Blog List

This morning we say goodbye to Egypt and head to Singapore on our way home.  Last night we grabbed an old newspaper from the hotel and wrapped up the vase ready for transport home.  Took a picture of it just incase it doesn’t survive the trip.



We’d organised to share a cab with Greg and Kerri from out tour group to the airport for 75LE. So with our bags strapped to the roof and everyone crammed into the tiny car we set off.  Just down the road the cab driver informed us that our ride would be 100 + 2x 10 tickets making the ride 120LE.  With no-one particularly happy with this but everyone wanting to actually get to the airport we settled for being scammed one last time.  Half way he started asking for a tip which we declined. Once at the airport he dumped Greg and Kerri in Terminal 1 carpark saying he couldn’t get any closer.  He then demanded the fare which we refused to give him till he took us to our terminal.  After taking the long backstreets and refusing all requests for money now he dumped us at a bus stop and said that’s as far as he could go.  At this point he’d only gone through 1 ticket office and we could see he could drop us here and get out without buying a second ticket.  Eventually we got out and handed over the 120LE and wandered to the bus that took us to the terminal where there were clearly taxis dropping people nearer to the terminal.  It’s unfortunate that we got such a dodgy taxi driver as our last experience of Egypt.

We checked into our flight, had some lunch and boarded our plane. Today we were flying Singapore Airlines.  To our surprise the flight went via Dubai.  After a few hours in the air we sat on the tarmac for about an hour while some people got off and...

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Our last free day in Egypt we were picked up by our awesome driver Moses and ventured out to Dashur and Saqqara to check out the less popular buy by no means less impressive pyramids. First stop was the Red Pyramid, the first known smooth pyramid.  We got here at opening and I snapped 1 picture before the tourist buses arrived. Even with a bunch of buses this place feels deserted compared to the pyramids of Giza.



Next was the Bent Pyramid which is appropriately named due to the dramatic change in angle the pyramid was built on.  This one still has some of it’s casing which gives you an idea what they could have looked like when they were originally created.



Watch out for “Antonio” out here.  He’s a Tourist Police on the scam for money who cornered John and then me.  I was standing on the edge of a cliff when he came bounding over on his camel to inform me I can’t take pictures in that direction. It appeared that I wasn’t allowed to take a picture in any other direction either except towards him (normally taking photos of tourist police is a big no-no). Seeing the nearest person was a long way away and he was the man with the gun I obliged and snapped a quick picture. He then demanded 10LE which i quickly refused. He started to get upset and then his mate came over carrying his machine gun so I handed over 5 LE and ran off...

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After a day back in Cairo we boarded our mini-bus for Sinai in the north-east of the country. Sinai is quite different with more rocky mountains then down south, the roads were all sealed and our driver set speed records to get us to St Katherine a good hour ahead of schedule. As pat of the trip we went under the Suez Canal, I took some bumpy video of the massive container ships in the narrow canal but then left the camera on the bus for 5 min where it went walk about never to be seen again :(

That afternoon we hiked up the 3750 steps of repentance to the top of Mt Sinai where Moses had forged the ten commandments. Bronwen was not well enough for the trek and others in the group opted for a camel.



It was an impressive view from the top and worth the hard climb. We watched the sun set while others read passages from the bible then proceeded back down with torches.

The next day we visited the Monastery of St Katherine which was packed with tourists. The main feature was the burning bush which was a little like an out of control blackberry bush kept in shape by the fact that anything in reach was dead from being touched by the thousands of visitors per day.

We then proceeded east to the coast, the red sea and our beach resort Sawa.







This place was really good and...

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Located very close to Luxor is the massive ruins of Karnak. This was tourist central with a bottle of Gatorade for sale, 40 pounds ($13), in the searing heat.





The main temple was impressive, the highlight being the obelix. They were all made in Aswan and floated down the Nile, very impressive. I liked the way the guide calmly said “Some of these are now located in Paris, London and Rome”, I wondered if they were taken as spoils of war over the years.

 

The temple had a great mix of detail and grand walls, pillars and statues.



