Exploring Ancient Treasures of Egypt

Cairo

After arriving at the Cairo airport we took an hour plus taxi ride across town to our hotel, which was close to the Giza Pyramids complex. At least 19.5 million people and counting call Cairo home. It is a massive and chaotic city. The traffic is some of the craziest I have ever seen. I can’t even imagine attempting to drive in Cairo. After a good night’s rest we had some breakfast and headed out to explore. We joined an organized tour in Egypt and I am mostly glad we did even though I generally dislike being tied to a set schedule. Our guide was a local Egyptian who was knowledgeable and passionate about Egyptian history. The 13 other people in our group were all quite nice with a mix of ages from U.S.A., Canada, and Malaysia.

On our second day in Cairo we visited the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza. We saw the spot by the Sphinx where the Grateful Dead performed in 1978 and I cannot even imagine what that show must have been like. They currently do a sound and light show there in the evenings which I heard was interesting. We also visited the Steps Pyramid and were able to go inside a number of tombs. Seeing these structures that were built more than 4,000 years ago was magnificent.

Around the pyramids there are locals that will try their best to get money from visitors. They will try to take a photo with you or give you a “free” gift and will expect money in return. We found it best not to make eye contact or firmly say no thank you in Arabic if not interested otherwise they can be relentless. Egypt seems to run on tips and everyone wants a tip for everything. You have to pay a tip to get a square of toilet paper at a public bathroom and if anyone offers you any piece of information at a historical site (even if you did not ask them) they will often want a tip.

Aswan

That evening we took a flight on Egypt Air from Cairo to the city of Aswan. It was a sweltering 111 degrees Fahrenheit on our first full day in Aswan and I elected to stay inside during the morning while Rob went out with a group to see the Philae Temple, the High Dam of Aswan, and Lake Nasser, which was created by the dam. Our hotel room in Aswan had a balcony with a nice view of The Nile River and a large swimming pool for cooling off from the stifling heat. In the evening we took about an hour cruise down The Nile on a basic river cruiser boat to have dinner at a Nubian home as arranged by our tour company. As we floated down the river two local boys floating on something that looked like a stand-up paddle board grabbed the side of our boat and sang a medley of songs out loud together as they hitched a ride up the river. Of course they wanted a tip but it was really cute. The dinner took place in a home with sand for flooring on the inside and straw material for the roof. The meal was made by a local Nubian family and ours consisted of rice, potatoes, homemade bread, vegetable soup, and a vegetarian eggplant dish that was wonderfully flavorful. For our ride back down The Nile after dinner the boat captain played some Bob Marley (which seemed to be popular around The Nile) and we slowly cruised down the river in the dark to head home tired and satisfied.

After a leisurely morning we headed to The Nile once again and boarded a Felucca to spend the afternoon and evening cruising down the river. A Felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailing vessel with a top sun deck and a lower deck that is shaded and covered with soft cushions to provide a comfortable open area for lounging and sleeping. There was a basic bathroom on board with a toilet and sink. The crew of our Felucca consisted of three Nubian men who sailed the boat and prepared meals for everyone right on board in a makeshift kitchen. We headed out onto the The Nile and shortly into our trip it was deemed too windy and dangerous to be out sailing so we had to stop and pull over. It was a chance to enjoy swimming in the river and playing games on the sun deck. The wind persisted and the rest of our Felucca experience was spent docked on the side of the river not far from where we had launched. We still had a nice time and enjoyed a buffet style dinner on the boat prepared by the crew and then slept on the boat as planned. The crew gave us blankets and lowered a shade down around the group sleeping area to shut out the outside light. The Felucca was surprisingly comfortable and I slept like a rock. We were woken at 5:30 am for breakfast, which we enjoyed on the boat and then said farewell to the Felucca crew and headed out for some more exploring.

The Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan started the day after we arrived in Egypt. During Ramadan Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset and abstain from alcohol. Islam is Egypt’s dominant religion with around an estimated 90% of the population. You hear the call to prayer over the loudspeaker from the minarets of mosques at five designated times throughout day everywhere you go. Almost all the restaurants except those inside hotels or near tourist spots were closed during the day during our visit because of Ramadan. If we wanted to find food in the middle of the day local supermarkets were our best bet. These were usually quite small and more like a convenience store stand than a supermarket. At the market we were able to purchase dates covered in sesame seeds stuffed with peanuts, homemade bread, and roasted almonds for snacks. Most of the food has been rather inexpensive here, especially if you shop in areas not geared toward tourists.

In Aswan we visited the Kom-Ombo Temple and the nearby Crocodile Museum where they actually have ancient mummified crocodiles on display. We also visited the impressive Edfu Temple, which is massive with amazing carvings of Sobek, the ancient diety with a human body and crocodile head, and Egypt’s signature hieroglyphics. We were told there is a sound and light show in the evenings at this site as well.    

Luxor

From Aswan we moved on to the city of Luxor where we visited the very impressive Luxor Temple. We were there in the early evening and the uplighting on the massive temple made for a beautiful sight. The next morning in Luxor we visited the famous Valley of the Kings where from the 16th to 11th century BC elaborate rock cut tombs were made for the final resting place for the bodies of the pharaohs and powerful nobles of Egypt. We were able to go inside three of the tombs – Ramesses III, Ramesses the IX, and Merenptah. Photography was not allowed unless you paid an additional fee, which we elected not to do, so no photos of the tombs. We also were able to visit the Temple of Hatsheput and I quite enjoyed learning about her. She was only the third woman to become pharaoh in 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history and she was the first to attain the full power of the position. She often had to dress like a man so people would accept her in the leadership position.

Hurghada

From Luxor we headed to Hurghada, which is a coastal resort town on the Red Sea. We stayed at a beachfront all-inclusive resort, which was nice but quite touristy as might be expected. The highlight of our time in Hurghada was the full day spent on a boat where we were able to do two scuba dives in the Red Sea. The boat was large and comfortable and our dive master for our group of eight certified divers was excellent. The water in the Red Sea is a lovely clear blue and the reef we visited seemed mostly healthy with countless beautiful fish and sea life. They fed us a nice lunch and it was wonderful to just lounge about on the boat in between dives and chat with the other divers.

Back to Cairo

After Hurghada it was back to Cairo to visit the Egyptian Museum where most of the country’s cultural antiquities recovered from ancient temples and tombs are safely stored. We made a visit to the Khan El Khaalili market, which is a huge market that appeared to mostly sell low quality tourist souvenirs but I am sure there are some hidden gems in there if you have the time to look through everything and haggle with the sellers over the price. We also visited one of the large local markets which was huge and easy to get lost in. We stayed right downtown for our last two nights in Cairo and the city really came alive after the sun went down. Once all the shops and restaurants opened after dark the streets became flooded with people.

We enjoyed our time in Egypt but it was not without challenges. ATM machines were often out of money, WiFi was unreliable at our hotels, with it being Ramadan finding places to eat during the day was difficult, and it was not that easy to find healthy vegan-friendly food in general. We ate way more fried food (mostly falafel and french fries) than we normally do. Seeing so much litter and heavily polluted waterways near Cairo, it was hard to comprehend how it could be allowed to get so bad. Away from the main tourist areas the local people we interacted with were all quite friendly and helpful. Egypt was challenging at times but we are thankful we were able to experience this country at this point in time and seeing the pyramids and learning about this country’s rich cultural heritage has been a true bucket list experience.