Egypt
It's been a long time coming for me to visit the great country of Egypt and their iconic archaeological sites.
I finally did visit in December of 2023.
MJM with the World Famous Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs.
Dr. Zahi Hawass / Denver, Coloroado May 17,2023
Visit my Dr. Zahi Hawass page here: Dr. Zahi Hawass
The MJM Egyptian experience
November 30, 2023 thru December 8, 2023
The sites were filled with tourists and some rules & regulations were in place which I expected.
Security all around the country was tight.
For those like me, using Photography / Video is a must in this country! I had some concerns before I went.
I used my iphone 13 inside & outside of all monuments without issue. I used my Sony a-6000 & Nikon D80 also without issue through out all the monuments. You will get the occassional authorized / unauthorized person saying no photos or videos but a $1 (usd) bribe will quickly take care of this. I did not purchase any photo passes.
I did know about the Egyptian tipping process well before hand but imo "IT IS" out of control. In their service industry the Egyptian's say tips are optional but every Egyptian I interacted with it was a requirement.
An enjoyable trip of 8 days with sunny skies and temps in the low 80's & 50's at night. I only wish I would have added an extra day at the Valley of the Kings!
You can visit my Egypt videos here:
Egypt Part 2 - Abu Simbel, Colossi of Memnon, Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings
Egypt Part 3 - Temple Edfu, Karnak Temple, Old Cairo City, The Egyptian Museum of Cairo, The Grand Egyptian Museum
Egypt Part 4 - The Giza Plateau
MJM in Egypt finally!
Flying into Egypt
We booked our entire Egypt trip with Egypt Tours Portal. You can visit them here www.egypttoursportal.com
MJM with our Cairo Super Guide Amr Ahmed in Giza - Kafr Nassar.
Visit Amr here: facebook.com/people/Amr-Ahmed • Whatsapp +20 115 6706524
On our EPT Egypt tour we traveled to: Cairo, Aswan, Luxor & back to Cairo.
Saqqara
The step Pyramid of Djoser
Inside the step Pyramid of Djoser
Inside the Tomb of Mereruka
Inside the Tomb of Kagemni
Inside the Pyramid Tomb of Teti
The Giza Plateau
Day 1
Pyramid of Khufu
Inside the Pyramid of Khufu
Khufu's Burial chamber
Pyramid of Khafre
Great Sphinx of Giza
There were many bazaar's throughout our Egyptian tour. All vendors were very tourist friendly. We purchased quite a few souvenirs. You can bargain with all of them...as I did.
MJM & RAMM in Egypt!
Our super guide Amr
Day 2
Pyramid of Khufu (Great Pyramid of Giza)
Pyramid of Khafre
Pyramid of Menkaure
With our excellent Cairo Guide Amr
Philae Temple
To get to the temple you take a small ferry boat of about 15 minutes.
I saw these chipped out wall carvings in some temples we visited. Our guide said these were done by Roman emperor Constantine.
Many reliefs (wall carvings) at the Temple of Philae were damaged by early Christians who used Philae as a church. Damage was also done by iconoclasts during the Byzantine period.
The Unfinished Obelisk
Aswan
With Our Aswan / Luxor Guide Hassan
The Nile River Cruise
Nile Style river boat
Esna lock and dam system
While we were Nile cruising north, these guys (there were a few dozen of these small boats surrouding all of the Nile cruise boats) yelling at the windows of the decks trying get the attention of guests to sell their goods.
Abu Simbel
My personal favorite Egyptian site
Inside Abu Simbel
Edfu Temple
Luxor
Colossi of Memnon
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
Valley of the Kings
Seti I Tomb
Rameses I Tomb
Rameses IX Tomb
I am fascinated by the surrounding landscape
Temples of Karnak
Obelisk of Thutmose I
Left Obelisk erected by Thutmose I (reign c. 1520 - 1492 BCE), right Oelisk by erected Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE).
Osiris
Cairo
Coptic Cairo
Al-Azhar Mosque
The Tuk - Tuk
The Egyptian Museum of Cairo
The Narmer Palette
Ramesses II
Hatshepsut
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun Cartouche
MJM with the Heretic King. The "GREAT" Akhenaten. My favorite Pharaoh....
This Heretic King Pharaoh really ruled .... Father of Tutankhamun?
Khafre
Menkaure
The Grand Egyptian Museum
MJM with Rameses II
Merenptah (L) & the Goddess Anath (R)
MJM's favorite Pharaoh "the Heretic King Akhenaten".
Queen Hatshepsut
Pharaoh Thumose III
Obelisk Tip of Queen Hatshepsut
Giza - Nazlet el Siman and Al Sisi
The great view from our excellent hotel The Pyramids Overlook Inn. Mr. Adel is a "GREAT" host!
Visit him here: www.pyramidsoverlookhotel.com
Yes... Pizza Hut & Kentucky Fried Chicken just ouside the Giza Plateau.
That's a Wrap!
As a final note, if you are planning a visit to Egypt you should know that the Egyptian security presence is very strong and everywhere. There are a lot of checkpoints and all these have several soldiers some with machine guns.
I felt safe going out in public although I did get hit up often by the locals for money. Some locals did have wares to sell but some didn't.
Aswan Dam
Abu Simbel • The highway to the Temples in the Sahara Desert.
The Giza Plateau
The Great Sphinx entrance
