Egypt - 2016

A gallery documenting my 2016 trip to Egypt. After visiting Cairo, I headed south to Aswan before taking a felucca north. After visiting Luxor, I returned to Cairo to visit a few more nearby locations.

1. Giza Pyramid Complex #1

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest and oldest of the pyramids at the Giza Pyramid Complex.

I am not going to lie, my Egypt adventure did not get off to a tremendous start. Upon arriving at Cairo International Airport, I waited in the taxi queue to get a ride to my overnight hotel in downtown Cairo. After negotiating a cost, I jumped in and the taxi sped away. Traveling impossibly fast through the city center, I was swung back and forth as the driver alternated between full throttle and full brake. Having learned to drive in Greater New York City, I am very familiar with aggressive driving, but this entirely next level. Upon arriving in the neighborhood where my hotel was located, I discovered my driver didn’t speak any English when he gestured as if to ask where my hotel was. “I don’t know, bro, you’re the one who lives here,” I responded to no avail. Ripping around the Dokki neighborhood, my driver frantically tried to find the street I wrote down on a piece of paper as if he were on some sort of game show. Then, he decided to back up the wrong way down the street, at which point a car departing a fuel station smashed into the side of the taxi. After some angry yelling (and some currency changing hands between the two motorists), we resumed our search. Eventually, the driver found my hotel, and -can you believe it!- tried to charge me extra for the accident he was just in. The kindly porter at the hotel translated -no doubt as politely as he could- my admittedly unrefined reply of, “Fuck off.”

This experience taught me the first rule of traveling to Egypt: if you are with an organized tour group, pay the extra money for airport transfers. At least you can complain to your tour company if, I don’t know, your driver crashes the car driving backwards into oncoming traffic, gets into an accident, and then demands more money from you.

The driver took so damn long to find my hotel I just missed my tour group, who just departed for their welcome meeting and dinner. The front desk of the hotel kindly told me where I could find them, but after a full day of flying (and the aforementioned car accident), I decided to just head up to my shared hotel room and take a shower. Upon starting that process, I realized the hot water tank wasn’t working (why would it?), so after drying off I headed back down to the front desk of the hotel to discuss the situation. As the maintenance couldn’t get to the room until the next day, it was decided my as-yet-unseen roommate and I would be moved to another room. After some time, I had my shower, and waited in the hotel lobby for the group to return. After some time, they arrived, I conducted my tour check-in, and finally got to sleep.

The next morning, I was finally able to meet the rest of the group and explain the ridiculous reason why I didn't make the dinner last night. Our first order of business was to jump on a bus and head to the Giza Pyramid Complex. Great, more driving across Cairo….

After passing the then under-construction Grand Egyptian Museum (and some much nicer hotels with undoubtedly more stringent building codes), we arrived at Giza. Interesting choice opening the tour with the country’s most famous site, but I was glad to get it out of the way in case, I don’t know, a meteor struck me in the following hours.

I know much has been made of first impressions of Giza, that nothing can prepare you for it because of 1) its tremendous notoriety, and 2) its depiction as being in the middle of the desert where -in reality- it is on the edge of one of the biggest cities on Earth. I had a mix of both, I guess, but perhaps what stood out to me the most was that -unlike all of the great places I have had the good fortune to visit- this one had almost no sense of occasion about it. We arrived in the parking lot of the complex without experiencing the tremendous awe of a first sighting, we simply walked through the turnstile and -faintly in the distance- you could see the Great Pyramid. My reaction was more along the lines of, “Oh! There it is,” rather than anything triumphant. Nevertheless, a brilliant site to behold.

2. Giza Pyramid Complex #2

The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years.

What did strike me as interesting was how blocky and unsmooth the outer layer of the pyramid was. This gave me a much deeper respect for the fact that it was still standing so many millennia later, as one would think a major crack would have formed by now. Much has been made about how the Pyramids were built, but I couldn’t help but start to speculate myself - especially when you being to look around the area and see that, clearly, there is no obvious source of the building material. Astonishing stuff!

