We continue with part 2 of this historic 9-day adventure through Egypt exploring the impressive Abu Simbel, and continuing on our Nile River cruise stopping in Kom Ombo Temple, Edfu Temple, and ending in Luxor – a literal open air museum.

In Luxor we take you into the most colorfully preserved tombs in the Valley of the Kings, the impressive cliffside Temple of Hatshepsut, take you through the largest Temple of Karnak, and end with seeing the Temple of Luxor, right in the middle of the city, lit up at night. We close the episode with one last spa day at the amazing Hilton Cairo Heliopolis.

Have you listened to our episode on Egypt part 1 at the Great Pyramids and Aswan? Make this trip longer for 9 days exploring Egypt’s history.

On this trip we went with Gate, cruised on the Queen of Hansa and in Cairo stayed at⁠Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino ⁠and ⁠Hilton Cairo Heliopolis.⁠ If those Cairos hotels are booked, check out these other highly rated hotels in Cairo.

Check out our recommended Egypt experiences on Viator to visit all the same sites we did on this trip.

Find a great flight deal to Cairo by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year subscription.

Egyptian River Cruise & Luxor – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hello fellow travelers, Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

Today we are bringing you Part 2 of our nine day Egypt adventure.

0:51

The trip has been so fun.

We have explored our way through the Great Pyramids, the Cairo shops, and we have gotten into Oswan onto our cruise ship and things are really starting to heat up.

We’re about to get into Day 5 here, which is a big day for us.

1:08

Day 5 was a big day that is for sure.

So we had another early morning wake up call, this time around 3:00 AM because breakfast was at 4:00 and we were out on our tour bus at 5:00 AM to go to Abu Sambel.

1:25

So Abu Sambel is in southern Egypt.

It was a four hour bus ride each way from our hotel on the boat to Abu Sambel.

Very long treacherous journey but so worth going.

1:40

I was so excited to see this.

Kim almost had a freak out this day.

I just want to say, you know, everyone says Jamal has the freak outs.

This was a Kim freak out day because there were moments where we lost you, which we’ll get to in a second because of course we haven’t even given context to what Abu Sambel is.

1:55

But I just got really excited because I’m always ragged on for like freak outs.

But then Kim shows up when she went missing.

People try to talk to her and then just see Kim walk away and ignore everybody who’s talking to her when she clearly heard it was almost her way of saying, like F you, I’m moving on, I’m done.

2:13

But in fairness to Kim, she got over that real quick.

And in about like 10 minutes, she was conversating again.

But Kim Kim was there for a second.

Freak out on the Faluca boat.

That wasn’t a freak out, and we’ll get to it because that was a warranted one.

But nevertheless, let’s get back to Abu Simbel.

Both agreed that both of those freak outs equated to half freak outs each, so that together you made a full freak out, but they weren’t full blown for either of you.

2:39

But before we get into Abu Sambel, I just want to say I was once in Uganda on another tour with Kate 1, the Uganda tour, and I had met a lady named Jerry and Jerry had said have you guys gone to Egypt?

And I said no, we hadn’t.

It was on our list.

And she said that she specifically picked a tour that included Abu Sambel and that if we go to Egypt, we have to make sure we pick a tour that goes here.

3:04

I had no idea at that time what that was.

I just knew in the back of my head I had to pick a tour that went to Abu Sambel.

So we did pick a tour that went there and it is long to get there.

And that’s why some tours don’t include it is because like Jamal said, it’s a four hour bus ride one way and then you’re only at the site for about 2:00-ish hours before you make your way back.

3:28

So it is a long travel day, but it is so worth.

It and there’s nothing on the road, yes.

Well, it’s just desert, so perfect time to actually sleep if you’re trying to get some ZS in for you and get a little bit extra rest.

But I just want to go back.

3:44

Brittany, you said you had no clue what Abu Sambel was and you probably did not know it, obviously by name.

And again, we’re about to talk and say exactly what it is, but even though you didn’t know it by name, I’m wagering some squaddies.

If you’re listening now and don’t know it by name, you know it by look.

4:02

It is the very famous tall 4 identical sitting statues of King and Pharaoh Ramses the Second that are hundreds of feet tall.

I feel like, I mean, just so tall.

All of them for sitting there with the door leading into the temple complex.

4:20

If that’s still not ringing a bell, just Google it.

I’m sure you’ve probably seen it, you know, in your life.

And that this temple also, these massive statues built into the side of a Cliff, a mountain.

