Real Journeys

The highlight of our visit to Aswan was our visit to Philae Temple. There were other things I have to write about, especially the hotel where we stayed. And I have some back story to share.

I planned to write about Abu Simbel last night. But all the planning I did for this trip turned into a big snafu yesterday, as war broke out in Israel, and I spent the evening reworking all my plans. I’ll write … Continued

We started the day today in Daraw, a small village with a busy market. The rest of the day we just sailed to our final destination, Aswan. We’re still on the boat tonight; tomorrow we return to dry land. We didn’t … Continued

We started the day yesterday visiting a craftsman in Fares before continuing upriver to Kom Ombo. The temple there offered some new things to see as well as enhancing our understanding about the images carved in temple walls. Then in … Continued

Yesterday we started the day with a visit to Besaw Island for what OAT calls “A Day in the Life.” Then we continued south to Gebel el-Silsila, the site of an ancient sandstone quarry. It was a low-key day in … Continued

Yesterday was a light day activity-wise, but there was one big highlight: our visit to the Temple of Edfu. This wasn’t the most visually-stunning temple we’ve seen, but it is the most intact temple ever discovered in Egypt. So it … Continued

After visiting Karnak yesterday morning, we drove out of Luxor about an hour south to Esna. There we visited the small but spectacular Temple of Khnum. Then we boarded our dehabeya “Asiya” and set sail up the Nile (heading south). … Continued

Luxor became a major city starting with the 11th Dynasty, around 2050 BCE. Its height came around 1500 BCE and lasted about 400 years, encompassing the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasties. The ancient Egyptians called it Waset, meaning “city of … Continued

Yesterday after our visit to the Pyramids of Giza, we met Raheem, who talked to us about women in Egypt. She shared about her own experience as well as the role of women in society. This was part of OAT’s … Continued

Today we visited the Pyramids of Giza. In addition to getting a good dose of history, I learned something every visitor to this important site should know: there are no gifts. Nothing is free.