Egypt was a trip of mixed emotions. Anne-Marie was hesitant to return having already visited a few years ago, but it was an absolute must do as the Great Pyramids have always been at the top of Matt’s bucket list. The compromise was to see an additional Egyptian city outside of Cairo, so we settled on Luxor (even though Anne-Marie REALLY wanted to go back to Sharm el Sheikh – one of her favorite beaches).
A little PSA announcement before we go into highlights of our trip: if you ever go to Cairo, please refrain from riding animals whether they be camels, horses, donkeys, etc. The amount of animal cruelty we witnessed, especially around the pyramid borders were both heartbreaking and maddening.
On a lighter note, the Pyramids and Sphinx were absolutely incredible. It amazes us how the Egyptians could build such massive and impressive structures during their time. Not only that, but also cover the interiors with hieroglyphic stories and prayers – top to bottom. The amount of detail and work that goes into a single tomb is astonishing.
Other Cairo highlights include:
– The Egyptian Museum. Just when we thought we were museumed-out, we were pleasantly surprised with this tour. The museum had a plethora of ancient artifacts and all belongings found in King Tut’s tomb including his gold mask (no cameras allowed but Matt snuck a picture outside the room – see below). The museum also allowed us to view several well preserved mummies up close.
– Visiting the Citadel and Mohammed Ali’s mosque (not the boxer).
Luxor was such a change of pace compared to Cairo. Recognized as an “open air museum” rather than a city, everything was so calm and surrounded by more greenery.
Luxor Highlights:
– Valley of the Kings – entering the decorative tombs of famous Pharaohs and seeing the mummy of King Tut.
– Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The only female pharaoh to rule over Ancient Egypt.
– Karnak and Luxor Temples
– Our hotel! We stayed at the Sofitel Winter Palace, the oldest hotel in Luxor. The hotel was awesomely vintage and reminiscent of something out of the movie “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
With how our ATW tickets worked, we had to make a slight detour to Amsterdam from Cairo before heading to our next major stop. Definitely had our fun in the city and lucked out with great weather. We even got to meet up with a D.C. friend who recently moved to Amsterdam with her fiancé 🙂
We’re now stuck at the Nairobi airport crossing our fingers to get on a rescheduled flight that’s supposed to get us to the Congo. It’s been a nightmare of a day, but we’re hoping that our next post will include highlights of our gorilla trek that we’re supposed to take… tomorrow.
TBD.
AM & Matt
For more pictures from our trip to Egypt or the Netherlands, check out the image gallery page or click on the links below: