I was always meant to go to Egypt.  I received my undergraduate degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago.  Then I married an Egyptologist, who put together the Temple of Dendur, at the MET Museum, NYC. He also brought King Tut exhibit to the museum.  He made frequent trips to Egypt but I was barred from entering the country – I had been born in Israel and my U.S. passport had my birthplace on it.

In 1979 the Egypt- Israel Peace was signed, which would have allowed me to travel to Egypt, but I had children and work responsibilities.  However, now I was retired and looking for a winter get-away.  Egypt seemed the logical next trip in combination with a family visit to Israel. 

I decided to plan my own tour with a company that will provide, hotel transfers, guides (and/or drivers) rather than take a prearranged tour that moves from site to site at lightning speed.  Gat Tours came up with a great itinerary as well as guides and drivers at each location. 

Cairo and surrounding sites:

Cairo is a crazy city. The traffic was constant and cars did not obey stop lights and certainly did not stop for pedestrians.  We definitely needed a driver to get us around the city as well as to the ancient sites. We also had a terrific guide.

Below is a brief description of some of the main attractions we visited while in Cairo.

Memphis was the first capital of Egypt and is now an open-air museum.  It was very exciting to see the incredible standing statute of Ramses II, the sphinx as well as the excavations after studying about them so long ago.  

 

We were able to go into Khafre’s pyramid. What an experience!  The entrance is a very long narrow low passage way.  I had to bend down quite a bit to get in – first going down then back up to reach the tomb section.  I was really glad to be only 5’2”.  The air became very stale after a while.  At the end of the tunnel, there was a good size room which was the burial room.

The Egyptian Museum:  Since my visit, a new museum has been opened.  I am sure it is wonderful – the collection is incredible. Unfortunately, when I was there the old museum resembled a dirty store room rather than a museum.  Most of the artifacts were piled together in cases with no labels or organization. 

Cairo to Luxor

We took the overnight “luxury” train from Cairo to Luxor, with a compartment to ourselves and seats that converted to bunk beds.  We arrived at 6 AM, and our tour company arranged for us to immediately check into our hotel room.

Luxor is fantastic and in my opinion, rivals Cairo for antiquities.  It is a small town with a small souk (market) and a lovely riverfront.  Its attractions are the two amazing temples on the East Bank of the Nile– the Karnak and Luxor Temples, the and King and Queen Tombs, the Colossus and more Temples on the West Bank.  

Karnak Temple is overwhelmingly amazing.  It is about 10 times larger than I imagined, with a whole series of temples– one inside the other built by various kings.  The pillars, the carvings, the statues, the colors are all just wonderful.  I tried to capture its beauty and size in the pictures above, but Karnak is so massive, it is hard to photograph.

Luxor Temple is smaller, but not less impressive. Both Muslims and Christians used the temple grounds. There is a mosque built around 1300 CE and a church built out of the temple stones by the early Christians.  They resurfaced the stones, but most of the resurfacing has worn off and now you see a combination of ancient Egyptian carvings with painting of the apostles mixed together.

The Luxor tombs date after the capital moved here from Giza. These kings had seen the earlier pyramids plundered – after all it’s easy to know where the king is buried if his tomb is under a pyramid. The Luxor kings, therefore, built their tombs into the side of the mountain hoping that they would be hard to find and plunder.  Unfortunately, that was not the case and the only known tomb to escape plunder was Tut’s tomb.  At the time of my visit, 62 king tombs have been unearthed by archaeologists and about 70 queen tombs. 

 In order to keep the tombs from deteriorating, only three tombs are kept open at a time, in the Valley of the Kings.  I went into all three.  They were much larger than I expected, housing multiple rooms with beautiful decorations on the walls and ceilings.  The colors are still vibrant.  The illustrations show the king with the gods – sometimes with the wife – often with the people they conquered, who are mostly the Nubians and the Syrians.  In one relief, the conquered ones are upside down so that they can’t revolt.

 The Royal Cleopatra: Luxor to Aswan

The next main adventure was gliding down peacefully on the Nile for five days between Luxor and Aswan on the Royal Cleopatra. 

Our private boat, a modified Felucca (sail boat), was perfect. It was charming, and comfortable with two private rooms with ensuite bathrooms and living/dining/kitchen area. The upper deck had tables, chairs and four lounge chairs with an awning to keep out the sun.  We had total privacy since the crew slept on the towboat.  The only quirk on the boat was the shower; a hose that came out of the sink and had to be held. The bathroom (tiny) had a hole in the corner for the water to drain after the shower.

