Travel Diaries- The Land of Pharaohs - Egypt

Egypt has been one of the best places that I have visited. When you think of Egypt, what all comes to your mind; The Pyramids, The Nile, Pharaohs, The Red Sea. And Egypt is not only limited to this; it also has some scenic beach places like Hurghada, which has been one of my other good experience.

I just love this place for the amount of tourist attractions that it has to offer. We planned a decent 12 days trip, but I felt we should have spent some more time, in places like Alexandria an Hurghada.

So let me take you today around Egypt with my experiences to share:

We began at Cairo, for sure everyone wants to be here first for the majestic Pyramids. I have always been very fascinated with these Giant structures. We selected our Hotel right in front of the pyramids to ensure we do not miss on a single moment watching it while in Cairo, Giza to be very particular.

In the Giza area, there are 3Great Pyramids (Cheops, Chefren and Macarinos).

The pyramid were royal tombs and considered to be the place of ascent for the spirit of the deceased pharaoh.Believed that the soul would travel to the after life and if it chooses to come back to earth again it would be through the top point of the pyramid. The dead body of the pharaoh was mummified and buried with all the things it would need for the afterlife.

To think of it the marvel is man made in those days with absolutely no machine technology and only going with the brain technology and some man made natural tools.

At the bottom of the Pyramid; we look so tiny in front of this huge structure.

The way inside the Pyramid is very narrow, we got an opportunity to visit inside one of the Queen Pyramid, for sure it will be difficult for a little heavy person to get inside.

The view of the Pyramids from a distance, here we also took a camel ride, but it is not really worth it. It's hardly a 5 minute ride which they say is free, but then they would ask for a tip, almost as mandatory and it would be nothing less then 10$.

And then all the funny poses for the photo shoot as usual at any tourist spot.

The Great Sphinx which has kept its secrets for centuries.

After a day stay at Giza, Cairo; we proceeded to Aswan where there is the Philae Temple the Temple of Goddess Isis. This temple was built on the island of Aswan, but it got submerged in water when the Aswan dam was built in early 1900s, in the 70s then UNESCO selected a suitable sight and the whole temple was shifted from it's original sight to where it stands now.

The Temple of ISIS is one of the biggest and oldest temple in Egypt. She was the giver of life, a healer and protector of kings. She was known as ‘Mother of God’

After this we headed for the 4 days Nile Cruise, which covered Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo Temple of the Crocodile God Sobek, The Falcon God Horus (Son of Isis) Edfu Temple and The Luxor and Karnak Temples.
Egypt is filled with Temples and each are unique in their own way having a history by themselves.

The Luzor Temple, for thousands of years, the temple was buried under the streets of Luxor. In a period of time there were 2 mosques built over it. When the temple was discovered, the mosque were carefullu preserved and the temple was uncovered.
There were 2 80 ft obelisk built by Ramesses, which were placed at the gateway, but now only one remains as the other is placed in Paris.

The Karnak Temple, also known as the Cult temple where ceremonies were done for the fertility of the earth and the expectation of abundant harvests. Its a huge one and in the present day many film shootings also take place over here.

The entrance to the temple

Inside the temple

On the way we had a great time at the Cruise also, where there was dance, fun and a super 4 days enjoyment.

Post which we traveled to Hurghada. This was recommended to us by the local tour operator in Egypt and glad that we included in our itinerary as after so much of Temple dose a change was required :-)
At Hurghada there was Desert Safari, Diving, Snorkelling, Submarine and loads of other water activities.

The Sea at Hurghada. Look at the color of the water here, so beautiful and serene.

There was a submarine ride too in this, first of my such experience, so very thrilling.

After all of this we proceeded to Alexandria, which is famous for Open Air Roman Amphitheater, Montazah Park and Palace, The Citadel from the Islamic period and The Bibliotheca the newly rebuilt Library, built to replace the one burnt down during the time of Cleopatra.

Our Family pose at the Open Air Roman Amphitheater :-)

The Bibliotheca. This is just a part of it. The whole is almost 10 times bigger to this space.

Besides all of this, One should not miss out on the local food, The Papyrus Musuem and yes you also get some good crystals there. The Albatross stone is the famous one here, known to ward of negativity and also a gambler's crystal.

One thing I did not like in this place is everywhere they would demand Tips. We for sure would give but when someone keeps asking for it like compulsory, you will then get irritated.

At Egypt the other thing we observed is almost 80% of houses had an unfinished look, only completed till brick level. Reason being, if they would complete the finishing they would have to pay high taxes.

So with this we ended out Trip in Egypt, with a lot of fond memories of the place.
Hope you all too enjoyed the place through my eyes.

Thank you for visiting my blog.