3. Giza Pyramid Complex #3

Perhaps the most iconic view of the Giza pyramids - from left to right: Great, Khafre, Menkaure, and remnants of Queens’.

We had the opportunity to enter the Great Pyramid, but our tour guide recommended we visit inside Menkaure instead as it was less crowded and had “more” to see. The group agreed (I’m still of two minds, and -as time goes on- wish I had seen the inside of the Great Pyramid) and we made our way to the panoramic viewpoint. This is the place that leads people into thinking the pyramids are way out in the middle of the desert, when -in reality- it is part optical illusion / part obscuring smog that tricks your mind into thinking this.

4. Gyza Pyramids Complex #4

At the viewpoint, a whole gallery of individuals will try and sell you a camel or horse buggy ride to another viewpoint even closer to the pyramids. This leads me to the second rule of traveling in Egypt: the salesmen are relentless. And I mean relentless. I declined purchasing a ride because I generally object to the practice of exploiting animals for tourism profit, but -not wanting to push my morality on others- I simply said, “No thanks, not interested.” For the entire 20 minutes my group were away, I was being pitched by a salesperson. And then, pretty much, the seven days that followed. I finally relented, opting to take a short pulled cart ride. To this day, I’m not pleased about my decision.

It wasn’t until a week later I understood why this desperation was a thing. Included as part of my day tour to Memphis (see below) was a second visit to Giza. As tickets into the Giza Pyramid Complex are numbered, it allowed me to compare how many visitors entered the complex between my first and second visitors. Before the downfall of Mohamed Morsi, Giza had about 10,000 visitors a day - barely that many had visited in the week in country. Effectively, the tourism economic base was slashed by about 1/7th, meaning now seven salesmen need to compete for the same sale they used to be able to make.

While I am extremely sympathetic to the situation, there are two unescapable facts at play here. First, Egypt has done practically nothing since 2013 to stabilize its political, economic, and political situations to make itself attractive to tourism investment. Second, an unfortunate end-result of constantly badgering tourists is that they are unlikely to recommend Egypt as a travel destination to their friends and family.

As for my opinion: I cannot in good conscience currently recommend travel to Egypt to anyone who cannot stomach seeing such desperation. That said, with population expected to grow tremendously in the next 30 years, water resources becoming more and more limited, and the Islamic State finding footholds in parts of the country, your time to see Egypt may be coming to a close. My recommendation is therefore to pick the most expedient itinerary you can, get in, see what you need to see, and get out before the insanity drives you mad.

5. Giza Pyramid Complex #5

Putting the salespeople out of my mind for a bit, I was able to snap a few extra pictures of the pyramids against the evocative sandy foreground.

6. Giza Pyramid Complex #6

The Great Sphinx depicts a lion with a pharaohs head, believed to be that of Khafre.

After departing the viewing platform, we headed inside for our brief pyramid tour. It is certainly an interesting add-on, but definitely not one for the claustrophobic. After that, we walked to the Great Sphinx of Giza (past the obligatory stalls of salespeople). The Great Sphinx was certainly not what I expected it to be: for starters, it is much taller than I anticipated. I suspect this is because 1) relative to the pyramids, it is small, and 2) many early photographs of the Sphinx showed it buried in mounds of sand.

7. Giza Pyramid Complex #7

In antiquity, Giza was completely separated from Cairo; however, due to decades of uncontrolled population growth, it now sits at the edge of the city.

So, a bit of subterfuge with this photograph: this was actually taken during my second visit to Giza, but illustrates some of my points about 1) how Giza being isolated is an illusion, and 2) how the Sphinx, despite being 20 meters (66 feet) tall is completely dwarfed by the pyramids themselves.

8. Khan el-Khalili #1

Khan el-Khalili is 30 hectares (74 acres) of hustle-and-bustle in Cairo.

After departing the Giza Pyramid Complex, we stopped at a papyrus shop and lunch, then moved on to Khan el-Khalili, the famous souk in eastern Cairo. I guess the salespeople at the pyramid were a warm-up….

