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Greece, Egypt and Jordan

December 2022 - January 2023
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade
Our first proper overseas post-pandemic trip! Read more
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade

List of countries

  • Jordan Jordan
  • Egypt Egypt
  • Greece Greece
  • England England
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Beach, City trip, Couple, Culture, Nature, Photography, Sightseeing, Tours
  • 8.7kmiles traveled
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  • 121footprints
  • 41days
  • 1.0kphotos
  • 165likes
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  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    The Valley of the Kings

    January 2, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    From the Temple of Hatshepsut, we drive the short distance to The Valley of the Kings. I think this was the place I was most looking forward to seeing. We watched a brilliant BBC2 documentary about it by Dan Snow just before we came away - it really piqued my interest.

    Nabil's idea of going here second didn't really work as the ticket machine had broken down and we had to wait 90 minutes for him to get our tickets! Some of our party were angry about it. What's the point? You're travelling in Africa, just go with the flow!! 😀

    When we finally got in, Nabil explained a bit about the site and then recommended the three tombs he thought we should visit. Each entrance ticket includes 3. If you want to visit more, you have to buy more tickets. Tutankhamen's tomb carries an extra charge. Because he died so young, his tomb wasn't finished so, stripped of its treasures it's not one of the most interesting tombs in the valley. However, to encourage visitors to pay, Tutankhamen's mummified remains have been returned to the tomb. Three of our group paid the extra 300 Egyptian pounds. We didn't!

    We visited the tombs of Rameses IV, Rameses III, and Rameses IX. They were jaw-droppingly beautiful inside! Because they lay undiscovered for so long, the unrestored wall paintings are as colourful now as when they were created around 3000 years ago! Some of them are so well-preserved they actually look fake! They reminded me of the film set for the movie 🎬 Cleopatra which we saw at Atlas Film Studios in Morocco 🇲🇦 😀

    The photos accompanying this footprint 👣 were taken in the tomb of Rameses IV. I will post the others in subsequent footprints.    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Crossing the Nile for lunch

    January 2, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After our visit to the Valley of the Kings, we went by boat across the river Nile for lunch. Our driver drove the bus the long way round. This means that we arrived at the restaurant 45 minutes sooner than we would have done if we'd driven. Our group had two boats - we were in the one that firstly ran aground and then crashed into another vessel!

    Lunch was barbecue and rice. There was plenty of it to keep us going on the 6-hour drive to Hurghada! Before we set off though, we had a visit to an alabaster factory. It was fascinating to learn about the process. I bought a lovely candle holder - now I just have to get it home in one piece!!    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Arriving in Hurghada

    January 2, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    After a six and a half hour journey, we finally made it to the Grand Seas Resort in Hurghada - home for the next five nights. They were still serving dinner, but we had had coffee and biscuits when we stopped en route, so we skipped it.

    First impressions of our room and the view of the pool from both our balconies were very good!! We've even got a separate lounge! 😀    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A submarine under the Red Sea

    January 3, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    This morning, we booked a trip on a submarine. Several others in our group came too.

    We went by bus to catch a boat out to the platform that the submarine departs from. Mark couldn't say no when he was offered the chance to steer the ship. The captain's cap was a bit small for him, though! 😂

    It took about 30 minutes to reach the platform. Then we had to climb down into the submarine. We had allocated seats, each one positioned in front of a porthole so we could see out. We were under water for 45 minutes, travelling along the coral reef and back again. The submarine went to a depth of about 25 metres. It was a fascinating trip. Company divers accompanied the submarine most of the way, taking photos 📸 and entertaining the children on board.

    On the boat 🚢 on the way back to shore, it started to rain 🌧 - the first we have had on this trip. Luckily, it didn't last too long.

    Back at the hotel, we sat outside and had a drink. We are here on an all-inclusive basis so don't need to worry about the cost!

    At 6pm, we had a meeting with Nabil because tonight is the last time the whole group will be together. He is leaving with the majority of our group at 4am tomorrow. The following day, 6 more go, and then it will be just us for a couple of days as we are the only ones who booked the 14-day trip!

    We gave Nabil a tip and thanked him for all his hard work. He has done a great job - especially as some of the group were quite difficult!

