Winters in Europe are just too long, so we usually took trips to somewhere warmer to make them bearable. I have tried to reconstruct this journey, but if I confused some of the places, any corrections would be appreciated.
Cairo as starting point, a city bursting at the seams (the Chinese are building a new city near it to relieve the congestion). Of course, we were more interested in the old than the new. A visit to the Egyptian Museum was a must as well as a few other sites in the short time we were there.
Bain el-Qasreen Street
Sultan-Hassan Mosque, one of the largest mosques worldwide.
The Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque
Street scenes
Pyramids of Giza
We booked train ticket to Luxor, but hadn’t realized that there was a time difference of one hour from our home. We arrived in the early morning at the train station, only to watch it depart. However, a taxi driver noticed our problem, and told us, no problem, he could get us to the next station before the train arrived there. And sure enough, with a lot of honking and taxi driver know-how, we got there in time to take our reserved seats.
Breakfast on the train
Luxor
Boat ride on the Nile
Horse carriage as a preferred travel mode.
Karnak Temple
Heading back to town
Back in Luxor
Hatchepsut temple and Valley of the Kings
Hatchepsut is a mortuary temple dedicated to the female Pharaoh Hatchepsut located in the vicinity of the Valley of the Kings.
Tombs were carved into rock for pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
Abu el-Haggag Mosque inside Luxor Temple
Aswan
Time for refreshment at the Old Cataract Hotel. Agatha Christie included it in her novel Death on the Nile, which of course made it famous.
Philae Island Temple of Philae
Originally somewhere else, but moved due to construction of the Awan Dam and flooding of its previous location. Constructed in the 4th century B.C.
Trajan’s Kiosk
Friendly Egyptians on an outing
Daraw Camel Market
Bargaining
Most of the camels come in caravans from Sudan’s Darfur and Kordofan along the Darb Al Arba’een (Forty Days Rd) to just north of Abu Simbel before being trucked to Daraw.
Qubbet el-Hawa: tombs of official on the western bank of the Nile across from Aswan.
View across the Nile
We were too lazy to walk up, so took local transport.
Couldn’t resist a show of Nubian dancers for tourists
Then quickly back to Cairo and our flight home.
Stocking up on vitamins before heading back to winter.
I don’t look too happy, since vacation is over.
Two weeks was short, but a great way to break up the winter and get an initial impression of Egypt
