Trip Report Wonders of Ancient Egypt 2010

I have wanted to visit Egypt for quite a few years, but my wife, Linda, was always afraid to go because of security concerns. She died a few months ago, so I decided to go by myself on a 12-day Trafalgar Tour. I left a day early so I start with day 0.

Odds and ends – US dollars were accepted just about everywhere we went in tourist areas. The exchange rate we 1 US$ to 5.5 EP, but most places just converted it to 1 US$ to 5 EP for easy conversion. Change is difficult to come by. You normally had to tip the attendant one EP to use a rest room. One time I got 4 EP in return for my one dollar bill after I asked for change. Another time the woman said she had no changes, so I just asked for the 2 EP in her hand. These are not large amounts for Americans, but it is sort of a game not to be taken for too much. The airport at Aswan had free wireless, which I was able to use after I figured out to see if it might be available. We stayed at high end hotels so the internet was not free there.

We had a good assortment of food on the boat. Drinks were extra, just like a normal cruise ship. They had internet available, but it was a slow speed connection and not free. I got international service on my cell phone. It worked pretty well but it is not cheap. Text messages are cheaper and more efficient. I came by myself but soon was adopted by two different groups out of the 22 people in our subgroup. The total group was 44 people with two guides. We had one guide for our subgroup who stayed with us for the entire trip. We started out as Trafalgar B, but later changed our name to Isis. Khalid was really friendly, very knowledgeable in Egyptian history, and very good with English language. The tour guides used a radio (called a whisper) to make his presentations at the temples. We had to carry a wireless around our necks and wear earphones. It was not perfect, but it worked pretty well, and was a lot better than having a bunch of guides yelling at their groups.

Day 0 & 1. I left a day early to help me adjust to the long flight. I won’t do into details, but I have fainted on airlines before, so I was extra careful. The flights from BWI through JFK to Cairo were uneventful but I did not get much sleep. The only minor issue was getting the Visa at the airport in Cairo. It was a little office just to the left of the passport control lines. You need to get the visa before going through passport control. They did not even look at your passport, just gave you a sticker for $15 US.

A Trafalgar representative met me just outside the baggage claim area. There were a few other guides by baggage claim, but they seemed to be meeting large groups. He then called for our driver who took us to the hotel. The flight got in about 4:30 pm, so it was about 6:00 pm by the time I got to my room. I had plenty to eat on the plane so I was not too hungry. I just exchanged some money at the bank and got more cash from the ATM. Both were in the hotel. I know, I used two different ways to get cash, but that is just the way I do things. I got to bed by 9:00 pm. I did not sleep real well, but I did not get up until 8:00 am. Did I say I was tired?

Day 2. Since my tour did not start for another day, about 10 am I decided to go to the Egyptian Museum. I asked the doorman about getting a cab, and he got me a driver, Hani, who would take me to the museum and bring me back. For 460 Egyptian Pounds (EP) or about $90 US I ended up with a driver/tour guide for the rest of the day. After 2 hours at the museum, he took me to Saqqara where I walked through the temple by the Step Pyramid with about 40 our people in a tour group. I got by them and was looking at the excavation site when Akim started showing me around. He was helpful, but did not like the 5 EP tip I offered. He was nice about it, so I finally gave him 15 EP. I then walked by the Step pyramid, entered a small temple and made my way back to the car where Hani was waiting. He then drove a short distance to a spot near the mastaba of Ti, who was the royal hairdresser to an Old Kingdom Pharaoh. I paid 200 EP for a 10 minute camel ride to the mastaba entrance. The entrance fee was covered in the fee for the Step pyramid, but I tipped the guide 15 EP. His English was okay, but he did not have any historical context for the tomb. I really enjoyed the whole effort, including bending way down through two passage ways. I could have spent more time looking at the reliefs. My guide and I were the only two people in the tomb.

Because I only planned to go to the Egyptian Museum I only had about 900 EP with me and did not bring my camera. You cannot use a camera in the museum, so I figure why bother. So I got no pictures, but I did have a good time. Next we stopped at a government run carpet factory. They use children for most of the work to teach them a trade and exploit their smaller fingers. The rugs were very nice, but expensive and hard to carry home. We then stopped at a papyrus museum. There I bought 3 pictures on papyrus for 2,000 EP. I did not have my credit card with me, but they just wanted to make a sale. So we made arrangements for the driver to repay them after I returned to the hotel. It sounds like this happens a lot. When I got back to the hotel, I got my ATM cards and paid Hani the money for the papyrus and his fee. I was very pleased with the trip and gave him a good tip. Hani must have believed in one meal a day as our lunch got put off until I got back to the hotel at 5 pm. I had a big breakfast, and I always carry some food with me so I got by. The weather was foggy in the morning, then cloudy and cool most of the day. This is some what unusual for Cairo in the winter.