I found this to be another strange choice by the tour organizer, since whatever you bought today you’d need to lug around on the rest of the trip (which consisted of two overnight trains and a felucca boat). Nevertheless, we soldiered on. Perhaps they know travelers on age-restricted tours are cheapskates?

I will admit that, by contrast to the Pyramid Complex or most everywhere else we went in Egypt, the salespeople here were really tame. I gather that locals make up most of their sales and tourists are just the cherry on top. I did enjoy looking at the various wares, but -again- was hesitant to buy anything so I wouldn't need to carry it.

9. Khan el-Khalili #2

While I was constantly aware of the fact that there have been two recent terrorist attack incidents in the bazaar, I generally felt safe and didn’t wander too far into the market’s maze of alleyways.

10. Khan el-Khalili #3

The square bustles in front of the Imam Hussein Mosque, built in 1154.

After wandering, we sat down at a hookah bar right at the edge of Khan al-Khalili (will hookah be a thing in a post-COVID world?). We had some light snacks and a few drinks, and we asked our guide, Mudi, if he wanted anything. Turns out, it was Ramadan and Mudi needed to wait until the sun went down to have a drink and some food. This brings me to the third rule of traveling in Egypt: don’t visit during Ramadan. Not only is it unbearably hot (I’ll cover that later), everyone is seemingly a bit on edge from the lack of food and drink (100% understandable); furthermore, your tour guide is probably a bit off his game, as well. This is not a knock on Mudi (actually, I rate him as one of the best tour guides I’ve ever had as his attention to detail was fantastic - if you’re reading this, thank you, Mudi!), so let me put it to you this way. Imagine going into work and not have your morning coffee, mid-day lunch, or after-work happy hour. Also imagine, if you work indoors, that your air conditioner has gone out in the middle of summer and it is unbearably hot in your workspace. Tell me, under those circumstances, if you expect your productivity to be the same; I doubt it.

11. Aswan #1

Aswan is Egypt’s southernmost city and home to many tourist sites along the Nile River.

After departing Khan el-Khalili and gathering our belongings from our hotel, we boarded an overnight train for the city of Aswan, near the Egypt-Sudan border. I’ll throw this out there - the fourth rule of traveling in Egypt: take the overnight train if you are headed to Aswan. We stayed in the “first class” sleeper cabins (two occupants per unit) and not only were they really comfortable, they felt pretty secure. But the best part is that you depart Cairo at night and arrive across the country in the morning the next day, so there isn’t much time advantage to flying.

Upon our arrival, we had some time to tidy up and explore the city. I had desperately wanted to visit Philae Temple, but I legitimately made it about two blocks before I was overcome by the heat. I lived in the Middle East for a year and generally consider myself to be pretty heat-tolerant; however, I also know when my body is ready to quit, and Aswan, Egypt, is probably not the best place to require medical attention. Resigned, I took a quick walk along the river before retreating to the air conditioning.

12. Aswan #2

Put “Mostafoney'“ into your favorite search engine and see what comes up.

In the afternoon, we took a boat to Elephantine Island, a -well- island in the middle of the Nile River to meet a Nubian family.

13. Aswan #3

14. Aswan #4

Elephantine Island was believed by ancients to be the dwelling of Khnum, the god who controlled the volume and flow of the Nile River.

While small, Elephantine Island is full of contrasts. Any visitor from Aswan will not be able to miss the gigantic Mövenpick hotel at the north end of the island, which is counterbalanced by the dirt-path-and-rock-walled interior.

15. Aswan #5

Nubians have a fantastic culture on Elephantine Island, with brightly-painted walls, reed awnings, … and a written language unfortunately lost to time.

Our visit with the Nubians was pleasant, and we had a fantastic meal at a very large family table. I am glad the itinerary included this visit.

After the visit, we returned to the hotel where I relaxed with a few bottles of Egypt’s favorite blah beer, Stella, before heading to sleep early.

