15 Day trip to Egypt - the travel notes, by Seafun

Okay, it's time to pay back for all that I learned here before my recent trip to Egypt. :)

For those of you that don't know, in early February, from Feb 6th to Feb 20th, 2008, I took the Gate 1 Travel "15 Day Egypt with the Red Sea" tour, flying from my home in Seattle to JFK in New York, and then on to Cairo to join the tour of about 35 people.

It was a great tour, with a couple days in Cairo, then a flight to Luxor to board a 7 night cruise up the Nile to Aswan and back, a side trip flying to Abu Simbel, then a bus caravan from Luxor across the mountains to the Hurghada area (Makadi Bay to be more precise) for three more nights at an all-inclusive resort, then a flight back to Cairo for a couple more nights to wind up the tour. :eek:

Modern technology willing, I'm going to try to post my LONG travel notes here. With many thanks to the posters on here who helped me with advice before my trip, maybe some of my ramblings will either help you in planning your trip, or bring back fond memories for those that have already been to Egypt.

I've typed out the first four parts (about a quarter) of my travel journal, and will post them -- like I said, assuming the "copy and paste" miracle will work for me. :rolleyes:

Also, if you haven't seen the other threads, I've posted about 500 photos (so far) from my trip on Shutterfly, a picture sharing website. You don't have to be a member to see them -- just go to the link below, and click on the purple "view pictures" button, then on the next page, click on the purple "slideshow" button near the top left.

http://seafunegypt.shutterfly.com/action/?a=2AaMnLVo0YsnHA&notag=1

I hope you enjoy my contribution to this forum, and like I said, sincere and heartfelt thanks to those who gave so freely of their advice and answered so many of my questions before I went.

Okay then, away we go.... and remember, it's not all typed up yet -- you'll have to bear with me until I get it all done. But as they say, a journey of a thousand miles is begun with the first step.... :D

After packing all night, including, then excluding, various items, I finally closed my bags around 4:00 am Seattle time. What an inconceivable baggage constraint – one suitcase with a weight limit of 44 pounds and one carry-on bag of 14 pounds! By my scale, my suitcase was 45.5 and the carry on was 15 – so about a pound over for each, but there were several items I knew I could part with to make my inter-Egypt weight limits. (I later found out the weight limits weren’t enforced if you were part of a group, but at least the fear of the limit kept my bags reasonably light.)

My taxi to the airport got me there in the dark at 4:45, and I stood in line at Delta for an hour, rather than using curbside check-in, hoping and praying that my bags would be allowed to be checked all the way through to Cairo. With some pleading, some charm and many compliments to my check-in specialist, my dreams were realized. What a relief to not have to claim my bags at JFK in New York and then lug them through the terminals to Egypt Air.

My window seat in 13 F, in front of the wing, allowed me to watch the sun rise over Mount Rainier as pinks of all hues lit up the new day. The mountains were beautiful, covered with snow, as was all of Eastern Washington. I remember Moses Lake was frozen over down below, and then clouds set in as we approached Spokane. Real clouds, as well as “sleep clouds” as I drifted off, awaking a little before landing in New York.

We’re currently flying over the island of Crete in the Mediterranean, according to the Captain’s voice on the speaker, about an hour from Cairo. I’m enjoying a Continental breakfast, with a nice croissant and the notorious Egyptian coffee that is so strong I can feel the hair growing on my chest!

The stopover in New York was pretty easy, with no bags to struggle with, and the plane being on time and finding no snowstorm in New York greatly put my mind at ease – making the connection in New York with a just under three hours layover had been weighing heavily on me for weeks. A quick five minute walk to Egypt Air in the next terminal, a very easy check in and a pleasant surprise – that I’d gotten my requested window seat on the left side of the plane!

The flight’s departure was preceded by a lovely sunset, captured on my digital camera, the first of just over a thousand pictures. Then it was off again into the skies. The first meal was a very nicely presented and surprisingly tasty steak, with mashed potatoes and vegetables, cole slaw and chocolate cake -- all very American.

I was overjoyed by the empty seat between me and my nearest neighbor, an elderly woman on the aisle. We nodded politely at one another and then enjoyed the silence between us for the rest of the flight. There’s something very civilized about not having to literally bump elbows with your travelling companions.

After the meal -- God only knows what time my internal clock thought it was – but I got to know that feeling well as the trip progressed – we sailed through the darkness up past Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, then across the Atlantic.

I drifted off into a lovely nap, and awoke to sunrise beginning again, the second one of my day! I determined we were passing over France as the horizon brightened – further south than Paris, further north than Bordeaux, perhaps right over Poitiers?

I was surprised by how many lights were on at we flew over at 33,000 feet at 5:00 in the morning, as people below started their day. France turned into the Massif Central and then to the Alps off to the left, as we crossed out over the Mediterranean probably near Monte Carlo. We flew down along the coast of Italy as the sunrise continued and I snapped a few pictures of Sardinia or Elba before the clouds once again obscured the view.

The clouds are clearing again, and the isles of Greece are off to the left as we start a right hand turn that will head us in over Alexandria, and then into Cairo.

