A Seven Day Itinerary for Egypt

On March 5, 2020February 9, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Egypt, Travel Tips3 Comments

Egypt is a destination that is on almost everyone’s wish list to visit at least once in their lifetimes. With so many incredible sights to see across many different cities, you will want to plan as many days as you can to make the most of your time in Egypt. We found our trip to be ideal in many different ways, but with any destination, if we had more time, we would have seen even more. What we have here are the locations and sites that we chose to make our priority during a full seven days in Egypt. Due to the length of air travel, the total trip was twelve days, but much of that time was spent in transit. Although we landed in Cairo, we left early in the morning to fly to Luxor and begin a cruise down the Nile River to Aswan and then flew back to Cairo where we spent the remainder of our time in Egypt. It would be easy enough to flip the trip around and start in Cairo, but we found that it worked out well to finish in Cairo. Here was our itinerary starting with our arrival in Luxor:

Day 1 – After arriving in Luxor, we headed directly to the docks where we checked into our cruise ship, had some tea, and put our bags in our cabin before starting our adventure. We quickly left for the Karnak Temple Complex, which was an absolutely amazing way to start our time in Egypt. After spending several hours with our Egyptologist guide touring the temple complex, we walked amongst the lines of sphinxes that once lined a river connecting the Karnak Temple Complex to the Luxor Temple Complex. After another couple of hours touring the Luxor Temple Complex, we returned to the ship for dinner. Our day wasn’t done as we returned after dinner to the Karnak Temple Complex where we enjoyed a lighted show that took you through the history of the temple and gave you a view of what it must have been like thousands of years ago.

Day 2 – After a good night’s sleep, we rose early to have breakfast and start our day. Most days started early in Egypt due to the heat of the afternoon, so it is definitely a place where getting up early pays off. Overnight the cruise ship had made its way from the east bank of the Nile to the west bank. Our first stop of the day was at the famous Valley of the Kings where many of the pharaoh tombs are located, including that of King Tutankhamen (King Tut). Truly an incredible experience. After visiting the Valley of the Kings, we went to an alabaster factory where we saw how alabaster products were made and we were able to buy some items to take home with us. We then continued on to the Hatshepsut Temple at the base of the mountain. Finally, we went to see the Colossi of Memnon before returning to our cruise ship to enjoy an afternoon on the water as we headed towards our next destination.

Day 3 – Overnight our cruise ship had arrived in Edfu. We started our day taking a horse-drawn carriage through the town of Edfu to see the Temple of Horus, which is another amazing temple. After a couple of hours touring the temple, we were back on the cruise ship where we continued down the Nile to visit Temple Kom Ombo. We spent the late part of the afternoon walking through the temple grounds and learning even more history from our guide who was with us throughout our cruise. We were then back on the ship for the final leg of our cruise where we saw amazing sunsets on the Nile River as we made our way towards Aswan.

People in the Background Provide Scale to the Obelisk in the Quarry

Day 4 – Our first stop of the day was to visit an ancient quarry where the giant obelisks that we had seen in Luxor had been carved in single pieces out of the granite. There is even an obelisk still in the stone that had broken and therefore been abandoned, but it remains there in the quarry even after thousands of years. We then took a boat out to the island of Philae and the Temple of Isis. At this point, all of the temples were starting to blend together. Finally, we went to see the High Aswan Dam and learned about the alligators that are famous in the region. We then flew back to Cairo to start the next part of our adventure.

Day 5 – Our first full day in Cairo was certainly memorable as we went to see a variety of pyramids in the Giza Plateau. Our first stop was in Dahshur where we saw the Bent Pyramid and were able to climb down to the burial chamber inside of the Red Pyramid. We were pretty much all by ourselves, which made it an even more incredible experience. From there we went to the Step Pyramid in the Saqqara Necropolis, which is another interesting architectural site where we were able to climb down to the burial chamber. We then stopped for lunch before heading to the Giza Plateau to visit the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx. Seeing the Great Pyramids is certainly the highlight of any trip to Egypt and to Cairo. We also rode camels around the pyramids, but that was more touristy and not actually our favorite part.

Day 6 – We spent the morning exploring the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, which is quite impressive with all of the historic relics on display. We then went to the shore of the Nile River where we boarded a felucca to leisurely sail around the heart of Cairo. It was a relaxing way to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. We then visited Abu Serga Church where the Holy Family stayed in what is referred to as the Cavern Church. We also visited Ben Ezra Synagogue, which is located on the site where legend states that baby Moses was found. We then visited the Church of the Virgin Mary, also known as Hanging Church, which is one of the oldest churches in Egypt.

