Here is our itinerary:
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| It took a while but the girls eventually took a cute one |
Day 1-4: Cairo, Sakara, Giza
Day 5-6: Aswan, Abu Simbel, Phillae
Day7-8: Luxor; Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple
Day 9-14: New Years in Sharm El Sheik
Day 15-18: Cairo
Upon arrival in Cairo we quickly figured out the visa on arrival situation and bought them at the local bank. We got our first installment of cash at the ATM prior to moving through the immigration lines. We were a little ponderous about what to do with the stickers we had just purchased at the bank (our visas) when we were ushered to the immigration officer. After watching us fumble with one of them for about 20 seconds, he said "let me, I'm good at it" and did the next three in about 5 seconds.
Soon we were off to the hotel that would be our home during Christmas and again at the end of our trip. We arrived and settled into the Novotel el Borg.
Day 1 of touring was epic. We got up and had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and then were picked up by Heba, our guide. She took us by bus directly to Sakara and the Step Pyramid, the oldest pyramid site in Egypt. The approach to the pyramids was magical. We emerged from the fertile, irrigated lands that look like a sea of palm trees to the desolate, sandy rim and immediately were stunned by the vision of that ancient remnant of human civilization.
Here is the first of many family pics we took. It was pretty windy and extremely bright from the sun.
After Sakara we went to a carpet weaving "school". It may have been a sweatshop but it did prove to be interesting and helped us see the intricacies of how the carpets are made. Price wise we're much more impressed with what we can get in India.
GIZA
We went to lunch with an amazing view of the pyramids just to wet our appetites. Then we went to the massive pyramids at Giza including the Great Pyramid which is by itself one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. It truly is impressive and astonishing to think about how it was constructed. It is imposing and we got an idea of its immensity as we attempted to climb up to the entrance, each block was up to my shoulders!
This isn't the Sphinx but it is one of the best complete Sphinxes that was discovered. This is at a museum in Memphis, the original capital of ancient Egypt.
Here is another group shot next to Ramses II. This statue was carved for his tomb but during the carving apparently the leg was broken off and so the sculptors buried it in the sand rather than show the Pharaoh the ruined statue. The ancients believed that if his image was ruined then that is how he would live in the afterlife. Heba said that had the Pharaoh seen the artisans' mistake then they would have been killed.
The next day was Christmas and we took off for a tour of Coptic Cairo after seeing some of the small gifts that Santa brought us (he had already visited us in Delhi before the trip). We saw many sites that Mary and Jesus visited and stayed in during their time in Egypt while they were escaping persecution from the Romans.
Our time in Aswan and Luxor was a bit brief but really beautiful and helped deepen our appreciation of ancient and modern Egypt. First in Aswan we saw the High Dam and then the old British Dam and the Temple at Phillae which was moved from a lower location to the current place on an island. Along with the Abu Simbel temple they represent amazing marvels of engineering and cultural preservation while at the same time showing the ego of the modern era.
Aswan/Egypt also helped us understand some of the historical geopolitical world through the lens of a Russian success story. The Soviets supported the Nasser in the construction of the High Dam, commemorated by the Egyptian/Soviet happiness Lotus monument near the dam site. Constructed more than 50 years ago and 25+ years since the demise of the Soviet Union, its effects and strong ties of friendship can still be seen throughout the country especially in the resort areas near the Red Sea.
Abu Simbel was 4 hours of driving each way and everyone in our travel party was certainly happy that we had a 50 person bus for 20 people--we also had a toilet which turned out to be a critical feature for a party traveling with 10 kids! The tour around Abu Simbel was about 45 minutes and while on the surface many people might not appreciate the cost/benefit of 8 hours of travel for 45 minutes of cultural and historical delight, the 20 people in our party had probably 20 different views on the spectrum of worthiness. Personally I didn't really enjoy the 8 hours of driving but I would have hated missing the amazing temple, and I got to read a large chunk of one of my Egypt books, Death on the Nile (Agatha Christy).
