Egypt Experience

A photojournal of a journey around Egypt with Intrepid Travel. Read more

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Trip start
November 17, 2022
Egypt Experience Traveler
Cairo 1; Nat. Mus. Egyptian Civilization
November 18, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
We landed at Cairo Airport yesterday and had our first experience of the rush hour traffic here.....

A free day today and we visit The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, NMEC; this is located in Old Cairo and overlooks the natural lake of Ain Sina. The Museum was officially opened last year (April 2021) and is a cultural hub that displays artefacts in the chronological order of Prehistoric, Ancient (the time of the Pharaohs), Greco-Roman (after Alexander the Great and then the Romans), Coptic (the Egyptian form of Christianity), Muslim and Modern Periods.. An excellent experience. The most well-known period is, of course, the Ancient Period, but modern Egypt is now 85% Muslim and 15% Christian.

Most significant is the Royal Mummy Room on the lower level where Royal coffins and mummies moved here from the main museums and sites of Egypt to centralise them in one place; they are displayed in chronological order of the dynasties. No photographs allowed, but an amazing display.

We visit the temporary Egyptian Textiles Exhibition and enjoy the views outside the museum building, including The Dye-House, the only preserved archaeological remains of an Islamic dyehouse in Egypt, and The Citadel of Cairo (aka The Citadel of Saladin), a medieval Islamic era fortification.

A great start to our Egypt Experience!Read more
Wolfgang und HeidiEnjoy your trip !
11/18/22Reply
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Cairo 2; The Giza Pyramid Complex
November 19, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
The Pyramids of Giza site is the last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and on many a " bucket list"; hence the crowds on the day! There are three main Pyramids, but actually nine on the site, and date from 2,600 - 2,500 BC (Fourth Dynasty). They were originally covered in a white limestone casing.

We start at the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops in Greek); the complex comprises the Great Pyramid itself (146m high and made from 2.3 million stone blocks!), three Queen's Pyramids and three boat pits (the stones were transported by water). We went inside to see the King's Gallery, comprising a sarcophagus of Aswan Granite; this is a narrow, hot, claustrophobic journey up and not for everyone! Glad we did it though!

We then visit the Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren in Greek), the son of Khufu. The Pyramid still has some limestone casing at the the top; access to the Pyramid from street level is guarded by the Great Sphinx down below.

We drive past the third Pyramid (the Pyramid of Menkaure (Mykerinos in Greek)), the son of Khafre and the grandson of Khufu, to reach a panorama viewpoint for the whole site (we are not alone here).

Next stop is the Great Sphinx; this is accessed via the Khafre Valley Temple. The Sphinx is the head of Khafre on the body of a lion, and magnificent. The Temple is interesting too, as the inside is encased with red granite from Aswan to protect it from flooding by the River Nile.

A wonderful experience that is now off our bucket list!Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Cairo 3; The Egyptian Museum
November 19, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
The Egyptian Museum is also known as the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities and the Cairo Museum; it is the Middle East's oldest archaeological museum and houses many artefacts (including those from the tomb of Tutankhamun). It is located close to Tahrir Square; this is also known as Martyr's Square due to the many demonstrations that have been held there in the past.

Our guide gives us a tour of the highlights of the Museum; some of these are described by the images here and the detailed captions with them.

We also see The Mummy Room and the Tutankhamun Hall; photography is absolutely forbidden here, but we see many amazing things, including the gold funereal mask of the boy-king Tutankhamun.

An excellent visit; note that in due course, the Egyptian Museum will be eclipsed by the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) which is scheduled to open in early 2023....Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Alexandria 1; Qaitbay Citadel / Corniche
November 20, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We leave Cairo heading west, passing close to 6th October City (the date is a significant one for Egypt); this is still part of Cairo and here on the outskirts are may upmarket, gated communities. We now travel north into much greener countryside and reach Alexandria in 3 hours; this is the second largest city in Egypt and the largest on the Mediterranean Coast.

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC and built under his orders, heralding the start of the Greco-Roman period of Egyptian history and becoming a centre of Hellenic civilisation.

Qaitbay Citadel (aka The Fort of Qaitbay) is an important 15th century fortification system with a mosque inside it and is built on the foundations of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World); it is possible to scuba dive here and see some of Ancient relics that are kept under water for their protection.

