The West Bank at Luxor is famous for the Valley of the Kings where a number of tombs have been found dating back to 1500 BC and is the site where the Tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. This remains the most recent discovery but our guide suggested a new one has been found and details will be announced shortly. The Tut tomb was famous as the treasures it contained were intact, but the tomb itself is neither large nor impressive and as it required an extra ticket with long queues we gave it a pass. Very [View Full Entry]

---

---

There are no crocodiles in the Nile below the Aswan dam but they were prolific in pharonic times and the dual temple at Kom Ombo is dedicated to Haroeris and Sobek (the local crocodile god). A number of mummified crocodiles were found at the site and a couple are now on display. At Edfu the Temple of Horus was built over a period spanning 237 BC to 57 BC and has much Roman influence. The 36m high entrance to the temple is guarded by 2 huge and splendid granite falcons wearing the dual crown of upper and lower Egypt. Some time [View Full Entry]

---

---

Life aboard Kasr Ibrim was extravagant and the food exceptional making it very difficult to not gain weight. The majority of monuments along lake Nasser have been relocated to escape the flooding resulting from the high dam at Aswan. Moving all the monuments in the 1960s was a feat of pharonic proportions but the most impressive has to be the relocation of the Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world. The 3 day cruise to Aswan facilitated visits to 8 more temples and the tomb of Pennut not easily accessible by road. [View Full Entry]

---

---

The must-see Nubian Museum, showcasing the history of the Nubian people from prehistoric times, is housed in a very modern and well designed, air-conditioned building that was built to thank the Nubian people whose land was flooded by Lake Nasser when the Aswan Dam was completed. In 1960, over 50,000 Egyptian Nubians were relocated. Amongst the well-displayed artefacts were painted bowls from 4000 BC and personal items like the comb with decorative giraffes. Also on display were many petroglyphs of giraffes and other wild animals indigenous to the region. Tomorrow we fly to Abu Simbel a [View Full Entry]

---

---

The overnight train to Aswan was very comfortable and we transferred by boat shuttle to the Pyramisa hotel on Isis Island, a small island in the middle of the Nile River. Very beautiful but 41 degrees C with no wind to speak of. Plans to visit the outdoor Nubia Museum were dropped in favour of drinking cool beer by the side of the Hotel pool. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pompey's Pillar exemplifies the continuous urban renewal at Alexandria. The massive 30m-high pink granite column was give it's name by travellers remembering the murder of the Roman general Pompey by Cleopatra's brother. Under the current base of granite facade they have uncovered the original base with heiroglyphic text. The area around the pillar has been made into a modern outdoor exhibit recently opened to the public. Part of the exhibit includes the undergroud library that housed many of the old papyrus scrolls dating back to AD300 and was used by Christians to escape Roman persecution. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Akmed, our driver for the day, took us to Rosetta for a cruise on the Nile. Fort Qait Bay, the original location where the Rosetta Stone was found, is located on the banks of the Nile amongst a forest of brick factory-chimneys. Red bricks seems to have been the building material of choice for centuries and still is today. To visit the fort, Akmed had to navigate through narrow dirt lanes with more donkey-cart traffic than cars. From the fort walls there was a good view of where the muddy waters of the Nile empty in to the pristine blue Mediterranean [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting lost is all part of the exploration process and finding yourself is also part of the fun of travel. We decided to set off on our own this morning to buy train tickets for our trip back to Cairo on Sunday. Having great foresight, we had the hotel desk clerk write down the address for the train station in Arabic. However some of the taxi drivers cannot read. so having a written address is of no help. When you finally get to the station and buy the ticket there is no way of knowing if you have the right one. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Travelling to Alexandria was tranquil in comparison as we had a driver ( Mr Sammy) who seemed quite sane. We stopped for a couple of hours at Wadi Natrun, the site of salt lakes that when dried out produced the salt used in mummification. There are also several monasteries dating back to the 4th century. We visited Deir Anba Bishoi and were given an extended tour by one of the monks. Spiritually refreshed, we drove on to Alexandria where the traffic is again chaotic. The Plaza hotel is supposedly 4 star but there is a huge difference in the standard compared [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ventured into Islamic Cairo yesterday and climbed the spiral stairs of the minarette of the Ibn Tulun mosque - the city's oldest un-restored mosque built AD876-879. From there we had amazing views of the citadel and across Cairo. There was rooftop rubble, rooftop gardens and even rooftop goat pastures! In the evening we drove out past grim-looking miles of brick and concrete apartments that looked uninhabited but for the occasional row of laundry hung out to dry. Then, like the Rockies and Calgary, there suddenly were the pyramids of Giza standing up against the setting sun. We watched a li [View Full Entry]

---

---