Egypt: The Pyramids, King Tut and 5000 Years of History

Pictures and Stories from Travels in a Ancient Land

July 2006: I just returned from a grand tour of Egypt and all the great sites that make that country famous.  Since my a return a few days ago, the consensus questions has been, how were the Pyramids? The Pyramids are impressive and the biggest of the three structures, the Great Pyramid is the last remaining of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World.  However, the Pyramids of Giza outside Cairo represent only a small chapter in 5000 years of ancient Egyptian history.  Growing up in country that has maybe 500 years of history made it hard for me to comprehend the greatness of early Egyptian civilizations.  The most impressive part of ancient Egypt is the grand style and meticulous detail in which structures and temples were built.  Every temple covers enough ground to host a large concert and are as tall as a 10 story building.  The 500 foot Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure in all of Egypt for nearly 4600 years and was only passed by the skyscrapers of Cairo in the last 100 years.  Afifii and Menal, our native Egyptian tour guides, ensured that we traveled safely, saw all the great sites and gave us enough information on Egypt to win on Jeopardy.

I also paid a visit the the Valley of the Kings and the tomb of King Tut.  Surprisingly, the tomb of Tutankhamen is unimpressive in size compared to the other tombs of great Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings.  King Tut died at a young age of suspicious circumstances so a grand tomb was not ready for the boy king. In Egyptian history, King Tut had no major significance and the Pharaoh was only made famous in 1922 when Howard Carter discovered the king's tomb completely intact with all the treasure buried with the Pharaoh.  All other tombs of the great Pharaohs of Egypt were plundered by grave robbers before being discovered by modern Egyptologists.  The treasure from King Tut's tomb takes up a entire wing in the Museum of Cairo and there is even a separate secure room just to display the famous jewelry buried with the boy king.  Besides viewing the Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings, I toured all the great temples of ancient Egypt along the Nile River including The Temples of Karnak, Luxor, Kom Ombo, Esna, Edfu, and Abu Simbel.  Each temple was as impressive as the next standing tall after thousands of years of history.  I also had time to take a break from temple sightseeing to visit the famous marketplaces and bazaars of Egypt which are a mecca for shoppers.

Beyond touring the great temples, tombs and museums of ancient of Egypt, I spent my time in the country inspecting hotels, cruise ships and restaurants to finalize the best possible accommodations and itinerary for a group adventure tour to Egypt next summer. I even took time to check out some famous resort towns on the Red Sea to provide an oasis from the week long touring of Egyptian temples. I have been planning my Egypt trip since October of 2005 and the final pieces to the itinerary are just now falling into place. The intention of this newsletter is to pique your interest in joining us in Egypt next year and to show you some breathtaking pictures of my journey.  My special edition Egypt adventure newsletter in August will feature complete itinerary details and trip package pricing for the Egypt trip in the early summer of next year.  Here is just a few highlights of our Egypt adventure tour for next summer: 4 Day Nile Cruise (Agatha Christie style) with stops in Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Aswan, The Valley of the Kings (tomb of King Tut) and extra time to check out the ancient city of Luxor and the biggest temples in the world. We will spend some time in Cairo to experience the culture of this great city and to visit the The Sphinx and The Great Pyramids of Giza, see the Cairo Museum and shop at city bazaars.  A short flight to the resort town Sharm el-Sheik will bring the group to the Sinai Peninsula and the shores of the Red Sea.  Sharm el-Sheik is a gorgeous resort town very popular with Europeans.  While in Sharm, the group will travel to Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's Monastery to see where Moses received the Ten Commandments. There will also be a day trip to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan made famous as the home of the Holy Grail in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."  One evening will be spent dining at remote oasis and riding camels just like Lawrence of Arabia. The adventure tour to Egypt next summer will truly be a trip of a lifetime!

Tour of Ancient Egypt & Sinai Peninsula: July 2-17, 2007 Information Page

Please check out some of the highlight pictures from my tour of Egypt: Egypt Photo Gallery (click here)!