16. Abu Simbel #1

Abu Simbel was painstakingly moved between 1964 and 1968 to avoid its destruction as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

Seeing Abu Simbel was the main reason I came to Egypt, and I looked forward to seeing it even more than the Giza Pyramids or Luxor. The entire story of its relocation is endlessly fascinating to me, and this endeavor -along with the concurrent Gemini and Apollo space programs- were perhaps the ultimate testaments to what humanity can accomplish when faced with seemingly impossible tasks. But, first, some backstory as to how to get to Abu Simbel.

Buses from Aswan to Abu Simbel depart very early in the morning (I seem to recall us leaving around 4AM). This is for two reasons, as far as I can tell: first, as a safety precaution so visitors won’t have to contend with the midday heat, and, second, as a means of crowd control since the area between Aswan and the Sudanese border is effectively controlled by the Egyptian military. After the convoy is formed in Aswan, the movement of buses heads directly to Abu Simbel without breaks - not for coffee, not for a restroom, not even for a photo op on the Tropic of Cancer. The bus ride is long (about five hours each way) but in no way will prevent me from saying the fifth rule of traveling in Egypt: go to Abu Simbel! If the idea of taking a long bus journey is unsettling to you, there is a commercial airport next to the temples, and don’t hesitate to pony up the extra cash. The “wow” factor I noted was absent at Giza is definitely not absent here; when you round the corner and see the temples for the first time, it sticks with you.

17. Abu Simbel #2

Abu Simbel is comprised of two temples: The Great Temple of Ramesses II, and the Temple of Hathor and Nefertari (depicted).

Some quick backstory on the temples. In the 13th century B.C., the Pharaoh Ramesses II (better known as Ramesses the Great) wanted to impress upon the Nubians (in whose area Abu Simbel was built) that Egypt was powerful. He commissioned two large rock faces be turned into temples - one larger in honor of himself, and one smaller in honor of his wife Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. Construction is believe to have taken 20 years. The temples became forgotten due to their remote locations and waves of sand which covered their friezes and entrances. In the 19th century, they were “rediscovered” and excavated.

Calculating that, with every visitor arriving at the same time, the further away and smaller Temple of Hathor and Nefertari would be relatively empty, I chose to explore this one first. Multiple depictions of Ramesses II and Nefertari appear at the front of the temple; however, it is noteworthy in this case that both are depicted in the same size.

18. Abu Simbel #3

The original location of Abu Simbel is approximately 65 meters (213 feet) beneath the current level of Lake Nasser.

Flash forward to 1959, and the United Arab Republic (a short-lived union of Egypt and Syria) has begun building the High Aswan Dam. I won’t discuss too much the motivations and reasoning for the dam, but suffice it to say the West and the Soviet Union both had a hand in its creation as each wrestled for political control in the Middle East. By this point, archaeologists were blue in the face from warning the world of the pending loss of multiple sites, including Philae Temple near Aswan and Abu Simbel. UNESCO took up the mission, and -in all- 22 sites were moved.

The temples at Abu Simbel were the largest of these sites that needed to be considered. Many proposals were considered (including one with underwater viewing platforms), but ultimately it was decided to move the two temples 200 meters (650 feet) further “inland”. The process by which this was accomplished is too elaborate for me to describe; however, do know that the High Aswan Dam was completed well before the move was completed and the last pieces of the temples were moved mere feet from the rising lake’s waters.

If you want to know how these massive temples were moved, I highly recommend “The World Saves Abu Simbel”.

19. Abu Simbel #4

Visitors to the Abu Simbel Temples have approximately two hours to explore the site before the convoy returns to Aswan.

One thing that struck me about the site was that all of the reliefs and statues were in such amazing condition. On the one hand, they probably benefited from a cleaning during their move up the hill; on the other hand, so many of these blocks were literally cut into pieces yet there are so few blemishes. Despite the time crunch the archaeologists were under, it seems they took great care and attention in their work.

