Waiting at JFK

We landed at JFK just after 3:00 pm EST. It was an almost 12 hour flight. We went through immigration, collected our bags, and then went through customs. On the other side of customs, we all met up to say our goodbyes.

After all the concern and worry and hassle, the 54 of us stayed the course and Egypt was fantastic and very safe. The worst of it was being hassled by vendors wanting to sell us their wares.

On the way home, 44 of us are taking Delta back to Buffalo later tonight and ten of us are taking Jet Blue. The Delta flight will arrive before 11 pm and the Jet Blue flight will arrive just after 11 pm.

Our plane home

Portugal's Coast

At the airport

At the Cairo Internatinal Airport waiting to board our Boeing 777 EgyptAir flight to JFK. It departs at 10:30 am. Everyone is tired, but loved the trip! Most have smiles on their faces!

Whole Group in front of the Egyptian Museum

Sign inside the airport

Last full day in Egypt: Cairo, Saturday, 2/25/2012

Our final full day in Egypt was another busy day. After breakfast at the Sheraton Dreamland we headed to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities aka the Egyptian Museum. It is located next to Tahrir Square and is home to a huge collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has over 120,000 items in its collection and a fraction of the that (the most significant items) are on display. The remainder are in storage. Of course, it is most famously known for its mummy room and for the treasures of Tutankamen's tomb that are on exhibit.

Egyptian Museum

We all saw the building that housed Mubarak's political party. It is completely burned out and is located right next to the Egyptian Museum and Tahrir Square.

Mubarak's Party HQ on Tahrir Square

(Author's note: absolutely nothing was going on in the area of the museum or Tahrir Square next door. Before we left, one of the guides took me, my husband, and our nine year old for a quick "lap" around the square. It very much reminded me of Occupy Buffalo over the summer - except dustier and with much more traffic. I'm a current events/political junkie, so it was something I had to see with my own eyes).

Tahrir Square

Tahrir Square

It was too short of a visit to the museum (you would need weeks to really see it all), but we were off to our next stop, the Citadel.

Mohammed Ali's Mosque

Inner Courtyard of Mohammed Ali's Mosque

The Citadel of Salahel el-Din is on a high bluff overlooking Cairo. The complex includes the Mosque of Qualawun and Mohammed Ali's Mosque. We went inside the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. All the females in our group made sure to respect the Islamic culture by covering our hair and not exposing the skin on our arms and legs. All of us had to take our shoes off when walking into the mosque. As we exited the mosque, we enjoyed a beautiful panoramic view of Cairo and could see the Pyramids in the distance.

View from the Citadel

Afterwards, we drove to Coptic Cairo to visit Abu Serga aka the Church of St. Sargius. Cars are not allowed in most areas of this part of Cairo and there are many small alleyways. It had a completely different feel than the other parts of the city and we really enjoyed the walk to the church. This church is the oldest in Cairo and was built on top of the crypt the Holy Family hid in during their flight into Egypt. The Gospel of Matthew says they went into Egypt after Joseph was warned by an angel to flee there because Herod wanted to kill Jesus.

We could not go down into the crypt (or take pictures in the church), but we were able to peer down into the crypt and also visit the beautiful church (and buy postcards).

Postcard of Abu Serga Crypt

We left the serenity of Coptic Cairo for the Khan el-Khalili. It is the major souk (shopping area) in the Islamic district of Cairo.

Khan el-Khalili

The bazaar district is one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. We ate lunch in this area and shopped in the narrow side streets of the market. This area was also very neat because it is only for pedestrians. No one reported being hassled too much by shop owners trying to make a sale. In fact, most were very nice and thanked us for coming to Egypt (whether we bought something or not).

We headed to a shop in Giza that makes papyrus next. We were given a demonstration of how it is made and given time to shop for works of art painted on papyrus.

From there, we split into two groups. The larger group went to have dinner and the smaller one paid extra to go to the 7:00 pm sound and light show at the Pyramids. The first group went back to the hotel to pack and relax and the other group ate dinner after the show and then came back to the hotel.

Our flight leaves at 10:30 am tomorrow, so we have to leave the hotel at 6:00 am.

Luxor to Cairo - Friday, February 24, 2012

All but two of the participants decided to go on the hot air balloon excursion this morning. We had to split up into two groups - one group of 22 at 5:00 am and one group of 30 at 5:30 am. To be fair, names were drawn because the earlier group had a chance to see the sunrise (if there were no clouds), while the later group would not have a chance to see it.

Hot Air Ballooning over Luxor

We were picked up by the Hod Hod Soliman company (the first hot air balloon company in Luxor - it has a perfect safety record and is considered the best company in Luxor) with small buses. The buses took us to ferry boats where we were served tea & coffee and transported to the West Bank of Luxor. From there, another group of small buses took us to the launch area where the balloons were being prepared for launch. About 8-10 different companies use this area for launches. We lifted off the ground without a sound (except for the occasional firing of the gas jets to make us go higher or lower).

Sunrise from our Hot Air Balloon

The experience was very special and the early group did get to see the sunrise. They also saw Hatshepsut's temple, flew over Howard Carter's house (the man who found the tomb of Tutankhamen), and saw the second group launch.

The pilot expertly landed the balloon with little more than a soft bump and the ground crew was there to help keep the basket on the ground while we got out. The ground crew then collected the balloon after it was deflated and put the basket on a truck for transport.

