We'd signed up for an "Egyptian Express" tour, a name well earned in the following days. After an early start and introductions we headed off for a guided tour of the Egyptian Museum, which was so impressive we returned here by ourselves at the tour's end to explore further. The treasures of Tutenkhamon are worth the hype they create. Seeing royal mummies, chariots, ancient pluggers, and stone carvings squeezed into every grotto was one of the highlights of Cairo.
We had a rushed tour of the pyramids and sphinx, taking a camel ride, and entering the second pyramid to it's inner chamber, then we headed off to Aswan via sleeper train. We had a day off before heading out to a Nubian dinner where almost the whole tour experienced food poisoning which was to be a constant source of trauma for some over the rest of the trip.?
A 2:30 am start to take a police convoy south to Abu Simbel was worth it as we explored the one of the most famous sights in Egypt. A world heritage sight and having been moved perfectly from a sight at risk of water damage, they lost none of it's perfection, even maintaining the solar effects which shine through on the birthday of their maker, Ramses III.
We then spent a couple of days sailing down the nile on a felucca, completely wind powered. A great chance for the group to unwind and really let the ecoli set in, jokes, though Rosh ended up getting pretty sick and missing most of the fun.
Another round of temples in Luxor, the ancient capital including Karnak temple and the Luxor temples, both some of the biggest in the world. A morning donkey ride out to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank became the trip favourite for both of us. We entered three of the best preserved tombs where the painting on the walls was vivid with no artificial touching up. An hours hike over the hill from the valley of the Kings we checked out to Hatschepsut Temple before saying "enough!" and getting ready for our trip back to Cairo.