We arrived in Egypt after a late night ferry trip across the Red Sea. From the ferry port, we taxied it down to the beautiful beach destination of Dahab. We spent our day in Dahab laying around the beach, as well as snorkeling in the Red Sea. We were able to see some incredible things while snorkeling, including lion fish, clown fish, stunning corals and anemones. That night, instead of catching up on some much needed sleep, we chose to drive two hours out of Dahab to the Mount Sinai (the biblical mountain where moses met God, heard from the burning bush, and received the Ten Commandments). We arrived there at 2 am and we started to make our way up the mountain. It was a cold and long journey up, but after a few hours we were at the top and we were able to see one of the most beautiful sunrises ever, over the distant range of mountains. On our way down, we stopped at St. Catharine's Monastery, where we saw a large bush which is believed to be the same type of bush that Moses would have encountered on the mountain (but no, it wasn't burning).
We arrived back in Dahab by noon, and spent the rest of the day in the same fashion as the day before. We enjoyed the beach, and snorkeled until we couldn't snorkel any more. That evening, we caught the late night bus out of Dahab, heading towards the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was a long way (about 10 hours), but we were so exhausted from the previous few nights without any sleep, that we slept through the entire bus ride!
We arrived in Cairo early the next morning, and dropped our bags off at the train station. We picked up our tickets for the night train to Aswan and than headed out to explore Cairo.
Our first stop was at the Egyptian Museum, where we were able to see the worlds largest display of Egyptian artifacts. The museum housed some truly amazing pieces, including mummies of various pharaohs (and their animals), burial urns, statues, ancient artifacts, jewelry, and, what we found to be most impressive, King Tut's burial mask. We spent a few hours in the museum, but as our time was limited, we had to move on. We hopped on the subway to get to our next stop, which was an area called Giza, to see the Sphinx and the Pyramids. As soon as we arrived we were blown away by the sights that were before us. The Sphinx and the Pyramids, being thousands of years old, were right next to us and we could even touch them! We got our photos, and Jono and Mike even made their way inside one of the Pyramids (and even into the stone burial pit). We hung around at a local restaurant overlooking the Pyramids to watch the sound and light show that is put on every night. It was a bit cheesy (it was also in German which didn't help) but the Pyramids looked great all lit up!
It was back on the road for us that night, as we boarded the night 12 hour night train headed for Aswan, which is in the south of Egypt. We arrived by noon the next morning and were thrilled to have a place to lay our heads and drop our bags. We spent the day riding up and down the Nile on a felucca, as well as taking in the sights and tastes of Aswan. We headed to sleep early that night, only to be woken earlier than ever desired. At 3 am our hotel gave us our wake up call, and half an hour later we were in a mini bus, in a convoy, headed for the site of Abu Simbel. About three hours later we arrived at our destination (along with a thousand other people who were a part of our convoy!). We had made it to the ancient sight of Abu Simbel, a breathtaking temple made by Ramses, which was not far from the border of Egypt and Sudan. The temples were spectacular on the outside, and just as great on the inside. The hieroglyphs were well preserved, and the only downfall was that we couldn't take any photos inside. From Abu Simbel, we traveled back to Aswan, and spent the rest of the day resting and enjoying ourselves. That night we jumped on the train again, this time only for three hours, and made our way north to the city of Luxor. Here we spent the night, and the rest of the following day. Although we were short on time and didn't get to see everything (Luxor is home to both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, where the kings and queens of the past were buried), we decided to explore Luxor's Eastern Bank. However, we were able to check out the impressive Temple of Karnak as well as the Luxor Temple. We were even able to see the Luxor Temple lit up at night before we headed back on the road. That night we took the night bus back to Cairo, as we all had to catch our flights out of Egypt the following evening. We arrived in Cairo and were so exhausted from the weeks adventures, that we rented a hotel room for the afternoon and caught up on a few hours of sleep!!! After we felt rested enough, we went out for a final dinner together, and than it was off to the airport. We parted ways here, as Mike was flying back to Canada, and we were flying further into the heart of Africa.
