Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 12 & Day 13

Tuesday, March 26th and 27th, 2019

Today we took our motorcoach back to Cairo. It was about a two and a half hour drive back to Cairo and to our hotel for the night. We saw a lot of baked Arabic bread being sold along the streets as we traveled.One last look at the Giza Pyramids as we arrived in Cairo.Some of the people in our group wanted to purchase some Egyptian cotton items so our guide had our bus driver stop at a cotton store in town called Funky Brothers. They carried all kinds of cotton items like clothing, scarves, sheets, etc…

Then on to our last hotel stay in Cairo!

Below are a few pictures from the JW Marriott Cairo that we stayed at our last night in Cairo. It was quite a beautiful resort.

The next morning, Wednesday, March 27th was a very long day as we left for the airport and our long journey home! There was a lot of security at the airport!

Our flight left Cairo around 9:30 AM (3:30 AM EST) and arrived at JFK in NYC around 3:30 PM. It was a 12 hour flight. Our layover in New York was about 4 1/2 hours. We arrived home close to 11:30 PM. So it was a 24 hour travel day! We had so many incredible experiences in Egypt! This blog only touches part of our adventures in Egypt!

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 11

Monday, March 25th, 2019

This morning we visited the Bibliotheca Alexandrina which opened in 2002 and replaces Alexandria’s ancient library. The architecture is modern and it is the shape of a large, angled discus. The library’s exterior walls are made of granite and the walls are carved with letters, pictograms, heiroglyphs and symbols.

The main reading room is quite impressive.

Four museums are permanent fixtures and there is a planetarium and other exhibitions. This is one of the museums in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Our guide gave us a quick demonstration of the website the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has created a fantastic website with over 3 million free books on the web! It is a resource worth checking out, https://www.bibalex.org!

Our next stop was the Citadel of Qaitbay which was built on the exact place where the Lighthouse of Alexandria( one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) stood. Several different earthquakes destroyed the lighthouse. Some of the stones from the lighthouse were used to build the Citadel.

Below are a couple of pictures taken on the second level.

Watch out below! The oil fallout hole! Read the sign below and you’ll understand.

There were some incredible views from the second level of the Citadel looking out at the Mediterranean and the city of Alexandria!

Check out this interesting rowboat on the Mediterranean!

Even in Egypt, on our way to the restaurant we saw a Pizza Hut delivery person and they weren’t delivering in a car! 🙂

Our lunch was at a restaurant called the Fish Market. It was very good! The bread was made fresh in the restaurant!

After our late lunch we returned to our hotel and many of us wanted to cross the street from our hotel and put our feet in the Mediterranean! The hotel informed us that it was too dangerous to cross the roadway so they provided a van that transported us in groups to Hilton’s beach!

The temperature was in the 60s with still breezy conditions so we didn’t swim in the sea but we did take off our shoes, roll up our pants and enjoyed the surf! One person got caught off-guard by a wave and did “swim” in the water!

We did leave our mark in the sand!

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 10

Sunday, March 24th, 2019

This morning we left Cairo for a scenic motorcoach ride to Alexandria which is located on the Mediterranean coast!

Our guide for Alexandria, Ihab.

When we got to Alexandria, our first stop was the Serapeum and Pompey’s Pillar.

Underground ancient annex library of Alexandria.

After walking around the temple ruins and the artifacts garden, we headed to the Catacomb of Kom El Shoqafa which means “Mound of Shards”. It was named this because of all of the broken pottery found in the catacombs. Archeologists believe that family members would bring food and drink with them down into the catacombs in ancient times and they didn’t want to bring the glasses, dishes, etc… home with them so they would shatter them and leave them in the catacomb!

It was asked that visitors do not take any pictures in the Catacomb of Kom El Shoqafa and we respected that request. It was very interesting to walk down the stone steps which consisted of 3 levels of cut solid rock and the rock-cut tombs. This Catacomb is considered one of the seven wonders of the middle ages.

We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean Sea!

Part of our tour group at the restaurant.

We had a late lunch and by the time we finished it was time to get to our hotel, the Hilton Alexandria, and check in! Our hotel was located across the street from the Mediterranean sea.

Some of our group had rooms that looked out over the sea. Our room faced the city but it was a suite so we had plenty of room and a nice balcony! We wanted to walk over to the Mediterranean and put our feet in the water but it was extremely windy and the waves were really high, so we decided we would head over there tomorrow when the weather was to be much better!

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 9

Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

Our first stop this morning was a visit to the Giza Pyramids, the last remaining wonder of the ancient world and the Sphinx.