20. Abu Simbel #5

Among the many smaller statues at the Great Temple are those for Nefertari, her mother, and many of his children.

21. Abu Simbel #6

Four depictions of Ramesses II appear at the entrance to the Great Temple.

My initial strategy of heading to the smaller temple first certainly paid off as I was able to get a completely “clean” photo of the front of the Great Temple. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the now intense heat was probably keeping visitors inside the temples to cool off.

22. Abu Simbel #7

One of the heads of Ramesses II is believed to have fallen off in an earthquake in 27BC; archaeologists moving the site decided to leave the head as they found it at the other site rather than trying to reattach it to the existing body.

As my time at Abu Simbel drew to a close, I attempted to snap as many person-free photos as I could before hastily buying a magnet at the gift shop. Oh, and using the restroom on account of the return 5 hour journey.

23. Felucca #1

Qubbet el-Hawa is an Islamic tomb built over top the so-called Tombs of the Nobles.

After returning to Aswan, we made a quick stop at a perfume store (followed by another mid-day rest period). We later boarded a felucca sail boat for a brief cruise down the Nile River. The boat was also to serve as our overnight accommodation. (At the risk of being pedantic, I should clarify we had three boats - two feluccas for sailing and sleeping, as well as a third motorized support boat which had restrooms as well as a kitchen and dining area.) The journey was peaceful and, as such, the sixth rule of traveling in Egypt is: ride on a felucca. Even if for a brief day-trip, it is nice to get out on the river.

Eleven additional photos of the felucca journey follow.

24. Felucca #2

25. Felucca #3

26. Felucca #4

27. Felucca #5

28. Felucca #6

29. Felucca #7

30. Felucca #8

31. Felucca #9

32. Felucca #10

33. Felucca #11

34. Felucca #12

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Now back to the travelogue!

35. Kom Ombo #1

The Temple of Kom Ombo was constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of Egypt.

After disembarking the felucca, we made a visit to the Temple of Kom Ombo. The Hellenistic period of Egypt admittedly holds little interest to me (yes, including Cleopatra), so I spent my time here admiring the fine restoration work.

Four additional photographs of Kom Ombo temple follow.

36. Kom Ombo #2

37. Kom Ombo #3

38. Kom Ombo #4

39. Kom Ombo #5

40. Edfu #1

The Temple of Edfu was built between 237 and 57 BC.

A short bus ride later, we visited the Temple of Edfu, which -like Kom Ombo- is also from the Ptolemaic dynasty period. Another free hour exploring another well-restored temple.

I suppose I should mention why Ptolemaic / Hellenistic Egypt is uninteresting to me. I liken this period to some sort of historical cover band - never quite as good or as interesting as the original, and oftentimes bordering on offensive with the level of conceit. Unfortunately, this sort of ersatz rule is common in history and generally leads one’s civilization to an undignified end. However, it is undeniable that the era did lead to the restoration and installation of beautiful temples I am all too glad to passively admire.

Two additional photos of the Temple of Edfu follow.

41. Edfu #2

42. Edfu #3

43. Luxor #1

The Abu Haggag Mosque, itself built atop a Coptic church, stands on the ruins of Luxor Temple. It stands near one of Luxor Temple’s remaining two obelisks - the other currently stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France.

Our tour group checked into our hotel in downtown Luxor after another short bus ride from Edfu. The sequence of events that followed is a bit hazy (it gets harder and harder to remember details as time goes on!) but I believe we made our way over to the Abu Haggog Mosque for a tour. If memory serves, we next had some free time to explore Luxor or rest in our hotel. I was the only intrepid soul who went out to see the sights … however, I must point out the temperature in the middle of the day neared 43 Celsius (about 110 Fahrenheit), so I don’t blame them. It was stupid, stupid hot. On to the seventh rule of traveling in Egypt: under no circumstances visit during the middle of summer.

I (quickly) made my way to Luxor Temple to see what that was about. Luxor is interesting in that it was built in many parts by varying dynasties during the 14th and 13th centuries B.C., including Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, and Ramesses II.

