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Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Luxor January 26th 2022

After breakfast we went back across the Nile by boat again to the Valley of the Kings area. This time our focus was the Ramesseum, the massive memorial temple of Ramses II, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. We saw the massive inscription of his 80 year reign, full of references that bring alive the story of the Exodus and the building of the Mishkan. The temple is surrounded by mudbrick storehouses that date from the period of the Exodus. At this site we entered several tombs. Migo and Rabbi Berman pointed out many relevant hieroglyphs and coloured images. Their explanations helped us understand how the Egyptian kings told their story through artwork. In particular they highlighted elements which could relate to biblical references. . On the bus we all had PCR tests for Covid, required before ... read more
Theban Necropolis of Rameses
to Rameses V/VI tomb
Tomb of Rameses V/VI

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings January 25th 2022

Day 9 for us started nice and late! There was a contingent that got up at the crack of dawn to catch a balloon to travel over the Valley of the Kings. We enjoyed the luxury of a lie in! Then after a delayed breakfast because the balloon participants arrived back late, it was on the bus to go to the Valley of the Kings. The Greeks named the Egyptian capital area around Luxor ‘Thebes‘ so this burial valley is also known as the Theban Necropolis. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile. To get there we boarded a boat and went for a ride along the Nile to cross to the other side. Once at the site it was off the bus and onto a cart to get down to the tombs ... read more
Valley of the Kings
Coloured art in Tomb 96
Temple of Horus

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Luxor January 24th 2022

When I said we were up early, I meant early! 0400, bags outside the room at 0430 and on the bus at 0500. We just had time to grab a bite to eat and make our sandwiches for the day. We arrived at the airport in no time - there is little traffic at this time of day - checked in and sitting around waiting for our flight to Luxor. The name Luxor is the modern Arabic name meaning palaces. The ancient Egyptian name was Waset, meaning the city of the sceptre. It was the ruling centre. The Greeks renamed the city Thebes and it became the capital of Egypt. The Arabs couldn’t say Thebes and so it became Luxor which means temples in Arabic. The city became important during the 11th dynasty when the town ... read more
huge Karnak Temple columns
Karnak Temple ram heads
lonely Luxor Temple obelisk

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan January 20th 2022

The day didn’t start too well for me (Lesley). I was upset that the people who were the most anxious about the trip before we left and wanted to cancel, refused to wear masks. I’m afraid I got quite cross at breakfast. We then left on the bus to go to a new embarkation point with a decent gangplank to travel up the Nile to Elephantine Island. This island is important to the Jewish community as papyri documents have been found relating to the oldest Jewish diaspora community. The site itself is much bigger than I thought it would be. It is 1200 meters from north to south and 300 meters at its widest point. It is believed that it was called Elephantine because from the air the island looks like an elephant’s tusk. However, how ... read more
Elephantine ruins
Temple at Elephantine
Altar at Elephantine

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Abu Simbel January 19th 2022

This morning we welcomed the new arrivals at our 7 am breakfast. Now we totalled 33 tourists, plus Rabbi Berman and tour leader Cindy accompanied by Egyptian guide Migo and Egyptian tour operator John. By 8 am we were on the bus for our three hour drive south to Abu Simbel. Unfortunately this was the first of several occasions of what I will call the mask war. I politely asked a member of the group to wear a mask to be told that he couldn’t do it for three hours! . En route we learnt some more history and geography of Egypt. In the Pharoah’s time there were seven branches to the Nile delta – today there are only two as five have dried up. Between the years 1500 - 1200 BCE was the zenith of ... read more
entering Abu Simbel temple
Rabbi + Migo show Nubian slaves
Battle of Kadesh in Abu Simbel temple

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan January 18th 2022

Today was a bonus day as we were waiting for a group of participants from the US. We were allowed a lie-in as davening was at 8 am, breakfast at 8.30 am and on the bus at 9 am. At breakfast we had a panoramic view of the River Nile from the window of the restaurant. We used this time to start to get to know some of our fellow tourists. . The hotel is situated on the west bank of the Nile and we had to cross the dam to get to the east bank of the Nile. East and west are going to play a very important role in Egyptian history. This is because as the sun rises in the east so it represents birth, and as the sun sets in the west so ... read more
Migo explains old dam hydroelectrics
on the old low dam
hydroelectric power station at old dam

