Giza
Our first stop after arriving at the Cairo airport was Giza. Giza and Cairo are twin cities; Cairo is on the east bank of the Nile, and Giza on the west. The famous Giza Pyramids and Sphinx lie on the Giza Plateau at the western fringe of the city. One full-day tour is enough time to visit this site and nearby Saqqara and Memphis, so we booked two nights here. A great hotel choice in Giza is the Comfort Pyramids Inn. It is a short walk from the entrance to the Giza Necropolis and has a large roof terrace with a great view of the pyramids. On one of the evenings, we sat up there and watched the daily "pyramid sound and light show." Although you cannot hear the sound from afar, most would agree that the visuals are the best part.
Rather than booking tours online ahead of time, we booked a full-day tour with our hotel upon arrival. This plan worked out well. Some online sites charge more than triple the price that we paid for our tour guide and driver. It is not necessary to have a tour guide to visit the Giza pyramids. However, we highly recommend one since there are no signs on the site explaining everything. Our tour guide provided us with a lot of history and interesting background information. Another reason for hiring a guide is to avoid being hassled by many obnoxious hawkers trying to sell things and scam tourists. Although we did not experience anything first-hand, I find the numerous negative stories to be very believable.
There are two major decisions to make on a visit to the pyramid site. The first is whether to purchase the separate additional tickets to enter the Great Pyramid. All the treasures found within the Great Pyramid are now in museums. Also, the interior does not have hieroglyphic decorations; those appear in pyramids built in later periods. Furthermore, I had read a tourist comment from an article, "The world's most disappointing tourist destinations revealed," that the central chamber "looked like a cowshed." Since our itinerary included a visit to the pyramids in Saqqara, we decided to pass on this option.
The second decision is whether to hire a ride to the Panoramic Point. The distance from the entrance near the Sphinx is approximately 1.5 miles, about 30 minutes to walk. To avoid walking in the hot sun, you can take either a taxi, a camel ride, or a horse carriage. The latter two options are problematic because they involve negotiating with the typical con artists you find throughout Egypt. At one of the agencies, the owner initially offered us a horse carriage 'deal' for about $200. To partially justify this ridiculous price, he lied by grossly exaggerating distances. To put this into perspective, several years back, the Egyptian government posted signs with standardized prices for camel rides to try to prevent tourists from being ripped off; 50 EGP (about $7 before the drastic devaluation of Egyptian currency) for a 30-minute ride. Getting the price lowered to a reasonable but still overpriced amount was a very tedious process. Also, note that you cannot rely on an Egyptian tour guide to warn you if you are getting overcharged. Our guide did not advise us ahead of time about a fair price, and he also remained silent during the negotiations. Afterward, he acknowledged that he saw many tourists, his customers, get fleeced by accepting the initial asking price and that the 70% reduction in price I agreed upon was lower than he had seen anybody pay. The latter claim, of course, may or may not be true!
Overall, we spent about 1 1/2 hours inside the site. Our tour guide and carriage driver consumed some of this time recommending various poses in front of the sphinx and pyramids and snapping photos. That's a popular thing to do here! I read posts stating that you have a great view of everything from the second floor of the Pizza Hut across the street from the entrance and that it is therefore not worth paying for the admission (and dealing with the hawkers.) However, the experience from up close is so much different than seeing the pyramids at a distance.
Memphis
Thirteen miles along the Nile River south of Giza, Memphis was the first capital of ancient Egypt. Its decline and abandonment began when the Romans arrived in Egypt. An open-air museum at the site hosts some very significant excavated ruins. The top attractions are a colossal statue of Ramses II and the alabaster sphinx that once guarded the Temple of Ptah. It is definitely worth the visit.
Saqqara
The Step Pyramid of Djoser
The Saqqara necropolis is less than 5 miles west of Memphis. Although not nearly as famous as Giza, there is a lot more to see here. It is also a lot less crowded. There are many more pyramids at this site than at Giza. Saqqara was the burial site for 3rd, 5th and 6th dynasty pharaohs, whereas Giza contains only the three 4th dynasty pyramids.
