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Published: November 1st 2008
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Egypt
A dream has finally being realised, being so far across the other side of the world and yet so close, how could I not miss the opportunity to visit a place of magical history, full of exotic sights, smells and sounds. From the moment I spotted this monotone dark tan city surrounded by desert sands, the excitement simply was overwhelming. And there in the haze below, from my cabin window plane three distinct triangle shape structures, pointing upwards to the sky's above. Yes - the Pyramids of Giza, below me - sit in the hot desert sun as they have been for many thousands of years. I was to begin a 2 week adventure tour of Egypt and could not hardly wait to begin.
My travels in Egypt was through a tour company - 'ON THE GO' - and it was an experience well worth it, eliminating all the logistical hassles if you are traveling on your own. My adventure went something like this.
Day 1 - We enjoyed a guided visit at the Egyptian museum, visiting one of the prize exhibits - The priceless funerary treasures of King Tutankhamen including his legendary solid gold death
mask. Later a tour around the Islamic and Coptic Christian area of Cairo finishing off at the glorious and spectacular mosque of Mohammad Ali, on a hill top offering great views of Cairo below.
Day 2 - The dream being realised. A visit to the famous pyramids and lion head Sphinx at the Giza Plateau - one of the seven wonders of the world. Standing there in front, you could not believe the mammoth scale of these structures comparing to the many tourists darting around them, these were huge and let alone comprehend how these large lime stone blocks, weighing in approx 30 tonnes totaling around 2.5million positioned so intricately and with precision to form a perfect pyramid shape some 2500 years ago. A sight no postcard picture can do justice.
We later continued on to the Necropolis of Saqqara to explore the myriad of tombs and temples this site had to offer and see Zhoser's step pyramid - one of the very first pyramids of it's time approx 4700 years old, still standing there in it's full glory.
Day 3 - Arriving mid afternoon into Aswan (Southern most part of Egypt) by overnight train, we enjoyed
a small boat trip to Agilica Island for Philae Temple - Dedicated to the Goddess Isis. This site dating back to the 4th Century. An afternoon spent exploring and meandering around this amazing island.
Day 4 & 5 - Our day commenced early in the wee hours of the morning - 3:00am start to board a plane at Aswan airport and fly and hour further south to Abu Simbel to witness the gigantic temple of King Ramses II and Queen Nefertary cut into the mountain side rock. Which has famously being relocated in a multi-million dollar operation in 1972 further up from the shore line of Lake Nasser, which had threatened to erode the foundations of this carved out rock, an amazing feat to have this relocate and an awe-inspiring site to visit and see.
Then it was onto view the mighty High Dam - a modern feat of engineering, the by product for which is Lake Nasser, the worlds largest artificial lake. After lunch (by this time is was already a full day for us) we boarded our wind powered Felucca's and sailed upstream on the Nile River, a journey that would take over two nights covering
a distance of approx. 50km along some fantastic Nile bank scenery of palm trees, small villages and desert sands - from Aswan to Kom Ombo. On Board it was time to relax, lay down on padded cushions, eat, drink and watch the world pass by.
Day 6 - We arrived in Kom Ombo early morning, and this day was my turn to have the belly bug - not a great start to the day, especially visiting many temples in the desert. The bug was sweeping it's way round to all on tour and provided the main topic of conversation most of the time - didn't really want to know everyone's bow movements. - Alas the tour moved on, so with toilet paper in hand we visited the Temple of Horus at Edfu. This temple having the distinction of being the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic temple in Egypt.
Still feeling worse for ware and the added mid morning hot summer sun we were soon back onto the bus and rejoin our police escort (yes we had a Police escort for most of the way in the south), as we drive north to Luxor, home of the legendary
Valley of the Kings. Later that evening a stop over at the local pharmacy and then onto visit the Temple of Luxor by night. Illuminated by artificial lighting, this was a new experience by night than by day.
Day 7 - An early morning start allowed us to avoid the fierce heat of Egypt as we ventured to the magnificent Valley of the Kings. Where we had the chance to enter into three of the 62 Tombs discovered in the valley. Followed by a similar visit to the Valley of the Queens and then onto the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Certainly this day was just another highlight of my trip to Egypt, no matter how hot the weather got too.
Our day was finished off by visiting our last temple of the tour - Temple Karnak (the best for last). A spectacular complex of sanctuaries, pylons, chapels, halls and Obelisks, all dedicated to the Theban Gods and the greater glory of Egypt. Later that night we departed Luxor for Dahab in Sinia of Egypt (the inverted triangle part at the North-East corner of Africa), an 18 hour overnight bus ride in convoy with twenty other buses and under
police escort.
Day 8 to 11 - I awake early morning after an uncomfortable sleepless night in the bus - another six hours of driving through remote desert landscape. Until we arrived around mid morning at Suez to cross the Suez canal via the tunnel into Sinai, traveling westwards across the Sinai desert landscape - nothing but sand and mountains as far as the eye can see and the occasional desert homestead. We finally arrive at Taba on the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) where here from a single vantage point you can see Israel, Jordan and Saudia Arabia all from Egypt - Amazing - so close yet so far away. We head southwards along the Coast line of the Red Sea until we arrive at our final destination of Dahab, early afternoon - time for drinks by the pool at our cosy hotel resort by the Red Sea.
Dahab is a quaint small sleepy sea side village cut off till recently from the rest of the world allowing the waters to stay untouched. However increasing in popularity and is estimated in five years to be booming with tourist similar to it's counter part town 100km further south
- Sharm El Sheik. Here we enjoyed the last final days of relaxation and take up any of the excursions on offer, like going snorkeling in the Blue Hole - Discovered by an Aussie in 1985 this natural small hole of 30meters diameter sheers off to depths of last count around 1000meters+, no bottom to be found yet. They like to keep it this way to keep the divers coming and is rated as one of the top five best dive spots.
And then for the more energetic, which was the majority of the group, a hike up to the peak of Mount Sinai, the location where Moses (biblical terms) received the Ten Commandments - 2500meters above sea level, 7.0km of zig zagging tracks. Starting off at 1500meters above sea level at 1:00am in the morning, moon light our only source of light we tracked up the winding paths to the top so as to witness the early morning sun rise this view point had to offer. Having a few hours spare before sunrise, we napped on the mountain top. - Woken up very early by herds of crowded tourists who ascended to the top through the night to
witness the same sunrise fighting it's way upwards past the haze or clouded horizon. Still a well worth trip, the panoramic views unforgettable.
More rest by the pool the following day and then farewelled Dahab and a long bus ride back to Cairo for our last day visiting the largest open air market in Cairo for some good old fun of bartering with the local traders.
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