Egypt

Having got up early morning on the second Saturday of the New Year, we made our way to Gatwick. With a teary eyed goodbye with Mummy P we got on our way. There’s nothing like a rainy morning to make you wish you were anywhere but the UK, but leaving the place, and not to mention the family and friends makes you really appreciate what you have.
 

 

Hurghada

We arrived in Hurghada, by the Red Sea in the evening to a chilly night, after quite a pleasant Easyjet flight (I know, probably a fluke). Having made our way to the hotel we then gorged ourselves on the all inclusive dinner! And so was the case for the next 4 days that we really got our money’s worth, trying to manoeuvre around the Germans and Russians that really dominate the all inclusive landscape! After a bit of a snorkel (spotting an octopus, a blue spotted ray and all the likely suspects) and a bit of lounging around, it was time to start the adventure.

 

 

Luxor
We took a bus early morning from Hurghada to Luxor to arrive to a grinning man called Hassan with an ‘Emily’ sign to welcome us to the hotel. Quite a welcome from a man who we’re only paying a couple of pounds a night to, but his kind smile instantly makes us feel right at home! We wondered around Luxor which had a feel to it not dissimilar to India. With cars and buses clambering for space like it’s a constant competition to get somewhere first, and guys on motorbikes holding a tray full of chai whilst driving, it’s hard to not smile that smile of ‘I feel like I’ve been here before, here we go again…’

We spent the next few days going to the likely tourist hotspots of Luxor. And it seemed everyday it was ‘the best weather for a sail boat ride’ and that you were given the ‘cheapest price.’ Having spoken to a few people it seemed the tourist numbers for the last few years were dwindling in Luxor due to people being frightened to visit, which really was reflected in the near on empty 4 floor hotel we were staying at. I would recommend Luxor to anyone, and the lack of tourists, although not great for their tourist industry, makes a perfect time for visiting, with no queues and I’m guessing cheaper than usual prices. First stop after an early start was the West side of the Nile, and didn’t we pick a perfect day- with roads closed due to the ‘Luxor marathon,’ which seemed to have a lot of roller skating Europeans…I think that’s cheating, right? We eventually made it to the Valley of the Kings after a giant detour. Managing to visit your choice of 3 of 63 tombs for E£100 (a.k.a. the ones they can be bothered to open). Luckily the 3 we had in mind were open – Rameses III, Rameses IX and Tausert & Setnakht, all with incredible hieroglyphics and detail. For an extra E£30 we also saw Rameses V&VI which was well worth it. You could also pay an additional E£100 to see Tutankhamen however we were told it was a tiny tomb, and only that price due to his name being famous around the world. As we had already seen his death mask in Cairo along with the jewels and gold taken to the museum there, we thought we would give it a miss, however many go to see the only mummy still remaining in the Valley. It remains due to the Curse of the Pharaohs, where one of the British discoverers died 6 weeks after it was unearthed despite the many warnings to not disturb the tombs; casting plagues of locusts was obviously not a concern for the British. Was probably just a bad mosquito bite, but back in the day superstition was probably a little more predominant.

Hatshepsut

We then went onto Hatshepsut which had a great view and was just the other side of the Valley, although you can’t climb over the hill anymore (for risk of being thrown in prison) so have to take the long way round. Colossi of Memnon was our next stop which was easily spotted by the road side.
 

The next day we took a walk down the river Nile all the way from Luxor temple to Karnak temple, about a 3km walk which used to be lined with 3000 sphinx the whole way, with now just remnants of what used to be. Karnak temple was amazing and being 2 square km, it took a while to take it all in. Best time to visit is early in the morning or late afternoon before all the tourist buses start to show up. The temples on the sides don’t seem to be visited by many and there seems to be a lot less wear in the hieroglyphics, probably due to less tourists scrambling over the ‘stay away from this’ ropes to get a selfie! They’re definitely worth a look, not just the Anum temple itself.

