Sun, Oct 24: Aswan, Egypt Elephantine Island is in the middle of the Nile river in Aswan. There’s a small house with some artifacts on display including strange boomerang shaped artifacts. You can also find a large, precision made granite box that looks like a telephone booth, guard tower, or altar. Finally there is a…
Sun, Oct 24: Abu Simbel, Egypt Abu Simbel was a three hour bus ride each way, and an optional $85 event for the UnchartedX Egypt Tour. It’s worth it. The temples were relocated piece by piece back in the 1960’s, further up the hill, complete with a fake mountain back to avoid being submerged by…
Sat, Oct 23: Kom Ombo, Egypt Returned to the ship for a short ride to the next town. Kom Ombo is a temple of Sobek, the god of fertility with the crocodile head and the human body. Can’t get more reptilian than that. There’s a crocodile museum here with croc mummies.
Sat, Oct 23: Edfu, Egypt The Temple of Horus at Edfu is dedicated to Horus, the god with the falcon head, and son of Isis and Osiris. It’s one of the later built and better preserved Egyptian temples, making it well worth the visit. From the dock, we were shuttled to the temple on horse-drawn…
Fri, Oct 22: Theban Necropolis, Luxor, Egypt The Colossi of Memnon are two 18m (60ft) statues that guard the entrance to Amenhotep’s temple. They sit on the side of the main road next to a small parking lot. TIP: Take a walk around the Colossi and notice the difference in damage between the front and…
Fri, Oct 22: Theban Necropolis, Luxor, Egypt The Ramesseum has remains of some really large statues, and fragments of some. See cameos of me in this Ben UnchartedX livestream.
Fri, Oct 22: Valley of the Kings, Egypt There are 63 royal tombs at the Valley of the Kings, though only some are open to the public at a time. The general entry ticket lets you into three tombs of your choice. The Seti I tomb, and King Tutankhamun tomb require a separate ticket. The…
Thu, Oct 21: Luxor, Egypt The Luxor Museum is small, has a couple mummies, and stone pieces. This was an optional tour before leaving on our Nile River Cruise. It’s a short car ride from the ship. Is the Luxor Museum worth visiting? Yes, unlike the larger and far busier museum in Cairo, the Luxor…
Thu, Oct 21: Luxor, Egypt Boarded the Nile cruise ship, Alyssa, for four nights. I’m not a huge fan of cruise ships, it’s like being stuck in a hotel on the water. It turned out ok, as the alternative was being stuck in a bus driving in the desert. Alyssa Nile Cruise Ship Details The…
Thu, Oct 21: Luxor, Egypt Karnak Temple is a massive site in Luxor. There are lots of stone sculptures there, alabaster rooms, and evidence of power saw over-cuts and core drill holes.