Egypt:: Land of the pyramids and the Nile River. One of the oldest civilizations on Earth

Egypt and Red Sea Cruise Trip

March 2009

This was a three week OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) trip to Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia including 7 days on a Red Sea cruise.

In Egypt, within a few hours of flying into Cairo, we took a train to Alexandria (second largest city) where our trip began. This is the city made famous by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. At that time, it was one of the world’s greatest cities. It is historically famous and well-known for Cleopatra and her Roman lovers, a rich and romantic history. There is a spectacular coastline with great beaches. We spent four days here in a renovated classic traditional hotel on the coast…loved our stay in Alexandria. Weather was in the 70s, as it was for our entire three week trip. We visited the citadel and the large Greco-Roman catacomb complex and amphitheatre; took a city tour, exploring the National Museum and the famous modern Alexandria Library. On our departure from the city we stopped at the village and War Museum of El-Alamein, WWII famous battle between the British and the Germans in 1942 where Montgomery defeated Rommel.

We then travelled via bus to Cairo, a very busy, bustling heavy-traffic metropolis. Here we visited the Pyramids of Giza and the Great Pyramid of Cheops (480 ft. tall with 2.3 million stone blocks), so huge and amazing that they must be seen to be appreciated. We also visited Saqqara, one of Egypt’s richest archaeological sites. Next day we explored Islamic Cairo with its mosques, minarets, and crowded bazaars. In the evening, we took a dinner cruise on the Nile River with entertainment. The following day, we visited the world-famous Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, a most incredible house of wonders. We saw treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun (boy king), discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter… which includes over 5000 works of art.

After four days in Cairo, we flew to Luxor where we spent a full day exploring the Valley of the Kings and Queens with over 100 tombs that have been dug up in this past century, titlehough we were only allowed to go into certain ones. These tombs are chiseled into the cliff sides. During our Luxor stay, we visited the Luxor Temple, an impressive ancient monument and Karnak Temple, a most fascinating ancient site. Jim and I also took a hot-air balloon ride over the Luxor area, the Nile River and the Valley of the Kings for some great photos.

Leaving Luxor, we began our seven day cruise on the Red Sea on the small ship Athena, a new and spacious ship; it holds 50 passengers and has a very friendly crew. Some of our stops included Sharm-El-Sheikh (known as the city of peace for international peace conferences are held here); it is also a popular diving resort on the Sinai Penisula's southern tip; Taba and Nuweiba on the Gulf of Aqaba/Jordan; and a port stop at Duba from where we visited Tabouk, Saudi Arabia.

One day we visited Pharoah's Island where a crusader fort from the 12th century was located. The fort was conquered by Saladin's Arabic forces in 1170.

Since 1980, much foreign aid has poured into Egypt, including from the US. They have new roads, electricity in the desert, new schools, hospitals, etc. And they are dependent upon tourism. President Mubarak will be in term until 2011. Westerners, including Americans, hear exaggerated media stories about safe travel to Egypt. titlehough extremist Islamics have created turmoil in some tourist areas, we felt very welcome and safe. At all times we had military escorts with machine guns and security guards. On the Nile Cruise, two police patrol boats accompanied us. We were treated well at all times and never had to question our safety.

One day we departed from the boat at Nuweiba, Egypt and explored St. Catherine’s Monastery, located at the foot of Mt. Sinai. It is the oldest continuously active monastery in the world and a pilgrimage site for Christians, Jews and Muslims. According to Biblical history, this is where Moses beheld the Burning Bush and received God’s command to lead his people out of bondage. The monastery holds priceless very old works of art and manuscripts. After the tour here, we were able to mount camels and make a two hour camel climb, then a one hour walk (total of 3370 steps) up to the Mount in the said footsteps of Moses to the top of legendary Mount Sinai where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments. Some chose to walk up, rather than camel ride for two hours….walking until exhaustion set in.

Egypt Photo Gallery

Click on the photo to view larger