Luxor was another astonishing place. The first morning we woke up early and went to the Valley of the Kings. We saw the tombs of Ramses 4 and Ramses 9 along with one other tomb--all fascinating. Of course one of the amazing draws was the tomb of Tutankamun. We were a bit tired and had another day with very little lunch opportunity but in the afternoon we visited the temple of Karnak. It was perhaps the most incredible part of the journey. There were columns and pillars everywhere in the world's biggest temple complex.
Sharm El Sheik
We arrived in Sharm El Sheik on New Year's Eve. At one point we were a little uneasy about arriving at all as we were delayed for 3 hours after a 4 hour layover in Cairo. We thought we'd be drinking Stellas in the airport as the fireworks were shot off--but finally we got the call and were off. We were surprised with a beautiful suite with a beautiful view of the Red Sea and 2 full rooms with a kitchen and laundry machines. It was great. The New Year's Ball was nice and Jason even led us in a Conga line around the pool. We welcomed 2019 in style.
The next 4 days were spent with some running, some swimming, some bocce ball and some diving. Laura and I dove for the first time together and although our dive boat adventure due to high winds closing the Red Sea, we did do 2 shore dives over a reef shelf right off the beach. The girls loved swimming both in the sea and the 1 heated pool and playing with their friends, Cate, Grace, Oakes, Wren, Arlo, Amos, Aubrey and Ford.
Cairo, Sakara and Giza
Upon arrival in Cairo we quickly figured out the visa on arrival situation and bought them at the local bank. We got our first installment of cash at the ATM prior to moving through the immigration lines. We were a little ponderous about what to do with the stickers we had just purchased at the bank (our visas) when we were ushered to the immigration officer. After watching us fumble with one of them for about 20 seconds, he said "let me, I'm good at it" and did the next three in about 5 seconds. 
Soon we were off to the hotel that would be our home during Christmas and again at the end of our trip. We arrived and settled into the Novotel el Borg.
Day 1 of touring was epic. We got up and had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and then were picked up by Heba, our guide. She took us by bus directly to Sakara and the Step Pyramid, the oldest pyramid site in Egypt. The approach to the pyramids was magical. We emerged from the fertile, irrigated lands that look like a sea of palm trees to the desolate, sandy rim and immediately were stunned by the vision of that ancient remnant of human civilization. 
As soon as we arrived we were astonished by the size and age of the pyramids and we had to take a pic. We couldn't go into the Step Pyramid (Zoser) but we were able to enter a nearby tomb that was recently discovered and excavated.
We walked down a ramp that was about a meter and a half square, the kids got a kick out of the adults having to crouch down the whole time while they were able to simply walk normally. After about a minute of walking through the, at times, dark passage we finally arrived in the burial chamber. Our guide, Heba, said this was the best preserved example of the ancient burial chambers and there were hieroglyphs painted and carved on all the walls. It was indeed fantastic.
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| Our travel companions 20 in total! |
Here is the first of many family pics we took. It was pretty windy and extremely bright from the sun.
After Sakara we went to a carpet weaving "school". It may have been a sweatshop but it did prove to be interesting and helped us see the intricacies of how the carpets are made. Price wise we're much more impressed with what we can get in India.
GIZA
We went to lunch with an amazing view of the pyramids just to wet our appetites. Then we went to the massive pyramids at Giza including the Great Pyramid which is by itself one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. It truly is impressive and astonishing to think about how it was constructed. It is imposing and we got an idea of its immensity as we attempted to climb up to the entrance, each block was up to my shoulders!
 |
| Laura's classic, not the most flattering but at least we're all in the air! |
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| Obligatory goofy pyramid holding pic. |
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| I really was just bracing myself for the descent but I look like I'm having a stroke! |
This isn't the Sphinx but it is one of the best complete Sphinxes that was discovered. This is at a museum in Memphis, the original capital of ancient Egypt.
