Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 11

We were excited when we went down for breakfast and saw that with our usual bread roll with jam was also a hard-boiled egg and some sort of bean thing! We had breakfast and then left our bags in the lobby where they would sit all day... We had a guide, who had a script that he knew well but he couldn't answer questions if we had any because he didn't really know the history and at times it was hard to hear him over the crowds of people but it was still nice having someone who knew at least a tiny bit of what we were looking at. We headed off to Valley of The Kings first. We were in a group of close to 20. Valley of the Kings is still being excavated and ... read more

It was another freezing night on board the felucca and we were in fact, sailing when I woke up. Despite the freezing conditions, I wasn't happy to be getting up. I had still not caught up any of the sleep that I had lost travelling to Egypt. Breakfast was nice again, that tea is nice and sweet. Not so nice was the spot we got off the felucca - like a lot of places in Egypt, you could swear it was a rubbish tip. Litter and pollution is so bad here. We were then on the bus to the first sight of the day, Kom Ombo Temple. The history of Ancient Egypt is arguably the most famous in history and is divided into several dynasties of ruling families. Kom Ombo Temple was built during the 32nd ... read more

Cairo Alice and I arrived into Cairo late at night and were met by our friend Kim who was in the year above us at Swansea uni. We all studied Egyptology, me a degree, Alice just finished her masters, and Kim is doing her PHD. She stayed in Cairo for 3 months to study, luckily when we were there so we could crash with her! Her cousin Kate had also come to visit from America. In the morning we headed out for a fun day- getting a visa extension for me and Alice yay! Of course as it turned out the office was shut because it was 6th October. Makes sense to me. So we headed for Cairo museum- insanely busy, jam-packed full of ancient stuff in no particular order, graffiti all over the statues- great ... read more

I spent two more days at Alexandria staying at the Schutz American School. I met two of the teachers, Penny and Josh, on couchsurfing. Their apartment style housing withing a larger school complex was such a wonderful refuge from the chaos, and their kindness and beer was much appreciated. While in Alexandria I was approached by a young man, Tarook. I think he wanted someone to practice his English with, and we agreed to meet up the following night. During our conversation along the Corniche I was struck by what profoundly different visions of our future we had. When I look at the rest of my life I see limitless possibilities for travel, open access to the best schools in the world, opportunity to make a decent living doing interesting work, and relationships that can be ... read more

From the airport our friend Nadim's coordinator, Ahmed, takes us to our exotic accommodation in Luxor - a felucca moored on the bank of the Nile river. The Nile Breeze is a classic Nile river sailing boat that sleeps up to twelve people. It's companion motor boat is used for ferrying, as a kitchen and is complete with a chef and a boatman who doubles as a waiter. Already set up for us is a romantic cabin on deck. Perfect. We spend a couple of hours lounging and planning our attack on Luxor, before meeting our local guide Heba. We start on the east bank of the Nile where she takes us to the remains of Karnak and Luxor temples both built over three thousand years ago and situated in the middle of the city. They ... read more