Set off early morning from home. 6am start. Flight from Gatwick so took train to Farringdon from Northwick Park. Got to Farringdon around 6.40. Went to get tickets for Gatwick. Single is £10.20 each; return £19.80. Decided to just get single as on way back flight is at a later time.
Flight 5hours 30 mins. Thomas cook no frills airline. Flight full. Lovely views outside. Guess who got the window seat even though window seat in my name! beautiful views of the Alps; incredible sunset. Sun sets around 5pm. By 5.30 quite dark. Arrived at Hurghada and had to get visa. Were told by others to go to Bank to get Visa not the tour operator but rep still pointed us to the tour operator. He kept asking us for passports quickly. Asked him how much and he said £22.50. had checked online that visa was £20 or $25 so went to the bank and got visa for 425. No forms to fill for visa (had to fill embarkation form on plane) just needed to give money.
Got to the hotel around 7pm. Old Palace resort Saal Hasheesh. Hotel around 18km from airport. Were told at hotel to upgrade to ultra all inclusive. We’re already all inclusive but internet not included and a la carte restaurants not included. We were going to but then looked at the a la carte restaurants – only 2 restaurants, brazilian all meat and Italian mostly meat. Decided to just get internet for $25; ultra inclusive was $100
Dinner have a veg menu – soups pasta pizza otherwise buffet. Mostly salads and fresh fruits guavas and persimmon. Hotel very dead only 40% occupancy.
9/12/15
Woke up really early around 5 am and went for a walk along beach. Beautiful promenade but no-one there- quite chilly in them orning. Incredible sunrise. Unfortunately had left camera in hotel. Breakfast was more salads and fruit. Also falafel for breakfast. I went to find out about snorkelling and massage.
Massage man called Hot Hot. Lots of different massage packages.
Snorkelling $25; divind $50. Give you a free dive to try out on the beach. Rep came at 10.30 to discuss excursions. Decided to go for all excursions including Abu Simbel. Came t £220 each. Had brought enough money from home in £. But decided to also do a day trip to Cairo. From Luxor on last day so don’t need to take coach back. Flight from Luxor to Cairo and then flight back to Hurghada. Meals , pyramids, Egyptian museum included plus lunch and dinner. £180 each. Decided to do this as well so had to take money out of ATM for this.
In afternoon got sold the massage. Sauna, scrub, body mask massage steam and Jacuzzi – 2 hours $50. Was really good and sking felt great.
Lunch and dinner – more of the same. Salads and fruits. Hitesh had pasta and fries. In evening talked to Nikhil and Arjun. They’d had a power cut so were eating out.
We were supposed to go for entertainment but this Guju couple wanted us to have drinks with them. Man Ok; lady little show off.
10 Dec 2015
Woke up around 3 am then back to sleep so didn’t go for a walk. Had a complimentary city tour at 10 am. Needed to send e-mail to book printing re book.
Guide really good. Explaining about Hurghada – complete desert previously. Only 45-50 years old. Hotels only 15 years old. Complete desert no water. Flowers watered by sewage water. 65km strip of hotels. 300m wide. Lots of unfinished hotels. 65% of tourists are Russian; then Germans and English. Now n Russians so lots of hotels suffering. Half the staff are forced to take holidays.
Egypt 93% desert; only 7 % fertile. Saw marina, Old mosque, Coptic church. In shops I bought a little bag, Hitesh a pair of sunglasses. When walking this little Egyptian kid (less than 2 years old) held on to one of the muslim girls (from our tour party) hand and started walking with her fro a few seconds. We thought he must have thought she was his mum but turns out he was just after some money! Got them well trained at such a tender age.
Lots of Egyptian guests in hotel due to triathlon on Friday and Saturday.
11 Dec 15
Didn’t wake up early for sunrise. Went for breakfast then went to see the triathlon and went for a long walk. It was really windy. Walked up to the other hotels. Long pier. Can go diving there. Saw some coral. Snorkelling on beach as well. After lunch went to the beach but really windy and cold so came back to the room. Evening Egyptian night. All staff dressed up . Lots of guests in hotel due to triathlon.