http://jonoandamanda-main.local/slideshow-jnawa-027-egypt/
We arrived in Egypt after a late night ferry trip across the Red Sea. From the ferry port, we taxied it down to the beautiful beach destination of Dahab. We spent our day in Dahab laying around the beach, as well as snorkeling in the Red Sea. We were able to see some incredible things while snorkeling, including lion fish, clown fish, stunning corals and anemones. That night, instead of catching up on some much needed sleep, we chose to drive two hours out of Dahab to the Mount Sinai (the biblical mountain where moses met God, heard from the burning bush, and received the Ten Commandments). We arrived there at 2 am and we started to make our way up the mountain. It was a cold and long journey up, but after a few hours we were at the top and we were able to see one of the most beautiful sunrises ever, over the distant range of mountains. On our way down, we stopped at St. Catharine's Monastery, where we saw a large bush which is believed to be the same type of bush that Moses would have encountered on the mountain (but no, it wasn't burning).
We arrived back in Dahab by noon, and spent the rest of the day in the same fashion as the day before. We enjoyed the beach, and snorkeled until we couldn't snorkel any more. That evening, we caught the late night bus out of Dahab, heading towards the Egyptian capital of Cairo. It was a long way (about 10 hours), but we were so exhausted from the previous few nights without any sleep, that we slept through the entire bus ride!
We arrived in Cairo early the next morning, and dropped our bags off at the train station. We picked up our tickets for the night train to Aswan and than headed out to explore Cairo.
Our first stop was at the Egyptian Museum, where we were able to see the worlds largest display of Egyptian artifacts. The museum housed some truly amazing pieces, including mummies of various pharaohs (and their animals), burial urns, statues, ancient artifacts, jewelry, and, what we found to be most impressive, King Tut's burial mask. We spent a few hours in the museum, but as our time was limited, we had to move on. We hopped on the subway to get to our next stop, which was an area called Giza, to see the Sphinx and the Pyramids. As soon as we arrived we were blown away by the sights that were before us. The Sphinx and the Pyramids, being thousands of years old, were right next to us and we could even touch them! We got our photos, and Jono and Mike even made their way inside one of the Pyramids (and even into the stone burial pit). We hung around at a local restaurant overlooking the Pyramids to watch the sound and light show that is put on every night. It was a bit cheesy (it was also in German which didn't help) but the Pyramids looked great all lit up!
It was back on the road for us that night, as we boarded the night 12 hour night train headed for Aswan, which is in the south of Egypt. We arrived by noon the next morning and were thrilled to have a place to lay our heads and drop our bags. We spent the day riding up and down the Nile on a felucca, as well as taking in the sights and tastes of Aswan. We headed to sleep early that night, only to be woken earlier than ever desired. At 3 am our hotel gave us our wake up call, and half an hour later we were in a mini bus, in a convoy, headed for the site of Abu Simbel. About three hours later we arrived at our destination (along with a thousand other people who were a part of our convoy!). We had made it to the ancient sight of Abu Simbel, a breathtaking temple made by Ramses, which was not far from the border of Egypt and Sudan. The temples were spectacular on the outside, and just as great on the inside. The hieroglyphs were well preserved, and the only downfall was that we couldn't take any photos inside. From Abu Simbel, we traveled back to Aswan, and spent the rest of the day resting and enjoying ourselves. That night we jumped on the train again, this time only for three hours, and made our way north to the city of Luxor. Here we spent the night, and the rest of the following day. Although we were short on time and didn't get to see everything (Luxor is home to both the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, where the kings and queens of the past were buried), we decided to explore Luxor's Eastern Bank. However, we were able to check out the impressive Temple of Karnak as well as the Luxor Temple. We were even able to see the Luxor Temple lit up at night before we headed back on the road. That night we took the night bus back to Cairo, as we all had to catch our flights out of Egypt the following evening. We arrived in Cairo and were so exhausted from the weeks adventures, that we rented a hotel room for the afternoon and caught up on a few hours of sleep!!! After we felt rested enough, we went out for a final dinner together, and than it was off to the airport. We parted ways here, as Mike was flying back to Canada, and we were flying further into the heart of Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment