Venturing into the land of the pharaohs

An Egyptian Adventure

Welcome to Egypt! If you're visiting for the first time, Cairo — home to world wonder pyramids — is likely to be on your itinerary, but be prepared. Cairo's population nears the entire population of Portugal, so you can imagine it to be a fairly crowded and bustling city. With non-stop, chaotic, and noisy traffic, Cairo could easily compete for the title of "city that never sleeps".

★ Saqqara Pyramids

The Saqqara pyramid complex is often overshadowed by the larger pyramids of Giza, but shouldn't be overlooked. Despite being a slightly longer drive from Cairo, it's well worth the visit — tombs are better preserved, and there are fewer crowds, not to mention it is home to the Djoser Pyramid, the oldest (yet still impressive!) known pyramid in the world.

Notes:
Some of the tombs included in the "all-inclusive" ticket may be locked and you'll need to find someone from the staff to open them for you. Be prepared for tip requests, but we later found out that's not the only motivation — at least with one of the tombs.

While in Egypt, we met an Egyptologist who mentioned one of the tombs is closed because it's off-limits to Egyptians. This particular tomb depicts two men touching hands, which can be interpreted as a sign of intimacy or romance. Historically, it's not entirely certain whether the men depicted were family or lovers (the person who reluctantly opened this tomb for us mentioned multiple times they were two brothers, but it's just one possibility). According to the Egyptologist, this tomb is off-limits to Egyptians to protect them from being "corrupted by homosexuality". It's unclear whether this is true or just a theory, but it's worth keeping in mind.

★ Giza Pyramids

Disclaimer: While the Giza Pyramids are a world wonder and certainly worth visiting, I personally preferred the Saqqara complex due to its smaller crowds, fewer scam artists, and better preserved tombs. We also opted not to go inside the pyramids at Giza because we had already entered one in Saqqara and our friends told us the experience was similar.

For the iconic panoramic view, where all the pyramids and the Sphinx are visible, you'll need to either walk for quite a long distance or negotiate a ride with one of the many people offering horse or camel rides around the pyramid complex. Alternatively, you could arrange a guided tour ahead of time, which may be more convenient, especially if horse or camel rides aren't your cup of tea.

Scams to look out for:
If you want to avoid hassles and scams, booking a guide might be helpful, although it’s not essential.

Hurghada will forever hold a special place in our memory as the place where we took our first breaths underwater — which was, in fact, what inspired this trip in the first place.

During the first week, we did a couple of Discovery Scuba Diving dives, which allowed us to experience scuba diving without being certified and without worrying about anything except enjoying the wonders of the underwater world. And boy, did we enjoy it! On our very first dive, we saw giant moray eels (including a baby one, which was not so giant), blue-spotted stingrays, lionfish, and the cherry on top: a sea turtle! I definitely won't forget that moment.

Even if you don't see these specific species, the Red Sea will spoil you with stunning coral gardens and colorful fish — including the cast of Nemo, of course.

Needless to say, we were hooked and decided to get certified a few days later. We are now Open Water Divers, and PADI hasn't seen the last of us — I have my eye on a couple of other certifications.

As soon as we finished our diving certification, we headed for Luxor. While I was a bit disappointed that we wouldn't get a chance to dive in Hurghada again, Luxor more than made up for it with its ancient Egyptian sites that looked like they were straight out of a film.

★ Valley of the Kings

Of all the archeological sites we visited, the Valley of the Kings was my absolute favorite. You can spend an entire morning exploring the various tombs and chambers, marveling at the intricately decorated sculptures and painted scenes covering the walls and ceilings. It's an incredible place to get immersed in the history of ancient Egypt.

★ Karnak Temple

On the east bank of the Nile, you'll find the Karnak Temple.

Souk Market

The souk market in Luxor, situated directly accross the street from Luxor Temple, promises a cultural experience whether you're seeking souvenirs (spices are a great option) or simply visit the market and interact with the people working there — who apparently speak a few words of almost every language in the world and are always eager to guess where tourists are from. Allocate approximately 1 hour to stroll through the market, although your time may vary depending on whether you're just passing through or planning to do some shopping.