Our next stop was the Animal Hospital, a purely donation based outfit caring for the animals at Luxor. Their new facilities were donated in a Will from a British benefactor. The hospital offers free cleaning and education services with Vets from around the world donating time to help the badly treated animals from the area.

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A 4am start today in Luxor as I headed out to the west bank to board a hot air balloon. A dawn lift off, perfect morning with very little wind.





It was my first trip in a balloon and was impressed by the unobstructed view and smooth ride. It was an awesome way to see the monuments. The whole production was well organised with about 300 people boarding 15 balloons. Each balloon’s basket was divided into 4 passenger sections with 5 people per section and then the pilot and two helpers in the middle. The landing was a little bumpy but added to the experience.



I met back up with Bronwen and the rest of the group at 7:30am where we proceeded by donkey to the valley of the kings. No photos in the tombs unfortunately but it would have been hard to capture the length of the tunnels, the heat inside and the crowds in a photo. We got to see 3 of the 60+ tombs, our guide selected a good mix of paintings and etchings.

After a wonderful home-cooked lunch from our guide most of the group went back over the Nile to our hotel, I stayed on to check out more of Habu temple which had caught my eye from the balloon. It features some etchings 15cm into the rock.



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This morning we dismantle our toilet and set sail for the other side of the river.  On our way to Luxor we stop at Edfu temple.  This was supposed to be a hidden gem that not a lot of tourists go to but the place is packed! Here are some giant basalt statues of Horus and a huge temple full of carvings that you’re allowed to take photos of.  Unfortunately we’re here in the middle of the day and the sun is very harsh so not the best time for photos.

We then drive onto Luxor where everyone is glad to be able to have a shower! We go in search of lunch and end up in some backstreets and stumble across this awesome restaurant. The finish and the fitting on this place are the best I’ve seen here.  They invite us to see the bathrooms, odd request I know, which are fitted out with awesome bits of granite and all very fancy.

On the way back to the hotel we stop to buy some drinks and chocolate. The guy wants 40LE (we paid 5 in Aswan) for a bottle of coke. After much haggling, leaving and being chased down we finally get the drink, some chocolate and biscuits for 20.

Later our group leader takes us for a bit of a walk through the city before leaving us to our own devices.  We wander through the markets which have a much bigger range of goods than those in Aswan looking for a nice Alabaster vase for the new house.  We’re taken to a back room (always makes me nervous) where the good stuff is kept.  They have some really nice stuff here and I spot a colourful, hand-made vase I like.  They want 850LE for the vase so we open low at 85LE.  The first guy freaks out and runs off to get someone else.  The next guy comes along to help with the sale.  For some reason he thinks we’re students and have no money.  Wonder if it’s the daggy clothes or the fact we opened so low on the item.  After lots of back and forth and him telling me I’m very difficult we finally settle on 200LE with a couple of scarab beetles thrown in.  My challenge is to get it back home without breaking it now.

After a great breakfast we say goodbye to our hosts as today we spend the whole day and night on the felucca.  I get comfy with my iPod and listen to some tunes and doze off while we sail up the Nile.  At the end of the day’s sailing we pull into a small island for the night as felucca's aren’t permitted to sail at night.  It seems that a few people have been here before as the island is covered in 1/2 dug holes, scraps of toilet paper / rolls and general bits of garbage.  The local farmer doesn’t seem to happy with us digging our pit toilet close to his crops (who can blame him).

As it gets dark we have another great meal before a few games of uno by candlelight before we all go to sleep.  The night is quite cold and this is where I’m really glad we brought my sleeping bag and sleeping sheets with us.  John and I were nice and cosy while quite a few others weren’t warm enough under the blankets provided.

We have a leisurely morning before our trip on the felucca. We wander back to the markets in search of some bread for breakfast where we find a bakery.  We’re quickly dragged inside and shown through the bakery and how they make the bread and given samples. Unfortunately we didn’t have the camera as it would have made a cool pic. After many thank-you’s we bought way too many pieces of bread and armed with a big jar of jam from another stand we are ready.