    Later, we had dinner and said our goodbyes to all those who are leaving in the morning.    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A day on the beach

    January 4, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We spent the day in the resort today. It was weird not seeing other members of our group around the place! We saw Shane first thing. I gave him some medication 💊 for an upset stomach. By the time we saw him later, he had recovered well enough to have gone into town to have a tattoo done!

    We chose the beach ⛱ today rather than the pool. It was lovely but a bit breezy - certainly too cold to do anything more than paddle in the Red Sea!

    We met up with Shane and Niranjan for drinks before dinner and then ate with them. They retired early as they are leaving at 4 in the morning! We have the luxury of two more full days here!    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    A day at the pool

    January 5, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    For variation, we spent today at the pool 😂.

    The last 6 members of our group left early this morning so we are the final two! It was much less windy by the pool so we were able to enjoy the whole day in the sun. It still wasn't warm enough to brave the pool, though 😂.

    It's lovely to have these relaxing days in the middle of a trip like this. I'm enjoying reading 📚 and Mark is listening to plenty of podcasts.

    The barman soon learned our preferred drinks and brought refills without us having to ask 😂    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Our last day in Hurghada

    January 6, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We had a final relaxing day by the pool.

    I started reading 📚 A Winter on the Nile by Anthony Sattin. It is a fascinating read - the true story of journeys down the Nile made by Florence Nightingale and Gustav Flaubert at the same time in 1849. They never met but the parallels in their stories are remarkable. The fact that we've just visited the places described in their accounts gives me whole new insights about those places.

    This evening, as a celebration of Orthodox Christmas, the hotel had really gone to town with the dinner buffet 😋. Hopefully, now January 6th is over, it will be an end to the constant Christmas songs still playing everywhere we go 😂    Read more

  • Greece, Egypt and Jordan

    Return to Cairo

    January 7, 2023 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Our airport pick up was scheduled for 7.15 this morning so I set my alarm for 6.15 to give us plenty of time to do the last minute packing and get ready. Imagine, then, how annoyed we were when the hotel gave us a wake-up call 📞 at 4.15am!!! We explained that they were too early and tried to get back to sleep 😴. Just as we were nodding off, there was a loud knock at the door! It was the guy coming to collect our cases! It was still only 4 31am!!! Mark was as polite as he could be under the circumstances 😂

    It took us ages to get back to sleep but we must have managed it eventually as we got a rude awakening when our alarm ⏰ went off at the correct time!

    We quickly got ready. We were too early for the hotel breakfast so we tried, for the first time, to make a coffee using the kettle in our room. This is when we discovered it didn't work!! 😂

    We took our cases down to reception at just before 7. The guy there was apologetic for waking us up early, but showed us his list to prove he was just doing as he was told 😀. It's no big deal - if that's the worst thing that happens on this trip, we'll be happy.

    Our transport to the airport arrived just 4 minutes late. Nabil had just messaged to check they had arrived. How good is that? He's not even our guide anymore!

    The hotel insisted on giving us huge breakfast bags. We left them with the transfer driver!

    Hurghada airport is only 20 minutes from the hotel so we were there in plenty of time for our 8.40 flight. It turns out that today is orthodox Christmas not yesterday as I had thought - so we still had wall-to-wall Christmas music throughout the airport!

    Once we were airside, we had time for a very welcome coffee ☕ before boarding. The plane was an ATR 72-600 - a smallish propeller plane- which Mark delighted in telling me was the same model that we aquaplaned in when we landed in Koh Samui many years ago 😂. Luckily, today was very dry and the flight passed without incident.

    At Cairo, we were met by Osema, the same guy who met us off our flight ✈ from Athens. He made sure we got to our transfer transport quickly and easily. Then, it was a matter of a 45-minute drive back to the Oasis Hotel. This time, we were making the journey in daylight so were able to see all the sights of Cairo city.

    It was nice to get back at the Oasis. Romani explained the programme for the next couple of days and we asked him to arrange a couple of extra things for us - the sound and light show at the Pyramids, and a day trip to Alexandria.

    During the afternoon he organised both of these while we had something to eat by the pool and I finished my Florence Nightingale book (a brilliant read!)

    Sorry about the quality of these photos 📸. Most of them were taken through a dirty window!    Read more

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