For this leg of the journey I joined a guided tour with Intrepid. There were 9 others on the tour with me, and the guide was a native Egyptian who was enthusiastic and excellent in his knowledge of the country’s history.

Big thanks to my brother, Tanner, for helping me obtain an unexpected QR code for my covid vaccine at the Athens airport in order to enter Egypt, crisis averted! 😉

Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar

The tour started in Cairo and the first evening, we went to this huge bazaar. It was packed on a Monday night and we got a good taste of the crazy traffic on our way there. There was lots of honking and weaving between buses, mopeds and tuk tuks, in addition to people crossing the road right in the midst of on coming traffic.

The Pyramids of Giza!

The following morning, we visited the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and had a delightful camel ride! It was a bit surreal to see them all in person!

The pyramids were built as the final resting place for kings in the 4th Dynasty, ~2613-2494 B.C. The entrances to the pyramids faced North and inside them contained chambers to store food, jewels and even chariots, all things that were believed the king could take with him into the afterlife.

There is still some mystery surrounding the building of these impressive pyramids in ancient Egypt. It is thought that the laborers might have been an organized workforce of Egyptian farmers.

Inside the pyramids

We were able to tour the inside of the Pyramid of Khafre and it was quite narrow and cramped (and hot).

Camels!

No trip to the pyramids would be complete without a camel ride around the area. Our guide assured us that they only work with groups who provide good care to these sweet animals. 😃

The Sphinx

The human-headed lion of ancient Greek mythology, this impressive statue sits adjacent to the pyramids. It is unknown when the Sphinx was constructed, but it is known that the structure was carved from a single mass of limestone.

Egyptian Museum

Ancient Egyptians went through a pretty intricate process of preparing a person’s body after death in order for it to be ready for the afterlife! We learned about the mummification process and that it took 70 days to complete.

King Tut had an especially luxurious burial. In his tomb were statues (jackal statue below), food, chariots, jewels and gold. The sarcophagus built for royalty and the wealthy were ornate and beautiful!

Overnight train to Aswan

This was my first overnight train. It was an interesting night’s rest 😂 but fairly comfy, and included dinner and breakfast the following morning served in the room.

Aswan

We took a short boat ride to visit Philae Temple on our first morning in Aswan. Built to honor the goddess, Isis, this was the last temple built in the classical Egyptian style.

Nubian Home Dinner

Nubians are indigenous to the area which is present day Southern Egypt. They originate from inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of civilization.

We learned about their history and had a delicious meal in the home of a Nubian family who live on Elaphantine Island, across the Nile from Aswan. The evening also included some songs and dancing. ☺️

Abu Simbel Temple

Three hours from Aswan is the Abu Simbel Temple, built by Pharaoh Ramses II in honor of himself! All 4 statues of this impressive temple are of Ramses. Inside, the pictures carved into the rock depict Ramses in various situations where he is awesome 😂, including stomping on spies and spearing enemies while his pet lion runs beside him.

In the 1960s, with threat of this landmark being destroyed by the river Nile, it was actually relocated away from the river bank by a team of hydrologists, engineers and archeologists!

Nearby is a smaller temple built in honor of Queen Nefertari, the first wife of Ramses The Great. There are several statues of Ramses here too 😉

Felucca trip on the Nile

A felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat that is crewed by two or three people. There are no motors on the boat, only the sails and a method of zig-zagging back and forth across the Nile allow its forward movement.

After several very full days of travel and site seeing, a mellow day spent floating on the felucca was so relaxing. Our wonderful crew provided delicious meals for us, made from scratch on the boat!

As the sun went down, we settled into the river’s edge, ate dinner together and then went to sleep. Mosquito netting was pulled over the open air areas where we slept and we were all given matching blankets.

Unfortunately, I think we ended up trapping some hungry mosquitos inside the netting with us. I had to use my sleep sack as a shield…which our tour guide found hilarious the next morning 😂

Karnak Temple

This city of temples, spanning over 200 acres, is the largest religious building ever made! It was built over a span of 2000 years and was the location of a yearly festival. The festival promoted the renewal of energy to both the land and gods after the agricultural season. Multiple dynasties contributed to this area with sculptures, obelisks, pylons and chapels.

According to our guide, walking 5x, counter clockwise, around one of the sculptures will grant wishes, so we all made trek around. 😂

Valley of the Kings

On our last day in Luxor, we visited The Valley of the Kings. This isolated valley nestled between dry, rocky hills is the resting place of the kings of the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties.
Dug into the mountains, 62 individual tombs exist in various stages of completion. This location was sought after grave robbers plundered the pyramids. It was thought that secret cave tombs would be a more secure resting place for the pharaohs of the time. King Tut’s tomb was found in the 1920s and the whole area has since become a UNESCO world heritage site.
The hieroglyphics at the entrance and along the caves still show their original coloring and were so detailed.

The food!

The food here was SO good! I loved the vegetable tagine (top left). We also tried a dish called koshary which is a mix of pasta, chick peas and lentils that you coat with a tomato sauce and garlic dressing. The picture doesn’t really show it, but one of my favorites was falafel sandwiches, which are 5 Egyptian pounds, or $0.32, and consist of fried falafel with tahini dressing and fries! Delicious!!
The meals we had in local’s home were, of course, the best. From soups to salads to veggie tagines, bread and baba ghanoush, they were all so flavorful and filling.
We were all very big fans of the hibiscus tea as well.

Various pictures from my week in Egypt. The beautiful and sometimes not so beautiful. It definitely felt like an adventure! ☺️

Next stop, Jordan 😀 Thanks for following along with me!