Tour of Egypt

I arrived in Egypt at Luxor by plane from Rome, on a tour organised by Viaggi del Turchese. Because of the dam's temporary closure, a minibus took us to the cruise ship moored at Edfu, where we slept. The following day the bus took us back to Luxor to visit the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the tomb of the pharaoh Hatshepsut, and the temples of Karnak and Luxor. In the afternoon, under unbearable heat, they took us by bus back to Edfu, where we slept on the ship. The next day a visit to the temple of Edfu and departure for the Nile cruise with a stop at the temple of Kom Ombo. The sailing offered us spectacular views along the riverbanks lined with lush vegetation. We then reached Aswan in the middle of the night.

The following morning we visited a stone quarry that still held an unfinished obelisk, then by a characteristic felucca to the island of Philae, which holds a temple moved there by an Italian archaeological expedition to save it from being submerged by the waters of the great Aswan dam. It was also the chance to visit the dam itself, a jewel of engineering and a precious water reservoir for all of Egypt. After lunch on board, another excursion on the Nile, this time by ferry, to see the botanical park of Elephantine Island and, on a secondary branch of the river, a Nubian village. Besides the interest in the village, which was, incidentally, very touristy, it was lovely during the sail to make contact with the children who came up to our boat in their small, rudimentary wooden vessels.

Pathetic, on the other hand, was the pseudo lesson in the Egyptian language given to us at the local school. Back on our ship we slept a few hours before being woken in the middle of the night to reach, with a long transfer by bus, the town of Abu Simbel on the border with Sudan. The journey nonetheless let us admire the dawn in the desert and above all the imposing ruins of the famous temple of Ramesses II, moved here to save them from being submerged by the dam. From the small airport of Abu Simbel we took a flight with a connection to Cairo, one of the largest cities in the world. As soon as we arrived in the capital we walked the streets of the old town, exploring the religious aspect of a metropolis where Christians, Muslims and Jews live together.

Here, among other things, we visited the Coptic Church where, according to tradition, is the house where the Holy Family would have stayed during the flight into Egypt. The visit to some great mosques was not missed, one of which houses the tomb of the Shah of Persia. After the overnight stay in a most luxurious hotel, the next day a visit to the famous pyramids of Giza, and to others a little further out, less frequented and surrounded by desert. Another overnight stay in a hotel and departure by plane to Rome. The tour was very pleasant, I got to meet many people and make friends. During the trip they also took us to an essence factory producing perfumes and to a papyrus one where they showed us how this plant is worked.