Although Giza has the largest pyramid, Saqqara has the oldest, the Step Pyramid. It was Egypt's first pyramid, built for Pharoah Djoser from the 3rd dynasty. They were not allowing visitors to enter it at the time we were there. However, we were able to walk around and see the features of the pyramid complex, including the cobra wall at the south end, the temples, and the colonnades.
The Pyramid of Teti
Saqqara contains the two best pyramids for viewing pyramid texts: The Pyramid of Unas and the Pyramid of Teti. Unas was the last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty, and his pyramid was the first to include hieroglyphics inscribed on the walls inside the pyramid. We chose to visit the Pyramid of Teti. Unlike the Giza pyramids, which have no inscriptions, entry to this pyramid is free. The descending entrance corridor ceiling was so low that even the kids had to bend to pass through it. Besides all the inscriptions, the large stone sarcophagus is still inside the burial chamber.
Part of the west wall of the entrance room in the Mastaba of Kagemni
A visit to Saqqara is not complete without also visiting the mastabas. These structures were the standard burial tombs for the pharaohs and high officials before pyramids. Their use continued for non-royals. The mastabas for a pharaoh's viziers were often situated close to his pyramid. We visited the Mastaba of Kagemni and also the Mastaba of Ptahhotep. The top attractions inside the mastabas are the wall carvings depicting numerous scenes of life in Ancient Egypt. Some of them still have the original paint.
Cairo
The day after our Giza-Memphis-Saqqara tour, we booked another full-day tour to see Cairo attractions with our same guide. The most important tourist destination in Cairo is the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. You do not want to skip this! All the treasures found in the ancient pyramids and temples of the pharaohs are in museums. The best collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts in the world is here. Unless you are an expert on Egyptian history, having a knowledgeable guide is invaluable. There are minimal labels. Plus, a guide can explain many sophisticated details about the exhibits. We spent almost 3 hours here and would certainly return for another visit. The museum is at Tahrir Square, just across the river in downtown Cairo. That was, at the time we visited. The Grand Egyptian Museum, located in Giza near the pyramids, is opening in late 2021. This new building is much larger. It will contain all the exhibits from the Egyptian Museum, plus additional exhibits such as the Khufu ship from the Giza Solar boat museum.
After visiting the museum, we headed to Islamic Cairo, the city's historic center. There we strolled through Khan el-Khalili, Egypt's famous souk that dates back over 600 years. If you plan to purchase souvenirs, this is a great place since you will find just about anything. Just be prepared to deal with very persistent vendors, and of course, do not buy anything without first bargaining down the price.
Our third and final tour stop was Coptic Cairo, about four miles south of downtown Cairo. Christianity became widespread in Egypt when it was a part of the Roman Empire, long before the arrival of Islam. Egypt still has a large number of Christians, possibly as high as 15% of the population. In many countries, Christianity split into different denominations; Egypt's is the Coptic Church. Coptic Cairo is part of Old Cairo and has a concentration of significant Christian churches. The most interesting we visited was the Hanging Church, which sits on top of a Roman fortress that predates the founding of Cairo. Another highlight was Saints Sergius and Bachus Church which dates back to the 4th century. There, you can visit the crypt, where Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus took refuge during their flight from Herod. We spent about an hour seeing the churches. With more time, we would have also been interested in visiting the Coptic Museum.
Apart from our day-tour, we also spent an evening in Cairo before our morning flight back to the U.S. We booked a hotel near Talaat Harb Square. (Of course, it would have been impractical to return to our Giza hotel, which is much further from the airport.) Being in a non-tourist part of these large cities was a much different experience. The negatives were the chaotic traffic, and of course, the city is pretty dirty! On the positive side, it is very lively until late at night and has lots of shops, restaurants, and food vendors. English is widely understood, and interestingly, when purchasing beverages from a kiosk, the prices were significantly less than in popular tourist areas.
The following is a great link that has more information about the Egyptian Museum: https://egymonuments.gov.eg/en/museums/egyptian-museum
Luxor
Luxor sits on the site of Thebes, one of the most important capitals of Ancient Egypt. Although it has no pyramids, there are more important archaeological sites to see here than anywhere else in Egypt. We spent three nights here. One thing to keep in mind when booking a hotel is that the city proper lies on the east bank of the Nile. If you plan to go shopping or dine at restaurants, accommodation on the west bank is not as good a choice as the east side of the river. However, we did stay at a west bank hotel. It had a great roof terrace, where we ate all our meals, and the kids spent their downtime (in-between tours) at the swimming pool.