We explore the Citadel and then drive along the waterfront road to our hotel; this waterfront promenade is known as The Corniche and extends for 10 miles east from the Citadel along the curved bay to Montaza.

Later on, we walk along part of The Corniche and see Stanley Bridge with its private access beach behind it; this bridge was the first on Egypt to be constructed over the sea. There are many restaurants and areas of entertainment on the beach side of The Corniche, as Alexandria is a very popular resort for Egyptian tourists.Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Alexandria 2; Kom el Shoqafa Catacombs
November 21, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
The Kom el Shoqafa Catacombs were discovered by accident in 1902, when a donkey accidentally fell into the main access shaft during some construction work. Also known as the Necropolis, the Catacombs are one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

They comprise a series of tombs built on three levels and bodies were lowered down a central shaft by rope before being transferred to their tombs. They are thought to be for one family originally, as the highly decorated principal Tomb chamber comprises three sarcophagi with sealed lids (the bodies were inserted from below).

In the courtyard, we visit The Tigran Tomb; this was moved here after its discovery in 1952 - the patterns in the decorations date back to the 2nd century BC!Read more
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Alexandria 3; Bibliotheca Alexandrina
November 21, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Alexandria was also home to The Library of Alexandria, the largest in the Ancient World. This is long gone, but the decision was taken in 1974 to reincarnate it as The Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It opened in 2002 and is now a major Library containing 8 million books, as well as being a Cultural Centre that hosts galleries, exhibitions and a museum of antiquities. It also houses The Sadat Museum, a permanent display dedicated to the life of President Sadat, which we visit.

We stop at Carrefour in Alexandria to get provisions for our overnight train journey from Cairo to Aswan; we then set off back to Cairo. Living the dream!Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Aswan 1; Philae Island / Temple of Isis
November 22, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Upon our arrival at Aswan, we transfer directly to the Riverside departure point for Philae Island and the Temple of Isis. The British built the first Aswan Dam in 1902 and this caused the Temple to be partially submerged; because othis unexpected consequence, prior to the new High Dam construction the complete Teple was relocated brick by brick to nearby Agilka Island and landscaped to match the original site.

Constructed during Ptolomeic times in a fusion of Egyptian and Greco-Roman styles, The Temple of Isis has long fascinated visitors. Isis was the wife of Osiris, and the Goddess of Health, Marriage and Wisdom.

Inside the Grand Court is the Sanctuary with a stone pedastal dedicated to Ptolomy III surrounded be incredible wall reliefs. After our tour, we continue to explore and walk round the rest of the island before taking the boat back to our tour bus and Aswan.Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Aswan 2; Bazaar, Corniche, Nubia Museum
November 23, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
The Sharia al-Souk bazaar runs from the train station to The Corniche several blocks parallel to, and inland from, the river. This bazaar is regarded as the best in Egypt outside of Cairo, and we explore part of if from the Corniche end, enjoying the sights, smells and sounds.

The Corniche is the finest in Egypt, less for the buildings along it than the superb views of Elephantine Island, the felucca sailboats on the River Nile and the sands of the Western Sahara on the bank behind it (see next post). We walk along it and pass the Ferial Gardens, Coptic Cathedral and The Old Cataract Hotel (see next post).

We walk uphill to The Nubia Museum; completed in 1998, it provides an interesting introduction to Nubia and Nubian culture from 4,500 BC to the present day; it does not disappoint. The large grounds are the open air part of the museum and landscaped, containing a waterway and many interesting exhibits.Read more
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Aswan 3; Felucca / Elephantine Island
November 23, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Elephantine Island is the largest of a group of islands in the River Nile and form part of Aswan; we have great views of it from our hotel on The Corniche.

The felucca is a traditional wooden sailing boat used in this part of the world and the group enjoy a ride on one around Elephantine Island, seeing many interesting things (see photo captions).

We are dropped off at The Old Cataract Hotel and stop for a cocktail; Agatha Christie was based here for a while and wrote part of "Death on the Nile" in her room (now the Agatha Christie suite).

We visit Elephantine Island itself in the evening; there are two Nubian villages here and we enjoy a Nubien feast at one of the houses; this included lentil soup, Egyptian Moussaka, fried chicken, tajin potatoes, rice, salt and Egyptian baklava to finish. Superb!Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi We remember that place. We did that very trip about 10 years ahí
11/25/22Reply
TravelerTime flies!
11/26/22Reply
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Egypt Experience Traveler
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The Temples of Abu Simbel
November 24, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
It is a three and a half hour drive to Abu Simbel from Aswan, and a very early start.

