Well first off, what an amazing trip! It all started with the plan of employee flights and a time share to save money. Well neither of those worked out, but we already had the idea in our head... we are going to Egypt. We knew we wanted to see the pyramids, ride a camel, go to the red sea, scuba dive (Mandy and Nathan), and float in the dead sea. To most people that would be a three week vacation or three separate vacations, but for us. We had 8 nights and the logistics to figure out this plan was looking like way to much work. Zann found Memphis Tours on TripAdvisor.com. They are rated # 1 for tours in Egypt. I would definitely recommend them to anyone traveling to Egypt. They totally customized our trip for us. They booked the hotel rooms, had our transportation and all tours planned exactly. It was fabulous not having to think about getting around!!
We did have to book our own flight though. So, in order to save $500 a ticket, we had a 6 hour lay over in Istanbul on the way over and then a 3:30am flight out of Amman on the way home. On the way there we decided to make the most of our time and do a short tour of Istanbul (self-guided). We quickly bought a Turkish visa and found our way onto the Istanbul Metro.
Within 30 minutes of leaving the airport, we were standing in front of 2 of the most famous mosques in the world. Group shot in front of Hagia Sofia
The beautiful ceiling of the Blue Mosque. As a sign of respect, women need to have their heads covered when entering. We got there right as prayer time was going to start. When we were walking around we could hear the calls to prayer being said over the whole city through the loudspeakers on the minarets. It was quite an experience.The 2 mosques face each other and are about 1000 yards apart.
Hagia Sofia built in 360AD
Blue Mosque
Street shot of Istanbul near the mosques.We made it back in plenty of time to the airport to grab some pizza for dinner and connect with Sara and Josh (Mandy and Nathan's friends from GA Tech who live in London). They were supposed to be on a earlier flight but had missed their connection due to problems in London so now they were on ours. They had trouble getting their tickets changed so they had to sit and wait at the airport instead of coming downtown with us. We had a smooth flight to Cairo, but Sara and Josh's bags didn't come. This was the last thing they needed after having such a long day with airport problems already. After two hours of waiting someone said they would probably be coming on the next flight. Probably didn't sound too assuring but we went to the hotel anyways.
We finally made it to Egypt!!
Memphis booked us at the Barcelo Hotel. We really liked the hotel. It was located close to the pyramids and not too far from downtown Cairo.
Enjoying a beer in the hotel bar.
We finally made it to Egypt!! Our transportation to the hotel in "a modern air-conditioned vehicle" as stated in our travel itinerary.
Memphis booked us at the Barcelo Hotel. We really liked the hotel. It was located close to the pyramids and not too far from downtown Cairo.
Enjoying a beer in the hotel bar.We had an early start Thursday morning with a full day planned seeing the pyramids, Egyptian Museum and downtown Cairo. At 8:00 sharp our tour guide Mido and our driver were there to say "Yalla Beina" meaning "Let's go quickly".We heard that phrase about 500 times during the rest of the day so that became the phrase of the trip quickly.
First view of the pyramids.
First view of the pyramids.
First on Mido's agenda, was for us to pose like Pharaohs and Queens in front of Cheops pyramid.
First stop was the Giza pyramids of Cheops, Chephren, and Mykerinus. The Cheops Pyramid is the only remaining "7 Wonders of the Ancient World." It is also known as The Great Pyramid of Giza.
We sure look tiny up there. Notice how big each stone is, six of us lined up were as big as one. It was very amazing to think how they were actually built. Nobody really knows, but they think it was on a ramp system...or aliens.
Up on The Great Pyramid in front of the entrance. They only sell 100 tickets to this at 8am, so we had to settle on going inside the next one.
As you can see, the smog in Cairo is terrible!! This is a view into the city on a "nice" day.
You can see the casing that use to be on the outside of the pyramids when they were first built.
Overlook of the 3 pyramids. The one of the left is Cheop's- The Great Pyramid. It is the biggest but just built on lower land.
Yes, there are many tour buses going through the area. Luckily we had our own car for the 6 of us.
King Tut, Funky Tut!
Sphinx with the Great Pyramid in the background
Nathan doing a picture perfect imitation.
The Sphinx pose. The funniest part of this area was that if you could see behind the person taking the picture, the Sphinx sits there all day staring at a Pizza Hut and KFC. A funny contrast of the ancient and modern worlds. I found this picture online showing the restaurants from the perspective of the Sphinx.
We were lucky to have Josh there taking professional pictures with his high tech camera.
On the way from the pyramids to the Egyptian Museum, our guide asked us if we wanted to try a local place or eat at the museum cafeteria. We luckily chose the local place. The specialty was chicken shawarma. It was served on a hoagie with grilled vegetables and was amazing. The best part, according to Zann, was that it only cost $7 for 6 sandwiches and 6 drinks. You wouldn't even be able to look at shawarma in Zurich for $7.
This is the entrance to the Papyrus paper factory. A surprise tour given by our guide. We are pretty sure that we stopped at all of our guides friends shops on the way to museum, but this one was actually very cool.
Papyrus is a plant found in the Nile river delta, and it served as the first form of paper for the ancient Egyptians. This guy demonstrated to us how it was made. It looks like bamboo and was sliced into thin threads, flattened with a roller, soaked in water, and woven together.
2011 Hybrid (very green)
The buildings in Cairo were very strange. Most of them were only half finished. It seemed that all builders in Cairo had severe ADD and couldn't finish a building before starting on the next. The top of the building would have rebar and concrete sticking up. This was on probably 60% of the buildings.