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan January 17th 2022

This is the first kosher tour from Israel to Egypt. Our day started early meeting the group and our tour leader Cindy Kline at Ben Gurion airport at 9.30am. We were travelling on a tour entitled “In the footsteps of the Exodus” with scholar-in-residence Rabbi Professor Joshua Berman. Rabbi Berman is professor of Tanach at Bar-Ilan university, Tel Aviv and has served on the international advisory committee of the Museum of Bible, Washington D.C. and his pioneering work on archaeological evidence for the Exodus has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. As our flight was not until 1300 we hung around the airport with our friends Ellie and Steve. Our short 1.5 hour flight to Cairo was uneventful and then we had a four hour wait at Cairo airport for the 1.5 hour flight to ... read more
our prayer corner in Tolip Aswan hotel
Tolip Aswan hotel Panorama restaurant

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Valley of the Kings December 1st 2021

28 Nov (Toujours à Louxor) Lorsqu'on s'éloigne des précieux Temples de Louxor, les rues de la ville se hantent rapidement de la bruyante vie habituelle des égyptiens. Cafoullis total. Assis sur des couvertures rapiécées, au ras des routes, les fermiers venus de la campagne, et puis les plus pauvres de la ville aussi, vendent des mottes d'oignons ou d'échalottes, des rangées de verdoyante laitue, de persil et d'aneth ou des assemblages de bananes déjà bien mûres. Parfois, on en voit vendre des poussins à l'unité, ceux-ci piaillant d'incompréhension alors qu'ils se font échanger sans délicatesse comme on achèterait un sac de petites limes. Un peu au dessus, des fruiteries multicolores et des vendeurs d'épices, de noix et de pois chiches brillent sous l'éclairage ocre de leurs petits espaces commerciaux. Puis, tout au fond du tableau, de ... read more
Mausolée
Mosquée 1
Mosquée 2

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Luxor November 29th 2021

25 Nov (Toujours en felouque sur le Nil) 6hAM. Armada, capitaine de la felouque, a déjà largué les amarres. Je me dérouille à peine, sorti depuis peu de sous mes deux gros tapis utilisés comme couvertures. Un filet doux et orangé orne les palmiers de la berge. Sur l'eau, une fine bruine se décolle du Nil au travers de laquelle s'aperçoit un pêcheur, seul sur sa barque silencieuse. Une délicate buée voltige aussi sur l'eau de ma tasse matinale dans laquelle Armada a, sans filtre, ébouillanté des feuilles de thé. Toujours endormi, le vent laissera l'onde fluviale en miroir, du moins jusqu'au retour du plein soleil. Le capitaine n'a pas encore ouvert la grande voile: il nous laissera glisser au large alors que, cigarette au bec, il nous fera bouillir des oeufs à la coque. Après ... read more
Karnak 4
Luxor Temple
Karnak 2

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Kom Ombo November 25th 2021

23 nov (Toujours sur Elephantine Island) Un ciel azurin, sans nuage et presque blanc s'affiche une fois de plus sur l'Égypte. L'horizon presque déteint par le soleil tourne au gris au delà des dunes. Je mange mon déjeuner de chez Hamo alors que l'aimable hôte m'offre un autre plat huileux de fuul (fèves fava) que j'éponge longuement avec mes A'aish baladi (pain pita) presque cramés, directement sortis des braises. Hamo aurait bien aimé que je reste plus longtemps en cette période de lente reprise du tourisme en Égypte. Parfois, il venait me voir durant la journée avec son vétuste téléphone cellulaire en me demandant de répondre aux questions des voyageurs à sa place sur les sites de réservation. Difficile de tenir une maison d'hôte lorsqu'on sait ni lire ni écrire l'anglais. ... C'est sur la corniche ... read more
Felouque et Nil
Arrimage pour la nuit
Pêcheur




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