Fiona D
  • Home
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  • WA - My Home State
    • Sandy Cape
    • North West Adventure >
      • The Route
      • Day 1 Perth to Bilyuin Pools
      • Day 2 - Bilyuin Pools to Karijini
      • Day 3 - Dales Gorge
      • Day 4 - Day at camp
      • Day 5 - Hancock Gorge
      • ​Day 6 - Hammersley Gorge & Karijini Eco Retreat
      • Day 7 Karijini to Sandfire
      • Day 8 Sandfire to Langi
      • Day 9 Langi to Fitzroy Crossing
      • Day 10 Fitzroy Crossing to Mimbi Caves
      • Day 11 Mimbi Caves to Wolfe Creek
      • Day 12 - Wolfe Creek Crater
      • Day 13 Wolfe Creek to Purnululu
      • Day 14 & 15 Purnululu National Park
      • Day 16 Punurlulu to Kununurra
      • Day 17 Kununurra to El Questro
      • Day 18 & 19 El Questro
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  • Egypt
    • FLY OUT DAY
    • Day 1 - Arrival >
      • Nights 1, 2 & 15 - Mena House Hotel
    • Day 2 - Cairo
    • Day 3 - Cairo >
      • Night 3 - Movenpick Aswan
    • Day 4 - Nile Cruise : Aswan >
      • Nights 4, 5 & 6 - Steigenberger Minerva
    • Day 5 - Nile Cruise: Aswan, Kom Ombo and Edfu
    • Day 6 - Nile Cruise: Abydos & Dandara
    • Day 7 - Nile Cruise: Luxor >
      • Nights 7 & 8 - Steigenberger Luxor Hotel
    • Day 8 - Luxor
    • Day 9 - Luxor and Hurghada >
      • Nights 9, 10 & 11 - Marriott Hurghada Hotel
    • Day 10 - Hurghada
    • Day 11 - Hurghada
    • Day 12 - Hurghada and Alexandria >
      • Days 12 & 13 - Sheraton Montazah
    • Day 13 - Alexandria
    • Day 14 - Alexandria and Cairo
    • Day 15 - Cairo and Home
  • South Africa
    • Fly out day
    • Day 1 - Johannesburg >
      • Night 1 - Protea Hotel O.R. Tambo
    • Day 2 - Hazyview >
      • Nights 2 & 3 - Hippo Hollow Country Estate
    • Day 3 - Kruger National Park
    • Day 4 - Swaziland >
      • Night 4 - Lugogo Sun Hotel
    • Day 5 - ST Lucia & Surrounds >
      • Night 5 - Protea Hotel Umfolozi
    • Day 6 - Durban >
      • Night 6 - Protea Hotel Umhlanga Ridge
    • Day 7 - Drakensburg >
      • Nights 7 & 8 - Drakensburg Gardens Hotel
    • Day 8 - Sani Pass
    • Day 9 - Chinsta, East >
      • Night 9 - CRAWFORDS BEACH LODGE
    • Day 10 - Port Elizabeth >
      • Night 10 - The Paxton Hotel
    • Day 11 - Knysna >
      • Nights 11 & 12 - Knysna Hollow Country Estate
    • Day 12 - Oudtshoorn
    • Day 13 - Cape Town >
      • Nights 13 & 14 - Protea Hotel Sea Point
    • Day 14 - Cape Town
    • Day 15 AM - Shark Dive
    • Day 15 - Home Time >
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    • Copenhagen >
      • Palace Hotel
    • Day 3 - Bergen
    • Day 4 - Alesund
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    • Day 6 - Thorshaven
    • Day 8 - Reykjavik
    • Day 11 - Oslo
    • Day 12 - Helsingborg
    • Norwegian Star

CAIRO

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18th November 2017

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​Day 2

I woke to a foggy morning. The below shows what the pyramids looked like yesterday and then what they looked like in the morning.... looked like someone had stolen the Pyramids......
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My guide for today was Maged, I was surprised to discover he had been an Egyptologist for 20 years, he was the same age as me and was so full of information that to start with that I was not really paying much attention coz he talked too much but once I was inside the Mastuba of Mereuka I was so engrossed in what he was telling me that I stopped taking pictures.
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Due to the fog my first visit was to Mit Rahina Museum - Memphis, the Colossus of Ramses II is here among other statues, this statue was in a room where I could walk all around it and also the view from above he was a bit legless therefore unable to stand.  There were numerous statues here including a Sphinx, my ignorance of Egypt had me believing that there was only one Sphinx which I had seen at the light show the night before, boy was I wrong. 
From there we traveled to Saqqara and saw the first pyramid built the pyramid of Djoser and then to the Tomb of Mereruka.  This was my first experience of going inside a tomb.  With a little bit of a cash incentive I was able to take photos inside.  We had a stop ta a rug making institution which is where students learn to make rugs and was taken through the process of making rugs, wow the work that goes on here.  As per Egyptian custom I was give a tea, which was very sweet.  I remembered the conversation with Nathan about getting a hand made rug from Egypt for our hallway, thankfully we didn't decide to do this, the prices in US was huge and after watching the work go into these I can now understand, lunch was a buffet at a restaurant, this was packed with other sight seer's and lets just say, I am picky with what I eat and nothing looked appetizing to me so I went with the salad.  
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On to the Giza Plateau, the Great Pyramid and Cheops Boat Museum.  I had the opportunity to go inside, which of course I did, however halfway up, I had the thought that I could not go any further and was thinking I would turn around, the climb up was via a narrow corridor that went up and stairs had been erected inside, due to it being middle of the day I was sweating and although I don't suffer claustrophobia the walls were very close, but in true me style and the belief I will only be here the once so up I kept climbing, the final section into the chamber was tight, only one person in one direction at a time.  The chamber to me was just a room with a stone box.  no hieroglyphics and very stuffy.  I slowly climbed down and out to the fresh desert air, from here Maged walked me around to the back of the pyramid to view one of the boats that was found in the area, no photos here, these boats were build without nails/screws and held together by the wood of the boat and ropes.  A bit more walking and we were picked up and driven to where so many photo's have been taken, for the size of Cairo (24 million plus that live in Cairo) to be able to take photo's without any other building around is hard to understand, as tourism around the world tends to encroach on sights to be seen.  The pyramids are on the west bank and all tombs are on the west bank as that is where the sun sets or in the Egyptian mythology, death of the day, this then allows the dead to follow into the afterlife and be reborn with the rising sun  in the East.  Then off to see the Sphinx in the daylight hours, although there were many other tourists here, the ability to take photo's without people in front trying to take selfies of themselves was fantastic, not much room but a huge drop meant no one pushed past to get a better picture.  I noticed a few camels in the area and thought what could be more iconic but a pic with a pyramid the Sphinx and a camel in Egypt 
​My day over a very short drive to Mena House and to relax for the night.
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Breakfast at the hotel is followed by a full day tour. In the morning you will be driven to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx: the most famous monuments of not only ancient Egypt, but of the entire ancient world! These massive stone structures were built around 4,500 years ago on a rocky desert plateau close to the Nile.  

After lunch, at a local restaurant, you will be taken to Sakkara to see the very first pyramid ever built; the Step Pyramid of Djoser. You will also get the chance to see some fantastic mastabas, including the mastaba of Mereruka, the largest one built in ancient Egypt. You will then be able to marvel at the Pyramid Texts inside the Pyramid of Teti before heading off to the ancient capital of Egypt: Memphis.  
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The Colossus of Ramses II dominates the museum here; do not forget your camera! After the visit, you will be driven to the Papyrus Institute where you will see how the ancient Egyptians made this forerunner to today's paper; have a go at making it yourself; and get the opportunity to look at some fantastic examples of papyrus art, with no obligation to buy. After this amazing trip through Egypt's pharaonic past it you will be driven back to your hotel.

EGYPT
Day 1 - Arrival
DAY 2 - Cairo
Day 3 - Cairo
Day 4 - Nile Cruise
Day 5 - Nile Cruise
Day 6 - Nile Cruise
Day 7 - Nile Cruise
Day 8 - Luxor
Day 9 - Luxor & Hurghada
Day 10 - Hurghada
Day 11 - Hurghada
day 12 - Hurghada & Alexandria
day 13 - Alexandria
Day 14 - Alexandria - Cairo
Day 15 Cairo - Home

Click on the below boxes to discover more about my other holidays!