Classic model
Cairo skyline over the River Nile
The entrance to the Egyptian Museum. Inside are over 100,000 artifacts. We were definitely lucky to have a guide inside and highly recommend one if you ever visit here. The layout of the museum seemed very unorganized as if all of the artifacts were just being stored there. It would've been easy to overlook some of the cooler things. The best part was the collection of King Tut's treasures. His tomb is the only one found so far that had not been robbed by Lara Croft. They also have some mummies inside, but after seeing the mummified animals, we decided that was enough. Plus you had to pay extra.
Another shot of the pyramids
That night, we went on a Nile Dinner Cruise complete with belly dancers.
Mr. William is taking a call at dinner for one of his men.
But really, a man walked up to our table with a cell phone and said "I have a call for Mr. William". Seriously we are on the Nile River, how is Zann or now know as "Mr. William" getting a phone call. Just his peeps checking in to make sure "His Party" was enjoying the trip.
On the deck of the boat
Back inside for more belly dancing and serenading
This guy was really good at twirling around in his skirt. I can't remember the name of this, but it is also a traditional Egyptian dance.
His skirt was also detachable
The 3 belly dancers. Mandy was being asked for autographs after the show.
Back at the hotel, we couldn't find anyone to serve us drinks. So, after waiting 15 minutes and asking the front desk twice we decided to serve ourselves. In the morning, we were headed to Sharm el Sheik and an all-inclusive hotel, so all-inclusive just started a little early.
Only later did we think about the fact that the penalty for theft in Egypt is to have your hands cut off...
Nothing like free Grand Marnier. We were waiting for Josh and Sara's bags still. It was the 2nd night and we were leaving at 7am to drive to Sharm. After 2 hours of arguing whether or not cursive should still be taught in school, the bags had still not arrived.
After realizing that he was risking his hands at the bar, Zann decided to work off his debt as the late night concierge. The bags finally arrived at 2am
We sure look tiny up there. Notice how big each stone is, six of us lined up were as big as one. It was very amazing to think how they were actually built. Nobody really knows, but they think it was on a ramp system...or aliens.
Up on The Great Pyramid in front of the entrance. They only sell 100 tickets to this at 8am, so we had to settle on going inside the next one.
As you can see, the smog in Cairo is terrible!! This is a view into the city on a "nice" day.
You can see the casing that use to be on the outside of the pyramids when they were first built.
Overlook of the 3 pyramids. The one of the left is Cheop's- The Great Pyramid. It is the biggest but just built on lower land.
Yes, there are many tour buses going through the area. Luckily we had our own car for the 6 of us.
King Tut, Funky Tut!
Sphinx with the Great Pyramid in the background
Nathan doing a picture perfect imitation.
The Sphinx pose. The funniest part of this area was that if you could see behind the person taking the picture, the Sphinx sits there all day staring at a Pizza Hut and KFC. A funny contrast of the ancient and modern worlds. I found this picture online showing the restaurants from the perspective of the Sphinx.
We were lucky to have Josh there taking professional pictures with his high tech camera.
On the way from the pyramids to the Egyptian Museum, our guide asked us if we wanted to try a local place or eat at the museum cafeteria. We luckily chose the local place. The specialty was chicken shawarma. It was served on a hoagie with grilled vegetables and was amazing. The best part, according to Zann, was that it only cost $7 for 6 sandwiches and 6 drinks. You wouldn't even be able to look at shawarma in Zurich for $7.
This is the entrance to the Papyrus paper factory. A surprise tour given by our guide. We are pretty sure that we stopped at all of our guides friends shops on the way to museum, but this one was actually very cool.
Papyrus is a plant found in the Nile river delta, and it served as the first form of paper for the ancient Egyptians. This guy demonstrated to us how it was made. It looks like bamboo and was sliced into thin threads, flattened with a roller, soaked in water, and woven together.
2011 Hybrid (very green)
The buildings in Cairo were very strange. Most of them were only half finished. It seemed that all builders in Cairo had severe ADD and couldn't finish a building before starting on the next. The top of the building would have rebar and concrete sticking up. This was on probably 60% of the buildings.
Classic model
Cairo skyline over the River Nile
The entrance to the Egyptian Museum. Inside are over 100,000 artifacts. We were definitely lucky to have a guide inside and highly recommend one if you ever visit here. The layout of the museum seemed very unorganized as if all of the artifacts were just being stored there. It would've been easy to overlook some of the cooler things. The best part was the collection of King Tut's treasures. His tomb is the only one found so far that had not been robbed by Lara Croft. They also have some mummies inside, but after seeing the mummified animals, we decided that was enough. Plus you had to pay extra.
Another shot of the pyramids
That night, we went on a Nile Dinner Cruise complete with belly dancers.
Mr. William is taking a call at dinner for one of his men.
But really, a man walked up to our table with a cell phone and said "I have a call for Mr. William". Seriously we are on the Nile River, how is Zann or now know as "Mr. William" getting a phone call. Just his peeps checking in to make sure "His Party" was enjoying the trip.
On the deck of the boat
Back inside for more belly dancing and serenading
This guy was really good at twirling around in his skirt. I can't remember the name of this, but it is also a traditional Egyptian dance.
His skirt was also detachable
The 3 belly dancers. Mandy was being asked for autographs after the show.
Back at the hotel, we couldn't find anyone to serve us drinks. So, after waiting 15 minutes and asking the front desk twice we decided to serve ourselves. In the morning, we were headed to Sharm el Sheik and an all-inclusive hotel, so all-inclusive just started a little early.
Only later did we think about the fact that the penalty for theft in Egypt is to have your hands cut off...
Nothing like free Grand Marnier. We were waiting for Josh and Sara's bags still. It was the 2nd night and we were leaving at 7am to drive to Sharm. After 2 hours of arguing whether or not cursive should still be taught in school, the bags had still not arrived.
After realizing that he was risking his hands at the bar, Zann decided to work off his debt as the late night concierge. The bags finally arrived at 2am
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