old dynasty. Originally it was to be a simple rectangle shape, about 5 meters high. This however would never be grand enough for a king, so an extra 5 or so smaller rectangles were layered on top, forming ‘steps’ in a pyramid shape. The entry was through a columnade, like a hallway with heaps of old limestone pillars and columns.
Our guid
Back on the bus, we drove past the second Pyramid and stopped on a sand dune just past the third pyramid. This has a great view of the 3 big Pyramids as well as the 3 smaller Pyramids. It was also very exciting as we had vouchers for a free camel ride. It was cool to ride a camel at the pyramids, although it was a bit brief and very touristy (get on the camel, ride a few hundred meters, photo, ride back, get off camel).
The highlight of the day was the Philae Temple. This was a temple in the middle of an island. After a short boat ride, Peter gave us a rundown of what its all about before leaving us to explore. The walls are very well preserved, covered in carvings and hieroglyphics. Day 3 of the tour and everyone is exhausted! But no rest for the wicked, tomorrow morning is the side trip to Abu Simbel, with a 4am wakeup call! An early night and looking forward to a relaxing few days on the felucca. 
Abu Simbel is another Kings temple. It is made even more extraordinary by the fact that where it is today, is not where it was built. It was originally in the side of a mountain that is now covered in water, under the dam water. When the dam was being built this temple was also relocated brick by brick. Not that we saw it back in the day, but it looks like they put it back together prop
Back in Aswan it was another quick shower in preparation to board out felucca sail boat. We were on board by about 3pm and 
A Felucca is a old traditional Egyptian sail boat. It is basic, very basic. No cabin, no shower and no toilet. The deck is covered in mattresses and cushions. We spent the day relaxing on the deck, and the night sleeping on the deck. There are two crew who sailed the boat and prepared the meals for us. 
We sailed most of the day which was nice and very relaxing, with nothing to do but sleep, read and listen to music. We stopped on the banks for lunch, a swim and to build a sand pyramid. The cold beers on board helped us pass t