Kimberly/Pilbara
Egypt
South Africa
Northern Europe
  • Home
    • My Adventures
  • WA - My Home State
    • Sandy Cape
    • North West Adventure >
      • The Route
      • Day 1 Perth to Bilyuin Pools
      • Day 2 - Bilyuin Pools to Karijini
      • Day 3 - Dales Gorge
      • Day 4 - Day at camp
      • Day 5 - Hancock Gorge
      • ​Day 6 - Hammersley Gorge & Karijini Eco Retreat
      • Day 7 Karijini to Sandfire
      • Day 8 Sandfire to Langi
      • Day 9 Langi to Fitzroy Crossing
      • Day 10 Fitzroy Crossing to Mimbi Caves
      • Day 11 Mimbi Caves to Wolfe Creek
      • Day 12 - Wolfe Creek Crater
      • Day 13 Wolfe Creek to Purnululu
      • Day 14 & 15 Purnululu National Park
      • Day 16 Punurlulu to Kununurra
      • Day 17 Kununurra to El Questro
      • Day 18 & 19 El Questro
    • Murchison Station
  • Egypt
    • FLY OUT DAY
    • Day 1 - Arrival >
      • Nights 1, 2 & 15 - Mena House Hotel
    • Day 2 - Cairo
    • Day 3 - Cairo >
      • Night 3 - Movenpick Aswan
    • Day 4 - Nile Cruise : Aswan >
      • Nights 4, 5 & 6 - Steigenberger Minerva
    • Day 5 - Nile Cruise: Aswan, Kom Ombo and Edfu
    • Day 6 - Nile Cruise: Abydos & Dandara
    • Day 7 - Nile Cruise: Luxor >
      • Nights 7 & 8 - Steigenberger Luxor Hotel
    • Day 8 - Luxor
    • Day 9 - Luxor and Hurghada >
      • Nights 9, 10 & 11 - Marriott Hurghada Hotel
    • Day 10 - Hurghada
    • Day 11 - Hurghada
    • Day 12 - Hurghada and Alexandria >
      • Days 12 & 13 - Sheraton Montazah
    • Day 13 - Alexandria
    • Day 14 - Alexandria and Cairo
    • Day 15 - Cairo and Home
  • South Africa
    • Fly out day
    • Day 1 - Johannesburg >
      • Night 1 - Protea Hotel O.R. Tambo
    • Day 2 - Hazyview >
      • Nights 2 & 3 - Hippo Hollow Country Estate
    • Day 3 - Kruger National Park
    • Day 4 - Swaziland >
      • Night 4 - Lugogo Sun Hotel
    • Day 5 - ST Lucia & Surrounds >
      • Night 5 - Protea Hotel Umfolozi
    • Day 6 - Durban >
      • Night 6 - Protea Hotel Umhlanga Ridge
    • Day 7 - Drakensburg >
      • Nights 7 & 8 - Drakensburg Gardens Hotel
    • Day 8 - Sani Pass
    • Day 9 - Chinsta, East >
      • Night 9 - CRAWFORDS BEACH LODGE
    • Day 10 - Port Elizabeth >
      • Night 10 - The Paxton Hotel
    • Day 11 - Knysna >
      • Nights 11 & 12 - Knysna Hollow Country Estate
    • Day 12 - Oudtshoorn
    • Day 13 - Cape Town >
      • Nights 13 & 14 - Protea Hotel Sea Point
    • Day 14 - Cape Town
    • Day 15 AM - Shark Dive
    • Day 15 - Home Time >
      • Home
  • Northern European Cruise
    • Copenhagen >
      • Palace Hotel
    • Day 3 - Bergen
    • Day 4 - Alesund
    • Day 5 - Lerwick
    • Day 6 - Thorshaven
    • Day 8 - Reykjavik
    • Day 11 - Oslo
    • Day 12 - Helsingborg
    • Norwegian Star