I got into Cairo in the middle of the night. After a short night and a late breakfast, I left the hotel and did head out for the Cairo’s Coptic quarter. After a number of churches and a visit to the Coptic museum (which I had missed on my previous visit), I made my way back to the hotel to meet up with my group.
Category Archives: _Middle East_
New Dubai
I dedicated my second day in Dubai to the modern Dubai. I took a taxi to Jumeirah – first to the waterpark Wild Wadi, located in front of the Burj Al Arab; later in the day I moved on to the Mall of the Emirates, home of the infamous Ski Dubai.
Old Dubai
I had thrown in a stop-over in Dubai on the way home from South Africa. I made it into Dubai in the early morning, continued to my hotel and then into town for some exploration – first goal: the Creek.
Abydos and Dandara
From Luxor we had the opportunity to visit the temples of Abydos and Dandara. We just chartered a taxi for the whole day and a guide. It was quite impressive to see these two – not so crowded – temples, especially with the background of their history and inherent power.
Kom Ombo and Edfu
On the way back to Luxor (back on terra firma again) we did visit two further temples – Kom Ombo and Edfu – impressions below.
Down the Nile … on a Felucca
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.
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.
