Blogs from Upper Egypt, Egypt, Africa - page 77

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Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan March 7th 2006

Still no luggage…I wonder what my L.L. Bean fleece will fetch on eBay. Do the French even have eBay? I really could have used the fleece, and jeans too, last night as the evenings are cool on the Nile. Visit to Abu Simbel In the morning we all got up early to take a trip to Abu Simbel, 280km southwest of Aswan. This wasn’t part of the original itinerary, but since every one else wanted to go, I decided to go too (I’m all about groupthink). Some of the group got up at 3AM to take a 3 hour drive to Abu Simbel...which was done with a police escort. The rest of us decided to take a plane to get there, so got to sleep in until 6:30. Airport security was laughable…with the security guards jokingly ... read more
Abu Simbel - Colossi of Ramses II 2
Abu Simbel - Colossi of Ramses II 3
Abu Simbel - Temple of Hathor 2

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan March 7th 2006

Thats hello in Arabic by the way! See - i'm starting to learn the language already!! So now coming to you from Aswan, 800km south of cairo - much nicer than Cairo coz its just a small town so it's nowhere near as manic and busy and the people are even friendlier! We got here on an epic train journey which took 12 hours, im still recovering from that journey now! The heat doesn't make it better, this close to the equator it's very hot in the sun, but we're coping so far! Have done a few cool things here, had a ride on a pretty damn ugly camel into the desert to see a deserted monastry. That journey has made the sore legs from the train journey even worse as they are bloddy awkward to ... read more
Abu Simbel again!
Felluca's on the Nile
On a camel!

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan March 6th 2006

"We'll be drinkin birra stella when she comes!" "We'll be drinkin birra stella when she comes!" "Singin yi yi yippy yippy yi!" If you had happened to be around a particular area on the banks of the Nile river between Aswan & Luxor, on this particular night! You would have been treated to my singin & dancing around a fire joined by a bunch of Bediwan kids & Cpt'n Happy & crommy bangin out on the drums! Top Craic! We enbarked on our 2 nite falucca journey in the arve with our fellow passangers (An old canadian couple, french couple, japanese gal & another aussie lad) All in the capable..ish hands of captain happy ( how thought that he was bob marley) and crommy the cook/mate(basically Capt'n happy's bitch!) D1- Sailed along, read a book, listened ... read more
Bye Happy n Cromey
sunset
Beer time!

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan March 6th 2006

We had a variety packed bread, bread, and bread breakfast on the train. We had a selection consisting of a piece of white bread, a croissant, and a hamburger bun. Mmm…bread. Of course I needed to tip the porter (who wasn’t afraid to ask for it) before I got off the train. Once we got to the hotel, I talked with Ahmed to see if my luggage had arrived yet in Cairo. Nope. I now fear for the safety of Milkshake, my stuffed cow. Who knows what depraved things French airline baggage handlers could do with a stuffed cow after a heavy night of drinking my liquor. Hopefully they are not making brie out of him. Luckily the hotel we are staying at here, the Isis Hotel, is much better than the one we stayed at ... read more
Aswan High Dam & Jason 1
Philae (Isis) Temple Approach 3
Unfinished Obelisk 3

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt March 6th 2006

My wife Enid, and I went in December 2005, it was an offer on the net which we could not refuse, (cheap!) We stayed at the Sofitel in Karnak, which was delightful. We did all the trips that we could afford, and they were all well worth it! If you have back problems though, the camel safari may not suit you! It did me in for days, I was walking like a chimpanzee!!! Took lots of pictures plus we met a nice couple from Wakefield who we became firm friends with. We stayed at their place recently and they have stayed over at our-and -despite the language barrier, they can nearly understand me!!! ... read more

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Aswan March 5th 2006

High dam stats: # 3.6km in length # 1.0 km in width # 111m high @ highest point # Has 18 x the amount of material uses for the great temple of Khofu # 35000 workers involved in construction # 451 of which died in the process Got into aswan after pretty much no sleep on the train and we got picked up and taken to the hotel. Then went on a tour of the high dam (which provides most of egypt's power) then a short boat ride to philae (Agilkia Is). Where the Isis temple complex had been moved stone by stone after the constuction of the dam left it submerged 6 months of the year. Got a bit of sleep only to get up @ 3 in the morn to get in the convoey ... read more
Monument
Me n Ramses 2nd  x4
 Temple of Isis

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Luxor March 3rd 2006

In our first blog, we had just arrived in Luxor. Luxor is located along the Nile and contains a wealth of ancient Egyptian sights. It is also a popular destination for tourists who want to come and see the temples and tombs. Coming from the desert into Luxor was like night and day and we were not used to seeing so many tourists. We arrived mid-day on Friday, which is the Muslim holy day and we weaved through traffic where there were tons of people overflowing from the mosques into the streets praying. We had originally planned to head south right away, but instead decided to do a Nile cruise down to Aswan. There are tons of these Nile cruise boats that sail between Luxor and Aswan and we were able to find a very reasonable ... read more
Guards Taking a Break
Emerging from the Tomb
Karnak Temple

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt » Luxor February 25th 2006

The train rolls into the station. May face cringes a little as I lay eyes on the old, worn out, dirty exterior. After a short inspection, the interior was actually very nice. Compared to the Reunification Express in Vietnam, it was excellent. I am not used to travelling first class, but here I was, rearranging my luggage in my first class sleeper cabin. Sleeper trains has become my favourite way to travel, sitting in the bar, sipping on a Johnnie Walker and Coke and watching the darkened scenery fly by. Theres nothing better paying one price for a bed and transport. 10 hours later, we arrived in Aswan. We fought our way through the barrage of obligitory touts trying to lure us to thier hotels. I, team 2, (personal joke) was sent to hunt down a ... read more
Felucca
Lunch time
Lunch time 2

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt February 18th 2006

For this trip, a group of us (Debbie and Christine from CISE, and a lovely lady named Kathy from Narmer School) were treated to a really personal trip to the Fayoum region of Egypt. Fayoum is to the South of Cairo. It is full of fields and fields of plants. The drive there is amazing, as you see fields that have been hand planted, and every plant is in perfect alignment with the others in the row. You also go past a few pyramids/prototype pyramids here and there. Our "tour guide" was my fruit and vegetable man, Ali, who is originally from Fayoum. His friend and our taxi driver is also from there. This trip was truly one I hope to never forget. As mentioned, the drive is visually wonderful. It took about an hour ... read more

Africa » Egypt » Upper Egypt February 17th 2006

Traveling in Egypt is a game of patience and humility. When riding the overnight bus from Hurghada to Aswan remember to hold on to all 14 ticket stubs that they give you so that you can show the fare collector who comes back to check by waking you up at 1am and every 45 mins thereafter. Show them only 13 slips and you got some 'splaining to do. When riding the train from Aswan to Luxor remember to sit away from the window to avoid the shattering of glass when you pass by small villages and the children start hurling stones at the carriage. And if you plan on taking a charter bus to Abu Simbel get to bed by 6pm the night before so you can wake up at the fixed 3am departure time to ... read more
View of the Nile
Yebu Ruins
Ramses in the Nubian Museum




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