There’s been very little turbulence on either flight – always a blessing on a mid-winter global crossing. Both flights left on time, an empty seat next to me on both flights provided always-welcome extra space, and extra quiet time to reflect and count my blessings. Among them the little things like the luggage being checked through, and the big relief that my gamble on a two and a half hour layover in one of the world’s busiest airports, had gone as smooth as silk!

Well, I assumed it did anyway. Since I didn’t have x-ray vision to see if my luggage was below me in the hold. Hopefully two and a half hours will be enough for New York’s fine transportation workers to have successfully transferred my bags to this flight!

The flight today – as always – keeps me interested and humble, as you look out the window and see the very slight curve of the horizon, reminding me of what a very small part of the big picture we see. And I’m surprised and pleased that my rather rusty knowledge of European geography was useful in identifying various spots as we flew – making me feel a part of, at the same time removed from what’s going on in the cities and towns below me.

Well, the coast of Egypt is coming into view, beneath a few white puffy clouds and an insanely blue sky.

I look forward to what adventures await in the “Land of the Pharaohs.” Hmmm… 400 centuries of history, give or take a thousand years – stretched out before me in a two week chunk. I already know that it will be difficult to see it all, absorb much of it, take as many pictures as possible, record a few observations and comments, and then have it all sink in. So I’ll hope that a few notes here and there and a mother lode of photos will help me remember it all and digest it more properly after my whirlwind explorations.

The white clouds have burned off, leaving just the blue waters of the Mediterranean below us and a bright sunny day, probably about 70 degrees down there.

The descent has begun – Egypt awaits!

8:00 pm Thursday – 2/7

Okay, the jet lag is settling in finally. Who knows what day or time my body thinks it is, but my body is ready for bed!

Our flight landed smoothly in Cairo, with a couple of beautiful photo opportunities of the pyramids just before we landed (traveler’s hint: sit on the left side of the plane for photos). It was odd to not have a jetway meet the plane – so I snapped pictures of the rolling stairway and bus that took us to the terminal.

It was a “medium” walk to baggage claim, compared to Sea-Tac airport. However, the bags arrived much more quickly, to my amazement, and my large suitcase was there within 15 minutes! The smaller one, for whatever reason, was almost the last one off the plane – just the powers that be testing my patience, I’m sure. More on luggage later.

Our guide met us at the gate, with a “Gate 1” sign, and introduced himself as Mohammed 1, assuring us that we would meet many other Mohammeds!

After collecting all of our group that came in on that flight, we moved toward immigration, I paid my $15.00 in U.S. dollars for my visa from a little window, changed a couple hundred dollars into Egyptian pounds – which are worth about 20 cents, so 5 Egyptian pounds (LE) to the dollar -- and we were then whisked through immigration, and customs was non-existant, no bags were even opened. I felt as if they were happy to have another group of tourists to help contribute to the Egyptian economy, -- everyone smiles at the new tourists.

The luggage handler/bus assistant for the tour managed to break one of the wheels completely off my large suitcase, by slamming the door of the bus luggage compartment on it. My tour guide has instructed me to keep using it – (as opposed to pulling all my clothes out and loading them in garbage bags??) – and when we get to Luxor in a day and a half, they will attempt to repair it, or presumably buy me a new suitcase.

We had a nice big tour bus to take us the hour long drive from the airport, all the way across Cairo – packed with traffic everywhere! They say 20 million people live in Cairo and another 5 million A DAY commute into the city, so there are immense traffic volumes everywhere, just about all hours of the day. Lines in the highways don’t mean much, nor do traffic lights, from what we saw. Traffic seemed to run on male testosterone – whoever was bravest at each intersection, and after a few days I noticed that we only saw about TWO females driving in the whole time we were in Egypt. I didn’t find the traffic frightening, as some did, but it was certainly a force to be reckoned with, and I was VERY glad that I didn’t have to try to find my way, look for signposts, translate them, ignore all the honking and verbal posturing, and drive in that crazy churning turmoil.

After traversing greater Cairo, and getting our first few glimpses of the pyramids as we passed near them – and the obligatory shiver down the spine that we were actually there – we arrived at the hotel, the Swiss Pyramids Inn, a gated hotel, with a serious looking security guard at the gate. I guess they take this business of protecting the tourists – otherwise known as the “cash cows”, very seriously, and I never felt unsafe in my entire time in Egypt.

I was assigned a lovely room, with tall ceilings, a quasi-European modern décor, a huge marble-lined bathroom with a walk-in shower big enough for four people at once, and a lovely balcony overlooking the big swimming pool and golf course. I explored the obviously very new hotel a bit and determined that there were no shops at all in it, except for the restaurants and bars. Since we were right next door to the Hilton, I walked out the back gate of the hotel, along the golf course, into the lovely grounds of the Hilton, and then managed to find their gift shop.