Karnak temple

 

Aswan

The following morning we took an early train from Luxor to Aswan. We planned to get 2^nd class tickets at the station but told it wasn’t possible and had to get them on the train. Expecting it to be empty after talking to a few Chinese tourists who had done the route, we boarded to a packed out train full of families. Half-term of course! With majority of the people having got on at Cairo the night before, they were all settled and there was nowhere to sit. However a nice man from Cairo travelling with his family offered me his seat and gave us his ticket so we only had to buy one. Once some people left the train a couple stops later on the 4 hour journey, we all sat together and turns out he lived in Newcastle for 3 years from 2005! Small world. After agreeing on the funny accent over in Geordie land, and the amount of booze they get through, we got a few ideas off of him for things to do in Aswan (having originally been brought up there). We arrived to another dusty city and quickly found our hostel. With an actual mattress this time! The rooftop view was amazing and gave us a clue of which direction to head in; we then spent the rest of the day wondering through the markets and along the Nile. After some delicious falafel, we then decided to treat ourselves to some chocolate. Only after finishing did I remember Shazma’s story of her century old Pringles and quickly checked the expiry date. 2014…could have been worse, just a little stale come to think of it! Note to self- always check the date first!

The next day we decided to get over to Elephantine island to see the ruins of Abu, the Nilometer and the Nubian villages. So we paid a guy called Nasser for the day to take us on his Felucca and sail across the Nile. The Nubian village chief invited us in to show off his collection of stuffed crocodiles along with the real deal. 3 little crocs no older than 5 years were stuck in tanks just for show. Apparently kept to ward off the evil eye, but most probably used to get money out of tourists these days. We left shortly after he tried to poke one with a stick to get it to move, poor thing.
 

We then sailed on to the Temple of the Nobles which were set high in the sand dunes. We climbed to the top afterwards to the old monastery to take in the amazing view.  


Felucca on the Nile at Aswan

Nubian village in Aswan

 

To think we thought we’d have Aswan as a transit city! I’m glad we stayed on it a bit, and we even loved it so much that we thought we’d stay another night at the Yassien hostel before our onwards journey to Sudan.
 

A couple of months ago, the only way to Sudan overland from Egypt was the once a week ferry departing every Sunday, and those who I’ve spoken to about my travels will know that it’s a boat crammed full of goods to be taken into Sudan (fridges, microwaves, TVs etc.) and more people than it should carry. With it being the only way for tourists to travel, the guy who sells the tickets could charge as much as he wanted to if he didn’t like you (so I’ve read from other blogs), and with an average price of around £30, you’d just have to suck it up. Well, it just so happens that a daily bus now runs to Sudan, with a much more reasonable price of £15 to take us to Wadi Halfa (E£190 bargained down to E£175). Bus to Khartoum from Aswan would be E£380, but I’m sure that can be haggled down too. So an early start tomorrow at 4.30am then! The bus runs through Abu Simbel before crossing Lake Nasser, but if we’ll get a peak at the great monument who knows.

Having arrived nice and early at 4.30am outside the train station in Aswan for our bus, we knew that the 5am departure time was probably going to be more like 7, having read something on a blog about it. We were wrong, it didn’t leave till 8. We had settled in on the bus having changed a bit of US dollars to Sudanese pound. Sudan don’t accept any cards from foreigners in their ATMs due to sanctions. And then we continued to sit there for another 3 hours whilst all kinds of stuff was loaded onto the bus. So much so that the back 3 rows were full of goods such as blenders, TVs, fans, heaters, clothes, car bumper and all other kinds of stuff that obviously making the journey to Egypt and back was worth. It took us about 4 hours to get to Abu Simbel for the ferry over Lake Nasser. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the monument as it was hiding behind some sand dunes. I’m pretty sure the crossing took longer to load the buses and trucks than to get to the other side, but having said that, the views were amazing. I would have taken a picture but the Egyptian authorities wouldn’t allow it. It wasn’t long before we got to Egyptian immigration at the border. This took an hour. Not for us as foreigners, but unfortunately for the locals heading back to Sudan because the bus had to be unloaded with all the goods. And our backpacks happened to be underneath all their stuff! After shoving all the stuff back on the bus, we made the 150m journey to the Sudan immigration to unload all the stuff again. You heard me…150 metres! And this time it took 2 hours because every suitcase and box had to be inspected by the Sudanese as they would have to pay tax on some of the goods. We had met a guy called Oliver from Switzerland on the bus who was cycling from his home town to Cape Town by himself to raise money for a few schools in Togo, Benin and Nigeria. He told us about his journey so far and his unplanned flight to Syria due to the Turkey ferry being closed! Extremely brave guy, I think I would have just flown to Egypt straight off.

Total spend excluding the all inclusive: £110 (£18 per night)

This includes Egyptian visa for £17, bus onto Sudan for £15 and all the entry fees to the sites in Egypt which can mount up quite quickly.