|
|
You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
............ 
Dec 13, 2020 10:00 PM All inclusive under the palms...
It is the first case in the long history of my travelling that I stay in the hotel where the drinks are included in the room rate. But I must add here a comment: Egypt is Muslim country where alcohol is officially forbidden. No bottle shops even in big cities, if your are a beer lover it will be very difficult to find the bottle... Except, if you are in the good hotel or resort where they want more and more foreign tourists.
To save the money they do not offer imported, well-known brands, but Egyptian products only. So you will be surprised that there is Egyptian whisky, Egyptian vodka and brandy and Egyptian white rum (recommend!). They have also Egyptian beer and wine but for some strange reason ithe wine is served only durind the lunch and dinner time. Barmen do not drink, so the choice of wine is like the lottery: there is only one white and one red. You order dry but you never know if you will get dry or sweet....
|
Dec 12, 2020 10:00 PM Back to the Red Sea
We are coming back to the coast. It is about 5 hours drive from Luxor to Marsa Alam. Every tourist bus in Egypt is escorted by the armed policeman. And there are many control points on the route... You are always stop at they are checking documents of the car, destination and the number of the people inside...
First part of today's driving to Qena was very interesting - through the window of the bus I saw the life - people working, donkey carts and lush nature with many bougainvillea flowers jn blossom... Then we turned east and started to cross rather monotonous Eastern Desert. We reached our hotel in the darkness.
|
Dec 11, 2020 10:00 PM West Bank of the Nile
Opposite the Luxor, on the west bank of the Nile there are many monuments from the time of the pharaohs. Probably the best known is the Valley of the Kings with 62 tombs of the rulers. The entry costs 240 egyptian pounds and gives you the right to visit 3 tombs of your choice. The Tutenhamon tomb is excluded and worth extra 300 pounds if you can see it. It is interesting place to see with fantastic decoration on the walls, but for me much picturesque is located nearby the Temple of Queen Hachhepsout - the only woman who ruled in Egypt. The temple is located at the bottom of the high cliff. Polish Archeo Mission was working hete long time to reconstruct the temple and the result is excellen - just see the picture!
|
Dec 10, 2020 10:00 PM Enormous columns of Karnak
They say that this is the biggest temple in the world... Today I visited the temple of Amon Re in Karnak - on the outskirts of Luksor. This was my third time in Karnak, but I was impressed once again. Maybe because the temple was almost empty due to pandemic? The columns in hypostyle hall are imposing - How they constructed such a building thousands years ago? Armed police is present in every monument to guarantee the security. They are very friendly, but it is forbidden to photograph them...
|
Dec 09, 2020 10:00 PM Temple of Horus in Edfu
Early wake up. At the sunrise time the horse cart was waiting on the river bank. I boarded the cart with my friend David and after some 15 minutes we reached the gate of the temple. It is big, but hardly visible from the distance because it was built below the present level of the ground. It was my first visit here and I must say I was impressed. I liked especially the nice reliefs on the walls of the temple...
In the afternoon wa will ba sailing down to Luxor....
|
Dec 08, 2020 10:00 PM High dam and Philae Temple
Sun is very strong is Aswan. I must wear a hat to protect the skin on my head. :) In the morning we were driving to the High Dam. Russians built it working from 1961 to 1971. Egypt paid them sending to Soviet Union tons of cotton. Now the power plant installed here is the main source of energy for the whole country. The difference of water level is more than 100 m. The place is well guarded by army and the police and you can take the pictures only from the special parking and only by phone. No cameras or video... Entry costs 100 pounds... Impressive... I had a chance to see the place where I landed coming by junk boat from Sudan in 1976...
Later they took us down to the boat operating on the little lake between High Dam and Little Dam built by British closer to Aswan. The boat took us to the famous Philae Temple located on the island. Temple of Isis is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and is really beautiful.
In the afternoon I was sailing again down the Nile to Edfu.
What a day!
|
Dec 07, 2020 10:00 PM In Aswan after 44 years
In the morning I was walking the corniche in Aswan - again after 44 years. Sill nice place with the views of first cataract. Zero tourists and only few changes. One of them is huge Coptic cathedral built opposite historic Old Cataract Hotel. They charge 300 pounds to visit hotel, but the entry to the cathedral is free. the big church is worth to see and there is free voluntary guide.
In the afternoon I took the little boat to Kitchener Island to visit Botanical Garden. Nice, but 35 pounds entry..
The weather is like in the summer in Europe. I love that!
|
Dec 06, 2020 10:00 PM To Kom Ombo
Wow. The result of PCR test was favorable for me!
So they woke me up at 4 am and I boarded the bus going through
the Egyptian Eastern Desert (5 hours non stop, partly gravel) to Edfu.
There I boarded the river boat and we sailed upstream to Kom Ombo.
In Kom Ombo there is ancient temple of the gods Horus and Sadek.
Impressive! In the evening we sailed further upstream to Aswan.
Wonderful day!
|
Dec 05, 2020 10:00 PM Waiting for the result of the test (under blue sky) :)
They promised to send us the results of the PCR test today in the evening. So waiting we have the day at leisure. Strong sun is shining and the sky is blue. Tropical flowers around... Our beach hotel is amost empty... I like it, because I hate the crowd. Included food is not very sophisticated, but for me it is OK. Let's hope that the result of the test will be negative - in this case tomorrow I will take the bus to Edfu on thebank of the Nile where the river boat is waiting...
|
Dec 04, 2020 10:00 PM Day on the plane
I spent the night in the little Airport hotel close to Chopin Airport. The advantage of this place is free transfer to the airport in the morning. The airport was empty except one long line in front of check in stands for our charter flight to Marsa Alam. They put us on the bus going to the distant park.... Cold morning... Departure was 20 min delayed and the 737-800 plane of Smart Wings was full. I was afraid about the space for my long legs, but it was not too bad. Food and drinks for sale only and rather expensive... Aha, they serve a cup of free mineral water :) Bring your sandwiches with you!
After 4,5 hours I saw the navy blue waters of the Red Sea and yellow desert. We landed in the sun in little Marsa Alam airport. They collected health declarations and allowed first to disembark people with Covid test ready. Then they took the rest of passengers to the terminal, copied our passports and collected the test material from the nose. Then we went through the passport control (to encourage tourists Egyptians temporary do not charge 25 dollars visa fee) Luggage pick-up. Buses were waiting in front of the terminal. Pleasant 24 deg. Celsius. We were driving north through the desert leaving people in the scattered hotels. We reached our "Pensee Hotel" at dusk. At 10 pm I was walking in the shirt only - the temperature of Polish summer!
|
Page:
69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
|
|
|