Luxor is a popular stop for Nile cruises, and we encountered many people near the market pretending to know us, claiming they "worked on our boat". Since we weren't on a cruise, it was clear this wasn't the case and we didn't engage in much conversation, but my guess is they would just try to promote or sell us something from their family businesses.

Hot Air Balloon

If you stay in Luxor long enough, take your morning to new heights with a breathtaking aerial tour over the east bank. We suggest booking the earliest flight slot and rising with the sun, so you can witness the sunrise casting its warm glow upon the banana plantations and illuminating the Nile. This breathtaking view is an unforgettable memory in the making.

This was my first time riding an hot air balloon, and it was very serene and enjoyable.

After getting certified in Hurghada, we didn't get a chance to dive there, so, after Luxor, we traveled east for one last rendezvous with the crystal-clear waters of the Red Sea. We stayed north of Marsa Alam, in a location between Al-Qusair and Port Ghalib, and were blown away by the beautiful beaches and amazing diving spots we found. We marveled at vast coral gardens that stretched out before us, with tall walls and holes that created breathtaking spotlights. Plus, we had the pleasure of encountering even more members of the cast of Finding Nemo, which had been my goal all along.

As our final stop in Egypt, Aswan was a peaceful and picturesque way to end our journey. At this point, all of our friends had left — some had gone back home, others moved on to their next traveling destination. We stayed at a boat guest house on Elephantine Island, a small island in the Nile close to the busy center of Aswan, where silence was interrupted only by the music of passing feluccas or the occasional braying of a neighbor's donkey. Each morning, we wandered through the narrow streets of the Nubian village on the island to get to whatever our destination was that day, and each afternoon we marveled at the stunning sunsets which beautifully distorted the colors of river banks. Aswan was, indeed, the perfect end to our long and memorable adventure in Egypt.

Philae Temple

Once you buy the ticket for the temple, you’re allowed to go past security, however the temple is on an island and the boat isn’t included (surprise surprise). Since you already paid for the ticket, the captains are not shy to ask high prices – they were asking us for an extra 100EGP/person, we got it down to 50EGP but it wasn’t an easy negotiation.

Nubian Villages

While in Aswan, we visited two Nubian Villages. To the south, the more touristic ones. To the north, the ones that barely get visits from tourists at all. The experience, as you might expect, was vastly different. The village we visited in the south had an extensive market on the street. While walking the village streets, we were constantly approached by the merchants who insisted - sometimes a bit top aggressively for our standards - that we must visit their stores. We ended up buying more souvenirs than we had planned because we had a hard time dealing with their persistent marketing techniques - but surely our family and friends were happy with the spices and tea we gifted them. In these southern villages you'll find many options for having a meal. Please note you might have to hire a private boat to get there, we didn't find a ferry that took us directly to the village.

The village up north was much more peaceful and low-key and we crossed paths with many children playing and grown-ups going about their daily lives without paying much attention to us other than greeting us with a friendly "hello" or "welcome". We did get into a wee bit awkward situation as we were trying to get a ride back to the boat. Two nice boys offered to take us on their "trailer", but when we arrived at the port, we were turned around by a man who insisted we had to go to the "Crocodile House". We had to tell him multiple times that we didn't want to see a crocodile (seeing caged animals is not our cup of tea), and he still wanted to charge us but eventually they took us back to the river.

Botanic Garden Island

We could see the island from our balcony, and we were curious to visit it. It's a peaceful place to walk around, with a variety of plants and trees, and we were also lucky to spot a few interesting-looking birds.

The magnificent temple of Abu Simbel is a three-and-a-half-hour ride away from Aswan, and it's a worthwhile excursion. Abu Simbel is a massive temple (yet another megalomaniac enterprise commissioned by Ramses II) that was originally carved into the banks of the Nile but was later moved to another site in an impressive coordinated international effort to prevent it from being submersed under rising waters.

Thanks to Rita and João for letting us crash this trip. To Farida, Luís, and Mateo, it was such a pleasure to meet you! I hope to see you all again somewhere around the world. I barely knew any of you before this and you were all amazing travel buddies. It's been over a year and I still laugh thinking about Farida taking a couple of days to realize that Pedro's name wasn't Diego or translating that the security guards at the airport were making fun of my rice.

To Pedro Cioga, credit is due for many of the photos on this post. Thank you 🧡