Day 3 – The cloudy weather is over. It was foggy in the morning but the sky cleared about 11 am and the sun shone for the rest of the day. Because the group tour had started, I was directed to another dinning room for breakfast with the group. It was nice to eat with people I would know, but the food and service was not as good. You had to get your own coffee and there was no omelet bar. After checking in with the tour guide, Khalid, we left shortly there after for Memphis. The guide gave us some insight into modern and ancient Egyptian history on the way. There is not a lot in Memphis, but we stopped at the highlight, the very large fallen statue of Ramses II. There was a large alabaster Sphinx, but it looked more like limestone to me, so I was not impressed. Looking at the people of Egypt in both modern and pre-mechanized transportation was a wonder to us all, like seeing a donkey cart on a freeway. Cairo is very dirty, with very little attempt to clean up all the trash lying around.

At Saqqara we watched men pruning the date palms after watching the short movie on the site. We then entered a mastaba tomb. The trip down into the tomb was impressive, along with the many hieroglyphics. Our guide did a good job of explaining the hieroglyphics, but it was really crowded. We were pretty much left on our own to see what was present of the temple complex and the Step Pyramid. We were warned not to ride the camels at this stop.

Next stop was a short lunch break at an On the Go gas station. We ordered fast food and ate it in the bus. Nothing special, but it was cheap (20 EP) and much faster than going to a restaurant.

Then on to the Pyramids at Giza. The bus was able to drive to a good spot for pictures. Here we let off the people that wanted to ride camels. I did not ride a camel, but enjoyed watching our people get on and off the camels. I really wanted to go into one of the pyramids at Giza, but out guide discouraged it and as no one else wanted to do it, I passed on it as well. We then had about an hour to wander about the pyramids and the Sphinx. The vendors were very aggressive in this area and the Sphinx was very crowded. But this was well worth the trip.

Then it was back to the hotel for a very short rest and warm clothes for the sound and light show at the Pyramids. The show was okay, but I have read a lot about Egyptian history, so I did not need another history lesson. We were warned about the cold, and it was very chilly. All this made for a late dinner. Six of us walked a short distance to a local Egyptian restaurant that served us a combination of a lot of local foods. It was quite good although there were minor problems such as the garlic sauce we ordered turning out to be pepper sauce.

Day 4 – Instead of the 7:30 am Egyptian Air flight the various travel agencies in Egypt charted a 10:30 flight to Luxor. That pushed the Karnak tour to after lunch, but saved an early morning flight. We were on the MS Giselle a really good boat. The travel agencies got a special dock for their ships away from the noise and congestion of rest of the river boats. We found out after getting on the boat that due to low water levels, we would only be going up river. The first night was tied up with 5 other boats. We left at 2:00 for the short bus ride to Karnak. Our guide Khalid did an excellent 120 minute tour of the site and we got 45 minutes to explore on our own. We met at 5:15 when the site closed. The huge columns in the hypostyle hall were impressive.

Day 5 – We left the ship at 7 am for a 90 minute bus ride to Dendera Temple. We should have made this trip by boat, but the low water level meant another bus ride. Another impressive temple. Our guide gave a really good tour explaining a lot of the hieroglyphics. Then we had 45 minutes of free time to explore on our own. That gave me time to explore the crypt below the temple. It was back to the ship for lunch and free time. We left for a short bus trip to Luxor at 4 pm. The temple is impressive as the sun goes down, but the details are hard to see in the lights available. The temple grounds close at 9 pm. We stopped at a Papyrus store on the way back to the ship. The prices seemed a little lower than what I paid in Cairo, but not a lot different with discounts I got. That night we got a 35 minute belly dance and whirling dervish show.

Day 6 – This morning we took our tour guides advice and left at 6:00 am for the Valley of the Kings. We were the third bus there so it was not crowded yet. We had to leave our cameras in the bus. They rotate the available tombs, but an entry ticket allows you access to 3 tombs. The whole group saw the tombs of Siptah which was way up the valley. Those of us more adventurous next went to the tomb of Thutmosis III which required a steep climb up a metal ladder, then down on long decent. It had a huge round topped sarcophagus chamber. Finally into a long tomb of Ramses III. We had to pay 50 EP extra for the tomb of Ramses VI and 100 EP for Tutankhamen. King Tut’s tomb was not large and was very bare, but it did have the mummy of King Tut. All this took about 2 hours, including guides explanations. After that it was a short trip to an alabaster store. We got a 5 minute demonstration and had 30 minutes to shop. I had wanted to get an alabaster image of Sekhmet. I might have gotten a better price, but I wanted a specific idol so I did not have a lot of bargaining room. I ended up with a 12 inch clear, glow in the dark, idol for 400 EP. Cheap imitations in the street probably cost 25 EP. Next we stopped at Queen Hatshepsut’s temple for about an hour. Both here and at the Valley of the Kings part of the price included a tram ride closer into the site that saved a lot of time and energy. Finally, we made a quick 5 minute stop at the Colossus of Memnon. Actually, the site is quite large, but mostly empty save two large statutes of Amenhotep III. Finally we returned to the ship for a 12:30 lunch. It was a long morning, but well worth it. The ship finally started down the River Nile during lunch. The rest of the day was relaxing, a nondescript candlelit dinner, and canned music in the lounge. Before dinner we stopped to go through a lock. At that point the ship was attacked by venders trying to sell us stuff from there boats. They even threw stuff to the top deck for us to try out. Most things got thrown back, but some people did buy things. I was a real adventure.