The following five photographs are of Luxor Temple.

44. Luxor #2

45. Luxor #3

46. Luxor #4

47. Luxor #5

48. Luxor #6

49. Luxor #7

After concluding my visit to Luxor Temple, I walked over to the nearby Mummification Museum. Perhaps because of the season and time of time, I was the only visitor in there. It is a fascinating (albeit small and hard-to-find) and probably greatly overlooked museum (plus it is climate controlled, which is a massive plus). The eight rule of traveling to Egypt: do not overlook the Mummification Museum.

Afterwards, I returned hastily to the hotel in order to catch the sunset from the hotel’s rooftop patio., After lashing up with the group again, we made a quick run over to a local jewelry store, followed by a very unexpected trip to the nearby McDonalds (try the McArabia).

50. Luxor #8

Karnak was constructed over around 1,500 years and consists of many interconnected temples.

Earlier in the day, we were polled as to whether we wanted to visit Karnak during the day (roughly the period when I visited Luxor Temple and the Mummification Museum), or see the light show at night. We opted unanimously for the latter option as it would have been too hot during the day (we also started to be more actively aware of the fact that Mudi couldn’t drink water unless we were on the move). So, we made our way to the north end of the city in the “cool” part of the day to see it. I am not sure I would have gotten much out of a visit to Karnak in daylight, but I also hold short of giving this a full recommend. Your mileage may vary.

The following four photographs are from the night show at Karnak.

51. Luxor #9

52. Luxor #10

53. Luxor #11

54. Luxor #12

55. Luxor #13

Hot air balloon rides are a popular activity in Luxor, and costs there are significantly cheaper than in Albuquerque or Cappadocia.

The following morning was a complete cluster. I was awoken by the ring of the in-room telephone at around 4AM; Mudi was frantically trying to reach me since I was holding up the bus to go on the hot air balloon ride. Well, I didn’t hear my alarm, and I didn’t realize my “room mate” wasn’t going on the tour (in other words, no safety net). I threw on … clothes and ran downstairs, camera in-hand. But no water. That was a mistake….

56. Luxor #14

The balloon company driver frantically sped us across the Nile River to the balloon … airport, or whatever, and we started loading up….

57. Luxor #15

Before too long, we were rising in the sky. But so was the sun. Since we were one of the last balloons aloft (totally my fault) the pilot made every effort to quickly raise the balloon in time for the sunrise. The jet -which, I assume, is not normally so exuberant- roared to life, filling the basket with very, very warm air.

The wooziness I then immediately experienced I attribute to two factors beyond the jet: the rising summer sun, which was now beating down on my side of the basket, and my likely dehydration which itself was compounded by not having any water that morning.

There are only a few moments of my life where I can recall pure despair, but being along the edge of a hot air balloon basket and suddenly becoming faint definitely qualifies. Immediately, I sat down on the floor of the basket; the pilot immediately asked me if there was a problem (good chap), to which I recall responding that it was no emergency, but that I needed some cooler air. He pressed on, but checked up on me intermittently.

58. Luxor #16

The Valley of the Kings is where Egyptian nobility was interred for over 500 years.

Someone in the group gave me a bottle of water (bless) and soon I was feeling better. And just in time to see the Valley of the Kings along with the Ramesseum and the Temple of Hatshepsut. I was on the “sunrise” side of the balloon, and I think I would have preferred to have ended up on the valley side, although I concede 1) they have little control over the balloon, and 2) I was just lucky to be alive.

59. Luxor #17

The sun rises over the Nile River.

The sunrise was, at least, very pleasant…

60. Luxor #18

…but unfortunately brought with it some very strong winds which our pilot did not like, so he took the balloon in for a landing. He apologized, but said if we stayed aloft for much longer we risked heading towards the power lines, or -worse yet- downtown Luxor.

61. Luxor #19

Landing was extremely well-controlled!