Day 7 – Originally it was our intention to take this day and just relax before heading home, but we decided to take a tour of Old Cairo and see the important Islamic mosques. One of the highlights was visiting the Mosque and Madrassa of Sultan Hasan where our guide explained the history of Cairo and the influence of Islam on the region. From the historic mosques, we went into the heart of Old Cairo where we visited one of the oldest Ottoman houses in Cairo. Finally, we visited the famous bazaar in Old Cairo, which is quite busy with hundreds of vendors selling everything from silk to hookahs.

Needless to say, it was a very busy seven days with exciting and fascinating sights on every day. There are certainly more places to visit in Egypt if you have more time, but if you are limited on time as we were, these seven days will not disappoint you. It took us months after returning home to truly absorb everything that we saw and learned during our time in Egypt. It is definitely one of those trips where you need to plan and prepare in order to make the most of your time.

Amsterdam Canal Cruise

On February 6, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Netherlands6 Comments

With all of the different canals in Amsterdam, taking a canal cruise is a great way to see the city and learn about its architecture as well as its history. We had also taken a walking tour of the city, but touring by boat was truly enjoyable. Most tours will take you by famous sites like the Anne Frank house, but you also see various other areas of the city that you might not otherwise see.

Our tour provided headsets in order to listen to the audio presentation of the tour. We learned about why the buildings lean toward the water and have hooks suspended from the roof. Because the buildings are so narrow, furniture is hoisted from the street level up to the windows in order to get them inside and the buildings lean so that the items can be raised without hitting the walls. The buildings are narrow because they are taxed based on the width of the building, so most of them are narrow and tall.

Leaving the Bay and Heading Towards the Canals

People don’t just live in the buildings along the canals, but they also live in houseboats on the canals. Most of them never move and some of them don’t even have engines. There are various styles from simple and small to large and luxurious. In a city that is made up of hundreds of canals, house boats are a great way for people to live downtown and enjoy everything that city has to offer. Needless to say, in a city where bicycles outnumber residents, it isn’t uncommon to see bicycles on the decks of the houseboats. There were even some whimsical boats and a few that were half sunken, but not repaired.

There are many choices of canal cruise tour companies to choose from in Amsterdam and the size of the boat will determine what canals you can see and which ones you can’t. There are even small tours that offer drinks and food, which makes it more of a fun excursion rather than an actual tour. We chose a medium size tour boat for our tour, but if we ever do it again, we’d probably choose a private tour with wine and the famous Dutch cheese.

Walking Along the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

On January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Laos, Uncategorized4 Comments

When visiting Vientiane in Laos, one thing that should be on your itinerary is spending time along the Mekong River. There are many restaurants on the road that sits along the river as well as Chao Anouvong Park, the main park in Vientiane. There are also a few rooftop restaurants that are only a block or two away from the river that offer great views of the city as well as the river. We had been told before visiting that we should be sure to see a sunset over the Mekong River and we were definitely glad that we did. At night, the area around Chao Anouvong Park that is near the inner city turns into a night market with street food, family activities, and vendors selling locally produced items.

We decided to walk along the river to get a couple of cold drinks at a pub to escape the heat and watch the sun set. As we walked the street to get to the pub, we were distracted trying to find where it was located and we walked into a section of the sidewalk that had fresh concrete. The workers hadn’t blocked of the sidewalk and were gone for the day, so we didn’t realize that it was fresh cement. We quickly hustled off of it, but our footprints were already there, so we joke with ourselves that we have left our mark on Vientiane.

From the restaurant, we walked along the river as the sun set over the Mekong River, which was truly gorgeous. On the other side of the river is Thailand, so many people from Laos and Thailand cross back and forth every day. Afterwards, we continued to the night market as the crowds began to form as people came out to enjoy the cooler temperatures. One of the things that we noticed during our time in Vientiane was that there were a fair amount of expats in the city, which didn’t actually expect. We also enjoyed a sunset from one of the rooftop restaurants, which also provided cooler breezes as the sun slowly went down over the horizon.

Watching the Sun Head Toward the Horizon

There are many interesting things to do in Vientiane, such as visiting Buddha Park, going to the Golden Stupa, seeing Victory Gate, as well as just seeing all of the temples. In addition to those places, it is certainly worth taking some time to unwind along the Mekong River and enjoy a beautiful sunset.