We booked tours for two days. The first covered the archaeological sites on the west side of the Nile, and on the second day, we visited the temples on the east side. As in Giza, we had both a very knowledgeable private tour guide and a driver. Besides the archaeological sites, other recommended activities and places to visit in Luxor include:
- The Abo Kamsan Alabaster Factory: Our experience there is discussed in the second-to-last section on this page.
- Lunch on the Nile River: You can choose between a motorboat or a pricier felucca.
- Banana Island: This is not actually an island. It is a banana farm that contains a mini-zoo featuring two Nile crocodiles. We stopped here after lunch for a large fruit plate of watermelon and bananas.
- A horse carriage ride through Luxor: From the Luxor Temple site, we booked a 30-minute horse carriage ride (for a fraction of the price of our horse carriage ride at the Giza Pyramids.) It is a pleasant way to explore the city.
- Hot air balloon rides: For details, scroll further down the page.
One of the main attractions on the west bank is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir al-Bahari. It is considered an architectural masterpiece of the ancient world, and in fact, it is one of the 250 required works for AP Art History.
By the beginning of the New Kingdom, rock-cut tombs had replaced pyramids as burial chambers for the pharaohs. The Valley of the Kings is the location of more than 60 of these tombs. The elaborate royal tomb decorations contain scenes from Egyptian mythology. An entrance ticket to the site allows admission to three tombs of your choice. A visit here is an unforgettable experience.
The first item on our second-day itinerary was the Karnak Temple Complex. It is the second-largest temple complex in the world (behind Angkor Wat.) Some of its more renowned parts are the Great Hypostyle Hall (pictured to the right), the obelisks, and the Sacred Lake. It was easy to understand why it is the second most-visited site in Egypt!
Our final stop was Luxor Temple. Unlike the other archaeological sites, it lies right in the middle of the city of Luxor. New Kingdom pharaohs constructed it, and there were additions to the complex made during the Roman Era.
Hot Air Balloons
When our Luxor tour guide first suggested that we sign up for a sunrise hot air balloon ride, we were only half interested. The activity sounded fun, but waking up at 3:30 AM to do it did not! Fortunately, we made the right decision thanks to the combination of a persistent hotel manager, overwhelmingly favorable online reviews, and a strong recommendation from another guest we met at our hotel.
Reasons to book a hot air balloon ride while in Luxor:
- The views are amazing. To the east, you see the Nile River. Looking south, you see a continuous border between the green fertile strip along the Nile and the vast endless Sahara Desert to the west.
- The price is a real bargain. We paid only $50 per person. In other places around the world, balloon ride prices can be more than triple that amount. Note that if you get a quote for $100 (that did not happen to us, but it does happen), you need to either negotiate that down or deal directly with a balloon company.
- The flight conditions are almost always good, especially in summer. Balloons are not safe in windy or rainy conditions. Flights can get canceled at the last minute because of the weather. Who wants to wake up at the crack of dawn and then find out the balloon cannot take off! The probability of a weather cancellation in Luxor is extremely low.
- The flight captain and the ground crew that helps the balloon land safely go out of their way to help make the experience fun.
The Temple of Ramesses III
All the balloon companies launch their balloons around the same time, before sunrise, at the balloon take-off site on the West Bank. Before climbing into a balloon basket, you receive brief safety instructions, including how to hold on during the landing. Our ride lasted a little more than an hour. Cameras are not permitted, but you will be allowed to take pictures with your phone. Also, be sure to bring cash to tip the ground crew after landing.
Aswan
Although it is most famous for its dam, as the frontier town of Ancient Egypt, a stop in Aswan is an essential part of an Egyptian travel itinerary. One full day is adequate to see all the major sites. We booked a day tour with a guide who picked us up from our train that arrived late morning. Our first site was the Aswan High Dam. There are actually two dams in Aswan. At the south edge of the city, there is a small, older dam constructed in 1902. Locals refer to that one as the Low Dam. The more famous large dam, completed in 1970, is four miles further upstream. When we arrived, it was interesting (although hardly breathtaking) to view Lake Nasser on the other side of the dam. But honestly, this is only a place to spend a few minutes having a look. It is also worth noting that there was a $6 (per person) "admission" ticket for the privilege of basically standing on a bridge!
