Location: Egypt

I travelled to Egypt in March 2017 for a total of 9 days on Expat Explore's Nile Jewel tour.
I feel this was the right amount of time to fully explore the country of Egypt and got to see everything that was advertised in the itinerary.

Giza

We flew into Cairo and stayed overnight in the hotel, before making our way to Giza the following morning. It was a nice group of 12 on the minibus as we went to visit the ancient pyramids. We also visited the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, which is believed to be the earliest constructed in 2630BC – 2611BC. We of course also got up close to the Sphinx while in Giza which is another popular photo opportunity when coming to Egypt.

Ancient Pyramids of Giza.

My video for Cairo/Giza can be found here:

Aswan

The next day we took a flight further south in Egypt to the city of Aswan. We could see the River Nile below us as we flew straight over the top of it. We regrouped in the arrivals hall and made our way to Aswan Dam. The High Aswan Dam was built between 1960 and 1970 to prevent and better control flooding in the area.

We then made our way onto a small boat to visit the Philae Temple. As we made our way to Agilkia Island where the temple was built there is beautiful scenery is all around you.

Trajan's Kiosk of Philae.

My video for Aswan can be found here:

River Nile

We then made our way to our River Nile cruise, where we would be spending the next 3 nights onboard. Making our way north it is so noticeable how flat and calm the water is. The River Nile is 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long and goes through 11 different countries.

Sunset on the River Nile cruise.

Over the next couple of days we would head further north relaxing on board the top deck of the cruise, and our meals were included on one of the lower decks. We would also visit a couple more temples such as Kom Ombo and Edfu. To get to Edfu we would take a horse and cart ride early in the morning at around 07:30am. The cruise would wait a few hours for us while we disembarked on these land excursions.

Edfu Temple.

We would continue further north before arriving at our final destination of Luxor. This would also be our final temple visit whilst here. We spent our final night onboard before regrouping back together on the road to head to the Valley of the Kings.

My video for the River Nile can be found here:

Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings was a place where tombs would be cut for Pharaohs of the New Kingdom between the 16th and 11th century BC. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile and in 2005 and 2008 tombs were still been discovered. It is home to the tomb of Tutankhamun and in 1979 became a world heritage site. Photos were not allowed inside the tombs but I was able to capture a shot of the valley itself where the tombs are located.

Outside the tomb of Tutankhamun.

My video for the Valley of the Kings can be found here:

Hurghada

The final city in Egypt we would visit on this trip would be Hurghada. It is located on the east coast of Egypt by the Red Sea. Tourism is very popular here and it is common place to come during the colder months in Europe. I would book a submarine tour with another company whilst here, and this would take me down into the Red Sea to see the coral life. The local company i used for this can be found here. This was a family friendly excursion with hotel pickup included. The hotels here are generally all inclusive and the one I stayed at had evening entertainment, as well as a table tennis table which I took advantage of.

Inside view of the submarine used.

My video for Hurghada can be found here:

On our final day we had a long drive back to Cairo where we would experience the markets and traffic at rush hour. In Egypt in general haggling, tipping and begging is common in every day life and whilst for a western tourist this can be frustrating, the locals have to earn a living. The temperature was just right for me in the 25-30°C range whilst I was in Egypt.