Here is another group shot next to Ramses II. This statue was carved for his tomb but during the carving apparently the leg was broken off and so the sculptors buried it in the sand rather than show the Pharaoh the ruined statue. The ancients believed that if his image was ruined then that is how he would live in the afterlife. Heba said that had the Pharaoh seen the artisans' mistake then they would have been killed.
The next day was Christmas and we took off for a tour of Coptic Cairo after seeing some of the small gifts that Santa brought us (he had already visited us in Delhi before the trip). We saw many sites that Mary and Jesus visited and stayed in during their time in Egypt while they were escaping persecution from the Romans.
Aswan and Luxor
Our time in Aswan and Luxor was a bit brief but really beautiful and helped deepen our appreciation of ancient and modern Egypt. First in Aswan we saw the High Dam and then the old British Dam and the Temple at Phillae which was moved from a lower location to the current place on an island. Along with the Abu Simbel temple they represent amazing marvels of engineering and cultural preservation while at the same time showing the ego of the modern era. 
Aswan/Egypt also helped us understand some of the historical geopolitical world through the lens of a Russian success story. The Soviets supported the Nasser in the construction of the High Dam, commemorated by the Egyptian/Soviet happiness Lotus monument near the dam site. Constructed more than 50 years ago and 25+ years since the demise of the Soviet Union, its effects and strong ties of friendship can still be seen throughout the country especially in the resort areas near the Red Sea. 
Abu Simbel was 4 hours of driving each way and everyone in our travel party was certainly happy that we had a 50 person bus for 20 people--we also had a toilet which turned out to be a critical feature for a party traveling with 10 kids! The tour around Abu Simbel was about 45 minutes and while on the surface many people might not appreciate the cost/benefit of 8 hours of travel for 45 minutes of cultural and historical delight, the 20 people in our party had probably 20 different views on the spectrum of worthiness. Personally I didn't really enjoy the 8 hours of driving but I would have hated missing the amazing temple, and I got to read a large chunk of one of my Egypt books, Death on the Nile (Agatha Christy).
After a short afternoon and a little break the afternoon that we returned from Abu Simbel and a long morning breakfast we drove to Luxor in the same luxurious bus. I noticed that according to Google Maps we were taking a significantly longer journey and asked our guide about it. He explained that the "fast" road was closed to tourists because of the threat from bandits. Thus we took the 4 hour route instead of the 2.5 hour route--anything in the name of safety! Added benefit for me, I got some extra reading time.
Luxor was another astonishing place. The first morning we woke up early and went to the Valley of the Kings. We saw the tombs of Ramses 4 and Ramses 9 along with one other tomb--all fascinating. Of course one of the amazing draws was the tomb of Tutankamun. We were a bit tired and had another day with very little lunch opportunity but in the afternoon we visited the temple of Karnak. It was perhaps the most incredible part of the journey. There were columns and pillars everywhere in the world's biggest temple complex. 
We arrived in Sharm El Sheik on New Year's Eve. At one point we were a little uneasy about arriving at all as we were delayed for 3 hours after a 4 hour layover in Cairo. We thought we'd be drinking Stellas in the airport as the fireworks were shot off--but finally we got the call and were off. We were surprised with a beautiful suite with a beautiful view of the Red Sea and 2 full rooms with a kitchen and laundry machines. It was great. The New Year's Ball was nice and Jason even led us in a Conga line around the pool. We welcomed 2019 in style.
The next 4 days were spent with some running, some swimming, some bocce ball and some diving. Laura and I dove for the first time together and although our dive boat adventure due to high winds closing the Red Sea, we did do 2 shore dives over a reef shelf right off the beach. The girls loved swimming both in the sea and the 1 heated pool and playing with their friends, Cate, Grace, Oakes, Wren, Arlo, Amos, Aubrey and Ford.
After Sharm we went back to Cairo and took it easy with some Mary Poppins, visiting CAC (school) and a few runs around our island. We thought it would be a little long but in the end really appreciated the time that we had together in Cairo. We were ready to return to Delhi.
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