We pack up our bags so only the essentials are with us and head off on the felucca.  We’re served a delicious lunch on board the boat and sail up the nile. It’s actually quite cold and everyone huddles to one side to get some sun to thaw out.  It’s very peaceful floating along the river passing other sail boats and now and then a big cruise boat.  We pull up at a Nubian village where we will be staying the night.  It’s quite spacious with a massive sand courtyard that has been swept to perfection.

A bunch of us go for a  walk up a much smaller sand dune to get a view across the village while the others huddle around our group leader’s lap top and watch movies.  We’re shown around the house and again treated to a wonderful cooked dinner.  Some of us watch a movie and the others play cards for awhile before heading to bed. Tomorrow we have a full day of sailing ahead of us.

A bunch of our group are up at 3am to join the armed convoy to Abu Simbel. We get to sleep in a little as we’re getting picked up at 7:30 for our 9am flight. We arrive a the airport quite early but don’t even start to board the plane till 8:55am. When we finally get on (1/2 hour to board) the seating is really odd. Everyone has been loaded on the left side of the plane. I think we’re the youngest people on the plane by at least 30 years.  I swear these people have never flown before as they keep getting out of their seats and playing with their bags etc.  We finally leave at 9:25am.  It’s a really short flight to Abu Simbel but you do get to admire the enormity of Lake Nasser. Once we land we look for our bus to take us to the site.  We wonder outside and don’t see anything promising.  There’s bunch of taxi’s and vans in the carpark happy to take us but we have to pay.  Starting to have flashbacks to being stranded at the airport in Peru we start to worry a little and contemplate just taking a cab.  Eventually we find the bus..it’s at the very back of the carpark, past all the cabs with a small Egypt Air logo.

We finally make it to Abu Simbel at 10:30 and have to be back at the bus at 11:50 so we rush to the ticket window and skip the guided tour.  We run around and take a bunch of pictures before going inside where we aren’t allowed to take pictures.

The temple makes my jaw drop. There are a bunch of rooms all with chiselled inscriptions in such detail.  There are 8 huge statues inside the doorway acting like guards and a statue of kind and family at the back that are only lit by the sun on 2 days of the year.  It is truly amazing that they shifted this temple 60 km from it’s original location but I’m glad they did! It would truly be a tragedy to have left this to be flooded by the new dam.

I was quite disappointed by the flight as it was very expensive, only gave us 1 hr 20 mins at the temple and left us there in harsh sunlight.  The other group left in convoy arrived just on sunrise and got much better light and cost them 1/10 of what we paid. In hindsight I would have chosen the convoy.  I had tried asking for flight times when we booked to no avail and was told it was the best experience.

We arrive in Aswan in the morning and grab our hotels before wandering through the markets and surrounding streets for a few hours.  The markets are quite long with lots of vendors trying to get you into their “hassle free” shop. There are many stands with scarves, spices and statues.  They all seem to be selling a bright blue spice called Indigo that really catches the eye (we find out later it’s just washing powder). I think the trick is to look straight ahead and to not stop walking. As soon as they see you look at their stand they’re all over you. We go in search of a different power adapter as ours seems too small for some of the sockets in the hotel. Eventually we find one for 10LE only to break it as soon as we try to use it in the hotel.

That afternoon we catch a boat across the river on our way to a Nubian house for dinner. We make a pit stop and a few of us walk up this giant sand-dune. Won’t need to use a Stairmaster for a month after climbing this dune! The sand is soooo soft it feels like you aren’t going anywhere at all. The view from the top is totally worth it though.

We move on to the Nubian village and have a look at their house. The family sleep in one huge room and nothing gets thrown out. I start to wonder if Dad is in fact Nubian as he’s gotta be the biggest hoarder I’ve met.  We have an absolutely delicious home-cooked meal made by the ladies of the house.  They then show us some of their wares (scarves, caps etc) before a party with the local children. The young girls sure have some groovin’ moves!  Then we hand out some lollies to the kids. It all starts very orderly and then quickly becomes a free for all with a few of them climbing up me to get to the lollies.  Seems kids all over the world have a sweet tooth.

Then back to the hotel to sleep. We’re catching a plane to Abu Simbel tomorrow.