{"id":785,"date":"2011-03-27T05:53:48","date_gmt":"2011-03-27T04:53:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moore-images.com\/blog\/?p=785"},"modified":"2011-03-27T05:53:48","modified_gmt":"2011-03-27T04:53:48","slug":"a-revolutionary-trip-to-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.moore-images.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/a-revolutionary-trip-to-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"A Revolutionary Trip to Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Revolutionary Trip to Egypt<\/p>\n

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I originally scheduled my Egypt trip for January 29th<\/sup>.\u00a0 I wanted to celebrate my 40th<\/sup> birthday on this trip, but I had to cancel due to the revolution.\u00a0 I considered other places (Spain, Turkey, Germany) to visit.\u00a0 However, I decided to wait and reschedule because no other place would satisfy my appetite like Egypt.<\/p>\n

Once the people\u2019s demands were met and the travel bans were lifted, I booked the 9-day King Tutankhamen trip<\/a> and prepared for a lifetime trip.<\/p>\n

Shortly after my arrival into Cairo, I departed for the resort.\u00a0 The Cairo sights amazed me as 24 million inhabitants resume normal lives despite their historical transition less than a month ago.\u00a0 I arrived at the beautiful Oasis Hotel resort in Cairo and enjoyed a nice dinner at their restaurant for my first night.<\/p>\n

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The next day began early when the participants met in the hotel lobby to meet our tour guide, Sharif.\u00a0 After his introduction, we traveled to the Pyramids of Giza as he gave us their history.\u00a0 The sight was incredible and the vendors were ecstatic to see tourists again.\u00a0 They eagerly greeted us with various products.\u00a0 There are 130+ pyramids discovered in Egypt.\u00a0 We visited the legendary ones built for the Egyptian Pharoahs, King Khufu and King Khafre.\u00a0 To further enrich the experience, we paid for a half-hour camel ride.\u00a0 The most intimidating part of the ride is when the camel stands.\u00a0 Unlike a horse, the camel must lay down in order to get on it.\u00a0 First they stand up the back legs then their front ones, so you must hold on tightly.\u00a0 Once the ride concluded, we visited the Sphinx nearby and grabbed some photos.<\/p>\n

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We ended the tour with a visit to a papyrus shop. \u00a0The presentation and the artwork were so impressive, I left with three items.\u00a0 Finally, we returned to our hotel to prepare for the overnight trip to Aswan.<\/p>\n

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Shortly after our arrival to Aswan, we took a short ride to our cruise ship. \u00a0\u00a0The spacious room with a balcony to view the Nile was beautiful.\u00a0 After a brief lunch with our new guide and fellow tourists, we visited the High Dam. \u00a0Next, we headed to Philae Temple, which is situated on an island.\u00a0 We toured the temple for an hour and a half, made our way back to Aswan and went shopping in the local market.<\/p>\n

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Our first night on the ship, we enjoyed dinner and watched the Nubian musicians and dancers perform on the ship.<\/p>\n

Day Four<\/p>\n

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The next morning, we gathered for a quick breakfast and caught a flight to Abu Simbel. The temples\u2019 story describing how they moved them is amazing.\u00a0 Later that evening, we set sail to the Temple of Kom Ombo.\u00a0 As the cruise ship reached the location, we saw the beautiful temple aglow in the night sky.\u00a0 Only a short walk away, we toured the temple with Mohamed, and grabbed some beautiful night-time photos.<\/p>\n

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Day Five<\/p>\n

We meet at 6:00 AM for a trip to the Temple of Horus.\u00a0 After leaving the ship, several carriages were awaiting to take us to the temple.\u00a0 We were the first tourists at the site and we enjoyed unobstructed views of the hieroglyphics.\u00a0 As we departed the temple, streets were bustling with tourist groups heading to the temple.\u00a0 We spent the remainder of the day aboard the ship.\u00a0 I took my iPod and enjoyed the day on the sun deck.\u00a0 After dinner, we watched the belly dancer and other entertainment,<\/p>\n

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Day Six<\/p>\n

We checked out of the cruise ship, reunited with the Felucca group and checked into our Luxor hotel.\u00a0 It was a beautiful facility located on the Nile banks.\u00a0 Some of us toured the area capturing photos and enjoying the local dining.\u00a0 Our tour guide, Sharif, made reservations at a local restaurant and we enjoyed delicious Egyptian food.<\/p>\n

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Day Seven<\/p>\n

We gathered in the lobby approximately an hour and a half prior to sunrise.\u00a0 With a boxed lunch, we boarded a small boat and headed across the Nile.\u00a0 After a short ride in a van, we arrived in an open field where several crew times were inflating the hot air balloons.\u00a0 The guide led us to our balloon basket and within a few minutes, the ground left us.\u00a0 Unlike the dramatic departure of a jet plane generating air to lift it, the engineless balloon drifted into the air with ease.\u00a0 For the next 45 minutes, we ascended to 2,500 feet overlooking the Nile and the surrounding countryside including Queen Hatshepsut\u2019s temple and the Valley of the Kings.<\/p>\n

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Later that day, we visited the Temple of Karnak.\u00a0 This impressive temple featured elaborate columns and statues more impressive than any other we visited.\u00a0 The Egyptians ability to create such temples with precision and without modern-day machinery is amazing.<\/p>\n

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Some group members headed to Dahab, so we grabbed a group photo and those who remained later boarded a train to Cairo.<\/p>\n

Day Eight<\/p>\n

This is the last full day of my trip.\u00a0 We arrived at the Giza train station and returned to the Oasis Hotel.\u00a0 After checking in and taking a hot shower, we opted to visit the Cairo Museum.\u00a0 We left the museum and headed to the Cairo marketplace.\u00a0 With a population exceeding 24 million, Cairo possesses many shopping locales.\u00a0 We visited an area dedicated to tourists and the local population.\u00a0 We ended the day at a fast food restaurant.\u00a0 After returning to the hotel, our remaining group reminisced over the past week\u2019s events.\u00a0 Later, I packed up for my next day\u2019s flight.<\/p>\n

The next day I departed for the hotel, arrived safely in London where my friend took me home thus concluding my last, yet memorable, trip while in England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Revolutionary Trip to Egypt I originally scheduled my Egypt trip for January 29th.\u00a0 I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday on this trip, but I had to cancel due to the revolution.\u00a0 I considered other places (Spain, Turkey, Germany) to visit.\u00a0 However, I decided to wait and reschedule because no other place would satisfy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[176,174,173,177,175,232,178,179,233],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t