We were each given certificates for our flight and brought back to the hotel the way we came.

Both groups REALLY enjoyed their rides and very much appreciated Explorica treating us to this extra excursion.

The early group arrived back at the Sofitel Karnak by 8:15 am and the second group arrived before 9 am. Many chose to go right to breakfast; while others went back to their rooms to catch a quick nap.

Most participants REALLY wanted to stay at our beautiful hotel for a few more hours and skip the Nubian Village visit. The tour directors agreed and everyone enjoyed the extra rest and relaxation.

View of Nile from Sofitel

Plaque at our hotel in Luxor
 

We left the hotel at 12:30 and headed to Karnak Temple. Karnak is the largest ancient religious site in the world. Construction started in the Middle Kingdom and continued to Ptolemaic times. Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings. The size and number of features of this complex are overwhelming! 

Karnak Temple

Karnak Temple
 

Avenue of Sphinx' at Karnak Temple


After two hours or so, we left and headed to the Luxor airport for our flight back to Cairo. We landed in Cairo and left the airport around 7 pm for our one hour drive to the Giza area and dinner at a restaurant in Giza.

Luxor Airport Warning

After dinner, we checked back into the Sheraton Dreamland Hotel and went to sleep for the night.

Luxor - February 23, 2012

We woke up, put our luggage out for the porters to take for us, ate breakfast, and checked out of the ship.

In Aswan & in Luxor, our ship was not right next to the dock. We were connected to other ships an walked through their lobbies to get to the dock. As fate would have it, one of the ships we walked through as we left the Nile Pioneer I was the ship we were supposed to be on for this trip - the M/S Soleil. We only saw the lobby area, but it was VERY clear that we were upgraded to a nicer ship.

We boarded the coaches for the West Bank of Luxor aka Thebes. We saw the tombs of Ramses IV, Ramses IV and Ramses III.

One of the Tombs we visited - Ramses IV

Some of us paid the extra 100 Egyptian Pounds to see the tomb of King Tutankhamen. King Tut's tomb was different from the others because it was very small and its decorations we're very modest. This is because most pharaohs have their whole lives to oversea the building of their tombs. Tut died unexpectedly at 18 and there was little time to prepare. Also, another difference was that Tut's mummified body is on display in in a glass case in the tomb. Very few tourists were in the Valley of the Kings and we had almost everything to ourselves.

Tut's Tomb

No cameras are allowed in the Valley of the Kings.

Temple of Hatshepsut

Next, we went to the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari. This was a very impressive temple with a ramp/steps leading up to it. It was carved out of the rock of a mountainside. On the other side of the mountain lays the Valley of the Kings.

Temple of Hatshepsut

After, we stopped at an Alabaster factory to see how they hand make alabaster.

The Valley of the Artisans at Deir el-Medina was a quick stop after the alabaster factory. This was the "village" where the workers who created/built the tombs of the Valley of the Kings lived.

After that, we went to Habu temple aka Medinet Habu aka the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III. It was extremely ornate and impressive.

Habu Temple

Habu Temple

We made one more stop before going out for a late lunch - a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon (two statues of Amenhotep III).

Colossi of Memnon

We ate a quick, late lunch at a combined Pizza Hut/KFC and then headed to check in at the Sofitel Karnak. While there. Some of us took the opportunity to look at the political flyers for the elections that have been going on here in Egypt.

Late Lunch

Political Poster (with a female candidate)

Once we checked in, and briefly freshened up. Most of us (some of the younger kids and a few others stayed behind for the evening) went off to several activities. Our first stop was a perfume "factory" where we learned about another local industry (and also had a chance to buy things). Afterwards, we went to Luxor Temple on the East Bank (our hotel is on the same side) It was originally a temple built by Amenhotep III. Later, Ramses II added on to the temple. One of the granite statutes in the temple is of King Tut and his wife.

After the temple visit, we went to dinner at a kabob restaurant in Luxor and then went back to the Sofitel Karnak to sleep and prepare to get up early for our hot air balloon ride.

Avenue of the Sphinx' Luxor Temple

Obelisk at Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple

Busy, Busy Day

Today was so busy that there has been no time to blog. More to come later....

Edfu to Luxor

We disembarked in Edfu at 8 am and were brought to the temple by horse-drawn carriages (four to carriage). The gauntlet, once we got of the carriages and started walking to the temple, was particularly intense.

Edfu Carriage

Edfu Carriage Ride

Political posters in Edfu

The Temple at Edfu is almost completely intact, in fact it's the most intact temple in Egypt. There are over 150 columns and every column is different.

Edfu Temple

Cat at Edfu Temple

We took the horse and carriages back to the cruise ship and left for Luxor.

At 2:30 pm we went through the Esna Lock and the gauntlet came to us as the boat lowered in the lock. Many vendors came up to the ship trying to get us to buy their goods. We were 20 feet higher than the vendors when we entered the lock and ended up at eye level by the end.

Esna Lock

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching the scenery go by as we slowly sailed down the Nile.

View from our Nile Cruise Ship

When the sun set, most people went to their rooms to pack and then headed to dinner. Following dinner, a belly dancing show was held in the lounge.

Belly Dancer on our cruise ship

Tomorrow: the West Bank of Luxor