Ah! My first experience with shopping… This could be a whole chapter… To shorten the story, one word… haggle! Almost nothing in Egypt had a set, marked price. Almost everything was an adventure in haggling, with the price starting out at many times the value of the item – you then counter with a ridiculously low counter offer, and then you go back and forth – often for five, ten, twenty minutes until a price is agreed on, or the poor victim tires of the process and attempts to leave the store – which usually produces a lower price! Many times I was frustrated by this endless game, and ended up not buying something I wanted, just because of my frustration with the process. But I had known beforehand from reading all the guidebooks of the way that game is played, so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

I attempted to hide my thrill at all the Egyptian products available – my inner shopper was tantalized! Even in this very small gift shop, there were postcards, books, carvings, perfume bottles, papyrus paintings, wall hangings, tee shirts, incense was burning, hypnotic Egyptian music was playing – well, I had to rein in my shopping compulsion very strongly! Fortunately my protective mantra for many of the shopping opportunities for the whole trip soon became “suitcase weight limit… remember your suitcase weight limit… remember your suitcase weight limit!”

With great self-control, I limited my purchases to 5 postcards and stamps to go on them, explored the Hilton a bit, and returned to my room and wrote my postcards. I dutifully put the strange stamps on them and dropped them in the mailbox in the lobby, along with a silent prayer that I would beat the odds – my guidebook had warned me that only about 70 or 75% of the postcards actually make it to the U.S.A. (I must add a note here that in my two week visit, I wrote about 20 postcards, and every single one of them made it to its intended recipient!)

I walked downstairs to the buffet in the restaurant, and carefully picked and chose foods that I thought were “safe,” no salad, no fruits or vegetables that hadn’t been peeled, only bottled water (and make sure the seal hadn’t been broken, foods that were hot, to kill any germs, etc. etc. – all the advice we’d brought from home and read in all the books to try and avoid the fabled “Mummy Tummy”, “Pharoahs Revenge”, or “Tut’s Curse.” For the life of me – other than a bunch of different kinds of bread, I was so tired, I don’t remember what I ate…

Well, I’m tired, and I have severe writer’s cramp. It’s only 8:45pm (local time), but I’m ready for bed. I forget how many hours I’ve been up, but I know I’ve seen two sunrises today, about 10,000 miles apart.

Tomorrow we get up early, meet the rest of the group – I’ve heard there’s about 30 or 35 of us – have breakfast, and then we’re off to finally tour the Pyramids ( After all these years!), see the Sphinx, go to the much-anticipated Egyptian Museum (WHOOPEE!), the famous Khan El Kahlili (SP?) bazaar in downtown Cairo, and then last but not least, back to the pyramids, for the second time in one day, for the Sound and Light Show.

That should make for an incredibly full day – then a quick sleep before our ridiculously early 3:00 am wake-up call, that’s supposed to rouse us for our 6:00 am flight to Luxor the next morning!

But I’m in Egypt – with my luggage even! How wonderful a feeling is that? So much to anticipate in this wonderful adventure of mine. Hope it doesn’t keep me awake tonight.... HA! Fat chance!!

8:15 pm the next day…

What a long, full day of incredible wonders it has been!

(I’m currently waiting for my dinner to be delivered in the upstairs “Fusion” restaurant here in the Swiss Pyramids hotel, after just getting back here from the Pyramid Sound and Light Show at the Sphinx, with the pyramids, all lit up in various combinations, as the background.)

The day began early… at 5:00 am, as I was awakened by the call to prayer, broadcast 5 times a day, everywhere in Egypt it seems, from their tall, beautiful minarets and mosques. The almost-hypnotic, sing-song chanting of the prayers came as a shock the first few times -- especially that “early national wake-up call” at the crack of dawn! We all got used to it fairly quickly in the first few days; for me, it seemed not so much an intrusion, but a reminder of my good fortune, blessings, karma, or whatever you want to call it, and a reminder to savor each new experience in the coming day.

My day officially began a little later, with a “real” wake-up call from the front desk at 6:00 am, followed by a nice, hot shower in my lavish “shower for four” as the first light of dawn appeared. Very nice bathrooms in that hotel…

I pulled myself together for the day, slightly self-conscious of what to wear – knowing full well that whatever I chose was going to be in a lot of photos that day – today was Pyramid and Sphinx Day, and that was just for starters! I ended up wearing all “sand-colored” clothes, trying to blend in, to not look too touristy -- ultimately looking a bit too much like an Indiana Jones-wannabe, but very comfortable for the long day ahead.

There was a fairly lavish breakfast buffet at 7:00, with lots of freshly baked pastries and breads, butter and jams, yogurt, scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausages (“Don’t ask, don’t tell” what kind of meat they were made from, but they tasted pretty much like sausage…) I steered away from the fruit, but then wondered later about the two kinds of fruit juices, with refills, that I had filled up on from the juice dispensers – had they been made from concentrate? With bottled water, or not? (The first few days were filled with lots of stewing about what was and wasn’t “safe” to eat or drink.) Several of us from our tour group, at the buffet, just getting to know one another, had an instant, bonding topic of conversation – “What have you heard is safe to eat and drink? “Oh, I’d stay away from the ….,” or “I think the …. is safe.” Great conversation starter… Anyway, we each chose our respective breakfasts, some safer, some more daring, and then all grouped together, for the first time, at 8:00 am in the lobby to find our way to the tour busses.

