Our 2nd journey to Egypt (the first was in 2000), had us tour Cairo and surroundings for 2 days, diving in the Red Sea (mostly wrecks) for a week, and then on a Nile Cruise for the last 4 days.

Egypt is a magical place, and although we have no pictures here of it, the Egyptian Museum itself is spectacular and not to be missed.

Do not ever drive a car in Egypt, as there are no lanes, 20 million people trying to get from place to place, and horns honking is the way they do it!

Frankly this trip and the order of the sites made much more sense than the first trip. The pyramids are much older than the temples of the Nile. So it was easier to conceptualize all the sights in chronological order. One thing that was so simple but cleared up so many things.

We loved Egypt both times, and highly recommend it to anyone who has the fortune to visit. Some notes below and many pictures both underwater and above to follow. Highlights are contained on the following pages. The main picture gallery is here. Enjoy! John and Kath

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Cairo and surroundings

Memphis & Sakkara

Memphis was the ancient capital of Lower Egypt. And remember Lower Egypt is in the north and Upper Egypt is in the south.


Ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser.

The Great Pyramids

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramids known as the Great Pyramids, along with the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx. It is located some 5 mi inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 15 mi southwest of Cairo city centre. One of the monuments, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the only remaining monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.


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Nile Cruise

More Nile Cruise Pics

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Karnak & Luxor

The Karnak Temple Complex comprises a vast conglomeration of ruined temples, chapels, pylons and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amen and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Amenhotep III (ca. 1391-1351 BC). It is a magnificent site located on 60 acres. Here you can walk clockwise around the scarab for many wives and counter-clockwise for years of good luck. Paul did both many times!

As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city.




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The Valley of the Kings

Some things have changed a bit in 10 years. Not the tombs mind you, but the rules. No Cameras. period. end of story. Thus no pics.

A valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 450 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom (the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient Egypt). The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor). With the 2006 discovery of a new chamber (KV63), and the 2008 discovery of 2 further tomb entrances, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers (ranging in size from a simple pit to a complex tomb with over 120 chambers), and was the principal burial place of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom, together with those of a number of privileged nobles.

This is one of my favorites. It's simple, straight-forward and grand. Unfortunately one of the statues was undergoing work.




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Edfu

The town of Edfu is known for the major Ptolemaic temple, built between 237 BCE and 57 BCE, into the reign of Cleopatra VII. Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller New Kingdom temple, oriented east to west, facing towards the river. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple pylon to be seen on the east side of the first court.



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Kom Ombo

All hail the crocodile! which this temple salutes. In Kom Ombo there is a rare engraved image of what is thought to be the first
representation of medical instruments for performing surgery, including scalpels, forceps, dilator, scissors and medicine bottles dating from the days of the Roman Egypt.

	If you look closely you see scalpels, surgical instruments and a birth chair.

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Philae

Philae - An island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. The complex was dismantled and relocated to a nearby island in connection to the UNESCO project started because of the construction of the High Dam, after being partly flooded by the first Aswan Dam for half a century.


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Wrecks

Chrisoula K

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Emperor Wreck

It's pretty weird diving from a liveaboard to a liveabroad wreck, especially when it's from the same fleet.
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Yolanda

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Thistlegorm

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John B. loves playing with toys!

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Kingston

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Rosalie_Moller

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Unknown_Destroyer

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All pictures were taken with a Canon G9. No photo manipulation (no photo-shop, no levels, no contrast, etc.) nor even cropping was performed on any picture with the exception of stitching Panoramic shots. This was not out of laziness, but more to be honest about the trip.

Shooting in the temples is very challenging. We couldn't control what time of day we visited the temples, so the sun location was sometimes less than ideal. Inside the lighting and light temperature varies widely from one wall to the next. Sandstone reflects badly when using a flash. So many pictures were long exposure times, intentionally over/under exposed.