Mon, Oct 25: Aswan, Egypt Wrapping up at Aswan with a visit to a papyrus shop. Here they demo how people supposedly made papyrus in the past. To get the darker brown papyrus, you leave it in the press for a few more days. Then on to a 1 hr 20 min flight from Aswan…
Mon, Oct 25: Aswan, Egypt Philae Temple is on an island in the Nile river. What makes it special? The cats! There’s another island in the Nile River that we visited called Elephantine Island with some ancient artifacts there.
Oct 25 • Aswan, Egypt The scoop marks at the Aswan Quarry are carved into the surrounding granite bedrock and even into the famous 1,200 ton Unfinished Obelisk. One of the few times in history that we celebrate a job NOT done. Aswan Quarry Quick Facts It’s stunning to stand here and imagine the countless rose…
Oct 24 • Aswan, Egypt A short boat ride from the docks in Aswan brings you to Elephantine Island, a quiet stretch of ruins in the middle of the Nile. Among the scattered stones are a few things you don’t expect to see in ancient Egypt. Curved wooden objects that look like boomerangs. A massive…
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…