Day 1 - Saturday, November 27, 2004 - Flight Amman, Jordan to Cairo, Egypt - Return to Cairo We arrived at the airport in Amman just at 5:35 and Samir, our Jordan Trip Director said goodbye and we were passed on the OAT representative who helped us through with all the paper work. It was quite easy when one knows what to do. We were taken to the departure room and waited for our ...
Read Day 1!
DAY 2 - Sunday, November 28, 2004 - Visit Egyptian Museum Our alarm went off at 6:45 and we had breakfast in the dining room meeting the other half of the OAT group who had come in from JFK yesterday afternoon. We also picked up a new member to our group - should be interesting as the other 14 had bonded. He is tall, goes by C. Edward, and is an Shahinaz in the lobby and she ...
Read Day 2!
DAY 3 - Monday, November 29, 2004 - Karnak Temple, Falucca Ride & Luxor Temple We set the alarm for 3:45 and hotel wake-up came just after 4 AM. We had plenty of time to get a light breakfast and then board the bus at 5:20. It took the porters about 20 minutes to load the luggage so we left the hotel at 5:40 for the ten minute ride to the airport. We followed Shahinaz and had no ...
Read Day 3!
DAY 4 - Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - Discover West Bank of the Nile & Valley of the Kings/Queens - Thebes Our A/C never worked, or did the water drain from our tub, so at 8:30 PM they moved us to another room. The bellboy brought us a fan so we were cool and comfortable last night. The A/C has been turned off for the whole hotel (5 Star) as it is winter!!! But it is still 80 ...
Read Day 4!
DAY 5 - Wednesday, December 1, 2004 - Optional Balloon Ride, Luxor Temple & Museum, Local Market, School, & Embark on Nile Cruise We were up at 4 AM again, the third day in a row. We met our guide and walked across the street to the Nile River where we boarded a boat that took us to the West Bank. We met a 15 passenger van that drove us through the winding streets of small villages ...
Read Day 5!
DAY 6 - Thursday, December 2, 2004 - Cruise to Edfu, Visit Temple of Horus at Edfu & Sail to Kom Ombo We woke at 7 AM and Gennie was really sick. She believes she has the flu. She stayed in our room for the whole day and by the late afternoon she was feeling a little better. The bad news is that three other women are also sick - all from our Jordan trip. The men have not come down ...
Read Day 6!
DAY 7 - Friday, December 3, 2004 - Visit Kom Ombo, Sail to Kirchner Island At 7 AM I was up and Gennie told me she felt better and would take a shower and dress up a bit. She still is eating little but Kiwi Fruit but the flu is on the decline. At 7:45 I went to breakfast and we were ready to leave for Kom Ombo, a complex within a stone's throw from the quay and the ship. It ...
Read Day 7!
DAY 8 - Saturday, December 4, 2004 - Visit Aswan Dams, Temple of Philae, Visit Nubian Museum, Check In, Light & Sound Show at Philae We were up, showered and out for breakfast at 7:45. Gennie was feeling much better but still very weak. She was a trooper all day, going to all the sights. Our luggage was immediately picked up to be transported to our new hotel in Aswan, Elephantine ...
Read Day 8!
DAY 9 - Sunday, December 5, 2004 - Flight to Abu Simbel Tour & Visit Temples of Ramses II & Nefertari, Flight Back to Aswan, Lunch a Nubian Restaurant, Papyrus Factory, Spice Market Our wake-up call was at 3:15 - the middle of the night - but it did not seem too bad. We knew we were headed for a great adventure. Today we flew to see Abu Simbel, 133 miles to the south of Aswan, but a ...
Read Day 9!
DAY 10 - Monday, December 6, 2004 - Camel Ride to St. Simeon Monastery, Camel Ride to Nubian Village, Lunch at Nubian Restaurant What a treat - no wake up call today! We woke up at 7:00 and had a leisurely breakfast. We met our group at the lobby at 8:30 and then met a motorboat that took us all the way around the island. We were then dropped off on the West Bank to meet our ...
Read Day 10!
DAY 11 - Tuesday, December 7, 2004 - Flight from Aswan to Cairo, Free Day in Cairo, Home-Hosted Dinner Our alarm went off at 5 AM and our wake-up call came at 5:15. Early morning for us to catch an Egypt Air flight to Cairo for the last three days of our wonderful trip. We had most of the packing done last night so it was easy to get the suitcases out by 5:45. A porter was ...
Read Day 11!
DAY 12 - Wednesday, December 8, 2004 - Explore Saqqara: Necropolis of King Zoser & Visit Pyramids of Giza & The Sphinx We got up at 6:30 and joined our group at 7:45 for this morning's adventure. It is warm, very humid, and overcast along with the usual city smog that is typical of this huge metropolitan area. We were amazed at the number of high-rise apartment buildings that seem ...
Read Day 12!
DAY 13 - Thursday, December 9, 2004 - Visit Citadel of Salah ad-Din, Churches, & Explore Khan el-Khalil Bazaar We were up at 6 AM and this gave us a little more time to get ready and have our buffet breakfast. We returned to our room to get our back-packs and we walked to meet our fellow travelers and our bus at the main hotel. As we looked about we saw the pollution that ...
Read Day 13!
DAY 14 - Friday, December 10, 2004 - Return to the U.S. We were up at 4 AM and all packed for our trip back to the US by 5:00. We walked over to have breakfast being served in the Garden Room. A little before 6 AM we walked over to the main lobby and identified our luggage so it could be loaded onto the bus. We then left for the airport a little after 6:00 am. This seemed ...
Read Day 14!