1rt day: (Friday) BARCELONA – ASWAN

We took a special flight in the direction of Aswan. We arrived to airport where an agent was waiting for us for the visa.

Porters caught the baggage, whose hands were very dark, then they put the baggage inside the bus as dirty as their hands. In this point our suitcase lost their original colour…

While we headed for the port, a nice guide explained us optional visits that we didn’t should lose. The guide sold “The Nubian population” so good that he convinced us!!

From the bus we began to see in the area round Aswan: buildings, people walking along the street, women dressed dark up to the neck…

We embarked in our cruise ship the MS Oberoi Sherazad. They gave us a welcome cocktail and assigned us an enormous cabin with double bed, 2 baths, sofa, TV and 2 big panoramic windows. We had luck because our cabin was in desk plant and we hadn’t got problems with motor’s noise.

After lunch in the same cruise ship, our guide Adel, took us to walk to Aswan. The first stopping place was a change house for obtaining our first Egyptians pounds.

Then we went to bazaar!! We could see the Aswan Bazaar. Adel walked very fast and we become exhausts so we didn’t buy anything.

When we arrived to cruise ship we met the rest of the group, during the dinner (exquisite), with the landscapes of The Nile like bottom drop curtain…

2nd day: (Saturday) ASWAN - KOM OMBO – EDFU

In the morning, we visited de High Dam of Aswan, where we couldn’t take photos. It didn’t have any special thing but for Egyptians is very important because dam avoid floods. In the distance, we saw a little temple that belongs to Nasser Lake. Here began the emotion...

We sailed with a big barge full of little flags to visit the Temple of Philae. This temple is an architectonic group of buildings made up for The Temple of Isis, other small temples, sanctuary, Hadrian’s arch, and the Hypostyle Hall. The Temple of Philae was the temple that we liked more, we don’t know if it was because this temple was the first that we visited or because its situation inside an isle was splendid!

When we arrived in, we were alone. Adel explained us, in a shade place, a long and boring speech. The 35 degrees of Egyptian March began to feel. The temple began to fill up with tourists and they wanted to take a lot of pictures with their digital camera like us. It was simply nice…

When we returned to the cruise ship we went to visit the “Nubian population” (the original ones of these land) for see their style of life (really we went to their houses for drinking a cup of tea and made us a henna tattoo, all these was included in the price).

The visit was very funny and amused because during the way you can look a lot of precious landscapes of The Nile and the boatmen began to touch the drums and they invited us to dance…

The Nile up, we arrived to “Nubian Population” where we saw a lot of sellers and camels were waiting for us to visit the Nubians. Our cameleer dressed a T-shirt of F.C.Barcelona!!!

He took us a lot of fantastic pictures and recordered us with our video camera, really incredible...In the town, they offered us tea, smoke shisha, and we took a picture with a little crocodile. We didn’t drink tea for avoid to make use of diarreha tablets …

We started the navigation to Kom Ombo, where it was visited in the evening. The weather was very hot. The temple is known as Kom Ombo and it is composed of two temples consisting of a temple to Sobek and a temple to Haroeris. The paintings surprised us because are very good conserved!! The colours were alive and seemed that time didn’t happened…

We had a free time for buying galabeyas for the Egyptian Party. Here was our first haggling!! After we insisted on reduction, we obtained it by 6 euros each one!!!

We liked the Egyptian food very much, we had a delicious dinner, and then: Party!!! Arabic music and Egyptian games. Nuria, Moni and Gemma finished finalists of the game of Egyptians spoons. Oe, oe!!!

The Nile was very calm, and if you didn’t see through the windows, you would not say that you were sailing…

3rd day: (Sunday) EDFU – LUXOR

We got up very early and without having breakfast, we went with caleche to visit the Temple of Horus in Edfu - the best conserved temple of Egypt- that involved for recorded walls in Egyptian mythology.

Our guide Adel went with us, we were the last of the group and the caleche flew!! We awoke of blow…

We impressed very much when we saw the pylon, because it is very good conserved. The ceilings are black of bonfires of the later settlers and their enormous columns make it precious…

Sail to Esna to cross the river locks. We arrived first next to other cruise ship to cross it.

The driver, whom we took some pictures, invited us to his cabin and we saw to make seamanships next to the immutable guard and his enormous gun…Course to Luxor…

4th day: (Monday) LUXOR

Disembark of our cruise ship for the most exhausting and impressive day!!

Firstly we went to the Colossi of Memnon for doing the rigor picture. It seem to us incredible that there had been a temple and nowadays haven’t got anything.

Finally they took us to the most desire temple: the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahari, whose construction is different from others of the Nile’s valley, and it’s not strange if we thought that it was constructed by her lover… We saw the statues of Hatshepsut whose heats were found buried metres beyond the temple, with its characteristic nose…. Her stepson was not able to delete her name of the ancient Egypt history, nor its face!!!

This temple not only complain our expectations, exceeded them…

Then we visited the Necropolis of Tebas, on the occidental bank of the Nile River: The Valley of the Kings, where we could see 3 real tombs. The fatigue affected us, the heat was insupportable but it was compensated when we came in inside these marvellous…

In theory was forbid to do pictures or video, but there was a lot of flashes and these were doing very badly. We took some pictures without flash and came on well!!!

