My Egypt Tour Oct-Nov, 2009
I saw the magnificent temples and tombs of the old. It was humbling to witness locals carry on alongside the ancient monuments as they always have, as a part of their daily lives. On arrival in Cairo, I was greeted with unseasonal temperature at this time of the year,
33°C. The old Egyptian Museum was awesome, but boiling and stewing at around 45°C, with no air conditioning, nor the temperature controls for their precious antiquities. I was agast to see Tutumkamen's gold gilded crown chair displayed openly as though to invite disasters from careless onlookers. Further down in Luxor, the entire place including the Luxor and Karnac temples, is an open air museum. In spite of over 50°C sizzler I went into 3 tombs in the vast Valley of the Kings and marvelled at well-preserved thousands-year old art works and hieroglyphs. Aswan, the most southern city along the Nile is a beautiful place with many small islands, again surrounded by antiquities in the open-air. On the west of the Nile is Western Desert, the east end of the mighty Sahara. It's the second time I've encountered the Sahara, the last being from the Atlas Mountains side in Morocco two years ago. Close to the Sudanese border on the Nile are the famous temples of Abu Simbel. I was thrilled to witness the colosal statues of Ramses ll, saved from the rising waters of Lake Nasser by UNESCO financed operation. (at a cost of $40million US.) My final days were back in Cairo to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.
I saw the magnificent temples and tombs of the old. It was humbling to witness locals carry on alongside the ancient monuments as they always have, as a part of their daily lives. On arrival in Cairo, I was greeted with unseasonal temperature at this time of the year,
33°C. The old Egyptian Museum was awesome, but boiling and stewing at around 45°C, with no air conditioning, nor the temperature controls for their precious antiquities. I was agast to see Tutumkamen's gold gilded crown chair displayed openly as though to invite disasters from careless onlookers. Further down in Luxor, the entire place including the Luxor and Karnac temples, is an open air museum. In spite of over 50°C sizzler I went into 3 tombs in the vast Valley of the Kings and marvelled at well-preserved thousands-year old art works and hieroglyphs. Aswan, the most southern city along the Nile is a beautiful place with many small islands, again surrounded by antiquities in the open-air. On the west of the Nile is Western Desert, the east end of the mighty Sahara. It's the second time I've encountered the Sahara, the last being from the Atlas Mountains side in Morocco two years ago. Close to the Sudanese border on the Nile are the famous temples of Abu Simbel. I was thrilled to witness the colosal statues of Ramses ll, saved from the rising waters of Lake Nasser by UNESCO financed operation. (at a cost of $40million US.) My final days were back in Cairo to see the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. 
