Cairo, Egypt

The very first thing we did once we were on Egyptian soil was to head straight to the pyramids! We had a long layover in Cairo and didn't want to waste a minute. Luckily, we had slept basically the whole flight over, so we were ready to go.

Either way - once you arrive at the pyramids, you can't really be anything other than wide awake! This is one of those moments you dream of since you are a little kid. If you can actually believe it, it was COLD when we first got there! The sun was hidden behind the clouds and the windy was crazy!

We took the time to climb into the center of Khufu - or the Great Pyramid. There wasn't much to "see", but I'm so glad we went in to explore. We climbed about 2/3 of the way up to the top between of mix of claustrophobic passages and gigantic open caverns.

Luckily, by the time we got out, it was a bit sunnier! We went to the classic "panorama" viewpoint and our guide art directed some lovely photos of us, haha!

Seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx was honestly the perfect introduction to our time in Egypt. 

We also stopped through Cairo after our Nile Cruise and time in Aswan and spent 2 full days there. Our first evening, we basically just hung out in the Executive Lounge at the Cairo Marriott. The next morning, we had a tour around Coptic & Islamic Cairo. 

We got a great introduction by visiting some classic sites like the Cavern Church (where the Holy Family is said to have lived), the Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, Cairo Citadel, Mosque of Muhammed Ali, and the Khan al Khalili Bazaar. 

One of our favorite things we did this day was to get tea and shisha at El Fishawy. Neither of us particularly care for shisha, but the experience of sitting in the markets was pretty awesome!

Our last day in Egypt, we went to the Egyptian Museum! We definitely did this the "right" way since we had the context to where all of the artifacts came from before heading here. It was definitely the weirdest museum we've ever been to. 

Only about 1/2 of the things were labeled, stuff was randomly sitting in wooden crates (maybe in preparation to be shipped to the Grand Egyptian Museum?), and many rooms were barely lit. Oh! And the fire alarm went off about an hour into our visit and everyone just ignored it. 

That evening, we went to do a food tour with Bellies en Route. We did the downtown tour and got to try classics like koshary, ful, ta'ameya (Egyptian falafel!), all of the dips, cow brains, and tons of sweets! Not sure if I've ever eaten that much, but I'm proud of us for being so adventurous! We never turn down the chance to try local foods.

Our time in Egypt was jam-packed. We saw so much and LEARNED so much. One of the best evenings was our last when we just got a chance to chat with Amir, our guide, on a rooftop overlooking Cairo. 

I was pretty excited about our next stop though - and it was another place I had dreamed of visiting since I was little. 

Up Next: PETRA, Jordan!

Aswan, Egypt

After leaving Luxor, we headed south towards Edfu. We had time to eat lunch on board and then we went up to the top deck to enjoy the views and the nice breeze the rest of the afternoon. We basically sailed through the evening, so the downtime on board was appreciated!

Edfu Temple is reached by horse-drawn carriage (it's even included in the price of the visit), but I had read that these horses aren't treated particularly well. I didn't want to support that in any way, so we fully expected to not visit the temple. 

Luckily our guide was able to pull a few strings and arrange a taxi for us instead. This ended up being one of the best-preserved temples we visited, so I was particularly grateful to him for this!

After our visit, we set sail again towards Kom Ombo Temple. This was a nice temple (and steps away from where our ship docked!), but it was super crowded and honestly hot! I can't imagine visiting much later in the year, but that might also because we're so spoiled by California weather now!

That evening, we actually passed through the locks to officially pass in "Upper Egypt" which is actually in Southern Egypt...confusing, I know! But this is named because the Nile flows south to north!

We arrived in Aswan overnight and our first stop was to Philae Temple. This temple was moved piece by piece from a separate location to this island to save it from rising waters when the High Dam was built.

We actually visited the High Dam, but there's not much to report. That evening we took a boat over to a Nubian Village with our guide. He explained that Nubians were actually displaced because of the building of the Dam as well, but that they are native to Northern Sudan/Southern Egypt.

The village was given to them by the government and they made it their own. It was so colorful! We had some delicious hibiscus tea (and bought some for later!) and wandered around until sunset. 

On our way back to the boat for our last night, we got a lovely sunset cruise. It was so peaceful to cruise along the Nile - passing the famous sights in Aswan like the Botanical Gardens and the Old Cataract Hotel.

The next day, we ended our cruise and transferred over to the Movenpick for the next 3 nights. We mainly just relaxed the pool, had some good food and enjoyed the beautiful views.

One day, we ventured out at 5am to make the long drive south to Abu Simbel. This has to be done with a guide as the road is strictly monitored (and only open from 5am-5pm each day!). We mainly slept the whole way there, but it was worth the early wake-up call.

Abu Simbel is another temple (well actually 2!), that was moved to save it. It was a huge effort by UNESCO and the museum there does a great job of documenting the process they took. Interestingly, the insides of the temple were also moved as well. 

We got there before the crowds had descended. And...well. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Ha, that last picture makes me chuckle. I didn't do the best job there! Anyways - our 4 days in Aswan were a great combination of sights and relaxation. 

Up Next: We took a flight to Cairo for the next 3 days!