In the tomb of King Tutankhamen we didn’t enter because the guide said us that wasn’t good then we took a picture in the door, and we were satisfied with it…

We accommodated at Sonesta’s St.George hotel in Luxor, the most beautiful, luxurious and best hotel of our entire tour. Before that, we came to a big store to shopping where the guide earn his commission…

In the evening, we visited The Great Temple of Karnak, extensive place that contain more than 20 architectural wholes. The columns of Karnak are impressive big.

Here we didn’t feel our legs!! We were exhausted!! How hot it was and so beautiful!!!

Finished the day we visited the Temple of Luxor, dedicated to Amon’s god, where it project the Amenhotep’s courtyard.

Then we came back to the hotel but it was very soon and Adel decided to go to drink something in the city centre. We drank Egyptian’s cokes and some people of the group smoked Shisha in water pipe.

We were very tired and we began to feel ill….

5th day (Tuesday). LUXOR (Dendera)

In the morning we went in convoy by road to the Temple of Dendera, old place of cult of the goddess Hathor. We saw the reproduction of the horoscopes motif, the original is out of Egypt!!!

The temple didn’t seemed us very beautiful, the most emphasized thing was the crypt whose had precious reliefs…

That day our body said: that’s enough!!! The tiredness and the strong fall down the temperatures provoked THAT WE CAUGHT A COOL IN EGYPT!!!

6th day: (Wednesday): LUXOR-ASWAN

We returned to Aswan by road. The people who felt good went to a walk by the Nile in Felucca (typical Egyptian boat).

We stayed sleeping in the hotel. The hotel Mövenpick Aswan seamed like the 50s. That hotel was situated in the Elephantine Island. The rooms were flats, very good for rest...

7th day: (Thursday) ASWAN - ABU SIMBEL

We transferred by road to Abu Simbel because we hadn’t go by plane. There was a terrible sand storm!!!!!

The trip was very short because we had a good time: singing and enjoyed a lot. The bus had 50 places and we were only 17, we used it as a hospital because our friends didn’t feel very well.

We arrived to Seti Abu Simbel Hotel, a simple but nice hotel whose bedrooms looked villas and there were a lot of flowers…

By finished we went to visit the Temples of Ramesses The Great and his favorite Queen Nefertari. The temples were saved from the rising waters of the Nile resulting from the Aswan High Dam. The temples are so awesome and impressive by all means, although they were built 3200 years ago.

We felt exhausted and there was very cool for that reason we didn’t enjoy the magnificent temples. We have the perfect excuse for come back…

In the hotel, waiters were very kind when they carried the dinner to Carlos’ room. Later the waiters brought a brew for him. Meanwhile some member of the group went to our room for demanding the thermometer…

At night, Monica, Nuria and Gemma went to Sound & Light Show in Abu Simbel. Carlos was in bed because he had flu, more than 39 degrees!!! The flu didn’t down and we advised the doctor who only spoke Arabic. Adel was our translator. He said us that he gave some medicines and the day after Carlos could feel well and it was true… 

8th day: (Friday) ABU SIMBEL-ASWAN-CAIRO

That day we went from Abu Simbel to Aswan (in aeroplane) and from Aswan to Cairo in aeroplane too.

9th day: (Saturday) Cairo (Pyramids and the Sphinx)

In the morning the bus carried us to the chaotic streets of Cairo to see the Pyramids of Giza (the most famous pyramids of the world, Cheops, Chephren and Menkaure) and the Sphinx. The first stop was in the great Pyramid, we surprised so much with the enormous stone blocks. Then we went to see The Temple of the Valley and the Sphinx. Finally we saw a beautiful panoramic view of the pyramids.

In the evening, we came back to the hotel, Sheraton Cairo Towers for rest with Marian (Asturian girl of our group), in a disastrous taxi that was paid by the guide. We think that the cheapest one…

The rest of the group went to Memphis and the step Pyramid at Sakkara, where had been Mortuary Precinct of King Zoser 

10th day: (Sunday.) THE CAIRO (Egypt Museum)

In the morning we visited the Egyptian museum famous for its antiquities from Egypt's Pharaonic period, which dates back some 50 centuries and includes the fabulous treasures of King Tutankhamen. The mask was a strange beauty. We looked it and a strange sensation become to us, we surprised so much although we saw it a lot of times in pictures. Also we visited the famous mummy room.

In the afternoon, we visited the Citadel, where had been the Mohammed Ali Mosque. Then we walked by the Medieval Bazaars of Khan-El-Khalili. We meet Jordi, he stayed in Barcelona for a long time and he liked the name of Jordi as much than when he returned to Egypt he made him to call Jordi. He has a shop in he bazaar with fix prices and it’s not necessary to haggle. That situation was ideal for us because we were very exhausted.

11th day: (Monday.) THE CAIRO - BARCELONA

We moved on to the airport for the special flight to Spain. The flight delayed 4 hours.

Jordi & Nuria - Khal Kalili