We were divided into two groups -- “Gate 1, Bus One,” “Gate 1, Bus Two,” was to become one of our mantras for the next two weeks – not so much a herding call, but a comforting reminder that perhaps there was safety in our numbers as we wandered about Egypt, eyes wide open in wonder, absorbing everything we could – experiencing everything we could on our own, but comforted by belonging to a group, safely guided and tended to like a little flock. And yes, the similarity to a flock of sheep is somewhat appropriate, given that we were all so far away from familiar home bases and customs, and pretty open to following a “shepherd.”.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the division into two groups. Since there were only 30 or 35 of us, we would have easily fit on one full size bus, which is what I had expected from the size of our group, and what I had expected when I signed up for the trip. With two groups, each having their own full sized bus, we had lots of room to ourselves – as opposed to almost every other bus I saw today, which were all full, cramped, and judging by the faces on them later in the afternoon, hot. So our big, spacious air-conditioned busses were much appreciated and quite luxurious compared to most other vehicles on the roads.

So, up at dawn, fed, divided up into manageable groups, and away we went on our busses, getting to know our guides better, on our first full day with them. Our guide was “Sam,” a shortened, Americanized version of his real name, which has already escaped me. The other bus’s guide was “Mo” – short for Mohammed (as opposed to “Mohammed #1” who had met us at the airport…).

The first stop was the famed Giza plateau, to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Words can’t quite do them justice. Well, my words anyway. I see why much better writers than me have stumbled over descriptions of them for more than 4,000 years. The sheer size of the pyramids is breathtaking. I remember thinking “a picture is worth a thousand words,” as I begun taking what would end up being a thousand pictures over the two week trip! I recall taking many, many photos, some regular snapshots, some self portraits with my Quikpod camera attachment that lets me get into the picture when using the self-timer feature. I knew I needed lots of pyramid pictures -- normal, artsy, creative, plain, complicated, simple, in the sun, in the shadows, with the sun peeking over the top of the pyramids, with people in the background, without people in the background, with camels, without camels --- click, click, click – knowing that the more photos I took, the higher the chances of getting some good ones, and maybe even a few great ones!

The early morning sun at Giza was beautiful – not too hot, not too cool, and the sky behind those ancient monoliths (hmm, wrong word … monolith, one piece of stone; pyramids, many pieces of stone…) the sky was amazingly blue, even with being that close to Cairo’s air pollution.

It wasn’t horribly crowded when we arrived. I vaguely remember our guides presentations, some of the facts and a few of the dates. All of their presentations were great – they both spoke English very well, and certainly knew all their history backwards and forward; it’s just that the sights before us were somewhat overwhelming. I was greatly comforted by occasionally catching the same looks of awe and wonder on everyone else’s faces – knowing that I wasn’t the only one at risk of sunburned tongue from having my mouth hanging wide open in admiration of all that was laid out before us.

As we further explored the Giza plateau, more people arrived, and soon the water vendors, the postcard hawkers, the camel drivers were all operating at full steam – offering us literally everything under the sun, for a price, of course.

Amid the barrage of offers of camel rides, photo opportunities, items for sale and a bit of old-fashioned begging, I easily spent an hour – walking around the site, physically touching the giant blocks of stone, marveling at their size, climbing up on them a bit, taking photos, admiring the workmanship from 2,600 B.C. that had survived this long – this pile of giant blocks of stone that together form such an awe-inspiring achievement.

The hype and anticipation were all worth it – I was duly dumbstruck, lump in the throat, chill up the spine, shivers and goose bumps, dazzled by being there, and very, very grateful.

My mindset for taking photos kicked in, as I explored all over the site – among other things, walking all the way around the great pyramid of Cheops, which took 20 minutes --longer than I imagined, making me the first one late for the bus in our tour! (Only 2 or 3 minutes, but late nonetheless!) Quite an embarrassing distinction, for which I profusely apologized, but fortunately, we were all still pretty much in awe at that point and no one seemed to mind too terribly much.

As far as physical descriptions – as I said – my words can’t do my first visit to the pyramids justice; I’ll have to let my photos speak for themselves.

I climbed up to the entrance of one of the pyramids. For years I had always assumed that I would be among the first of my group to climb inside, personally explore those passageways and experience the whole mystique of being inside one of them (even though I knew they were long ago emptied of any treasures.) But after reports from my fellow travelers of claustrophobia (which I don’t suffer from), sore backs from stooping over in the 3 foot-something high ceilings, inadequate lighting, bumped heads, “thigh muscles on fire,” from stumbling up and down the steep ramps while bent over – using muscles none of us are used to using! – and most importantly, the perceived lack of enough air to breathe deep inside, I chose – wisely – not to crawl inside and take the plunge. I congratulated myself repeatedly for that decision over the next three days, as my fellow travelers who’d gone inside suffered through sore backs and devastated thigh muscles, with a few bumped heads thrown in for good measure as they hobbled around.