As we sailed down the river, we watched the large cruise boats go by in packs with their noisy dirty motors while we sailed slowly and quietly.  We sat on deck and read or watched the scenery.  The river banks are very rural, therefore, we had lovely background noises of donkeys, roosters, cows and the periodic call to prayer. It was simple living, simple food and absolutely delightful. 

 One reason to take the Nile cruise rather than fly or drive are the interesting stops along the way. The two main attractions where most boats stop are; Edfu and Kom Ombo Temples.  Each temple was special. 

Kom Ombo (below) was special in that it was a dual temple to the god Horus (Falcon) and to the god Sobek (crocodile).  To give you the idea of size – that is me between the doorways.

Because we were on a small sail ship, as opposed to the motor boats, we were able to dock at other places along the way.  One of the stops was the old quarry site called Silsila, where we had the place to ourselves.  We could see how the huge blocks of sandstone were carved out of the hill.  At one time thousands of men were working in the quarry.  There was also a small temple there for the workers. 

Another day we docked near a Nubian village and walked to it.  The Nubian village, though close to the river, was not visible from the river. The houses, made of brick, were covered with stucco and painted in blues and oranges.   We took a walk through the quiet village and while trying to avoid a mound of sand, Jerry hit his head on a rusty air conditioner.  The locals felt so bad that one of them invited us to his house for tea and a rest.  This was a wonderful opportunity to see the inside of a Nubian home.  We sat in a courtyard to drink tea and were shown the individual rooms for the family members.  They demonstrated how they weave their colorful baskets and showed us some of their treasured old baskets. 

One morning three feluccas were tied up near us.  One passenger was taking a walk toward our boat and Jerry invited him for tea.  A short while later another passenger joined us.  They thought we were sailing in the height of luxury, because their feluccas were just large open sailboats about the size of a small room.  On each boat there were 10 passengers.  They slept in sleeping bags on deck with a tent like cover.  During the day they just sat in place because there was really no room to move around.  It looked uncomfortable and we were glad to be on our boat.

 Aswan

We had the delight of was staying at the Old Cataract Hotel (OCH) when we were in Aswan. 

The OCH is truly a 5-star hotel, but this being Egypt, it was still affordable. It was built in 1898 and is all plush red cushions and lovely chandeliers, wood and beautiful paintings.  It has an old-fashioned elevator, with the latticed door and an attendant. We had breakfast every morning in the beautiful restaurant called the 1902, which looks a bit like a sumptuous mosque. It also serves dinner but was too pricey for me.  We sat on the very large veranda overlooking a small Nile harbor and watched the feluccas and motorboats while we had lunch and later in the afternoon, drinks.    Incidentally Agatha Christie stayed at the hotel and some scenes from Death on the Nile were filmed there. 

We found Aswan very easy to tour on our own.  Walking along the Nile and stopping at cafes is lots of fun. Most of the places of interest are walking distance from OCH, or via public ferry (if you are adventurous and want to do what the locals do). The ferry or a slightly more expensive private felucca ride, will take you to Elephantine Island.

I loved the Unfinished Obelisk Museum. Aswan was the granite source for the large obelisks (like Cleopetra’s needle in Central Park, NY).  The obelisk we saw, was started but developed a crack and was abandoned.  Seeing the partially carved obelisk gave me the feel for how it was done.  Also, not to be missed are the West Bank tombs of the nobles who lived in Aswan.  The tombs have well-preserved paintings on them and some wonderful reliefs.

Final comments: 

1. Egypt is rich in antiquities and there is much to see and take in. Leave plenty of time to visit the important sites and time to return to some of them as well. If you have the leisure and money, plan on at least 5 days in each location (Cairo, Luxor, Aswan). You will not be bored.
2. The sites get very crowded. Find out when they open and go as early as possible. You will avoid the crowds, especially the tour groups and in the summer, the heat.
3. Your regular guide cannot enter any of the tombs. There are specialized tomb guides. They are helpful and survive on your tips. Expect to pay them – they will make a difference in the experience.
4. You can safely eat the street food but do not do not drink a drink with ice. On our last day in Cairo, Jerry bought an orange juice from a vendor, who was squeezing the oranges in front of us. But we did not realize that he then put ice in the glass. It was a big mistake.
5. A good tour company can make the trip so much more enjoyable. For instance, our private boat on the Nile was fabulous. In addition, our tour company were helpful in making the Cairo to Tel-Aviv flights. I was very glad not to be on a tour group.