World Trip 2009: The Egyptian Journey Tour Review

*Cairo, Egypt – Our Tour Group (Taken 08 June 2009)*

Tour Title: The Egyptian Journey
Tour Company: GAP Adventures (now G Adventures)
Tour Leaders: Ahmed
Cities Visited: Cairo, Aswan, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Edfu, Valley of the Kings, Hurghada, Dahab, Mt Sinai
Countries Visited: Egypt
Dates: Saturday 07 June 2009 to Sunday 21 June 2009
Duration: 15 days
Tour Type: Classic
Tour Itinerary (PDF) and Journal Entries

Tour Type – Original

Description: I’m yearning to see the world in all its colours. I want to step out of the normal tourist mindset.

Chief Experience Officer (CEO)

The CEO, more commonly known as a Tour Leader, can assist you with almost everything you could need.

Our CEO for this trip was Ahmed who was a local who had great insights and a passion to show off his country.

Tour Members

Tour members for this trip were Gloria, Jenny, Mark, Stephanie, Marco, Lesley, Amy and me so eight in total.

Included Activities

Local guide and entry fee to Pyramids and the Sphynx,
Egyptian museum guided tour,
Citadel and excursion to Khan el-Khalili bazaar,
Nubian village guided tour and dinner,
Felucca Sailing trip (with support boat),
Karnak temple guided tour,
Donkey ride to Valley of the Kings and guided tour,
Deir al Bahary guided tour,
Mt. Sinai climb

Optional Activities (USD)

Mummy Room in the Egyptian Museum $18
Abu Simbel temples excursion from Aswan $70
Unfinished Obelisk, high dam and a boat ride to the Temple of Philae $25
Kom Ombo and Edfu temples ( while waiting for the convoys ) $12
Tutankhamen Tomb in the Valley of the Kings $15
Trip to sound and Light show at Karnak temple in Luxor $25
Hot-air-balloon flight over monuments and city of Luxor $80

Accommodations

Simple hotel (12 nights), sleeper train (1 night), felucca (with support boat) (1 night).

Laundry

All hotels we stayed at offered a paid laundry service.

Currency

Egyptian Pound.

The USA Dollar was also accepted at most places.

Highlights

Cairo – Giza Pyramids and Sphinx, Visiting Papyrus and Perfume Outlets, Mohammed Ali Mosque, Turkish Bazaar

*Cairo, Egypt – Sphinx (Taken 08 June 2009)*

Aswan – Exploring local markets, Felucca ride down the Nile, small village visit

*Aswan, Egypt – Cruising the Nile (Taken 09 June 2009)*

Abu Simbel – Visiting and exploring Abu Simbel, Night Market shopping

*Abu Simbel, Egypt (Taken 10 June 2009)*

Kom Ombo – Felucca sailing, swimming in the Nile, sleeping under the stars on the Nile, beautiful sunrise over the Nile, Temple of Kom Ombo, Temple of Edfu

Luxor – Exploring Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Mummification Museum, Karnak Temple, Luxor Museum

*Valley of the Kings, Egypt (Taken 13 June 2009)*

Hurghada – All-terrain vehicle desert safari

Dahab – Snorkelling in the Red Sea

St Catherine – Trekking up Mt Sinai, Mountain Ranges at Sunrise

Summary

The ancient history of Egypt was almost overwhelming. The Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx were incredible how these were built in ancient times is hard to understand and a testament to human ingenuity. Traveling multiple times on the Nile via a felucca was a joy, which only got better the night we got to sleep under the stars on the Nile, an experience not to be missed. Experiencing the sun going down and the next day rising across the landscape from the Nile is ingrained in my brain as a spectacular sight. Even seeing the greenery on the edges of the Nile quickly turn to desert without changes between these extreme environments.

A major highlight was the optional visit to Abu Simbel. There were two temples here, one to the great Ramesses II and a smaller one to his favourite wife, Nefertari. I’d seem vision on these temples in movies before, it was surreal to be standing in front of these historic monuments. Exploring Temple of Kom Ombo which had a roman and Egyptian style, and the Temple of Edfu highlighted history of Egypt. However one of the most overwhelming sights and experiences was in Luxor with its Temple.

No visit to Egypt would be complete without a visit to the Valley of the Kings. This is the burial site of 62 Pharaohs including the very famous Tutankhamen (King Tut).

The tour also include adventure when driving ATVs (All-terrain vehicles) across the desert. Very dusty and I had sand everywhere, but it was a lot of fun! Snorkelling in the Red Sea led to getting up close to a lot of colourful fish. Seeing a Greek Orthodox Church in the St Catherine’s Monastery was weird in this very Muslim country. The Monastery claims to have part of the ‘Burning Bush’ that represented God speaking to Moses.

One of the last events on this tour was a hike up Mt Sinai. We did this 7km hike very early morning, maybe you could call it very late night, starting at 1.30 am. This is a very religious spot for multiple religions. We hiked up so early in order to both beat the heat and to experience the sun rising of the mountain ranges. Stunning and well worth the effort. I only got to visit one mosque during the tour but it was worth visiting the Mohammed Ali Mosque as a major centre of worship.

The tour was at times intense, always awe inspiring, and often fun. It was also extremely hot. Being summer we did as much as possible before 11 am and after 4 pm, between those times even the locals disappear, probably worth visiting in winter for those not use to these extreme temperatures. As someone who loves history this was one of the best tours in the world to undertake and it didn’t disappoint.