The highlight of Aswan is the Philae Temple Complex, located on the small island of Agilkia. Official boats leave from the Philae Temple Marina, just south of the Low Dam bridge. Like most of the other Egyptian archaeological sites, a knowledgeable tour guide comes in handy. Most of the structures are from the Ptolemaic era between 305 and 30 BC. However, the most iconic is the Temple of Isis, constructed earlier by the first pharaoh of the 30th dynasty. The cafe on the island has quite good refreshments at reasonable prices and a pleasant view. (It also has a few friendly cats!)
Our final stop was within the Aswan city limits, at the stone quarry that contains the Unfinished Obelisk. Like the dam, it was a very short stop to have a look and take a picture. However, it was definitely worth the visit.
Our tour guide suggested a morning tour to the Nubian Village for the next day. The Nubians have been Egypt's neighbors to the south since ancient times. They have their own unique culture and language. Their village is picturesque, featuring very colorful houses. You can also get a photograph with a tame Nile crocodile! Some Nubians keep them as pets. In any case, the kids decided they preferred to have a day of rest, so we decided not to take that tour.
Hurgada
Egypt has a long coastline on the Mediterranean and Red Seas and has many popular vacation destinations on both. The Red Sea is world-renowned for scuba diving and snorkeling, so there was no question that we would prefer it over the Mediterranean. Additionally, the Egyptian Mediterranean coast has a jellyfish problem in the summer months. Egypt's two major Red Sea destinations are Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheik. We chose Hurghada primarily because it is closer to the other places that were on our itinerary. While I have read discussions on travel forums comparing the nightlife and various all-inclusive resorts at both destinations, there was one more compelling reason favoring Hurghada. While Sharm El-Sheik has sometimes made the news because of shark attacks on snorkelers, such incidents have not occurred in Hurghada.
Accommodation in Hurghada can range from extremely cheap (unbelievably, I have seen hostel listings for less than $5) to very expensive. Be aware if you book accommodation without a private beach, you should factor in beach admission costs. Hurghada has no free beaches. However, this was not an issue for us. We were only here for two evenings, and our priority was snorkeling. We booked a room at Canary Hotel. http://canaryhotelhurghada.com The rooms are modest, but the place is noteworthy because of the helpful staff. The owner was the only business person in Egypt who we felt was genuinely looking out for our best interest. e.g., including details such as negotiating taxi fares for us.
Hurghada had a very different atmosphere than the other places we visited. Here, locals ignored us. Nobody tried to give us an unwanted sales pitch! The hotel owner confirmed to us that Dolphin House was the best snorkeling business in town. We booked one of their daily 6-hour excursions, which included an excellent lunch. For only about $25, it is a huge bargain. Hurghada is a top place for spotting dolphins. In the first part of the tour, the boat searches for dolphins in the open sea. If dolphins are spotted, strong swimmers can jump into the water and swim with them. (They explained the boat follows the dolphins; you need to be able to keep up.) Although dolphin sightings are common, it is not guaranteed. Unfortunately, after about an hour of searching, we did not come across any dolphins.
But fortunately, we did get to see wild dolphins! In the morning before our boat departed, a pod of dolphins appeared right at the entrance to the harbor. They hung around for about 15 minutes, frequently jumping out of the water. Our snorkeling stops were also very memorable. In addition to an abundance of colorful fish, we also spotted stingrays and squid.
Food and Restaurants
Three restaurants we ate at are worth recommending:
- Abou Shakra in Giza
- Makani Restaurant and Cafe in Aswan
- Family Fish Restaurant in Hurghada
MORE TO COME
Scams
A travel article on Egypt is not complete without a discussion of tourist scams. When it comes to deceiving tourists, nowhere else that I have traveled comes close to competing with Egypt! Sometimes a fabrication is to create a more favorable impression about the country, rather than monetary gain. One of our tour guides gave us a peculiar false fact. He explained that hippos no longer live in Egypt because, after the construction of the High Dam, Nile crocodiles killed them off. The shameful truth is that hippos were hunted to extinction in Egypt by the human population. Wild hippos have not existed in Egypt since the early 1800s. (The alleged culprits are themselves now among the country's endangered species thanks to out-of-control poaching of the Nile crocodiles in Lake Nasser.) The moral of the story is, don't trust anything anybody tells you here!