The Temples of Abu Simbel were discovered as recently as 1813 because they were covered with sand blown by desert winds; they are located just 40km north of the border with Sudan on the West Bank of Lake Nasser. They were actually relocated to a higher level between 1964-8 to prevent flooding as the High Aswan Dam was scheduled to be completed by 1972.

The Great Temple of Ramesses II was carved out of the mountain rock in the 13th century BC and is dominated by four colossal 20m tall statues of the Pharaoh as a display of power. We go in and enter the large hall with 8 columns and statues of him; the reliefs at the sides show Ramesses' prowess in battle. We then enter the Sacred Sanctuary, where Ramesses is with the triad of gods of the temple.

Close by is The Temple of Hathor and Nefertari; this is smaller, but also has an impressive rock hewn facade of Ramesses, Nefertari and two of their children. We pass through the entry Hall to the Sacred Sanctuary.

This is an amazing place to visit!Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi A great temple! We visited 12 years ago. Time running fast 😊
11/26/22Reply
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Egypt Experience Traveler
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Nile Cruise 1; The Temple of Kom Ombo
November 24, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
We leave Aswan and the first stop on our Nile Cruise is the town of Kom Ombo, to visit the temple here.

The Kom Ombo Temple is about 30 miles north of Aswan situated on a promontory at a bend in the Nile, where in ancient times sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbanks here .

The Temple is unique because of its 'double' / mirror image design meaning that there are courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods; the southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile headed god Sobek (fertility) and the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon headed god Haroeris aka Horus (power and healing). There are many reliefs and carvings; an interesting place to visit.

There is also a small museum here dedicated to Sobek; it features a number of mummified crocodiles and statues in the shape of crocodiles. Quirky!

We leave Kom Ombo and the ship stops overnight at Edfu.Read more
Wolfgang und Heidi 👍
11/26/22Reply
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Nile Cruise 2; Edfu to Luxor
November 25, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
We leave Edfu at about 8am; Intrepid trepid Travel tours do not visit Edfu Temple for ethical reasons, but that does stop the other tour groups making a short and rushed visit.

There are excellent views from the top deck, where we relax for the morning until we reach Esna. Here there are two barrages that act as bridges over the Nile; just before reaching them many small boats come to the ship and throw their wares up in the hope that they will be inspected and purchased, since cruise ships do not stop here. Each barrage has a lock to allow vessels to pass through.

We cruise on to Luxor, arriving at 3:30 pm; we dock close to the magnificent Temple of Luxor and disembark.Read more
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Luxor 1; Downtown and Luxor Temple
November 25, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
We disembark and walk to Luxor Temple along the Corniche and via the bazaar.

The Temple was founded by Amenophis III and added to by Tutankhamun and Ramesses II, with the Sanctuary rebuilt by Alexander the Great. The Temple was half covered by sand and silt for centuries and very recently The Avenue of Sphinxes has been uncovered; this linked Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple back in the day, and it is now possible to walk the 2.8km between them again.

From the Avenue of Sphinxes we enter the Temple via its gateway of two pylons, one 25m high obelisk (the other of the original pair is on La Place de la Concorde in Paris) and 6 colossi og Ramesses II. We pass into the Court of Ramesses II, where a mosque has been built on the remains of colonnades. We walk along the Collonade of Amenophis III to the Court of Amenophis III and on to the Hypostyle Hall, with its Roman altar. We then reach the inner sanctums and visit the Birth Room and the Sanctuary of Amun's Barque.

We walk back to the Cruise Ship for our final evening on it.Read more
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Egypt Experience Traveler
Luxor 2; Karnak - The Precinct of Amun
November 26, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
The Temple Complex of Karnak is second only to the Pyramids of Giza on the list of "Wonders of Egypt". There are three separate enclosures or "precints", with each dedicated to one of the Theban Triad of Gods (Amun, Mut and Khonsu); together,. they cover an area of 100 acres Like most tours, we visit The Precinct of Amun, which is by far the grandest (and largest at 62 acres).