Great Pyramid of Khufu

Egyptologists believe that Khafre’s father, Pharaoh Khufu, built the Great Pyramid, the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in Giza

There are still ongoing excavations on the Giza Plateau. Evidence from the finding of a builders’ settlement, shows more evidence that the Giza Pyramids were built not by slaves but a skilled work force. After exploring the area, we then went to visit the sphinx.

The Sphinx is a statue made out of limestone. It is 240 feet long and 66 feet high! . Egyptologists believe from studying hieroglyphs that when Khafre became Pharaoh, he constructed his own pyramid next to his father’s and even though Khafre’s pyramid is shorter than the Great Pyramid, it is surrounded by a more elaborate complex that includes the Great Sphinx.

We also experienced a camel ride at the Giza plateau! When getting on the camel make sure you hold on tightly!

After our camel ride, we visited Sakkara (Saqqara). It is a large burial ground and where pyramid building first started. We saw the Step pyramid.

Pyramid of Unas

Below are pictures of the Temple at the Step Pyramid.

More pictures from the Saqqara Necropolis.

On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by a carpet school. They gave us a demonstration on how they weave the carpets. This is a trade that is passed down in families.

Dinner was on our own this evening so we ventured out to a Hard Rock Cafe. Our guide set up an Uber to take us to the restaurant and wait for us and then take us back to our hotel. Traffic was horrendous and our driver missed the drive so a 20 minute drive took over 45 minutes. We were concerned about having enough time to eat because most Hard Rock Cafe’s are extremely busy. Well, when we finally arrived, we were the only customers wanting a table. The host told us that they couldn’t sell any alcohol! We were there with another couple so we laughed because we hadn’t ever dined at a Hard Rock that wasn’t extremely busy!

Our waiter explained that it basically was politics that they couldn’t get their liquor license approved. We enjoyed our meal and made it back to our hotel without any issues!

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 8

Friday, March 22nd, 2019

This morning we visited the temple of Karnak on the east bank of Luxor. It is a massive temple complex. Construction began about 4,000 years ago and continued until about 2,000 years ago. It was an impressive area.

Avenue of Sphinxes

The Temples of Karnak complex is the largest.

Great Temple of Amon

After we finished our visit and tour of the Temples of Karnak, we went back to our riverboat to pack and head to the Luxor airport for our flight back to Cairo. We stayed in the same hotel where our trip began, the Conrad Cairo hotel. By the time we arrived at our hotel it was time for a late dinner and we relaxed in our hotel room because tomorrow was going to be another busy day.

The view of the Nile from our hotel room.

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 7

Thursday, March 21st, 2019

Our wake up call was for 5:00 AM and after breakfast we visited the West Bank and our first stop was the Valley of the Kings. Our guide said we would want to get to the Valley of the Kings as soon as they open so we would be ahead of the crowds. We were thankful for that. We didn’t have to wait in any lines to visit the tombs. By the time we were leaving there were lines.

Sixty three tombs have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings. These tombs belonged to Pharoahs and other dignitaries. This was our transportation from the parking area back to the Valley of the Kings.

The first tomb we visited was that of Rameses IV who reigned from 1156-1160 BCE.

Sarcophagus is empty. The mummy of Ramses IV is in the Cairo Museum.

Our next tomb was that of Rameses IX. He ruled from 1129-1111 BC. The ceiling in his burial chamber was decorated with scenes of the goddess Nut. The side walls showed scenes from The Book of Caverns and The Book of the Earth. This tomb also used yellow, black and dark blue colors which was rare.

The third tomb we visited was that of King Tutankhamen (King Tut, the boy king).

His tomb was found nearly intact which was quite a find in 1922. King Tut began his rule when he was 9 years old and died when he was 19. He has become the most famous king because of his intact tomb and all of the treasures found inside.

After spending time in King Tut’s tomb, we went in the tomb Rameses VI. This tomb was started by Rameses V and finished by Rameses VI.

Rameses VI ruled from 1143-1136 BC. Apparently both Rameses V and Rameses VI were both buried in this tomb. Much of Rameses VI tomb is covered with intact hieroglyphs and paintings. The burial chamber has a pit that is unfinished and a figure of Nut and scenes from the Book of the Day and Book of the Night.

The last tomb we visited was of King Ramses III. It was begun by Sethnakht and was stopped when the workers hit the shaft of King Amenmesse’s tomb.

King Ramses III resumed the construction. He ruled from 1184-1153 BC. His tomb is popular because much of it is well-preserved.

We were all overwhelmed by our time spent in the Valley of the Kings this morning. It was an experience that we will never forget!

