Cruise on the Nile or relax on the shores of the Red Sea
In other words, the Arab Republic of Egypt. A country that, while studying history at school, I definitely wanted to visit. A country that is still called the "Gift of the Nile" and it is a pity to realize that from that Egypt, which arose as one of the most powerful and mysterious civilizations, about which so much is written in textbooks, nothing remains, even the population itself - the Egyptians. Maybe that's why he changed so drastically, who knows...
The history of Egypt has more than 6 thousand years. Unique monuments of ancient culture have been preserved on its territory: grandiose pyramids, majestic temples, many other architectural and historical masterpieces, all this is still amazing. And the desert itself leaves an indelible impression.
So, about rest. The choice fell on Egypt for several reasons: not far, reasonable prices for tours, instant visa, and CLIMATE, which is not unimportant in November : )
11/11/06 - departure from Kyiv to Hurghada, rest in Cinderella Beach (time spent from 17-00 to 2-00! ), from 12-15.11. 06 cruise on the Nile (Solitaire 5 * liner) from Luxor to Aswan, from 11/16/06 (from 24-00) to 11/18/06 (until 12-00) - the same Cinderella Beach.
We tried to make the rest rich, sit yourself it turned out or not.
The flight was at 10-00 in the morning, which was very upsetting, because. the transition from autumn to summer took about 4 hours. Thus, we lost a full day of rest. As agreed with the Kiev travel agency, at the Hurghada airport we were met by a representative of the Futche Group. He filled out our necessary documents quickly enough, but in order to pass passport and customs control, we had to stand in line, which consisted of tourists like us. Incredible pandemonium:
1. get a migration card and buy a stamp for $15 - turn;
2. we go through passport control - a queue; (we were lucky because we shared the queues with tourists from Ukraine)
3. showed the passport to the Arab so that he could make sure that you, we really went through passport control - and then the turn;
4. found your luggage. There are several options for this:
- clean up several piles of luggage lying on the floor;
- just remove it from the tape (we were lucky, but our neighbors decently searched).
Upon arrival at the hotel we were in for a "surprise". Also Cinderella, but a completely different hotel without the promised pool and its own beach. It is located instead of 1 on 2 lines, a monolithic multi-storey building and nothing more. You know, we were very disappointed. I heard about such cases before, but I did not think that I would get into it. Conclusion, go to trusted places, through a trusted tour operator and read reviews. The road to the hotel, accommodation and dinner took all our free time. The only thing we managed that day was to agree on dry rations for breakfast (it was a disgusting thing !!! ) and go to bed early, because. Check out was at 2 am. The hotel is located not far from the Hilton hotel. Towels at the reception on the beach without tantrums do not give, the food is disgusting. My advice to you, if you don't want to ruin your vacation, don't go there! (Fortunately, we only spent 2 days there). They just make a good road nearby and open shops, as I understand it, even the beach will soon be on the opposite side of them... In short, the view from the window was not impressive.
We “stuck” onto the bus with our suitcases, because there was no point in unpacking them (it was impossible to leave them at the hotel). While we were driving and collecting the rest of the tourists, we almost missed the convoy to Luxor (tourists are sometimes very slow and instead of the promised 5 minutes of waiting, the time reached 40 minutes). When everyone finally gathered, the guide (tour leader, as they call themselves, a girl Nadezhda from Ukraine temporarily residing in Hurghada) spoke without explanation about the forced collection of tips and money for lunch, which are not included in the tour. I would like to say thank you to her! The stability, cheerfulness of this girl is striking.
The convoy consisted of a huge number of large and small buses. Ours was quite comfortable and we got to Luxor without much difficulty. I can't help but notice that in Luxor the suitcases rolled with us until the evening. Before lunch, we examined the western bank of the Nile in the "City of the Dead": the Valley of the Kings, the Colossus of Memnon, the funeral temple of Queen Hatshepsut. They brought them to the entrance to temples and tombs on a kind of train with trailers. After lunch, we saw the eastern bank of the Nile, where we visited the very majestic Temple of Karnak. A guide to Luxor, Romani, a local historian or archaeologist, told a fascinating story, though drawing hieroglyphs on the sand was not only to understand the images on the columns, but to a greater extent to suggest cartouches later - this is a gold or silver plate that depicts your name in ancient Egyptian spelling. Among other things, we were taken to a perfume shop, where there was a feeling that all the smells of the world were collected. First, everyone was given a piece of paper and a pen. Then, they brought coffee, tea, and began the “processing” : -) They dropped a sampler on everyone’s hands, compared the prices of their products and brands, said that this is once in a lifetime, and since they are in Luxor, it’s a sin not to use it. Here we were not in a hurry, respectively.
Only in the evening we got on a cruise ship. The ship is a magnificent floating palace, all glittering with marble and gold. Dinner was excellent, a buffet, but all drinks are for a fee. But even in this luxurious floating palace, you need to pay attention to the cabin. Cabin cabin - strife! If you want silence, I do not advise you to settle above the turbines, because the hum of the motor is very audible.
