Blogs from Luxor, Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 24

Guide picked us up around 7am. We drive to the West Bank of the Nile where we will visit the Valley of the Kings and the tombs there, Al-Deir Al-Bahari Temple and finally the ruins of a workers village. After our tour we shopped the Bazaar, found some local food and brought it back to our hotel for dinner on our balcony overlooking the Nile.... read more

No trip to Egypt would be complete without sailing a felucca on the Nile so it is only fitting that our last day in Luxor we relaxed aboard Emmeke Dream for a sail upstream to Banana Island. Going upstream the feluccas hug the shallow marshes where water buffalo (Egypt's cows) graze neck deep in water. This is also a good place to spot birds and I wished I had binoculars with me. Coming back downstream with a bunch of very tasty bananas the sailboats move midstream where swifter current speeds their passage. Many larger boats also cruise the Nile where a narrow but lush strip of land supports all kinds of crops including date and banana palms, and sugar cane. Bundles of sugar cane are loaded onto trucks or rail cars for the trip 24 km ... read more

Deir Al Medina (monastery of the town) was the temple so named because it was occupied by early Coptic christian monks. Although small, it does have an excellent scene of the final judgement. The deceased is pictured extolling his virtues to the Egyptian gods who sit in judgement, and his heart is being weighed on a scale against the feather of justice. Anubis, the jackal-headed god of mummification stands awaiting the decision. If the heart is heavier, it will be consumed by Amit (a creature that is part lion, part crocodile and part pig who will eat all the evil) and the soul being judged will be denied everlasting life in the afterworld. If the heart is lighter than the feather of justice, then the mummy will be rejoined with its soul and will be led ... read more

This was my third trip to Egypt and I still love it. It is one of those places that you can return to over and over again and still see and experiences new things. It is full magical and full of ancients knowledge, each temple tells a different story, dedicated to a different Egyptian God or Goddess. We travelled in a small group of 16 and started in Cairo for a few days. Next a flight to Aswan where we boarded our own boat for a 8-day journey up the Nile. Having a smaller boat was a real blessing as we could visit and cruise when we liked, no schedules to keep like the Cruise ships and no timetable to limit our freedom. Spending such a journey on the boat allowed us to really sink into ... read more

Hi All, Took the sleeper train to Aswan which was actually AMAZING, we had a better sleep on the train than at the hotels. However, there was a 2 hour delay standing in the "cold" outside the train station and a 4 hur delay sleeping in our sleeper cabin. Things come in three's - first things first - Sarah has the classic Sarah-traveling sinus infection. She's on antibiotics, vitamin c, "herbal elixer", multi vitamins, sore throat lozenges and headache releif tablets. Still sick but on the slow road to recovery. Aswan was great - laid back and warm. We got up at 2:45 a.m. to go to Abu Simbel temple which was amazing, saw an icredible sunrise. We went to Elephantine Island where the nubians live and met a wonderful family. Then, on to the camel ... read more