VISIT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL ▶ TRAVELING ON THE GO
Egypt used to be the center of the world and now you can follow the Nile River south from Luxor as far as Aswan as you explore one historical marvel after another. Remember you are retracing steps from over 3,000 years ago. Once you get your head around that, it may just blow your mind.
On this trip we flew, took a power boat, a smaller river boat with 4 levels, mini van, camels and a rick saw. It was kind of like the film Planes Trains & Automobiles minus being stuck everywhere.
HOW MUCH WAS THE TRIP? $3,000 Per person for a 10 day trip including accommodation, food, tour guides (not including air to Egypt).
WHAT'S THE CURRENCY / RATE TO USD? Egyptian Pound / 1 USD = 15.70 EP
HOW LONG WAS THE TRIP? 10 DAYS
WHEN DID WE GO? JUNE 15TH 2019
HOW WERE THE ACCOMMODATIONS? I'd say 8/10 (5 star hotels, river boat rooms)
WAS THE TRIP WORTH IT / FINAL FEEDBACK? 100% YES - I paid a bit more than I wanted but I basically had no complaints.
IS IT SAFE? For the most part yes. I didn't have any real problems and I ever took regular taxies although I would recommend to use UBER.
These are my actual photos of my trip: If you want to see more check out my IG account - bi_international. I have various videos and photos of our trip.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TRIP?
Walking basically alone and trekking around the Pyramids in Cairo (June 15th)
Hatshepsut Temple (female king) - Built into the side of a mountain with a long pathway leading to it.
Taking an ATV through Egyptian desert with the pyramids in the background
River boat ride down the Nile on a smaller power boat as I went to roof of the boat and snapped photos
Luxor Temple - I made loads of videos strolling through the temples alone
Sitting on the Nile River on our river boat watching small farms, villages and water buffalo as we made our way to the Nubian Village up stream
Pacing through the touristy streets of Cairo and not really knowing what to expect
Taking a river boat cruiser (4 floors with a dining hall) from Luxor to Aswan as I went photo crazy from the top of the river boat - the scenery for a couple days was unbelievable
ORDER OF CITIES AND TEMPLES / SIGHTS VISITED
Cairo - Great Pyramids, Saqqarah, Saladine's Castle/Citadel, Egyptian Museum
Luxor - Luxor Temple, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut Temple (female king), Luxor Museum
Off the Nile past Luxor - Edfu Temple, Koh Ombo Temple
Aswan - Philae (on an island, arrived by boat)
Abu Simbel - Temple of Nefetari
Alexandria - Alexandria Library (modern), Citadel of Quaitbay
HOW THE TRIP STARTED:
I landed in Cairo after I had a day layover in Dubai. If you can get lucky pick a long lay over and I was lucky in the fact that I had about 22 hours to enjoy in Dubai which really wasn't very expensive (took the train for $3 to my hotel and found a big one bedroom for $46 near the sky train line)
After I got to Cairo and took an UBER to my modest hotel, $48 a day and was treated with some smiles. My room was very average and it could of been better but it was just a 3 minute walk to the Egyptian Museum and for that I was pleased.
The next day I threw on a backpack and headed to the streets of Cairo. One of the first things I noticed was a serious looking security officer manning a metal detector in front of a nice cafe. That was something new that I had never seen.
I walked the roads and city streets of Cairo for 2 days. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary but it was fascinating for sure.
On the 3rd day I met up with my parents and we flew to Luxor on Egypt Air. It was about an hour and 15 minute flight or less. Luxor is a lot more spread out and low key compared to Cairo.
So we arrived in Luxor, Egypt and headed to Luxor Temple. We arranged to have a tour guide and she picked us up from the airport like most guides do there. After visiting Luxor Temple we checked into our small cruise boat. We docked and toured for a day then set our sails (engine) for Aswa, stopping at a couple of temples along the way - EDFU, PHILAE, KOM OMBO
After we spent some time Aswan we booked a cheap flight for a one day trip to Abu Simbel where we saw Nefertari's Temple that was completed moved from one location to another in order for the government to build a dam. The original resting place of the temple is underwater now. The special thing about this site was it was originally built inside a mountain so UNESCO had to construct a mountain first then reconstruct the temple piece by piece using the pieces from the original temple.
When arrived back at Aswan then took the boat back to Luxor. We spent a night in Luxor seeing the museum there which was pretty good then headed back to Cairo the next day. In Cairo we had a free day so I trekked the Pyramids again and then our last day we headed up to Alexandria for a day trip to see the Citadel of Quaitbay, the Kom el Shoqafa catacombs founded by Alexander the Great and the Library of Alexandria which is now a very modern library.