The experience of visiting these literal wonders of the world, from the outside, all around them, and up to the doorway, was completely satisfying and awe-inspiring, and the first of my “truly unforgettable Egypt moments.”

By the time we had finished our slightly-further-away photo opportunities (all three pyramids together in one picture), the visit to the obligatory souvenir stands, some quick refreshments and a short camel ride for some of us, it was time to head down from the top of the plateau to the Sphinx.

After getting bogged down in the now-busy traffic around the pyramids, which slowed to a crawl, and occasionally stopped, it took a while to get down the hill to the Sphinx. More tourists had arrived by then, and it was crowded – probably one of the most crowded spots in the whole two week trip. A sea of humanity from many nations, speaking many languages – pressed together as one, inching forward a few at a time to see this famous half-human, half-lion statue that had survived the shifting sands for so long.

Still a gorgeous day, still amazingly beautiful, but noticeably less magical when bumped and pushed and prodded by many hundreds of others clamoring to see the same thing, and all having to pass through the same narrow passageways.

Once again, I was able to get more than enough photos to satisfy me, and now had a frame of reference that made me grateful every time we visited something that wasn’t as crowded as the Sphinx – which was almost everything!

(4:00 am, the next day – Cairo Airport, Departure Lounge…. ) I’m waiting for our flight to Luxor – once again, at the crack of dawn – 2:45 am wake-up call! I’ve just passed through security, and have learned that since our luggage is all lumped together as a group, the weight limits that were threatened for our suitcase and carry on, do not apply, so I guess that’s a good thing… woo hoo! More shopping!

I now have an hour or more to wait for my flight, after careening through (even busy at 3:30 in the morning!) Cairo traffic, way before dawn. But at least I can catch up a bit on the journal. Let’s backtrack a bit – back to the pyramids..

After being awed by their size and majesty, I was further impressed, thinking of the “invisible guest book” of visitors, pharaohs, dignitaries and luminaries that had preceded me throughout the ages – Anthony and Cleopatra, Herodotus, Alexander the Great – the list is a pretty long one of folks that have dropped by for a visit in the last, oh, 4,000 years or so.

From the Giza plateau, and the small sea of people at the Sphinx, we reboarded our nicely air-conditioned coaches, and passed by the tourist spots of Giza proper – including the Hard Rock Café, and a very out-of-place looking KFC – which prompted the Kentucky Fried Camel jokes… We headed for downtown Cairo, through the teeming, seething mass of humanity that is normal Cairo traffic – clogged with unbelievable volumes of cars and trucks, some new, most of them old and bellowing exhaust, horns constantly creating a nonstop symphony, moving sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly through the avenues and streets, through the traffic and the donkey carts and occasional camels and horse drawn carriages, and vendors pulling or pushing carts by hand. What a rich tapestry of life!

And that seems like a good place to stop for now…

After the incredible morning at the pyramids, and the always-thrilling and busy drive into Cairo, we were more than ready for lunch! We stopped at the scheduled "tour approved" restaurant in the heart of Cairo for a European-style buffet luncheon, but (too conveniently) it was full -- which "forced" us to kill forty five minutes next door at a "tour approved" jewelry store. My guess is that it was planned this way.

Anyway, it was a large, very nice gallery/store, with different sections for jewelry, metalwork, etchings, paintings, carvings and lapidary work. The offerings were for the most part, very nice and finely crafted. But the prices at the "suggested store" seemed to be about 3 to 5 times what a good price would be, and at that point I had nothing to compare the prices to, so I bought nothing. By now the concept of "tour approved" was becoming quite clear -- kickbacks for the tour guides and inflated prices, even though everything was "guaranteed." Very similar to what I've seen on all the cruise ships, so it wasn't a surprise to me.

There were many very beautiful things in the store -- the famous cartouches with your name done in hieroglyphics, in either gold or silver, lots of jewelry with variety of colored stones and Egyptian motifs, stunning carvings of lapis lazuli and corals, from the size of a thimble to the size of your hand, and larger! There were etched brass and copper plates, trays and wall art pieces, reproducing scenes from temples and historic recreations, and various paintings of Egyptian scenes -- lots of things I wouldn't mind owning, but the prices were not at all reasonable in my mind, and again, it was early in the trip and we had no frame of reference for the prices, so resistance to buy wasn't too difficult. And I kept repeating the mantra... "suitcase weight limit..." which made it a little easier to resist.

Eventually it was our turn for lunch, almost next door, and we hit the ample buffet with zeal (well, on my part anyway!) Some of the group were very tentative about what to eat and what to avoid, and most of us stayed away from salads and lettuce, but there were lots of "safe" things to chose from. I found that theme repeated in almost all the buffets throughout the trip -- lots of choices that were "safe" (well-cooked entree items and well-cooked vegetables, lots of breads and pastries) and a fair number of "daring" (chopped salad items, lettuce, cut fruit, raw vegetables that hadn't been peeled - tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.). So every meal was a bit of a guessing game and gamble on how daring you felt with your gastro-intestinal tract!

Lunch was nice, and although I skipped a couple of questionable items in the buffet (a fish? I think, in a what kind of sauce? Is that beef, or lamb, or mutton -- it's awfully tough looking, with some kind of a very brown sauce...) It was a nice hearty meal that tasted good after a trek around the pyramids, through the solar boat museum (housing the huge boat the Pharaoh had buried next to him to use in the afterlife --almost as big as our smallest Washington State Ferries!), pressing the flesh at the Sphinx and careening through Cairo traffic enjoying the unscripted symphony of the city noise and all the small glimpses of daily life.

After lunch we were off to another highlight of the day, one I've waited a lifetime to see, the world famous Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

Another part of the journey where words fail me. There were an indescribable amount -- 300,000? -- of objects crowded into the turn of the last century building, many of them unlabeled or poorly labeled, many poorly lit, but my God, the overall effect of all those "treasures," for lack of a better word, is mind-boggling! A trip to the Egyptian Museum was certainly a highlight of my life, and I know I will always remember it.

Seeing the statues commissioned by Pharaohs thousands of years ago, the incredible artwork and funerary objects and symbols from ancient civilizations was mind-numbing. There was SO much of it! I had been warned, I had read the guidebooks, but I was still surprised and overwhelmed by the amount of "treasure" in one building. Room after room, hall after hall, gallery after gallery, full of treasures, each more beautiful than the previous ones.

Just as I had thought, the spectacular, unbelievable "finale" of the visit, was the huge number of objects from King Tut's tomb (easier than trying to accurately spell Tut Ankh Amun...). Even though I'd seen the traveling exhibit in Seattle in the late 1970's, it was but a fraction of the offerings here. I was overwhelmed by the vast array of treasures, sarcophaguses (sarcopha gi?), funerary objects, every day items, jewelry, furniture, thrones, and art displayed before me!

The highlight of all these highlights was having almost two full minutes, by myself, with almost no one else in the whole room, face to face, less than 8 inches away from King Tut's most famous icon, the solid gold funerary mask, all 20-some pounds of solid gold, set with all its precious stones and lapis, the eyes outlined in black (in that "Cleopatra style" we've all come to know) staring back at me almost as if still alive, from more than 300 centuries ago. Amazing! A very wonderful moment that will stay with me and bring me fond memories for the rest of my lifetime.

Our three hours in the museum flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to leave. Because of the time constraints -- and my greediness in wanting to spend every possible minute in the museum, I only had 4 minutes in the gift shop -- a tragedy!

Although -- in looking back, I have severe criticisms about the gift shop. It's just not very good, on lots of levels.. Lots of OLD books and postcards that were faded, no CD ROMs or DVD's of the artwork in the museum, poorly organized and staffed, well -- no sense going on an on about it, but it came as a huge surprise. I had even gone online before the trip, and was surprised that they don't offer any items for sale over the internet -- missing the proverbial boat on that score as well. So I had planned on loading up when I got to the "real" gift shop at the museum. Big disappointment for my inner shopper...

I had been aware that we were not allowed to take cameras into the museum, by law, but it was so hard to not be able to record it in some way, or buy a good record of what I had seen, to sear it into my brain, so I could retrieve it all and digest it and relive it more fully in the future.

I knew from guidebooks I had read, and other peoples' online notes, that there is a good bookstore right across the street from the Museum. So I was able to run -- literally -- across the street from the museum, avoiding the large numbers of busses, the army of cars, and even the pushcarts and vendors and donkey carts, taking life in hand (well, not quite that bad...) to arrive at the famous bookstore.

Again, I suffered tremendously from having only three minutes in the store. I knew I wanted pictorial DVD's and had to ignore many other potential treasures to concentrate on my main quest. I was able to quickly locate two DVD's -- in U.S. format no less -- that are, I think, exactly what I was looking for. Presumably, the two expensive DVD's -- bought for 360 Egyptian pounds = $72.00 U.S.), a lot of money, are what they purport to be on the outside covers, "a pictorial guide to all Egypt" (hopefully travelogue style) and "The Artworks of the Egyptian Museum." Hopefully they will be well made and able to bring back memories of the short visit, knowing that I couldn't possible assimilate it all in such a short time, these will no doubt jog my memories! (Author's note: the DVD's turned out to be just fine. The Egyptian museum one has a female voice -- with a British accent, but undoubtedly not from Britain -- doing the voice overs, and the photos and film work are quite acceptable-- covering most of the highlights, so I can replay them whenever I want to. The Egyptian travelogue is better without the voice track and hokey music, but again, captures well the visual reminders of all that we saw all over the country.)

I knew going in that the Egyptian Museum was going to be mind-blowing. I look back now and laugh about seeing that, and the pyramids, and the Sphinx in one day, and oh yes, we're going to throw in a few other things too, just in case that wasn't enough!

After the museum, we were to have gone to explore the vast bazaar of Khan el Khahili (you know, Spell-check doesn't work on that word!). Due to the group consensus desire for extended time in the museum, the incredible volume of Friday afternoon traffic (and Friday, we were assured, is a light day for traffic!) that made our bus ride a crawl at times, the tour of the bazaar didn't happen for my part of the group. We were promised we would see it at the end of our tour when we got back to Cairo.