Egyptian belly dance and derwish dance. Really amazing derwish dance
12 Dec 15
Saturday morning woke up early and sat down to do yoga during sunrise. Sunrise not as beautiful as first day. Then went to the triathlon event. Today the main event for the elite athletes. 2.5k swimming; 40k bike ride; 10k run. Great to see my little friend ( I had met him yesterday – boy of about 11 and he had explained everything to me) . He had completed yesterday. He gave me a brochure. One of the ladies in the evnet is a star. She was being interviewed by the press yesterday and seems to be the best Egyptian lad – has completed several iron man triathlons etc according to brochure. Thinking of going snorkelling today. Bought snorkelling goggles and tube. Went ot see the race beforehand. Went to the beach and 50m to the sea could see lots and lots of fish. Also tiny coral. After lunch rested. Beautiful day today not windy so decided to swim in the afternoon again
In evening violin music in restaurant. – so special. Also lots of beautiful carved birds out of pumpkin and beautiful flowers carved as well. Met with the Gujrati family. Seem to be khojas and exchanged e-mail addresses.
13 Dec 15
Morning early start to Luxor 8 am. Woke up early and ready post breakfast. Had to check out completely. Have asked for same room when we come back. Drive through desert. Stopped at a café. Hitesh bought a rug for 50 Egyptian£
It was really cold so came in handy. Have left a bag at hotel including thick jacket! Lunch on boat. Boat only 70 cabins so quite small and only 50% occupancy. Went outside in the evening before dinner. All shopkeepers asking us to buy stuff. Ended up taking a horse carriage for Egytpian 10. Showed us town and local market. Egyptian market really a tourist shop. Dinner they made us stuffed aubergines which was really nice.
Early start tomorrow for West Bank Valley of the kings.
14 Dec 15
Valley of Kings – 30-40 mins drive . Nice pleasant countryside.
1st tomb Rameses IV. Well preserved tomb beautiful painitngs on walls.
Next tomb of Horemheb, very deep underground. Next to Twosret and Setnakhte – used twice, double tomb. Very nice again. All this under the mountains.
Some tombs used by Christians fleeing persecution from Romans and living there. That’s how they were discovered. Hitesh went to King Tut tomb. His mummified body still there. Then we went to the temple of Hetshephut – lots of school kids there who wanted to take photos with us. Hetshephut was the only female pharaoh – power crazy. Married her borther.
Stopped at Colloeaseum of Mennon for a photo. Huge columns. Took little felucca boat back to the boat to save time crossing river as our boat moored on East side.
Rested in afternoon after lunch. Went to sundeck for afternoon tea. Tomorrow going to Luxor temple and Karnak temple. Went out for a wlak in the evening and bought papyrus painintg and a vase.
Tuesday 15 Dec 2015
Early morning breakfast and then went to see karnak temple and luxor temple. Luxor temple in town only a few mins walk from boat. Karnak temple about 2km away. Karnak temple huge complex of temples. Each king / pharaoh added a bit more to the temples so around 60 acres. Sacred lake as well. Beautiful complex.
After Karnak went to papyrus factory. Lovely painitngs on papyrus.
Then went to Luxor temple. Luxor temple walking distance from our boat. Much smaller but still very beautiful. Came back before lunch. After lunch went to sleep for a while. I came up for tea. Boat looked like it was sailing. The other boat had moved away so a lovely view of Luxor West Bank. Then it looked like it was sailing.
The girls (Pakistani girls) hadn’t returned so everyone panicking. They were on the shore panicking and laughing nervously.
Actually the boat was just parking!
Had a nice long chat with Gerald. He lived in Ethiopia for about 30 years. Loves Ethiopia . Said lots of places to visit. Need to find out more.