The next day, the schedule of excursions shifted, because the passage of the locks in Esna took longer than expected. Such a traffic jam on the road. And all just because only 2 ships pass per hour (round trip). And instead of passing at night, we passed the gateway at 10 am : -), but there were also pluses. On the upper deck, where we lounged by the pool after breakfast, we enjoyed the nature, the weather, the view from the cruise ship.
When the lock has been successfully passed, having had a hearty lunch, we moor to the coast of Edfa, where we visit the Temple of Horus. The temple was built in honor of the god Ra. Later there was an evening transfer to Kom Om Bo. After dinner there was a "Galabea (or whatever) party". Where all the staff were dressed in national costumes. Competitions, dances. Everything is super, except for the company of the French. They don't notice anything but themselves. I can't speak for all of them, but these were just that.
In the direction of Aswan, the Nile became wider, feluccas appeared (Arab boats with white slanting sails). The temple of the crocodile and the falcon (Sobek and Horbes) looked in the morning. It makes a greater impression at night, when in some mysterious way it suddenly appears in a mysterious spot of light. During the day, he is somehow not so solemn. In one of the chapels there are mummies of crocodiles. The temple is famous for the well-preserved ancient Egyptian calendar and nilometer. Because the excursion was early at lunchtime, we were already in Aswan, where we looked at the unfinished Obelisk (a monument of Soviet-Egyptian friendship) and the Ausan dam from the site of which a unique view of Lake Nasser opens, where those same crocodiles are found. But alas, we never saw them. We also visited a papyrus shop and a shop where they offered gold at quite "biting" prices : -)
In the evening we were offered additional excursions. We didn't choose the light show at Philae Temple, although those who went said they liked it. We opted for an excursion to the Botanical Garden and the Nubian village. The Botanical garden is beautiful. It is hard to believe that such an abundance of vegetation can coexist in the desert. The main road to the Nubian village was on a boat with a stretched awning for about an hour. Floating along the Nile (it was already dark), for no reason at all, a boy clung to our boat and began to sing a song, he knows only a few songs in different languages and all for the sake of money. When you look at this little body, how can you not give money! The Nubian village was nothing more than an ordinary settlement of dark-skinned residents, with houses that seemed to have returned many years ago, which is true with light and water. We were treated to honey, cheese and tea (those who did not disdain liked it). I can't help but remember the poor tortured animals (crocodile and fox) in the village. The poor animal, looking at all this flow of people, hid in its cage in a corner and looked so miserable : -(On the way back to the liner, we arranged dances on a boat. It’s a pity that there were only a few people who decided to dance. (Including me) , most of them tried to sing along (although no one knew the language) and clap to the beat. This whole pleasure cost us 30 USD per person.
The next morning, 11/15/06, we took another additional excursion to Abu Simbel. We got up early in the morning (at 3 o'clock) and because. there were few people who took the minibus on a 6-hour journey through the desert. We were given 2 hours to visit the temple, but in reality we watched 1.5 hours. Even despite the fact that it was transferred (due to the fact that the lake flooded the area where it previously stood during the construction of the dam), we really liked it. Apparently due to the fact that it was carried inside quite warmly, not like in other temples. On the territory of 2 temples. One of them is the only one of its kind, because. built for a woman, the wife of Pharaoh Nifertari. They saw a mirage in the desert, though they didn’t take a picture, because. everything was fast enough. The cost of this tour is 65 USD
So the days on the cruise flew by unnoticed and already at 13-30 we were loaded onto the bus to move under police escort to Hurghada. The return trip was long and painful.
We arrived at the hotel only at 12 o'clock. We must pay tribute to the representative of Wael from Futche Group, who waited for us and settled us without any problems in the same hotel. on the way we watched a picture when people did not want to settle in some hotels (you see, there are no places). Among the memorable such hotels here is Sofitel, which, by the way, was also offered to us by tour operators : -) And this happens! Didn't come down for dinner. There was no strength, no mood.
In the morning, after a good night's sleep, we went down to breakfast... and there is not tea, but water, not food, but the devil knows what... We ate with grief, asked for cards for the beach, which the receptionist handed over with a crooked face and went to the beach, which smoothed out the impression of the morning . After all, the sea is warm, the most beautiful fish swim. After lying on the beach for a day, we decided to look at the reefs and the next day we talked about another excursion. In a word - class! Such a pleasure costs 25 USD per person, but it could have been cheaper to take the main thing would be to know where : -)
If we talk about the peculiar shops, where we nevertheless went out one evening, then we were faced with when they grab you by the hands and try to drag you into their shop. It's certainly a horror when you are surrounded by the wild faces of the Arabs : -) I can say one thing - bargain.
This is how we spent the rest of the day. Despite all the same, some bad nuances, the vacation was not in vain. I didn’t manage to visit Giza, Alexandria, but you know, after all, it’s only 7 days, and this, perhaps, is another reason to visit Egypt...
