Adventures in Egypt

Hey Keys! As some of you reading this may know, I recently went on a trip to Egypt!!! I planned for this months back and it came and went already (where does the time go?) But anyways I feel like sharing my day to day experience with you all as well as give you some recommendations. Enjoy :) Ill leave links to where I booked the tour and a vlog that someone on the tour made at the end of the post.

Day 1 & 2-Cairo, Egypt (Oasis Hotel & Steigenberger Nile Palace)

I arrived Saturday the 25th of August. Unfortunately, my flight got delayed and I was later than intended and I did not get to go to the first dinner with the group to meet all of them.The second day was jam packed. Woke up at 7 a.m to go to the pyramids! I learned that an Italian archaeologist set up dynamite to the third (and smallest) pyramid because he could not find the tomb entrance *eye roll*. Just down from the pyramids we went on a camel ride! After all that excitement, we saw the Sphinx in which I learned that the statue used to be covered in sand up to his neck but somehow his nose managed to fall of...coincidence? I think not. We then entered our first tomb near the Sphinx where I got my first glimpse of hieroglyphics. After all that we went to a perfume shop where we were taught how they extract the oils from flowers to make 100% pure natural scents without the added alcohol. The group then went back to our hotel and packed for our 9 hour bus ride to the next city.

Day 3-Luxor, Egypt (Helnan Hotel)

An 8:30 a.m start and after breakfast, we headed to the Valley of the Kings where quite a few kings were buried. the valley is a huge mountain in which which the tombs were carved in to. Here I saw King Ramses the third and fifth as well as King Tut's tomb! We got to see his mummified body and solid gold sarcophagus. King Tut ruled from the age of 8 until around 16 years old. After the valley, the group went to Queen Hatshepsut's Temple. She was the only female leader of ancient Egypt . Her temple was huge and had many columns and hieroglyphics throughout. Inside there was also an alter for animal sacrifices.

Day 4-Aswan, Egypt

I had to wake up at 3 a.m. to meet our group downstairs to depart to Aswan which was around a 4-5 hour drive. Once in Aswan, I went to the Abu Simbel Temples. This was by far my favorite temple on the trip and trust me when I say we went to a lot of temples. The temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. After this we checked aboard our Felucca! A Felucca is a traditional Egyptian boat that we used to sail along the Nile river and enjoy some time on the water.

Day 5-Felucca on the Nile

This day was an all day sailing adventure. We got to kick back and relax, read some books, and just be lazy af. While on the Felucca we enjoyed food from the boat crew, smoking shisha, and drinking, singing, and dancing until we couldn't anymore. The boat crew was really friendly and I got to meet a Nubian for the first time. Nubians are the original people of Egypt (aka black people lol).

Day 6 & 7-Luxor, Egypt (Steigenberger Nile Palace)

We went back to Luxor! Which I was grateful for as this city was my favorite so far. We went to yet another temple surprise surprise. This was the Edfu Temple and inscribed building texts provide details of its construction, and also preserve information about the story of the god Horus and Seth who went through a conflict (much like the story of Cane and Abel). The next day I went on a sunrise hot air balloon ride! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip and a cool experience. We also visited a papyrus gallery where we were shown how Egyptians used to make this early form of paper out of the papyrus plant. We also saw another temple! This time it was the Karnak Temple which comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings in Egypt. After this visit, we then headed out back to Cairo.

Day 8-Cairo, Egypt (Oasis Hotel)

Back in Cairo we went to the Egyptian Museum which houses over 120,000 Egyptian artifacts. So cool to see King Tut's collection of jewelry that he was buried with, as well as other historical items such as wigs, beds, and animal mummies! After the museum, the group departed to a church and a mosque which were both beautiful. We ended our day shopping around at the Khan El Khalili Bazars where I found a few souvenirs. That place is huge though so be careful, you could definitely get lost easily.

Day 9-Dahab (Sharm El Sheikh), Egypt (Dahab Paradise Hotel)

An 8 hour bus ride took us to Dahab! I thought Luxor was good, Dahab is even better! Here we all felt like we were actually on vacation and had time to chill as there wasn't much things planned. The hotel was right by the Red Sea and had the friendliest staff. Oh and I can;t forget about the food!! Dahab has the most amazing food! Definitely a step up from the usual falafel, pita bread and hummus we were eating everyday.

Day 10-Dahab

Today the group went snorkeling in the Red Sea! Such beautiful corals and colourful fish. Tbh large bodies of water make me panic a little but once I got over the initial fear (and grabbed a life jacket) I was totally fine. I've been snorkeling before but I have never seen a reef like this that extended along the whole shoreline. Definitely something you need to do if you're ever close to the Red Sea! Later on in the day some of the group went quad biking! The views were incredible and the sun was just setting over the mountains so it was a sight to see. During the biking we also stopped at the Blue Lagoon which was a very gorgeous a blue body of water.

Day 11-12-Dahab

The morning of the 11th day is when we said goodbye to 90% of our group who was off to Jordan. When everyone left, there was only 5 of us (originally had around 25-30 people in the group). These 2 days were spent relaxing! I just chilled out in my room, swam a bit, read my book, and tanned.

Day 13 & 14-St. Catherine's (Mt. Sinai)

On the night of the 13th day, we departed to do an overnight sunrise hike to the top of Mt. Sinai. We started climbing at around 12:30 a.m and reached the top at around 3:15 a.m. Our guide showed us a spot to sit and watch the sunrise. It was an amazing view! The hike was hard and my calfs are still feeling the burn but it was worth it! Mt. Sinai is the place where God spoke to Moses through the burning bush, and where Moses struck a rock and had water come out to give to his followers. Truly a holy place.

Day 14 & 15-Dahab back to Cairo, Egypt

This last day was spent driving back 9 hours to Cairo Egypt where our group would depart. Unfortunately, my flight was at 4:30 a.m. so I did not get to spend the last Saturday in Cairo with the remaining people in the group. But overall, this trip was an amazing one and I would definitely recommend everyone to go and experience it for yourself! Seeing all of this in photos is nothing compared to being up close and personal with it.