Day 7 – What an exciting end of the day. We left in the morning, and stopped at a Greco-Roman temple at Edfu. Then back to the ship for more steaming up the River Nile. The Nile is a really calm river, at least most of the time. Around 4 pm we stopped at another Greco-Roman temple at Kom Ombo. Both were good with Egyptian relief with a Grecian influence. We did a little shopping in the bazzar at Kom Ombu. Then on to Aswan where we docked for the night. Dinner that night featured an Egyptian theme where we all wore Galabea, or traditional Egyptian clothes that we bought either on the ship or a the local shops. We had an Egyptian theme party after that with games and dancing. The crew led us and we had a great time. As we were leaving, we noticed lighting and heard thunder in the distance. It never rains in Egypt so we were not too concerned. About 30 minutes later the wind picked up, it started to rain, and then it started to hail. Water was coming in my window. Bells started ringing in the hallways. The crew started running all over the place. More later.

Day 8 – Our guide said that it had not hailed in Aswan since 1994, and the hail was not as sever as last night. The sky cleared overnight, but it was still very windy and cool in the morning. We started with an early morning bus trip to the granite quarry to see the broken obelisk. Then on to the Low Aswan Dam and the High Aswan Dam. Maybe because of the rain the previous night, both dams started letting out extra water while we were there. Great pictures. Then we took a motor boat to Philae to see the Greco Roman temple that had to be moved because of the High Dam. What seemed to be ideal sailing for the Chesapeake Bay was too much for the local felucca boatmen. By early morning there had been two felucca accidents so the local police closed the river to the feluccas. So our afternoon sail to Kitchener’s Island was changed to a motor boat ride. Maybe next time. The island had nice trees, and good views, but the highlight was the felucca ride. Which we missed.

Day 9 – We left early for an 8:30 am flight to Abu Simbel. Unfortunately, the storm from the other night had knocked out the electricity at the airport at Aswan. It was operating on generators, but the air conditioning was out and our flight ended up being delayed by 2 hours. While the storm would be a little unusual in the States, it had a major impact here. We found out that they even closed the Suez Canal for a day. This made our time in Abu Simbel somewhat rushed and disjointed. Abu Simbel is well worth the extra cost. Because of the delay we ended up with having lunch at 4:00 pm. We had to buy a can of Pringles to keep up our blood sugar level.

Day 10 – Cruising the Nile. All that was planned today was an end of the tour briefing at 11 am. We had docked in Edfu, and the group we picked up in Aswan did an early morning tour. It was a relaxing day, but it got quite chilly on the top deck at times. We went through the locks at Esna again, but there was no one selling to us from boats this time.

Day 11 – We left the boat at 8 am for the airport. The flight left about 10:15. We went through screening twice, but they did not take our water bottles. That is probably because this was just a domestic flight. I did have to tip the person at check in 1 EP to check my bag. Because our rooms would not be ready, we did a tour of two mosques. That was good, but we did not get lunch until 4 pm. That through off my system. The optional dinner cruise was tonight. The late lunch took away most of my appetite. The belly dance show was okay. Much better than what we had on the cruise ship.

Day 12 – We left the Ramses Hilton Hotel at 9 am for the short drive to the
Egyptian Museum. Khalid did a guided tour of the main parts of the museum for about an hour and left us outside the entrance to the room with King Tut’s golden mask. I had some stomach problems the night before so I was tired and dehydrated for the tour.
At the end of the guided tour I told one of my new friends, Christine, that I needed to sit down. Fortunately for me, she decided to follow me and I fainted in her arms instead of the hard floor. A trip to the clinic at the museum got me back in shape. I was able to finish the tour to the hanging Coptic church and the cotton factory shop. That night six of us made our way via taxi to a local Egyptian restaurant suggested by our guide. It was hard to find, but I got two pigeons for dinner. The drive in the white and black taxi was interesting too.

Day 13 – It was up early for a 4:30 am departure to the airport for the flight to Paris and then on to New York and finally Baltimore.