If you’ve dreamed of visiting the great sites of Egypt, I am now able to assure you that they are absolutely as mind-blowingly awesome as you think they are. Egypt as a whole is overwhelming in the scope and scale of her antiquities, monuments, legends, and lore.
Standing at the base of the great pyramid on that first morning my mind was swimming in questions. Days later as I wandered into the gateway to Abu Simbel Temple, I’d learned more Egyptian history than I ever thought possible. I was keeping up with the network of Gods and Kings from Osirus to Ramses to Amen-Ra and back. And I still had more questions than I did on day one.
Abu Simbel is a special spot for me. I never knew the name of the temple until now, but my mental image of Egypt has always been a photo of my parents taken in front of the temple when they were on a pretty unique and spectacular Nile River Cruise when I was about 6 or 7.
If you think your kids won’t remember much from this age, I can tell you that they’re damn impressionable. The stories from that trip have stuck with me for 40 years, and I believe are part of the foundation of my love to travel and meet new people in new places. Walking up to the gateway beneath the 20m tall statues of King Rameses II I was transported into the weathered tan leather photo album that my sister and leafed through so many times as kids.
You would think that an experience like that would be impossible to top. But for the last couple of days we’ve been trying pretty hard. We spent a day and night sailing down the Nile on a traditional sailboat called a Felucca. We motored out to a Nubian village on an island and ate dinner with a local family (& played with their pet crocodiles). We walked through the Valley of the Kings and toured the tombs of Egyptian Royalty… actually I walked through the Valley of the Kings. James spent that day debating with his body whether or not the Indian food we ate the night before was worth dying over.
Each day has been an incredible new experience. Filled with new knowledge, new sites, and new friends. Egypt has been quite kind to us, and was a perfect way for James and I to start our travels together.
In the morning it’s off to Tanzania where we hope to find some living wonders of the world.
Loving the blog. You are doing what we all wished we had done. Enjoy the ride!