62. Luxor #20

Sure enough, our pilot was 100% correct and the other balloons soon made their way past the power lines towards downtown Luxor. We all understood his decision, and believe he made the right one. But it is clear that many operators ignore safety protocols, and -as such- I cannot recommend this activity. So, the ninth rule of traveling in Egypt: avoid the hot air balloons, even if you can stand the heat.

63. Luxor #21

The Temple of Hatshepsut is a mostly reconstructed mortuary, and is considered the closest Ancient Egyptian architecture came to that of the Classical period.

Unfortunately, my near faint in the hot air balloon set the tone for the rest of my trip. Understandably, I did not feel super great, but I nonetheless pressed on. After returning to the hotel for breakfast and a quick wash-up, we crossed back to the Valley of the Kings side of the river, where we had the opportunity to ride a donkey (?; I don’t recall, it had four legs and hair); still fresh from my Giza experience, I declined the option and instead paid the guide assigned to me to walk the animal back to the stable.

Afterwards, we headed by van to the Valley of the Kings. At this time, photography was strictly prohibited anywhere in valley, so I don’t have any record of our journey. It was fascinating to visit all of the brightly-colored tombs, but a bit anticlimactic when you consider, of course, that the sarcophagi are somewhere else. We had the option of going into the King Tut tomb, but our guide strongly discouraged paying the extra fee for it, and instead recommended some other really good tombs.

Afterwards, we made our way down to the Temple of Hatshepsut, which -while pleasant- was about the time I became “templed out”. I think I would have benefited with a third day in Luxor to space out location visits just a bit more.

Three more photographs of the elegantly restored Hatshepsut follow.

Photographer’s Comment: I have come to understand subsequent to my visit that non-flash photography is allowed in the Valley of the Kings with a permit that you can secure at the ticket office. If I had to guess, too many cellphone-wielding Instragramers were circumventing the policy, so they did away with it. If you do photograph, please be more respectful than the people who raided these tombs.

64. Luxor #22

65. Luxor #23

66. Luxor #24

67. Egyptian Museum #1

The Egyptian Museum (formally, the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities) has had many of its exhibits moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.

Before I explain my experience at the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, I should probably explain how I got there. After departing the Temple of Hatshepsut the day prior, our group made our way back to downtown Luxor before a late afternoon visit to the nearby souk. Still quite woozy from the hot air balloon experience, I was in little mood for the endless cavalcade of salespeople all trying to sell me the same plates, ashtrays, and clothes. I was admittedly quite curt with a few of them, and really just looked forward to the peace and quiet of the overnight train back to Cairo (yes, you read that right).

The following morning, we arrived in Cairo and the tour was effectively over. Since the tour didn’t cover a few extra sites I really wanted to see (including the aforementioned Egyptian Museum), I still had effectively two days left to explore. A fellow traveler from Canada -a young university-aged chap whose name I’ve since forgotten- and I checked back into the first night’s accommodation. I asked him if he wanted to go to the museum, he said couldn’t because he was, well, a university student. Offering to pay for his ticket, we wandered over.

The Egyptian Museum is, frankly, a gigantic mess. I think the best way to describe it is it is a museum of history that is, itself, historical. More akin to a warehouse than a learning experience, signs describing exhibits are often lacking. That said, the King Tut and Mummy Room exhibits were definitely worth the visit (no photos allowed in either part of the museum, so … use your imagination). But this is perhaps the only museum I have ever been to where I literally learned nothing whatsoever. This is a harsh assessment, but -legitimately- this place is chaos. And it is a shame, because any museum in the world would love to have just a handful of its 50,000 articles.

I am not sure what the fate of the Egyptian Museum will be when the new Grand Egyptian Museum snatches most of its crown jewels (to include young Tut’s belongings), but I hope that 1) the museum undergoes a facelift, and 2) it becomes less of a tourist free-for-all and becomes a genuine center of learning, as museums should be at their core.

Five photographs of the Egyptian Museum follow.