I know, even more crazy, right?

4:35

So Abu Sambel ancient temple complex in southern Egypt, as we just mentioned, carved into the mountainside during the rain of Pharaoh Ramses the Second.

And like I said, it’s famous for its massive statues.

And also as we talked earlier with the Fila temple, this one was relocated just as well.

4:55

So this is in an area where they put in the dam, it’s created Lake Nasser.

This area was getting flooded.

They relocated it.

As a matter of fact, it was very close to where it is now.

And they just moved it up the waterline and carved it and put it inside a new mountain here piece by piece.

5:14

But this is one of the more famous ancient temples that are left in ancient Egypt because it has those 4 dominating statues of King Ramses the second at the entrance just sitting there.

And the way they have reconstructed it from moving it to still make it look like it’s carved into the mountain is insane.

5:33

It you would not be able to know that it was moved if you didn’t have that history and back story.

So we get on our bus for our ride very early in the morning.

I think we got on the bus at like 5:00 AM, so mostly slept on the way there.

And then we are getting off of the bus and we’re about to go.

5:53

It’s like a long walk to get to the temple.

And so he’s telling us like, logistically what we’re going to do outside, how long we have there.

And we’re all standing outside the bus as a group.

And for whatever reason, Kim apparently hopped back on the bus and no one saw her hop back on the bus.

6:14

For whatever reason was my sunglasses weren’t in my purse.

And the day before I’d also lost a pair of sunglasses.

I knew I had them.

It was sunny outside.

So I went back in to find them and I did tear apart the bus area.

They were like wedged between the bus side and the seat and when I came out I was alone.

6:34

Kim was abandoned.

Nobody saw her go back on.

So as we all started walking, and we’re a group of seven, sometimes we’re breaking off into little clusters of two or three.

I mean, I guess no one really realized that we left.

Kim like home alone like they thought I was.

With.

Brittany thought I was with Dad.

6:51

That was exactly.

So I’m walking with Jamal and then Ryan ends up joining us and then Xena ends up joining us.

And so I’m like, OK, here’s four of us and I look back and I see Cash and Robin just chatting away.

And I was like, wait, where’s Kim?

7:07

And then I wait for Kasha and Robin and I say hey, where’s Kim?

And they’re like, we thought she was with you.

And I was like, Nope, she’s not with our group and she’s not here.

So we stood there for a few minutes and we looked around.

We didn’t see her anywhere.

And then we’re like, well, it’s like a one way path.

7:24

So we’re going to come across her eventually.

So anyways, we made it to the front of the temple, and then we saw her coming down.

And then I was like, hey, what happened?

Like, where were you?

And she was like, I was here or something, kind of snarky.

And I was like, all right.

7:39

I was always there.

You left me.

And so, yeah, actually take that back.

Brittany did get a response.

And then Zayna asks Kim a question.

And then Kim hears it, doesn’t even look back, and just walks on.

She walks away.

Oh, sure you didn’t.

7:54

Sure, you.

Didn’t.

And so all right, she just needs a minute, whatever.

And then I walk across her like a few minutes later and she’s chatting away with Zana.

So I was like OK, she’s good now, but she was on the verge of a freak out and she walked away from her so that she can compose herself.

8:11

I don’t know if what it was, Kim.

Was it because you felt like we bailed on you, or because you thought you lost a second pair of sunglasses and still hadn’t recovered from the fact that you?

I did find my sunglasses but it was like naked and afraid out there.

Like all alone.

The whole group is gone and then submit man was talking to me but he turned out to be a police officer so it was all good.

8:33

All good, well we ended up reuniting back in front of the temple like you said Brittany and Kim was fine 10 minutes later chit chatting away with Zaina.

So all good on that front.

But going back to Abu Sambel, like I said it’s the famous 4 statues of Ramses the second.

8:51

But what a lot of people don’t realize too, when they see that image, if they’ve only seen the image before, is right by that temple, there is another temple dedicated to Ramses the Second’s wife, Queen Nefertari, And so you have a whole nother temple to go into.

9:07

There’s the four statues of her standing, of course, not as grand as the four of Ramses the Second, but I just thought that was really cool.

Here you have two things that were originally carved into the mountainside, again, having to be relocated because of flooding.

They recreate the temples piece by piece, put in exactly where it was, and they also make it in a way where it looks like it’s in a makeshift mountainside.

9:32

They almost like built these dirt domes to really put it in, like it’s carved into the mountain like it was originally.