Evening cocktail drinks and canapes. Dinner every day lunch and dinner they make sth veg for us. Tonight just plate of boiled peas carrots and beans! Maybe I need to take over the kitchen!
Wednesday 16 December
Today early morning to Edfu temple. Hitesh not feeling great – too tired so went by myself for breakfast. 8 am visit to Edfu Went by horse drawn carriage. Edfu temple best preserved temple. Very beautiful hieroglyphics and carvings.
In evening 5pm went to Komombo temple. Just walked there and then went to the Crocodile museum and then back to the boat. Today Egyptian night. Dinner Egyptian dinner but no falafel. Hummous, babbaganoush tahini, salads and pittas . Yeah!
Then dancing Egypitan style. Belly dancing and Derwish dancing . Really good again. Then dancing Egytpian style. Restaurant manager dancing with all the girls – seemed a bit leery!
Then played some games. We introduced some games – zip boing, lifeboat . music etc. Everyone really enjoyed and wanted to play more.
Thursday 17 Dec
Early morning visit t Aswan to see the unfinshed obelisk. Large piece of granite. Amazing how they could have lifted it and then got it erected and carvings. After went to visit the Aswan dam – joint project between Egypt and Russia. Amazing how much stone they’ve used. 17 times the size of the pyramids. Has created lake Nasser – used to be the largest man made lake in the world. Nile river in Egypt doesn’t have crocodiles but Lake Nasser does!
Then went to some perfume place . Not using pure essential oils. Had a free massage and free hibiscus tea. Afterwards took boat to Philie temple. Philie temple moved from another island due to the floods. Small but beautiful.
Lunch and then afterwards went by felucca to the Old Cataract hotel for tea and shisha. Old Cataract hotel is where Agatha Chritie wrote Death on the Nile. Beautiful hotel and lovely views. Felucca ride was wonderful and some great sunset views . Took some incredible photos. Next day was an Egyptian wedding at the hotel. Way back it was really cold. We started singing on the boat.
It was Shaheen’s birthday and they had made a cake for her. Italian night so pizzas but not that great. Evening Nubian show. Ok One guy was huge. Took us all and then started shouting at us. We had to shout back. Dancing like garbas.
Friday 18 Dec
Early morning start to Abu Simbel. Wake up at 2.30 am and leave at 3.10 am. Had packed breakfast. Just Hitesh and me on the trip from our group but minibus had loads of other passengers. Went by convoy. Aby simbel about 300km away . (3-4 hours) all desert along the way. Aby Simbel temple for Rameses 2nd . ruled Egypt for 67 years. Due to building of the dam, the temple had to be moved 200m . Amazing feat. Temple carved out of rock so they shifted temple where it was flat ( but first had to build a mountain – underneath plastic but then stone façade mountain).
Huge statues of Rameses 2nd. Amazing how they moved it. UNESCO financed the project in 1968. Cost $52m. Lots of huge statues of Rameses 2nd. Very egoistical king. Another temple for his wife Nefertiti. 2 hours in temple. Then long drive back in convoy. Came back around 1.30. After lunch had a nap. Around 5pm went to a café for a drink and shisha at Komombo. Beautiful café. Fresh juice 15 Egytpian. Evening played games. Charades. Our tour guide Wael joined us as well as the doctor on the ship. I think he likes one of the muslim sisters!
19 Dec Saturday
Today rest day but still up by 7.30 for breakfast. Had docked at Esna. Around 9 am went through the lock. Before that got persuaded to try free massage for 10 mins. Then decided to get 30 mins massage for £10. It was really good but it was guy and I was undressed except for knickers so felt little uncomfortable even though had a towel.over me He’s not muslim-he’s Christian. Couldn’t imagine a muslim masseur
After this went to the captian to see how the boat is steered. Steering wheel but this one not used only the levers. 20 years training before can sail a cruise ship on the nile. Sat around and chatted with our group.
A couple from Spain bob and Anne who insist on calling Hitesh Tash
A couple in their 70 and 80s called Gerald and Ellie who have lived in ehtopia for 30+ years
3 sisters + mum from Stoke on trent muslim in full gear.
English couple with young girl of 9
Incongruent group but we have all gelled well.
After lunch we went to the luxor café and bazaar. Care fresh juices. Mango and guava. Nice café and then tourist bazaar. Lots of stuff. Wanted to buy a bag but didn’t get it in the end as even if you so much as glance at sth they pounce on you and hard sell to you. You can’t browse at all.
Evening final dinner – broccoli chees for us and salads really good. Pasta station everyday . They try but a little bland. Evening entertainment Derwish dancing and belly dancing. Really good derwish dancing. Costume lit up. Belly dancing good as well. Even better than Hurghada.
Afterwards went to bed as early start again tomorrow 5am to go to Cairo.
20 Dec Sunday
Last few hours on boat. Got ready early and settled bill at reception. Luggage is left outside room . Hope it gets back safely. On plane now. Sky stunning in the morning. Got to Cairo around 7.40 am. No luggage so straight through. 2 of the girls and us 2. Met by guide at the airport and straight into taxi and heading for Egyptian museum. Sunday working day in Cairo so traffic heading to work but flowing. Not as hectic as London. Got to Egyptian museum a little early so had to wait for it to open. Took photos of statues outside. Were some stunning pieces outside. Inside went to the old kingdom first. Lots of big statues of kings. Hitesh took a photo and then deleted one but by mistake deleted the whole lot so no photos of Egypt trip so far. (once back in London bought some programme and managed to recover most of them!)
Upstairs in the Egytpian museum is the treasures of Tutenkhamun. This is the last week photos are allowed. According to bena, his mask was being restored and only went back on display on Saturday so we were really lucky to see it on Sunday.
Beautiful treasures and mask – everything from childhood toys to man toys and so much gold stuff. All brought here from the valley of the kings. Were given 1 hour free time after he guided us. Lots to see so a little rushed. They are building a new museum near the Giza pyramids costing $1bn and will be ready in 2018 and house all these treasures.
After Egyptian museum went to lunch. Took us to a little café near the pyramids. Falafel cost less than 2 Egy so about 20 p. Nice falafel but he conned us as should have taken us to a restaurant.
Afterwards pyramids. So massive . Went up the great pyramid – little way up them clambered up a few stones to the higher ground. Then went to the 3rd pyramid. The smaller of the 3 First pyramid 134m 2nd 130 m 3rd 73m. Went inside. Quite hard to come down. Had to bend really low. Pyramids were used as tombs. Great Pyramid fro Cheops.
Went for panaromaic view of the pyramids. Then went to see the great sphinx. Cannot go and touch it like the pyramids. Still early but guide wanted us to hurry so he could take us to see Egyptian cotton factory. We weren’t happy. Then he insisted on taking us to a café. Then dropped us at the airport. Still too early and ended up waiting at the airport for over 2 hours. We said to him he shouldn’t have rushed us at the museum and the pyramids but didn’t listen. Got to the hotel just 5 mins before dinner ended. Managed to get a little food.
Monday 21 Dec
Hitesh got up early to see sunrise. I was asleep so he didn’t wake me. Went to breakfast around 7.30 am So much better choice than ship and much friendlier staff. Felt like home. After breakfast went for a walk. Lovely promenade. Towards end found lots of coral and shell on the beach. After walk decided to go for a swim as lovely day. Went snorkelling. Lovely fishes and some coral. Really enjoyed it. After lunch rested. Eloise had organised a table for us all together as Noel’s birthday. Hitesh got him a hat. He was really touched. They brought out a cake. We went for a quiz and then played cards.
Tuesday 22 Dec
Last day – going home time . Walked around in the morning and after lunch packed up and ready to leave. Plane journey uneventful and got to Gatwick around 10.30 and home around midnight
Hasmita Shah 