After spending our final day in Luxor relaxing in a hammock on a roof terrace with a view of the Nile, it was time to head back to the coast. We wanted to visit Marsa Alam in the south of Egypt to snorkel some of the top sites in the world, but it was complicated…
Tag: culture
Karnak Temple, Egypt
Karnak temple sits on the east bank of Luxor so we had to catch the ferry across the Nile to reach it. The east side was a complete contrast to the tranquil west, it was chaotic, noisy and full of pestering touts. Before we visited the temple I wanted to stop at the local animal…
Cycling to the Valley Of Kings, Luxor | Egypt
Luxor is said to be like Cairo but a smaller, nicer version. That’s debatable – we really didn’t like the place. The city sits on the east bank of the Nile but we opted to stay on the calmer West Bank which was a great decision in the end. A public ferry connects the two…
The long journey to Abu Simbel and a Felucca trip on the River Nile
At 4am David our hostel owner walked us down the dusty street past sleepy dogs to a small bus waiting for us. We had a long four hour journey (each way!) to Abu Simbel which is in the far south just 35km from the border with Sudan. It’s said to be one of Egypt’s top…
Exploring Philae Temple and a colourful Nubian Village | Aswan, Egypt
For just £12 we caught an overnight train from Cairo to Aswan. We had large reclining chairs but the air conditioning was on full blast so we shivered the night away. The hostel we booked was actually 6km from Aswan in more of a local neighbourhood so we hopped in a taxi. On the way…
A stressful day visiting Islamic Cairo
The next day we decided to visit Old Cairo, also known as Islamic Cairo. We walked from downtown to Khan-El-Khalili which is where the souqs (markets) are. On the way we seemed to walk through the furniture neighbourhood where narrow alleys were filled with tacky upholstered chairs. Seemed like a really stupid area to focus…
A fascinating look at ancient mummies | The Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Cairo is home to 20 million people – it’s a massive place that sprawls out, eating up chunks of dusty desert and swapping it for messy concrete slabs. We booked a hostel in downtown where there were fairly modern shops with fancy displays, although the mannequins all looked a bit fed up with slanted wigs…
The Pyramids Of Giza | Egypt
The pyramids of Giza were built to last eternity, and the fact that they’ve been standing strong for 4500 years is testament to that. Egypt’s pharaohs were thought to become gods once they passed away so to prepare them for the next world, temples were built along with these grand pyramids to house their tombs….
Ghost towns, Ölüdeniz Beach and Saklikent Gorge | Turkey
We based ourselves in Fethiye to explore the surrounding area as there was a lot to see and do. The main area we wanted to visit was Ölüdeniz’s blue lagoon which I found out we could actually hike to via the ghost town of Kayaköy. We began by walking up some steep roads behind Fethiye…
Snorkelling in the Red Sea | Aqaba, Jordan
Aqaba sits on the shores of the Red Sea, just a 20km drive from Saudi Arabia. From the beach you can watch the sunset across Egypt and then the lights of Israeli cities fill the horizon at night, it’s a pretty unique location. We checked into a simple hostel where the smiley owner went to…
Wadi Rum 4×4 Tour and Desert Camp | Jordan
We’ve seen a lot of deserts on our travels, and to be honest I don’t think anything will be as memorable or impressive as Utah and Arizona in the States. So I wondered if it was worth visiting Wadi Rum desert in Jordan and began google searching “if I’ve seen Utah or the Sahara is…
Two days exploring the ancient city of Petra | Jordan
It was a simple 4 hour minibus ride from Amman to Wadi Musa, the town built on the outskirts of Petra, but after 10 minutes there was a loud bang and something hit my foot. I was sitting above the wheel arch and the tire had just blown underneath me. The driver slowed down as…
