We went to Egypt for a week during the recent school holidays along with Lifeinoman. We initially planned to stay solely in Cairo but changed our plans upon the advice of  friends and colleagues. In the end, along with Cairo we also went to Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt.

On the first day, we went to see the Great pyramids of Giza. In fact our hotel was in the Giza area and only about a 10 to 15 min drive to the pyramids. The three Great Pyramids were certainly majestic and impressive. It was hard to believe that these structures were built 4000 to 5000 years ago!

After that we went to Memphis and Saqqara to visit the Museum and burial complexes there. The famous step pyramid is located in Saqqara. We had an opportunity to enter into the inner chambers of one of the pyramids there (unfortunately the name of this pyramid escapes me at the moment). BTW, the huge statue in the picture below is of Ramses II who is thought to be the Pharaoh mentioned in the Quran during the time of Nabi Musa.

Later that evening, we took a flight to Aswan where we would stay for one night before catching a 3 day river cruise which would take us to Luxor.

Before boarding the cruise, we spent the morning touring Aswan. Some notable places that we visited here include the Aswan Dam and the ancient temple complex at Philae island.

The Nile cruise from Aswan to Luxor was fantastic and definitely the highlight of our trip. The cruise stopped at several locations (Kom Ombo & Edfu) along the way. During these stops, the passengers could get off and tour the area if they wished. The cruise itself was very nice. Lounging in the room while watching the nile waters gently flow by is very relaxing. By chance we had one of our rooms upgraded to a suite which made it even better.

Khadijah and I had a bout of food poisoning while on the cruise which dampened the proceedings somewhat but overall we still enjoyed it. We arrived in Luxor on the 2nd day but we stayed on board the cruise ship for one more night.

In Luxor we visited many different historical sites including the Valley of the Kings, Deir el-Bahri, Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. It was very hot during the site visits and finding ample shaded areas was difficult. We were in the middle of the desert after all... however nonetheless we found most it interesting. After a while though the kids got a bit bored of seeing stone structures and temples.

Another highlight of the trip was an early morning hot air balloon ride over Luxor. This was completely unplanned and was suggested by our Tour Guide the day before the actual balloon ride. No regrets over this one! The balloon went up to about 1500 feet above the ground and from here we could see the whole of Luxor including all of the sites that we had previously visited.

From Luxor we took a flight back to Cairo. We had a few hours to kill before our flight and our tour agent very graciously invited us back to his apartment to meet his family. We rested there for a few hours and he made us feel like home. So Mr Magrabi......if you’re reading this.....we appreciate your kindness and thank you very much!

The final day in Cairo was another hectic one! We started off with a visit to the Egyptian Museum. It was huge! The kids really enjoyed this especially the mummy room. No pictures though because photography wasn’t allowed in the museum.

After the museum we went to the Coptic area of Cairo followed by a visit to several old mosques including the Al-Hussein and Al-Azhar mosques. The last stop was Khan el-Khalili which is famous for its souq.

Cairo was as expected noisy, crowded and very busy. Luxor and Aswan on the other hand were a lot less crowded and far more relaxed. To be honest,  as tourists we had expected to be hassled and generally have a hard time. However we were very surprised at how warm and friendly the people were. Of course some shopkeepers tried their luck but in general it wasn’t as bad as we expected. 

Egypt overwhelms the senses. There is a strong sense of history in everything from the cobbled streets in the Coptic area in Cairo to the 100 year old el-Fishawy coffeshop in Khan el-Khalili to the pyramids and temples dating back to the dawn of human civilisation. The history here can be measured on a scale of millennia rather than centuries.

Overall it was a physically tiring trip but we enjoyed it immensely.

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