The following are the classic scams that we encountered, all aimed at fleecing tourists:
1. Airport Transportation Services: Some airports have officials working there who quote fixed taxi fares to arriving visitors. They protect tourists from being overcharged. The 'officials' selling car services in the airport are there to gouge foreign tourists. They carry around official-looking laminated price charts with quotes in Egyptian pounds. These prices were 50% higher than the initial quote we received from a taxi driver. The average Uber fare from the Cairo airport to the Giza Pyramids when we visited was about $10. The average well-negotiated taxi price can be between $10-15. (I suspect it is much easier for a local to achieve those fares than for a foreign tourist.) Our driver asked for $40. The car service quotes were all above $60, which varied depending on the car.
2. Photos with Camels: If you visit the Giza Pyramids, somebody will inevitably approach you and ask whether you would like to have a picture with their camel. After taking the photo, they demand a ridiculous amount of money for a fee. Sometimes they employ aggressive tactics to extort the money, e.g., refusing to return your camera. Our tour guide warned us ahead of time to decline any offers from persons with camels. (We were, of course, later approached by a camel scammer.) The fact that our tour guide warned us about this says a lot, considering that the tour guides have a habit of leading their customers to scam shops.
3. Perfume Palaces: After visiting Saqqara, our tour brought us to one of these. A visit to any Egyptian tourist trap shop typically begins with a choice of beverages: iced or hot tea, Egyptian lemonade, etc. Next, a salesperson tells tales about his family business, shows a photo of Muhammed Ali visiting the shop years ago, and describes how oils are produced locally in Egypt. The routine was familiar because when strolling around our hotel the first day we arrived, a shopkeeper invited us into his perfume shop. Amazingly, the presentations, products, and price lists were nearly identical at both places. After storytime, the salesperson brings out samples and insists that you dab them on and smell them. Finally, they bring out miniature glass bottles and try to get you to pay $50 for what they claim is very high quality that you cannot find outside of Egypt. After a "no thanks," the salesperson, of course, offers a special lower price. As we were leaving, a large tour group was entering, and the kids started cracking jokes. The kids complained that we wasted our time. However, they got a first-hand experience observing how con artists operate. I later researched Egyptian perfume shops and found endless complaints from tourists who made a purchase. Complaints included: the oils were cheap and very diluted, not the same quality as the demo products, they would lose their scent within two weeks, and the oils would leak out of the cheap bottles.
4. Papyrus Museums: We stopped at the Egyptian Scribe Papyrus Institute at the end of our Cairo tour. Papyrus "museums" are shops that sell overpriced papyrus scroll paintings to tourists. They are a little more interesting than the perfume palaces. They give a short demonstration of how the ancient Egyptians made paper from papyrus. The rest of the sales routine was similar to the oil shop. They offer hospitality beverages. They tell you this place is different because there is no pressure to buy anything, "they only want to make you happy." They then immediately proceed to push sales, starting with ridiculous prices which go lower and lower. After a dramatic price decrease to $10 for one of the scrolls, the kids bargained two for $15. We later regretted giving that place our business when we arrived back at the hotel and found they had only packed one of the scrolls. Given the shop has a tremendous amount of unsold inventory, we could not have imagined we would need to look out for that type of cheating.
5. Alabaster Factories: A lot of vendors in Egypt sell fake alabaster. Finding reputable merchants in Egypt is not easy. After visiting the Valley of Kings in Luxor, our tour guide brought us to Abo Komsan Alabaster Factory. The visit started with a hands-on demonstration of how they produce their products. They offered us beverages, of course, and gave us the same line about "wanting to make us happy." However, this store was very different from our experiences in that that they did not push sales. They allowed us to browse and gave us price quotes only when we asked. Although you would need to negotiate on prices, they are running a legitimate business.
Abo Komsan Alabaster Factory