I did a lot of very touristy things in Egypt – as much as I could fit into my short time there in fact – and took a lot of pictures. So I thought the best way to show this stuff would be another gallery.
The Nissos Rodos the ferry to Egypt
One of the downsides of the ferry – this is where I slept
Two Syrian brothers travelling with
their family, planning on continuing
university in Alexandria
Some more of the friendly
Syrians I met – this taken from the
door of the speeding minibus we were
in trying to get to the bus to Cairo.
Without their arabic I would never
have found it in time as we were allowed off the ferry so late
This is the view of Port Said coming in on the ferry – my first taste of Egypt
With my hosts – actual friends this
time, in Cairo on a Faluka boat on the Nile – a great place to escape Cairo’s craziness
I wasn’t able to quite capture
the atmosphere on the streets
in Cairo but these are my attempts
A beautiful and intense city that
very often feels like a movie set
This is near Tahrir square, an example of revolutionary graffiti that is all over parts of Cairo
The first touristy thing I did in
Cairo was go to the Coptic Christian
area, or ‘old cairo’, a very small
section densely packed with ancient graves and biblical churches, as advertised here!
The narrow pathways between buildings in Coptic Cairo
A photo of Tahrir Square, the centre of
the Egytian Revolution
The outside of the massive Egyptian
Museum, purpose built in the 1800s
to house Egypt’s artefacts on home soil
A glimpse inside the Egyptian Museum which contains room upon room of Pharaonic things, including the rich
finds from Tutankhamun’s tomb, and 2 mummy rooms with thousand year old royal corpses on display!
This is the view of the minaret of
the Ahmad ibn Tulun Mosque, the largest in Cairo in terms of area and
oldest still operating as a mosque
And this is a view from the Ahmad ibn Tulun minaret, showing the
inner court yard of the mosque.
The Cairene mosques are generally very open and accepting of tourist visitors
Proper old Egypt – the famous Sphinx
at Giza!
And a panoramic view of all 3
Giza pyramids. I got to Giza late in
the afternoon and shortly before the
area was due to close, but
as the police were kicking me out
someone helped me find a way into
the area where audiences sit for the
‘light show’ later in the evening, and I was able to see
the sun set behind the pyramids from there in peace. Really breathtaking!
Less awe inspiring is the tourist
hassle at places like Giza. Trying not to get someone to take stupid photos
of you is a challenge. Still, this is an obligatory
part of it!
On the train down to Luxor – some of the friendly Egyptians I met
And another very chilled out and friendly person I met once in Luxor
An idea of the landscape around Luxor. Within a ten minute drive from the town you’re in this desert dotted with conspicuous
ruins and tombs. On the recommendation
of my couch surfing hosts I rented a
bike to see them all – all of these photos are from 1 day’s crazy desert cycling!
An attempt to capture the amazing view from the hills around the Valley
of Kings. It can’t be done – this was the
most beautiful view I’ve ever seen,
with 2 deserts on each side of the 4 mile or so band of green around the Nile, itself a glittering blue band. It felt the closest thing to capturing what Egypt really is…
Also from this amazing spot outside
the Valley of Kings – in the distance appeared 2 sand whirlwinds. They were just vanishing as I managed to get my camera on them, but you can
just see the plumes miles off here. I’ve always wanted to see a tornado – maybe this will be the closest I get
In this picture you can see the actual
Valley of Kings behind me. Each structure is an entrance to one of the 65 tombs
in this tiny, sacred area. My face is attempting to show that it is very hot there!
The Karnak Temple complex, on the other side of Luxor – all about massive massive ancient temples
Me in the famous Hypostyle Hall at Karnak – 134 huge, huge columns, each carved in esoteric ancient hieroglyphic stories
The sign, just to prove that it’s famous
And finally, 2 of my hosts in Luxor,
at the restaurant they took me to to show me their favourite classic Egyptian food