We were split into two groups, with one group going to the bazaar and the other group -- my group -- going back to the pyramids for the Sound and Light show. Even though we didn't get off the bus to explore -- as the bus slowly crawled around the perimeter of the bazaar neighborhood (both bazaar and bizarre apply...) up and down and along the small side streets of the bazaar, I was able to get lots of good photos of the small shops and the alleyways, filled to overflowing with Arabian Nights type offerings -- spices, belly dance outfits, copper and brass carvings and magic lanterns, incense and perfumes, rich fabrics and beautifully woven rugs and carpets (presumably no flying carpets...). So even though I didn't get to "dive in" the bazaar, I was able to get lots of great shots that captured some of the essence and "local color" that I'd read about for years. ...and I kept on repeating to myself "suitcase weight limit, suitcase weight limit..." and I felt a little better.

>From the bazaar area in central Cairo, we made our way across the city -- I hesitate to say at rush hour, because with 20-25 million people and 7 million cars, I noticed that it's almost always rush hour -- even though there's not much rush -ing with all that traffic! So it took an hour, crawling through town, along and across the Nile, to get back out to Giza - probably 10 miles away. We were treated to another beautiful sunset as we approached the pyramids, silhouetted against the sunset's beautiful pinks and reds, the colors nicely augmented by the, shall we say, "thicker" air of the congested Cairo metropolitan area.

It's funny the things that stick in your brain... in the morning as we were leaving Giza, several of us noticed a horse, either sick, dying or dead, lying alongside the multi-purpose canal that ran through Giza -- the canal, unfortunately, not a pretty sight, fairly murky water, looking more like a sewer than an irrigation canal, in that part of town anyway -- some trash littered about on the banks, and you definitely wouldn't dream of drinking from it or bathing in it. Well, later that day, as we returned to Giza, as the sun was setting I glanced to the side and saw, presumably the same horse, now dead for sure, floating in the same canal. A reminder that for all its incredible beauty, Egypt still struggles with daily challenges and incredible poverty in places. For me, anyway, and the rest of the people in our group, we agreed that the beauty and all the positives far outweighed the negatives, as long as you experienced it all with an open mind.

And speaking of positives and negatives.... the Sound and Light show at Giza. The overview -- it was very crowded, very touristy, somewhat hokey and overly theatrical in a corny way. But at the same time, it had some beautiful moments, as the "Sphinx's voice" explained the highlights of 4,000 years of "recent" Egyptian history, as different colored lights and lasers played out on the pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Giza plateau.

We were greeted by a uniformed bagpipe band of probably ten or twelve pipers -- I didn't expect bagpipes in Egypt! It was sort of a "Lawrence of Arabia" moment... We were ushered in to a large area with many many chairs set up in long rows, facing the Sphinx, with the pyramids behind it, and a cafe/bar area at the rear for refreshments, and of course the non-stop smoking we found almost everywhere. I hung out on the side of the chairs so I could run around taking pictures (which I later discovered, almost none of them turned out due to low lighting and the strange effect the lasers had on my camera).

For me, an unexpected highlight was watching the smallest possible sliver of a new moon, so tiny you could still see the rest of the face of the moon, perfectly perched just atop the smallest of the three pyramids as it rose into the cloudless night with stars ablaze everywhere above us. (Say it together with me... "just exactly as they must have been for the last several hundred thousand years...") When I thought to look for it again later, it had moved significantly across the sky, letting me know that I must have been wrapped up in the show after all. I know that my camera didn't do it justice, but it was energizing to watch it against the fading sunset, in this place where so many sunrises and sunsets have greeted such a wide variety of human faces for so very many years.

So I would give the Sound and Light show a mixed review -- it had both good and bad points. But ultimately I'm glad I went, and I saw enough that thrilled me to make it worthwhile. It made for a very long day, but HEY! How many times in one lifetime do you get to go to the pyramids twice in one day?!?!

The trip back to the hotel was uneventful -- no one had the energy to stop at the Hard Rock Cafe, just across the street from the Sound and Light show, so we traveled back to the hotel, a fairly tired group. A quick bite to eat and it was off to bed, in preparation for the early wake-up call the next day for the flight to Luxor.

Well, for whatever reason -- the spacing between paragraphs has virtually disappeared.

I'm sorry, and very disappointed it's so hard to read.

Best of luck with the eye strain. :o

I'll check in later, and like I said, the saga will continue in a few days when I get back to my journal.

Very nicely done! I can't wait for the next installment!

Charlie

Seafun,

Wow! Just a wonderful story and great info so far. I am thoroughly enjoying your tale. We leave for Cairo in 177 days and you are helping my planning. I don't need help to get more excited about visiting the Land of the Pharoahs.

You are an awesome writer! I can't wait to hear the rest. Just a

side note. We were there last Sept and there was a dead horse in

the canal then, too. A little further down there were people doing

there wash in the canal and then further down yet people were

fishing. Couldn't be the same horse, could it?

You've review is so well writed I'm forwarding it on to my mother.

