In today's post, I will take you through my entire Egypt experience with Contiki! Egypt was one of the top 3 destinations on our bucket list and I'm so happy to have ticked it off!
To start off, let me give you a short introduction on Contiki. Contiki designs group tours for young travellers and they make travel easier and more social. Throughout 350+ unique group trips, Contiki organises accommodation, food, experiences and transport, so you can relax and focus on exploring the world with other young travellers just like you.
It was our first time on a group trip and Dan and I did not know what to expect! What we do know, is that we'll be traveling with a group of young travellers between the ages of 18-35. So we packed our bags and flew to Egypt, all ready to meet new people and begin this exciting Egyptian adventure.
Upon arriving to Cairo, we had someone from Contiki pick us up at the airport to send us to our hotel. We had a free day in Cairo before meeting the rest of the group in the evening for a little get to know you session.
DAY 2 | CAIRO
On our first official day in Cairo, we greeted the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx early in the morning. It was truly a magical experience seeing the pyramids while riding on camels. The camels take you through the desert and around the pyramids. Each pyramid is built for one Pharaoh's coffin, however they're no longer there as they have been moved to the museum.
Photographer's tip:
Most places in Egypt will require a ticket for cameras and a tripod.
That same evening, we boarded the overnight train to Aswan. On the sleeper train, Dan and I shared a cabin with bunk beds. We slept so soundly throughout the night and the beds were surprisingly very comfortable! And because the train was moving the entire night, we felt like we were being rocked to sleep. The whole experience can be found on my Instagram Story Highlights under Egypt.
DAY 3 | NILE CRUISE - ASWAN
We sailed on a felucca boat and we soaked up the exoticism and history of the region. We also stopped by the Sahara desert. That same evening, we settled into the first of 3 nights on a cruise of the River Nile.
DAY 4 | NILE CRUISE - ABU SIMBEL | EDFU
At Abu Simbel, there are 2 massive rock temples. One for Ramesses II and the other for his queen, Queen Nefertari. The 2 ancient temples at Abu Simbel are carved into a mountain near a village called Nubia, which is just next to the border of Sudan. Getting to Abu Simbel is a little out of the way, but with Contiki I'm glad we were able to include this in our itinerary as an 'Add-On'. We set off on a 3hours bus journey at 5am to get here and I'm glad we did. There is so much history and culture here.
*Photographer's tip:
There is absolutely no photography allowed in the temples unless you purchase a photo ticket. (Which we did of course!)
QUEEN NEFERTARI'S TEMPLE
We took a 3 hours bus journey back before heading out to visit the temple of Kom Ombo. When we were at Kom Ombo, it was like taking a walk back in time to greet the God of Crocodiles and to learn the history of the other gods. That evening, we spent it on the cruise and soaked in the beautiful sunset on the top deck.
KOM OMBO TEMPLE
DAY 5 | NILE CRUISE - LUXOR
Some of our friends at Contiki added the hot air balloon ride over Luxor to their itinerary, but we decided to spend our morning watching the balloons from our cruise instead. We had some free time that morning and afternoon as we did not include the 'Add-Ons' to our itinerary. That evening, we joined our group again to visit the amazing Luxor Temple.
LUXOR TEMPLE
DAY 6 | TEMPLES & HURGHADA
Before departing for Hurghada, we spent our morning and afternoon visiting all the ancient temples and valleys. We visited the temple of Hatshepsut, which is a mortuary built for Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Hatshepsut. We visited Valley of the Kings next but we do not have any photos from here as we did not purchase a photo ticket for the entire place. The last temple we visited was my favourite, Karnak Temple. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years and also dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu. It is the largest religious building ever made, and was a place of pilgrimage for nearly 2,000 years.
TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT
KARNAK TEMPLE
After visiting all the temples, we left Luxor and headed to Hurghada to rest for the night.
DAY 7 | HURGHADA AND BACK TO CAIRO
We got to swim and snorkel in the Red Sea for the whole morning and afternoon and it was absolutely surreal. The water was crystal clear and we got to see Moray eels, stingrays, jellyfishes and loads of other sea life. Honestly one of the best snorkelling experiences I've ever had. After snorkelling and lunch, we took a bus all the way back to Cairo to rest for the evening.
DAY 8 | GOODBYE CAIRO
Egyptian Night on the cruise
Saying goodbye to our Contiki friends before we separate ways and fly back home.
Great post guys! Really love all your pictures. Are you not allowed to go into the rock temples? I see so many pictures of it from the outside but none from the inside
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