We enter the Temple of Amun via the Processional Way and pass the largest pylon in Egypt as we reach the Temple Forecourt. As we leave, and just before the second pylon, is a colossus of Ramesses II; we then enter the Great Hypostyle Hall - 600 square metres of titanic columns where the original colours are being recovered using special cleaning techniques. On the outer walls of the Hall are reliefs of battle scenes. Beyond the third and fourth pylons there are obelisks before we reach the Sanctuary.

We leave the Temple of Amun and enjoy views from around the Sacred Lake and walk through some of the open air museum to the Temple of Khonsu where there are some excellent wall reliefs; the Temple of Opet is here too and we see this and enjoy a fine view back over the Precinct of Amun.

Opposite the Temple of Khonsu is the Gateway of Euergetes II which opens to the Avenue of Sphinxes; this provides a direct route between the Karnak Complex and the Luxor Temple.

Another fantastic visit.Read more
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The Theban Necropolis
November 27, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Situated on the Western Bank of the River Nile, opposite Luxor, is the Theban Necropolis. Like the Pyramids, it is a testament to the Ancient Egyptians obsession with death and resurrection. There are many funerary monuments here, including:
- The Valley of the Kings
- The Valley of the Queens
- The Tombs of the Nobles
- The Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Beiri
- The Colossi of Memnon
- The Ramesseum
- and others too.
This post features some of the "lesser"" monuments.Read more
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The Valley of the Kings 1
November 27, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
The Valley of the Kings is removed from other parts of the Theban Necropolis; the site was selected by Pharaohs because of the pyramid shaped mountain peak of Mount Al-Qurn. There is a total of 63 Royal Tombs here, and relatively few are open to the public. Our guide selects her favourite three to cover the three that we can visit with our ticket:

The Tomb of Ramesses IV is noted for its colourful reliefs.

The Tomb of Ramesses III is the grandest of the Ramessid tombs and has 10 side chambers.

The Tomb of Tausert/Setnakt is noted for having two burial chambers; the first is for Seti's wife, Tausert, and this was usurped by a disgruntled Setnakt.Read more
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The Valley of the Kings 2
November 27, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
We pay extra to visit two more tombs:

The Tomb of Tutankhamun is the most famous in the Valley of the Kings, but is tiny because of his short reign. Discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, its treasures are in the Cairo Museum.

The Tomb of Seti I is the finest and deepest in the Valley of the Kings. It was closed for many years but now open at a high price to keep it exclusive! It is noted for the quality of its painted relief decorations and the vaulted ceiling of the burial chamber.Read more
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Cairo 4; Islamic Cairo - Khan El-Khalili
November 28, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
We fly back to Cairo from Luxor this morning and after landing set off in the coach to see some of the real thing - Islamic Cairo.

The Fatimids established Cairo as their new capital in 973; they built city walls around medieval Islamic Cairo and we see some of these and the portals (gates) in them. We then set off along the streets of the bazaar to reach its centre - the Khan El-Khalili, a famous souk area in this historic centre. We have a falafel sandwich wrap before exploring further and meeting up at the large Mosque Al-Hussein.Read more
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Cairo 5; Islamic Cairo - The Citadel
November 29, 2022 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
The Citadel of Cairo is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah al-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It is located on a promontory near the centre of Cairo and commands a strategic position overlooking the city and dominating its skyline. It is now an iconic and preserved historic site, comprising mosques and museums.

The southern enclosure is dominated by the Mosque of Mohammad Ali; it is also known as the Alabaster Mosque because the lower storey and forecourt is tiled with alabaster. It is built in the Turkish style, with an open court and prayer hall. The open court has a Turkish Baroque Ablutions Fountain and a monumental tower clock in the middle of the north-western wall; donated by Prince Philippe of France, it was reciprocated by a the obelisk of Luxor (now in Place de la Concorde). The huge prayer hall inside is vast and noted for its two minbars (pulpits used for sermon reading). We then visit the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasir and have a look in the Police National Museum.

Much of the northern enclosure is closed to the public at present, but the Egyptian Military Museum is open; this is the official museum of the Egyptian Army and was moved to the Harem Palace at the Cairo Citadel in 1949; the interior of the place is extremely large and very beautiful.

We take a taxi back to the hotel in good time to transfer to the airport and the flight home. The Egyptian Experience trip has been fantastic.Read more
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Trip end
November 29, 2022