Take Only Memories, Leave Only Footprints

From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
Napoleon

As many of you may know, Ancient Egypt was one the greatest civilizations in ancient history spanning well over 3000 years. To me what makes Egypt so alluring is that the main source for information regarding this ancient world still exists today, through monuments, artifacts, objects, and hieroglyphs. It’s like footprints were left behind for us to discover, giving us the opportunity to research and learn the richness of Egypt’s religious traditions, architectural achievements, and art. As an avid lover of all things history including art, film, cultural, architectural, even political, this was an unforgettable experience for me to witness in person.

Egyptian Museum – Founded in 1902 and has an extensive valuable collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. Sarcophagus, papyrus, funerary art, contents of various tombs, jewelry, objects, and ornaments of all kinds
Statue of Menkaure. An Egyptian King of the 4th dynasty standing alongside the goddess Hathor and goddess Bat, famous for his tomb, the pyramid of menkaure at Giza.
King Tut’s gold throne made of wood, covered with gold and silver, semi precious stones, and colored glass. A scene from the daily life of the Pharaoh is depicted on the front of the throne. Young King Tut sits in a relaxed pose, while his wife Ankhesenamun, rubs her husband’s shoulders with fragrance oils.
Canopic shrine of King Tut. The relief carving on the sides of the box are scenes of the king and queen in their daily life. At each side of this shrine stands an elegant statue of one of the four female divinities in charge of protecting the deceased king. Isis – goddess of life, Nephthys – protector of the dead, Neith – goddess of the universe, and Serket – scorpion goddess of healing
Mask of Yuya and his wife Thuya
Canopic box of Thuya with 4 canopic vases – four major organs were taken from the body during the mummification process and stored in these jars. The liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines. The heart was home of the spirit and left in the body.

Temple of Seti I (The great temple of Abydos) – Osirus covered by the protecting wings of Isis, with Seti I kneeling before him presenting to him an offering of a collar made of gold. Isis wears the sun disc enclosed by cow’s horns (of her alternative form as Hathor) on her head. Osirus wears the double plume often associated with Amun (God who created the universe)

(Left Scene) Seti I makes an offering of incense to the seated Osiris, protected by the goddess Isis wearing her Hathor headdress and (right scene) he kneels before a standing Osiris, again, protected by the goddess Isis

The pharaoh Seti I offering a statue of Maat (goddess of truth, justice, and morality) to gods Osirus, Isis, and Horus

Luxor Temple – was dedicated to the coronation of new kingship. It has served as a ceremonial place for most pharaohs of Egypt who received crowns. The statues of Ramses II are near the entrance of the temple. There’s different sections throughout the temple with decorated scenes of Ramesses II military victories, the symbolic divine birth of Amenhotep III, and the shrine of Alexander the great it

Columns covered in hieroglyphics at Karnak

Dendera temple of Hathor. This was probably my most favorite temple. Look at the intricate detailing. So beautifully preserved after thousands of years. The turquoise ceiling is illustrating a procession of deities adoring the ‘Eye of Horus’. The right eye of Horus represents the sun and indicates resurrection and protection

This ceiling relief really captured my attention. It depicts the daily journey of the sun through the body of Nut, the Sky goddess, who swallowed the sun in the evening and gave birth to it again in the morning

The tomb of Ramesses III in the valley of the Kings – one of the largest tombs in Luxor. The scenes in the burial chamber include extracts from the book of the earth, and scenes of the sun boats during their journeys of the day and night.

Look at how vivid the colors are. This is a tomb painting of the pharaoh Ramses I in between gods Anubis and Horus

Details

Requirements (this is from 2021 please check travel site for most up to date requirements)

Negative PCR within 96 hours for North America and proof of travel insurance
You can usually purchase travel insurance through your flight but World Nomad is another popular option
Apply for a visa cost $25.00
You’ll also need a covid test to return to the US. Cost is $130 USD

Trip Dates
shoulder season, not as busy or as hot as the summer months
March 22nd to March 29th

Flight Duration
ATL to Paris – 8 hrs.
Paris to Cairo – 4 hrs.

Airport
Cairo International
$622 for round trip flight

Accommodations
Marriott Mena House Cairo – 2 nights
Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa – 3 nights

Flight to Luxor
Egyptaire
$80 USD – 1 hr. flight
We flew to Luxor but you can also take a sleeper train, Watania is a well known and recommended company, costs $163 USD

Highly Recommended Tour companies
Here’s a few, I’m sure there are tons of great companies you can find just make sure you do a thorough research
Go Luxor Tours
Anton’s Egypt Tours
Cairo Top Tours

Go Luxor Tour Cost – 277 USD per person / group of 4 people
We received a beautiful tailor made itinerary with images and detailed descriptions of the ancient sites we would be visiting. Included in the cost was transportation by private air-conditioned vehicle, private guided tours in Cairo and Luxor with English speaking guide, one free meal, entrance fees to all the sites, bottled water, service charges, and taxes. The tour cost did not include optional tours, personal expenses, and tipping.

Things to see in Cairo

Great Sphinx
Pyramids of Giza – pyramid of Khufu, pyramid of Khafre, and pyramid of Menkaure (known as the big three)
Egyptian Museum
Ride camel’s and ATV’s near the pyramids
Khan El Khalili Bazaar Market – famous for clothing, spices, street food, traditional jewelry, and perfumes (a lot of souvenirs are made in china unfortunately but I’m sure you can find some items made by local artisans)
Old Cairo – historic area founded in 969 A.D

Things to see in Luxor

Temple of Hathor (Dendera) – built for the honor of the goddess of love ‘Hathor’
Luxor Temple
Valley of the Kings – served as the burial grounds for Egyptian royals such as the tomb of King Tut
Valley of the Queens – where the wives of pharaohs were buried such as the tomb of Queen Nefertari
Karnak
Hot air balloons
Felucca along the Nile river or to Banana Island

Things to see in nearby cities

Siwa Oasis – western Egypt near the Libyan border
Philae Temple – temple of Isis at Philae
Visit/Snorkel at the Red Sea
Abu Simbel – Aswan Egypt
Saqqara Pyramid
Ramesseum – memorial temple for Ramesses II
Library of Alexandria – one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world
Al Sahaba Mosque of Sharm El Sheikh – beautiful ottoman architecture, Sinai peninsula
Petra Jordan – rose-red city and dates back to the 4th century B.C

Traditional Egyptian foods must-try

25 Traditional Dishes to look for in Cairo

Tipping
You can tip in Egyptian or US dollars, though I think its better to always use local currency. I don’t think I’ve ever tipped a person or people so much in my life! lol You are definitely expected to tip. Tip your drivers everyday after the tour, tip your tour guide after a day’s tour, any activities you do like ATV riding you are expected to tip, tip the servers, and this is all extra in addition to your other fees. I think we might have over compensated at times but it truly is not bad. Egypt’s cost of living is significantly less than the US. 3 to 6 dollars in US money equals around 54-109 Egyptian pounds. We would tip 6 to10 USD. One piece of advice, be careful, especially when buying goods. If you don’t mind spending the extra money that’s fine but foreigners will always be charged a little more. Though I’m ok with that and the fact that most things can be bargained for, there’s still some people that will do the most and try to over charge you.

Cairo and Luxor Egypt 2021

sources
theurgetowander.com
discoverwalks.com
bigseventtravel.com
egyptianmuseum.org
studymode.com
globalegyptianmuseum.org
egypttoursplus.com
Wikipedia