From Fjords to Pharaohs

[Major]

Our guide called her Queen Hot Chicken Soup

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Back in 2000 we rode a donkey - before dawn - from the bank of the Nile to the tomb complex… we skirted up the side of the mountain at sunrise and over the top to enter the complex… avoiding any sort of admission fee!

We were staying at the - now closed - Club Med Luxor, and had a boat waiting at 530am to take us across the river to meet our guide with donkeys. This was a private tour we put together by walking into a travel agent… back in the days were the internet was in its infancy and we’d plucked the name of this agent from one of the guide books!

Not having tickets we only paid and entered one tomb, which was for Queen Nefertari, stunning! but it says it’s ‘temporarily closed’ atm.

Top tip: 7 hours on a donkey is waaaayyyy too long

 

[Wello]

At Luxor we stayed at the Hilton Luxor which was my favourite hotel we stayed in Egypt with the others being the Triumph Luxury Hotel in Cairo and the Zen Wellness Resort in Aswan. A new bridge across the Nile was opened last year so the trip to the Valley of Kings now only takes about 15 minutes from the Hilton.

The Hilton is right on the Nile and a perfect spot for a late afternoon drink while watching the sun set over the Nile. Although you have to be prepared early as staff disappear for about 30 minutes at sunset to eat as it was Ramadan when we were here. I had no issues with this as this is the first opportunity they have to eat or drink all day.

I would also travel again to Egypt during Ramadan as it didn’t impact at all on our experience and there was no issues with us eating or drinking during the day. It also added to the experience as it was a real community celebration in the evenings as people were out and about breaking their fast. The hotels all put on special feasts for dinner.



We returned to Cairo with Air Cairo on an ATR-72/600 and got a snack of peanuts/pretzels, chocolates and a Kit Kat as well as a bottle of water. This flight was a huge improvement on Air Nile.