After an uncomfortable overnight bus ride from Hurghada, we arrived back at the Oasis Hotel in Cairo, the first hotel on the tour, at around 7am. I went straight to my room and fell asleep for a few hours before our tour of UNESCO World Heritage listed Historic Cairo. The group met in the lobby at 9am and were gathered together by Bishoy, the same guide who took me to Dahshur and Memphis.
After some free time in Luxor, the next stop on the tour was the Karnak Temple, part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Luxor.
Following our visit to the West Bank of the Nile, the tour group arrived in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Luxor. Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes (Θῆβαι).
Our group arrived in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Luxor late in the afternoon after two days of cruising the Nile. After we docked, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset over the Nile.
On no sleep, I left the Egyptian riverboat and entered the minibus at 4am. It was a bumpy three hour ride from Aswan to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Abu Simbel and I barely got a chance to sleep on the way.
My favorite temple in Egypt by far is the Philae Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site along with Abu Simbel. For me, it had everything – a picture-perfect peaceful setting on a small island, the sun was hitting it at just the right angle, and (luckily) there were no other tourists but our group. The fact you have to take a pleasant boat ride to it made it even more appealing. I wish I had more time to enjoy the scenery, but my hour and a half spent there was perfect.
Our group had just seen the Pyramids of Giza, but where did the idea for the pyramids come from? Saqqara, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The tour bus left our hotel in the morning. It was just a 15 minute ride to the Pyramids of Giza. I was still sleepy since I had just checked out of my room and piled all of my things into one of the “community rooms” reserved for people on the tour.
On my 2nd day in Egypt, I visited Dahshur and Memphis. I woke up, had a quick breakfast, and headed for the lobby of the hotel. Bishoy, my guide for the day, introduced himself and escorted me to a decrepit old van. The driver was great, but the fumes from the van were making me a little sick.
From the modern center of Afyon, I walked to the historic part of the city. The old town has some of the most beautiful Ottoman homes in Turkey.