The trip did include a felucca cruise down the Nile – probably the most relaxing part of the trip – with two days of chilling – no tombs or temples to visit or even think of. Just the felucca, the Nile and us.
Author Archives: Björn
Aswan & Abu Simbel
We had an early start today – at 3:30 (yes, that’s am) – to be on time for the convoy to see the magnificent and impressive temples of Abu Simbel.
After our return to Aswan and a very quick lunch we took a taxi to the boats to Philae Island for a look around.
The Valley of the Kings
This morning we took a boat to reach the other bank of the Nile. For the remaining 7km we took the most fun method of transportation – riding on donkeys.
After about an hours of pushing the animals to the right side of the street we arrived at the entrance gate to the Valley of Kings. After the Valley of the Kings we went to Deir-al-Madina, to see some of the smaller tombs of the craftmen and artists.
Luxor
Today we finally made it back into the civilized world and to a decent hotel close to the center of Luxor.
We directly jumped on horse drawn carriages and continued to the Karnak Temple. where we had about the best guide one could get. Afterward we decided to also have a look at the Luxor Temple.
Around the Oasis of Kharga
This morning we did visit the necropolis of Bagawat, an old christian cemetery and the temple of Hibis – before proceeding to Kharga.
On Route to Dahkla
We left the White Desert in the morning, we changed from 4WD to the bus shortly afterwards. We went on to Farafra to visit the Bader museum, which hosts an exhibition of the art of the local artist Bader, who depicts his oasis and the life in it in his various pieces of art.
The next stop has been the mud-brick town of El Qaser where we had a guide to show us around. Finally we arrived at our destination, the main village of the oasis of Dahkla.
Bahariya & the White Desert
We finally left Cairo to head out into the desert.
After about 5 hours of driving through a more and more sandy environment we arrived in the first oasis on route – Bahariya. Here we had enough time for an optional jeep tour around the oasis, as well as a Bedouin dinner.
The next day we had a late start; after breakfast we set off in two jeeps to enter the desert. including an overnight camp out there.
Cairo, the Pyramids and the Sphinx
After the pyramids in the jungle of the Yucatan peninsula, I now wanted to see the real pyramids, so this trip did bring me to Egypt for a two week trip around the country.
The first few days were dedicated for Cairo, the pyramids and the sphynx at Giza.
La Venta
The trip did slowly come to an end, today did bring us from Palenque to Lake Catemaco with a stop in Villahermosa to visit the “La Venta Park” – an open air museum focused on Olmec art and zoo (mostly local animals, including crocodils, jaguars and snakes). The next day we made our way back to Mexico City.
Palenque
We made it back to Palenque – this time staying longer and actually checking out the attractions – starting with the huge ruin site in the jungle.
Ernesto – our local guide (the best of all of them) – showed us around and gave us deep and lively insight in the life of the past occupants of this city. In a game he explained us how/ why (probably) the city has been abandoned. After out visit to the Palenque ruin site, we were led into the jungle – to see some more ruins hidden in the jungle and not excavated (yet). He also showed us the beauty of the jungle. In the afternoon we also visited the Misol-Ha waterfall.