Thanks MVP and Catgirl -- my only regret is leaving my journal at work over the weekend! But I guess it's the only way I'll get the rest of my chores done, rather than slaving over a hot keyboard all weekend! ;)

Speaking of which, I'd better get to them... :)

Wow, you've done what I haven't been able to do so far -- written up an excellent summary of your trip. I'm enjoying reading it very much indeed!!

Thanks, Seafun!

One small observation - I am not really a math wiz, but I think 400 centuries (and 300 centuries in another place of your great narrative, where you talk about Tut's mask, I think) should be 40 and 30, unless you really meant 40,000 and 30,000 years...:o

I guess I was concentrating more on the words, and not on the numbers, lol.

Thanks for the correction. :)

Hi Seafun,

Great review and your "wordsmithing" made it immensely entertaining. I never intended reading it all at the outset, but I found I couldn't put my mouse down.

Our group is booked for the Holy Land cruise in October. I will be practicing my duckwalking in preparation for the Great Pyramid climb. I will also make a mental note to add a few packs of Nabs to my packing list. Mummy Tummy sounds lethal!

Take care and Thank you,

Bop;)

I am loving your review. You have a way with words! I can't wait for the next installment.

Do you happen to have the hours of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo? They are not posted on their website. I will be there in April. Thanks so much.

You've given me the strength to keep writing! ;) I'll try to crank out at least one more installment tomorrow when I get back to the office, assuming I don't have to actually -- gasp -- WORK!!! :eek:

No, honestly, I appreciate the encouragement. There have been, over the last few years, several reviews, recaps, or whatever you want to call them, that have taken my breath away here on Cruise Critic.

The best of them have included both words and pictures, but I get too impatient and frustrated trying to get the right pictures in the right place. Besides, as you've noticed, I did go a "little" overboard (1,000 photos) in the picture department, lol. Maybe someday I'll edit them all together.

For now, I just want to get it all into the computer...

In a small effort to "pay it back" or "pay it forward", I'm trying in my own way to give back to the thrill we all get, and have gotten, from reading all these wonderful exploits and adventures. I hope you're half as grateful as I am, that we are fortunate enough to experience and share them!

Talk to you soon...:)

This incredible museum is open daily from 9:00 am to 6:45 pm (slightly less during Ramadan, but that won't affect you in April).

No cameras allowed inside.

Go get yourself a guidebook, or two, or three :p and start devising a game plan on what interests you most and prioritize a list of "must sees" for yourself.

This incredible museum is open daily from 9:00 am to 6:45 pm (slightly less during Ramadan, but that won't affect you in April).

No cameras allowed inside.

 

Go get yourself a guidebook, or two, or three :p and start devising a game plan on what interests you most and prioritize a list of "must sees" for yourself.

Thank you so much! We have an cruise that is overnight in Alexandria so we will head to Cairo for day one then back to Alexandria for day two. It will be a dream come true for me.

Thanks so much for your wonderful review! :)

The museum is less crowded if you go after 2. The closing hours are 6:30 in winter and 8 in summer. We had the place practically all to ourselves on Feb 24th. We got there at 4pm.

Seafun - re photos - got you beat - I took 1200 but have ONLY had 730 printed !!

http://photo.walgreens.com/share/p=592181205853850353/l=18444796/g=12300861/cobrandOid=1009/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Webegone,

Thanks for the link to the pics. I thoroughly enjoyed them. I just can't get enough things Egypt. I am really concerned about being there in September, since I will want to bring back so much stuff. The Marriott looks like a nice hotel. Thanks for the pic of the Grand Hyatt where we will be staying. The Nile Dolphin looks like a really nice ship. You mentioned that King Tut's tomb wasn't supposed to be that great inside. Which tombs are the best?

I'm so pleased to help YOU after all the info I've gleaned from your travels. I even have your home page in my favorites. :)

Anyway, our entrance ticket at the Valley of the Kings entitled us to enter 3 tombs. If you want to go in Tut's tomb there is an additional charge. Hazem of Nile Blue chose for us the tombs of Seti II, Ramses IV, and Siptah. These are so beautifully preserved and elaborately decorated. It was a real shame that cameras were not allowed. Thankfully postcards are avaiable for $1.

Re being there in September, I just got an email today from Hazem re rules from the Egyptian Tourist Authorithy during Ramadan:

During the day it is not allowed to drink alcohol in public places. Hotels and cruises will follow that but others will not according to the permissions they will have.

The sites close early as follows:

Sakkara/pyramids/Memphis closes at 2:30 (normal days 4:30)

Museum 4:30 (normal days 6:30 in winter & 8 in summer)

Thanks for the additional info WeBeGone. I'm glad you have enjoyed our website. I was looking forward to taking my normal 300 pics a day to have some good ones for this review; but there are so many places that don't allow cameras, I am disappointed.

I didn't realize that Ramadan would cut back on the hours that some sites are open. That is unfortunate. I can do fine without alcohol during the day, although a beer would be nice in the Egyptian heat. Perhaps I will lose weight. :) We are going with a group and we to go with them, we had to go when they are going. Hopefully it will be fine.

I need to try this again