So an amazing site, an amazing feat of engineering.

Again, modern and prehistoric in ancient times when they originally built these.

Inside the temple too, are more giant statues of this man.

9:52

More giant statues, more columns with the hieroglyphs, the colors.

Finally, this is one of the first times when we’re starting to see lots of colors in the temple because that feel that we really didn’t get to see that.

But here we are first time seeing the colors.

A lot of them here are muted.

10:07

But then of course you do have some bright ones.

We saw some brighter ones later on on the trip too.

So the in comparison, I mean these ones weren’t that great, but this is the first glimpse of real color from thousands of years ago that are still on these columns and carved of the hieroglyphs and the inscriptions.

10:24

So I mean, it was just so impressive being here.

Yeah, it was just as impressive inside and outside and then both temples side by side and going to see them both was just amazing.

I feel like this was my favorite temple complex that we went to on this trip.

10:41

I agree, mine too.

So definitely worth the long day, the early morning, and if you’re going to Egypt, I highly recommend that you come here.

So we spent two hours exploring.

You really do need all of that time to see everything.

And then part of it too is the walk back.

10:59

You walk through a pretty big marketplace to get back to the bus area.

So keep that in mind too, that you have to allot that time.

And as you’re walking through, vendors are going to be coming up to you.

Do you want to buy this?

Yes, a lot of offers for a dollar, but then when you actually ask for the price, it’s not a dollar.

11:19

It was a dollar to look, but not to buy.

They don’t really make you pay the.

I know.

And then there’s hassles, but the ones that really say no hassle and give you no hassle, those are the good ones to buy from.

And I remember Ryan telling me, not necessarily here, but one of the places he bought, he’s like, yeah, a guy told me that.

11:35

I actually really believed it and it was no hassle.

And so, you know, even though I know charged me a little bit more probably than I could have gotten if I haggled it, I just appreciated the in fact that he didn’t bother me while I was looking, you know, And I actually think that is a very good thing when you’re in Egypt when they don’t bother you.

11:51

But yeah, the vendors here at Abu Sambel and anywhere where you’re going to be, they’re just wild.

So do know that going into.

It I feel like they got more and more crazy actually every day.

It was never like crazy, but some of them were a little different.

12:08

A little wild for sure.

So when we were done here at Abu Sambel, we had the 4 hour bus ride back.

Perfect opportunity to get in a little bit of rest and sleep.

I actually think I slept for pretty much the whole wave.

I.

Think that whole bus slept on this wave?

Oh yeah, no, absolutely.

12:24

And then by the time we arrived, since it was such an early morning, it was technically lunch.

I would call it a liner situation at this point in time, but nevertheless, lunch was available and ready for us when we were on board.

Yeah, it was like 2:00 PM and then he said, you know, we’re going to have like an hour for lunch, but we’re going to meet back up.

12:46

I think it was right around like 4:00-ish because there was an optional sunset faluca ride.

And a faluca is a traditional wooden sailboat used on the Nile.

We unknowingly had taken a faluca from the Nubian village to our boat the night before, so we had done that at night.

13:03

So this time we actually got to see it during the day at sunset.

The colors were really beautiful.

We had a gorgeous sandstone backdrops so it was really nice.

Well, this one was a little bit more authentic because it was really using the sails.

The one that took us from the Nubian village of course had a motor boat, but I mean classified as a Feluca but not really a Feluca.

13:22

This one here the optional tour with gate one that we ended up doing the real experience with the sailing.

How the Egyptians used to sail the Nile 4000 years ago.

Absolutely, absolutely.

And so it was just really nice sailing up and down within a concentrated area, you know, close to our ship, but enough distance covered and time to burn an hour to really just enjoy it, especially in those twilight hours, so to speak, of when the sun is starting to set.

13:49

So we really did enjoy this.

Now in hindsight, I will say like I didn’t love this experience.

Because you were having a freak.

No, I did not have a freak out.

Yes, I did not.

I did not have a freak out.

I just want to say this real quick for context, right?

Worth doing, but if you’re doing this tour and then deciding do I really want to like this one?

14:09

I don’t think would be missed if it it wasn’t like an experience.

That I did.

It was a nice little sale, but that’s about it, right?

Exactly.

It was great for pictures they did have, of course, like dancing and music.

Yeah, Gate one, bringing out the Nubian dancers and chanting with us.

14:25

It was an interesting addition to the sale experience.

Giving you the cultural experience, yes.