68. Egyptian Museum #2

69. Egyptian Museum #3

70. Egyptian Museum #4

71. Egyptian Museum #5

72. Egyptian Museum #6

73. Cairo at Night

After many days of staying in relatively sparse accommodation, I decided to check into a luxury hotel for the next two nights. The hotel had a wonderful view of the Nile and of Tahrir Square. In my down time that evening, I decided to see how many car accidents I could count from my room window. Four. I can’t make these things up.

74. Memphis #1

The Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first attempt to build a large stone burial building. It was built in the 27th century B.C.

The following morning -my last in country- I had scheduled a day trip to visit some of the less-visited pyramid sites south of Cairo. Our first stop was the so-called “Step Pyramid” which set the standard by which all subsequent large stone pyramids would be built.

A quick story about how the pyramids came about. Up until the Third Dynasty, royals were buried in structures called mastabas, which essentially were rectangular stone structures made of mud brick and featuring inward sloping sides. At some point around 2670 B.C., Imhotep was charged with building the large funerary mastaba for Djoser, and -regardless of whether the idea was Djoser’s or Imhotep’s- the idea was had to place several mastabas atop one another, progressively getting smaller towards the top. Thus, the porto-pyramid was born. The structure was completed some 20 years later.

During my visit, the Step Pyramid was undergoing renovations, and I believe it is now open again fully to visitors.

75. Memphis #2

These markings likely represent the oldest extant graffiti in the world, from around the 18th or 19th Dynasties (16th to 12 centuries B.C.)

Now there’s something I didn’t really expect to see!

76. Memphis #3

The Step Pyramid is 62.5 meters (205 feet) tall.

77. Memphis #4

The Mastaba of Mereruka is the largest non-royal structure built at Saqqara, made for the Vizier of the same name.

78. Memphis #5

The Bent Pyramid (background, left) was Sneferu’s second attempt to build a pyramid in the style of Djoser, after the Pyramid of Meidum. His third -and ultimately successful- attempt is the Red Pyramid (foreground).

We then took a short ride to the Dahshur Necropolis to admire the later attempts at pyramid building, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid. The area where these two are located is highly controlled, and -at the time- only the Red Pyramid could be visited (I understand the Bent Pyramid can now be visited up-close).

79. Memphis #6

At 105 meters (345 feet) tall, the Red Pyramid is the third tallest pyramid, and even taller than the Pyramid of Menkaure at Giza.

I had the option of heading inside the Red Pyramid, but on account of the heat I declined.

80. Memphis #7

Memphis was the ancient capital city of Egypt for at least eight dynasties before being supplanted by Thebes (now Luxor).

We then made a quick stop at Memphis, which -despite its prominence in Egyptian society- doesn’t have much in the way of sites to visit. It does have one positively gigantic statue of Ramesses II.

81. Memphis #8

Significant archaeological discoveries continue in and around Memphis, giving us insight into some of Egypt’s most ancient periods.

All in all, the sites around Memphis are worth the diversion from Cairo; the sites are seldom visited, so you have plenty of space to explore - oh, and practically no salespeople! So the tenth rule of traveling to Egypt: visit Djoser and Dahshur.

82. Memphis #9

Of course, my day guide couldn’t help but bring me to a carpet factory for a look. It is easy to escape these forced sales visits when in a group, but when you’re by yourself, it is nearly impossible to escape. I bought a small tree of life carpet.

Afterwards, we stopped at Giza (I mentioned this earlier in the travelogue), and I saw the pyramids for the last time. And the following morning, I came back to the United States.

I use the phrase “last time” fairly literally here. I don’t foresee many circumstances where I will return to Egypt in my lifetime (at least, not Cairo and parts south). This is for a variety of reasons, most of which I’ve already discussed: the political-economic situation is unstable, the salespeople are desperate, and the government hasn’t really made the critical investments necessary to incentivize the tourism they once took for granted.

Egypt is endlessly fascinating which truly makes this situation a total shame. With this in mind, unfortunately the eleventh (and final) rule of traveling in Egypt: think long and hard before doing so.

It pains me to have written that. But it is the truth of the situation.

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