Across Egypt – From Cairo to Aswan

There are a few epic trips I will never forget and this is one of them. It was nearly a quarter of a century ago now, so many details escape me, but I still have the analogue photographs/film prints I was able to digitize and some scrapbook items left.

I flew on Egypt Air from New York City JFK airport to Cairo non-stop, and spend a couple of days in Cairo visiting The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities which is the largest museum in Egypt and of course, the Giza Pyramids. On the first day, I visited the museum which was incredible and in a way overwhelming luckily I had a private tour guide the whole time who was very knowledgeable. After a good night’s sleep and recovering from jet lag I was taken on the tour of Giza to see the pyramids up close. It was a dream since I was a kid to be able to see them in person. In the evening I was at an incredible laser show projected onto the pyramids itself telling the history of ancient Egypt.

After a couple of days in Cairo, I was back to the airport to fly down to the city of Luxor, where I explored the massive Luxor Temple which is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River and went to the Valley of the Kings.

Also, I visited also Deir el-Bahari, a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of the Theban Necropolis.  The first monument built at the site was the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh Dynasty. It was constructed during the 21st century BC.

From Luxor to Aswan I travelled on the Nile River on a river cruise which was very relaxing and handy as I did not have to pack and unpack while visiting different cities and their temples along the way. I visited the Philae temple complex,

While in Aswan I visited also a Nubian Village where we stand a few hours walking around and having pick inside people’s homes. Located on the West Bank of the Nile, near the city of Aswan, are the most colourful and feel-good villages of the entire country. The Nubian Villages are painted in all the colours of the rainbow. To start farming around the Nile, the friendly Nubians moved from Sudan over 8000 years ago, which is why they have a darker skin tone. They have their own unique language that they never teach to an outsider.

We reached the end of three weeks’ tour of Egypt in Aswan, right at the dam which was built to generate electricity on the Nile River. I found a few entrance tickets from the trip as well which is part of a little scrapbooking done during the trip.

Thanks for visiting and reading. Please do not steal images from the website. All images are watermarked and copyrighted. Feel free to engage by leaving a comment below. Until next time.

PS. There are a lot more photographs from the beautiful Egypt, so if you are interested I put together a little silent photo slideshow below:

Here are 10 lesser-known facts about Egypt:

1. Egypt is home to the largest population of Arab speakers in the world, with over 100 million people.
2. The ancient Egyptians were skilled in many fields, including astronomy, mathematics, and medicine. They developed a 365-day calendar, built the pyramids, and created one of the first writing systems in the world.
3. The famous Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was opened in 1869 and is one of the most important shipping routes in the world.
4. The Great Sphinx of Giza, a limestone statue of a mythical creature with a human head and lion’s body, is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt and one of the largest in the world.
5. Egypt has a rich cultural heritage, with many famous writers, artists, and musicians, including Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and legendary singer Umm Kulthum.
6. The Red Sea is home to some of the most diverse coral reefs in the world, with over 1,200 species of fish and 1,000 species of invertebrates.
7. Egyptian cuisine is known for its delicious dishes, including ful medames, koshari, and molokhia. Many dishes are vegetarian or vegan and use a variety of herbs and spices.
8. The city of Alexandria, located on the Mediterranean coast, was once home to one of the largest libraries in the world, the Library of Alexandria, which was destroyed by fire in ancient times.
9. The Nile River, which flows through Egypt, is the longest river in the world, stretching over 4,000 miles.
10. The Egyptian pyramids, built as tombs for pharaohs and their queens, are some of the most iconic landmarks in the world. The largest pyramid, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is over 480 feet tall and took over 20 years to construct.