We stopped at an alabaster store and a demonstration of how the Egyptians used to turn the alabaster rock into bowls, figures, etc…

Below are some pictures from the Valley of the Nobles, with over 400 tombs and they are located south of the Valley of the Kings. We didn’t visit any of the open tombs but we could see where new discoveries have been found and are not open to the public because they are still being studied.

Our next stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut. Queen Hatshepsut ruled from 1478-1458 BCE. The temple was built into the limestone cliffs. It is dramatic to see!

This temple has been continuously excavated and restored since 1891. They were working today.

You enter the temple through the great court.

Some of the best preserved reliefs are on the middle terrace.

Nearby there are other rock cut tombs and in some, workers were excavating and studying their finds.

On our way back into the town of Luxor, we saw the avenue of sphinxes during the day! They are quite impressive.

Our next stop was to visit a Francescan church school in Luxor.

Some of the children were finished with their school session for the day and piled into the car! Look closely at how many kids are in this 4-door sedan!

When we returned to the boat we relaxed on the sun deck until dinner.

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 6

Wednesday, March 20th, 2019

We are at the city of Edfu which is located on the west side of the Nile. This morning we took a horse and carriage ride to visit the Temple of Horus. The pictures below show a small view of the city on our way to the temple.

The Temple of Horus is one of the best preserved ancient monuments that we visited because when pagan cult was banned it was filled by desert sand which protected much of the temple. This temple is dedicated to Horus who was the son of Isis and Osiris.

As we traveled along the Nile we saw factories and a lot of air pollution and we also worried about what was being spilled into the river.

We are sailing on the Nile and passed through the Esna Lock system.

The Edna Lock system.

As we sailed along, these rowboats would come up to the riverboats and try to sell their wares, clothing, etc… They would toss it up to the top deck where passengers would be standing and hope that the passengers would toss down money in the bags. It was something to see!

This evening we visited the Luxor Temple. The traffic in the town of Luxor, was really heavy and of course there was a roundabout.

Luxor Temple was beautiful as we explored it this evening. In front of the temple is the beginning of the Avenue of Sphinxes which were difficult to see because of darkness. The Avenue of Sphinxes once ran all the way from Luxor to the temples at Karnak, a little under two miles.

Luxor Temple

The red granite obelisk that still remains. Two were originally in the front but the other is now in Paris!

This is one of the six colossal statues of Ramesses II.

Below are different areas of the temple, from the Great Court of Ramses II, the Colonnade of Amenhotep III, the Sun Court of Amenhotep III, the Hypostyle Hall, Chamber of Amun, and the Barque Shrine of Amun.

After our tour of the Luxor Temple we stopped at a Papyrus store where they gave us a demonstration on how papyrus paper is made.

After our visit to the papyrus store we went back to our riverboat for the evening.

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 5

Tuesday, March 19th, 2019

This morning began with a ride on a felucca. It is an Egyptian sailing boat that travels slowly on the Nile River.

Agatha Christie wrote Death on the Nile while staying at the Old Cataract Hotel which is pictured below!

On our felucca ride we also saw some pied kingfisher and their nests.

You saw the fertile land along the Nile and then desert! It was quite a contrast.

The Aga Khan Mausoleum can be seen on the West bank of the Nile. Aga Khan was a spiritual leader of the Ismailis, a Shi’ite sect. The villa below to the left is his villa where he lived until his death and his wife oversaw the building of his mausoleum while living in the villa.

Aga Khan’s Mausoleum and his villa is down on the left.

Our next stop was to visit a Nubian village. Below are various pictures of the village as we walked through the area! Nubians are indigenous to southern Egypt and they originated along the Nile valley.

One of our stops was a school in the village. We arrived as the morning classes were ending and before the afternoon session began. It was fun to see these happy young children.

The classrooms are very stark and have nothing in materials/technology that our schools in the US have to educate our students!

We were able to visit one of the Nubian homes and they were very friendly and let us walk all through their home.

As we left the village and traveled on our boat back to our riverboat we saw gardens and farms.

Late afternoon we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo.

This temple is dedicated to two gods: the crocodile god Sobek, and Haroeris, Horus the Elder. It has twin entrances.

We were walking around the temple and also visited the Crocodile Museum. The Crocodile Museum was full of mummified crocodiles and ancient carvings.

Below are pictures of the nilometer at Kom Ombo. A nilometer was built to measure the Nile river’s water level during the flood season!

After our visit to the temple we had a Galabeya party on our riverboat. Many in our group dressed in their galabeya outfits or whatever they had to wear. Not all of our group was around for the picture. We all enjoyed ourselves! It was a fun evening.

After the party we went out on the top deck to look at the stars and the moon! The moon was almost full!

Overnight our riverboat traveled on the Nile and we are heading to Edfu.

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 4

Monday, March 18, 2019

This morning was a very early wake up call because we had a flight from Cairo to Aswan on Egypt Air.

After landing in Aswan we met our guide again and boarded a bus to visit the Aswan High Dam. There was a lot of security around Aswan because the president of Egypt was visiting because of an African Youth conference.

The Aswan High Dam was finished in 1970 and replaced the previous Aswan Low Dam that was built in the early 1900s. Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes, was created by the dam. With the creation of the Aswan High Dam the annual Nile flood could be controlled by man.

After the dam, we went to explore the “unfinished obelisk” which is found in a granite quarry in Aswan and is considered to be over 3,500 years old. It is about 1/3 larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk. As the carvers were carving the obelisk directly out of the bedrock, cracks appeared in the granite and so it was never finished. This unfinished obelisk gave important information about what techniques the workers used.

On our way to the riverboat that we would be staying on as we cruised on the Nile for the next four nights, we stopped at an essential oils store for a demonstration and a chance to try the oils and purchase some.

Our riverboat was the M/S Mojito. The boat has only 70 staterooms. We arrived and had some time before our next excursion of the day.

We took a small boat to visit the island Agilika where we toured the Temple of Isis which was built to honor the goddess Isis, the Temple of Hathor, and the Kiosk of Trajan. The whole complex was moved from its original island of Philae after the flooding of Lake Nasser. You can see the metal columns where the flooded island of Philae was located.

Below is the unfinished Kiosk of Trajan (Pharaoh’s Bed)

The Temple of Isis

Horus

The Inner Sanctuary of Isis had two granite shrines, one containing a gold statue of Isis and another containing the barque in which the statue travelled. Only the pedestal for the barque remains.

After dinner our riverboat had a Nubian Folkloric show and we spent the night in Aswan.

Egypt- The Land of the Pharaohs Day 3

Sunday, March 17th, 2019

Our first stop today was to visit the Citadel of Saladin, a medieval fortification, including the Mohammed Ali Alabaster Mosque. The Citadel was started by Saladin in 1176 to protect them from the Crusaders. It was home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years.

One of the three mosques located in the Citadel is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali.

This mosque took 18 years to complete in the 1800s. Its interior has many chandeliers and striped stone. The main dome is emerald green and Mohammed Ali’s tomb is located in the mosque. Before entering the courtyard our shoes were to be covered or taken off. All of us had the booties covering our shoes and it cost a dollar.

This mosque is visited by many. It is located in the center of the Citadel. From the Citadel are some fantastic views of Cairo and in the distance you can see the Pyramids of Giza.

Our next stop was in Old Cairo. We visited the Al Moallaka Church which is also called the Hanging Church. It is still in use. It was built in the 9th century and is nicknamed the Hanging Church because it is suspended over the Water Gate of Roman Babylon.

There are over 100 icons in the church. Near the entrance to the church a panel has been cut out of the floor to reveal the Water Gate below.

Cut out in the floor to show the Water Gate below.

We then visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue which is also an active synagogue. Next to the synagogue is a spring that is supposed to mark the place where the pharaoh’s daughter found Moses in the reeds. The 9th century synagogue was built around the shell of a 4th century Christian church. The synagogue was restored in the 12th century by Abraham Ben Ezra who was a rabbi of Jerusalem.

The Church of St. Sergious and Bacchus is the oldest church in Coptic Cairo.

It was built over the cave where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus are said to have stayed for several months when they fled to Egypt to escape persecution from King Herod of Judea!

After finishing our walk through Coptic Cairo we boarded our bus to visit a cotton department store to look around and purchase an Egyptian galabeya (which is a traditional Egyptian garment) if interested, because one evening on our Nile River cruise there will be a Galabeya Party!

Whenever we are on the bus heading somewhere it was always fascinating to watch out the windows! We saw cows being hauled in the back of a small truck, a small truck loaded to the max with freshly picked garlic, cars speeding along with horse and buggies, or mules pulling a cart, and cars just driving and/or parking every which way!

Our lunch today was provided at a restaurant on the Nile. It was buffet style and consisted of Egyptian cuisine. The afternoon was spent exploring the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. It was overwhelming!

So many things to see and everywhere you looked there was a piece of Egyptian history to see and learn about its significance. We spent all afternoon there and barely put a dent in seeing all of the artifacts! It has over 120,000 items. It costs extra to use a camera or cell phone to take pictures inside the museum. We saw the gold mask of King Tutankhamum (made of 11 kg or over 24 pounds of solid gold) No pictures were allowed of the mask and also of the 22 Royal mummies that we saw. Our heads were spinning with all that we viewed in the museum.

A few of the items found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun (King Tut) are pictured below!