A Week in Egypt

Up and down the Nile, November 1993

We flew into Cairo from London and traveled up & down the Nile by surface as far as Abu Simbel

It was our second visit to Giza

Tourists at Giza

One of the Sphinx's ears is locked up in the vaults of the British Museum in London

Camel touts are persistent at Giza

A Pepsi break

Overnight air-con train to Luxor. We didn't get much sleep.

Aswan felucca

The Egyptian tourism sector has been hard hit by terrorism over the years. 1993 was no exception. A bus of tourists had been attacked earlier in the year. Tourists were scarce on our visit. When we wandered to the felucca dock in Aswan, we seemed to be the only bait on offer for the hundreds of small boat owners.

Sampling the local cuisine

Camel train by the road to Abu Simbel

The immense Abu Simbel ruins were displaced by the Aswan dam.

Abu Simbel

After our day trip to Abu Simbel, we took a local bus from Ashwan to Luxor.

The Karnak Open Air Museum is a couple of kilometres from Luxor

Over 100 columns still stand at Karnak

Our hotel in Luxor was on this street

Local colour

Rental bikes

Awaiting the ferry to the west bank from Luxor

Crossing the Nile

We met another tourist and she tagged along. It was warm (30C) but a dry heat.

Hapteshut Temple complex

Hapteshut from above

We left our bikes and hiked from Hapteshut to the Valley of the Kings. You can see the narrow green strip along the Nile.

The Valley of the Kings. Back in the day, its isolated position allowed tomb police to guard the ancient tombs.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut was built about 3500 years ago. One way to remember the pronunciation is to say "hot-chicken-soup" quickly.

We spent hours admiring the tombs.

The moisture from breathing tourists was having an impact on the previously well preserved paintings. We tried to hold our breaths for as long as possible.....