We did dance.

Well, not Jamal did not dance.

He was having a freak out.

OK, this is what Jamal did.

No, I was done with the freak out by then.

And it’s not even a freak out.

You know, I’ll let you ladies say what happened, but it’s that’s not even true.

14:41

Let the squaddies decide.

Over exaggerated.

We’re on this beautiful sailboat on the Nile River.

All the girls are having a great time.

Even Ryan’s laughing it up.

We’re drinking our Coca Colas.

We’re taking pictures with these gorgeous sailboats behind us.

14:58

And me and Brittany were like, where’s our travel squad buddy Jamal come get a picture.

And Jamal’s in the corner facing his phone.

And he said I’m not taking pictures right now.

I didn’t say I all, I said with Kim.

In fairness, you asked.

15:14

You’re like, oh, Jamal, come for photos.

Like not now, Kim.

And I said it in a short, curt way.

Basically ripped my head off.

No.

OK, basically.

I’m going to give some context to this.

So like right after lunch, we went back to our room for a minute and Jamal happened to go on to the Singapore Airlines website because we are planning a future trip to Vietnam and Cambodia and we really wanted to fly business class.

15:38

So we’ve been watching the points that we need to transfer for this trip and he knew that they were going to be released this day.

And we get back from lunch and he’s.

He didn’t know it it was it was a span of days and it just so happened to be this day, right?

Well, it was within two days, right?

15:54

I had it on my calendar for two days, I forget it was either the 14th or 15th to look on those days because they should be released.

So I checked it the day before, wasn’t released.

Checked it the next day, here they were finally released.

Yes.

16:10

And these business class seats go in minutes, like minutes.

And so we’re at the same time needing to leave for this tour.

So as we’re walking out the door, Jamal and I are trying to transfer our points so that we can book our Singapore Airlines flight.

16:27

We make it onto the boat.

As I’m getting onto the boat, my booking goes through.

Jamal’s does not go through.

His says that he’s wait listed.

So to guarantee his spot, he now has to go back and transfer more points to guarantee his spot and pay like a higher points fee because he was in the middle of that at the start of the boat tour.

16:49

Yeah, because the lower point fee was available.

Brittany got it.

Apparently she was the last one because we both hit book at the same time as we were kind of transferring points and getting everything settled.

So then that fair class went away.

And by fair class, I’m talking like point redemption value.

17:05

And it said I was wait listed and I’m not going to sit in economy.

Well, Brittany’s sitting in business class.

Are you crazy?

I need to transfer those points and get it done.

So I transferred more points, booked the same business class seat, but at a higher point redemption value.

And then as soon as I got that done, I said, Kim, I’m ready for that photo with a smile on my face.

17:25

I was just stressed because I’ve been planning for these seats to be released for a while to book them.

And yeah, so that that’s what that was.

I wouldn’t call that a freak out.

I would call it Jamal laser focused to book travel while on vacation that that’s what happened.

There another mini freak out earlier in the trip though.

17:43

I have no clue what you’re talking about.

Genuinely refresh my memory.

Well, we’ll say it was a happy.

OK, well Kim doesn’t even have one.

She’s just trying to say there was another one to make me look bad.

There was nothing because she couldn’t even.

So 2 halves, one from Kim, one from Jamal to make a whole freak out for this trip.

17:58

There were other freak outs but we won’t name any names it.

Was at least 2.

But back at the boat, after we were done with this optional tour, they had cocktails in the lounge and then they introduced the manager of each department.

18:14

And so we just got ahead like a little cocktail hour hung out before dinner.

So not too much time from lunch till dinner.

And again, that’s because we arrived late from Abu Sambel that day.

But by the time we had dinner plus the cocktail hour, which they gave like hors d’oeuvres, which I’m not going to lie, the hors d’oeuvres weren’t anything too special.

18:34

So I really wasn’t eating them at all.

But dinner was very soon after lunch and we were full.

But the food was absolutely delicious this night because again, we were still docked in Aswan.

We hadn’t even left Aswan yet.

And this was going to be our second night sleeping on board the Hansa Spirit.

18:51

So Ryan and I were like, OK, let’s go ahead and go to the market because in the market they had a cafe where you can go and have hookah coffee.

So Ryan and I went to go do that this evening and enjoyed it.

And again, I just love going out doing that or even walking the streets at night.

19:10

It was really fun, felt really safe and very close to our cruise ship.

Every night with dinner you could choose two drinks that could be soda, wine or beer.

