From Fjords to Pharaohs
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MEL_Traveller
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- Apr 27, 2005
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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
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
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.
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.
Our last day in Egypt and we were originally going to see the old museum but our guide suggested we should instead go to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC). His reasoning was that after going to the Grand Egyptian Museum, the old museum would have similar types of artefacts that we would have already seen while the NMEC has all the pharaohs mummies. We are so glad that we listened to him as seeing all the mummies after being in many of their tombs the day before was so surreal. You could look at their preserved faces with many still having hair and get a good idea of what they actually looked like. Unfortunately you are not able to take any photos of the mummies but if you go to Cairo I would say it is a must to go to the NMEC just for the mummies.
We also went for a walk around Al-Mu’izz Street which is a UNESCO listed site due to the many Islamic monuments on the street.
View from our room at the Triumph Luxury Hotel.
We also went for a walk around Al-Mu’izz Street which is a UNESCO listed site due to the many Islamic monuments on the street.
View from our room at the Triumph Luxury Hotel.
Just a few final observations about going to Egypt. I would definitely recommend anyone who is interested in the Egyptian history to go as it will not disappoint.
Egypt and in particular Cairo is not like any place I had been to before. Cairo is noisy, crowded and dirty but I still found it an intriguing place. Watching them drive on their freeways is like watching a game of Tetris. The line markings on the road mean nothing and it is about filling all gaps with cars and motorcycles across the road. There is a constant sound of horns blowing the whole time, but not in an aggressive manner like you would get in Australia, but just to let the other drivers know they are there and about to fill the small gap near another car. I didn’t seeing any crashes but every car driving on the freeway has scrapes down the side.
I know some people would be put off by the rubbish everywhere on the streets but I just didn’t focus on that side of things. The hotels and tourist sites were generally clean.
There is a big tipping culture in Egypt so it was necessary to always have cash on you. Our Macquarie debit card worked well with no extra charges using the ATM’s at the hotels we stayed at. It is weird getting so many notes out of the ATM for not many Australian dollars.
We didn’t drink any tap water while in Egypt and the hotels provided enough bottles of water for drinking and washing our teeth. As a result we didn’t experience any gastro issues while here. Also I didn’t mention this previously but Norway had the best tap water I have ever had and I think it helped as it was always icy cold from the tap.
As mentioned previously Egypt is a great place to have a guide and a driver as everything just happens so seamlessly without any effort by us. It made the entry process to all attractions very easy and all airport transfers were also included.
For food we only ate in the hotels we stayed at or the restaurants the tour guide took us for lunch. The food was Ok but nothing you would get too excited about. At lot of times for lunch the food was only just warm.
Summing it up, we loved Egypt, we felt safe and were never hassled by anyone. We were here for nine days and that was enough for us.
Our next stop is Florence, Italy. We are staying there for six nights as our last destination, just to enjoy life at a slower pace than the rest of our holiday and to eat lots of gelato.
We flew Egypt Air on a 737-800 from Cairo to Rome and took the fast train from Rome to Florence which is about 90 minutes. Egypt Air economy was fine and they provided a hot breakfast with water and juice.
Egypt and in particular Cairo is not like any place I had been to before. Cairo is noisy, crowded and dirty but I still found it an intriguing place. Watching them drive on their freeways is like watching a game of Tetris. The line markings on the road mean nothing and it is about filling all gaps with cars and motorcycles across the road. There is a constant sound of horns blowing the whole time, but not in an aggressive manner like you would get in Australia, but just to let the other drivers know they are there and about to fill the small gap near another car. I didn’t seeing any crashes but every car driving on the freeway has scrapes down the side.
I know some people would be put off by the rubbish everywhere on the streets but I just didn’t focus on that side of things. The hotels and tourist sites were generally clean.
There is a big tipping culture in Egypt so it was necessary to always have cash on you. Our Macquarie debit card worked well with no extra charges using the ATM’s at the hotels we stayed at. It is weird getting so many notes out of the ATM for not many Australian dollars.
We didn’t drink any tap water while in Egypt and the hotels provided enough bottles of water for drinking and washing our teeth. As a result we didn’t experience any gastro issues while here. Also I didn’t mention this previously but Norway had the best tap water I have ever had and I think it helped as it was always icy cold from the tap.
As mentioned previously Egypt is a great place to have a guide and a driver as everything just happens so seamlessly without any effort by us. It made the entry process to all attractions very easy and all airport transfers were also included.
For food we only ate in the hotels we stayed at or the restaurants the tour guide took us for lunch. The food was Ok but nothing you would get too excited about. At lot of times for lunch the food was only just warm.
Summing it up, we loved Egypt, we felt safe and were never hassled by anyone. We were here for nine days and that was enough for us.
Our next stop is Florence, Italy. We are staying there for six nights as our last destination, just to enjoy life at a slower pace than the rest of our holiday and to eat lots of gelato.
We flew Egypt Air on a 737-800 from Cairo to Rome and took the fast train from Rome to Florence which is about 90 minutes. Egypt Air economy was fine and they provided a hot breakfast with water and juice.
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