2017 Egypt

We visited Egypt for 5 days after our inter-railing in Italy as we were able to get a cheap flight from Milan to Cairo. We did an organised tour with Emo Tours and I would definitely recommend them. We had great tour guides, always punctual and we made special requests for our trip and they were very accommodating. 

The main cities tourists visit are Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. We wanted to see Cairo and Luxor so below are some of the things we did in each. 

Cairo

• Our first day we spent at the Giza Pyramids where we saw all three- Chephren, Cheops and Mykerions. We got to go inside the largest of the three to see inside the tomb. There is quite a few steps up a ladder and its dark with little space. Our guide was great at taking photos for us and then we got a camel ride away from the pyramids to get great pics.
  
  
  
  
  

• Next we got a close up of the Spinx at the Valley Temple, where the body of King Chephren was mummified before burying him in the pyramid. The Sphinx is a combination of a body of a lion and the face of Chephren. Lots of stories around how it lost its nose, including claims that Napoleon blew it off. No one is sure though.
  
  

• We then moved onto the Egyptian Museum of Antiques. While we were there they were in the process of moving the artifacts to a new museum closer to the pyramids but we still got to see the main collection of Tutankhamen. There are over 250,000 pieces of artifacts. 

• We had a wander through the markets in Khan El Khalili Bazaars, where they sell leather, gold, antiques, perfumes and souvenirs. 

• We ended our first day with dinner on a cruise on the River Nile. We had a belly dancer, tanura show and disco which was great fun and song singing! 
  

Luxor

• We had an early domestic flight to Luxor. My sun cream was taken off me as it exceeded 100ml. Even after I pleaded and showed them my very white skin and my fear of the sun. Oh well. Our guide in Luxor bought me some so that was very helpful. 

• Luxor is completely different to Cairo- it's peaceful, quiet, green, less populated, calm. Such a surprise. 

• We started in the west bank visiting the Valley of Kings, this is where the body of King Tutankhamen resides. The child pharaoh died at aged 12. His body was buried with over 5000 artifacts all discovered by Howard Carter.  

• Finally we visited the Deir El Bahari Temple, The Colossi of Memnon and the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut Temple. 

• Then we headed to the East Bank to visit Karnak and Luxor Temples a series of temples and gigantic columns.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Our guide got us a tea drink mixture in a plastic bag that was very interesting. Good to quench the thirst as you can tell it was the hottest I've ever experienced. 
  

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