And so every night I was drinking wine.

It was amazing.

And while you guys went to go do hookah, me, Brittany and Kasha stayed for a while too.

19:29

We were drinking a little bit of wine.

We went up to the lounge bar talking to Susie, another lady from our group.

We stayed up kind of late.

Yeah, we were saying how tired we were, but every time we said we were retired, we would end up staying up late anyways.

So we were just enjoying our vacation.

19:45

That’s all it was.

Yes, it was very nice.

Then we got to bed.

So Saturday was our first day of sailing and we were set to set sail at 5:00 AM and we were sailing to Comb Ambo.

And what I really liked about sailing was this was the first time we really got to like open up our windows and we had these floor to ceiling windows where we were just directly above the Nile.

20:11

It was really like a sliding glass door more than a window, right?

Yeah, it was a sliding glass door, but there was like no balcony, there’s just a railing.

But it gave us really cool views.

It was so beautiful.

And we got to air out our cabin.

It was just a really beautiful sailing day.

20:28

And then when we got to the dock, we actually were able to walk to the temple from our boat.

We didn’t have to board a bus at this time.

Yeah.

So we started sailing in the morning, probably even before any of us were up.

But 8:00 AM was when we landed at the Comambo Temple complex.

20:46

And like you said, Brittany, we were just able to walk from our boat and the Komambo temple, it’s a unique double temple in Upper Egypt here.

And when I say double temple, usually the temples were always dedicated to one God in particular, but this one was dedicated to two gods, the God of Sobek, which is the crocodile God, and Horus, which is the Falcon headed God.

21:11

And so it’s a symmetrical design and has detailed carvings reflecting, of course, ancient Egyptian religious life, medicine and astronomy.

And what was really cool is when you’re done with the temple, this place also had a crocodile museum, because, of course, this was a temple dedicated to Sobek, one of the gods it was dedicated to.

21:31

And again, he was a crocodile.

So they had mummified crocodiles.

Mummified crocodiles.

Yeah, so in the crocodile museum, right by the temple, you get to see mummified crocodiles that are thousands of years old, which I thought was like pretty cool.

And then of course, little mummified eggs that still have like hatchlings in them and things of that nature.

21:52

So really cool all around and love the fact that it’s just right on the river.

Here’s a little stop.

Oh, get off your boat, enjoy the temple complex for a little bit.

Hop back on the boat, continue on sailing.

Back in ancient Egypt, crocodiles were abundant in the Nile, and so were hippos.

22:10

But while we were here.

Yeah, not so much, right, Because the Nile has been dammed in parts of Egypt, and so where it’s dammed in southern Egypt, they say there’s still some crocodiles in the Nile in those lower regions, like past where it’s damned like north of it, but not really a lot.

22:29

And it’s like super rare.

But all the Crocs are South of the dam.

It’s in Egypt.

So in Lake Nasser, where Abu Sambel was in that area filled with Crocs and then of course more southern and then hippos there too.

But yeah, the nowadays definitely not seen any hippos in Egypt for sure.

22:46

And then Crocs in the Nile north of the dams is like extreme, extremely extremely rare to see.

So we had a little bit of time at the temple.

Our guide here was amazing at just showing us around with the different carvings.

And there was like an astrology calendar I think as well that we got to take a picture of.

23:05

And he was just really great at pointing out a picture and telling us the story behind it that you wouldn’t know otherwise.

So I really did enjoy that he was able to put everything in perspective and really bring all of the stories to life.

And then of course, after every time we have like a little tour with him, we get some free time.

23:23

We explored the temple a little bit more, went to the museum, and he told us that we were going to set sail to our next destination at 10 AM and to be on the boat by that time.

And we were setting sail to EDFU.

You know something about the Egyptians at this temple.

There was the calendar and the astrology chart and the Egyptians were the first to define astrology like that.

23:45

The Egyptians were the first to do a calendar.

There was another area that was the hospital, and they had carvings of medical tools, the first to be doctors.

And our Egyptologist said, you know, it’s not just vanity because I’m Egyptian, but we were the first to do everything.

But in my head, I’m just like what was before Egyptians.

24:03

I mean, there were other civilizations, right, but not necessarily some at the height and technology that they had.

Of course, like further back then you go like the Sumerians, but that’s again not a lot necessarily known other than their texts that they have and not really any temples that are still around for people to really learn from.

24:22

So I guess maybe other people had it first, but at least what’s documented still, then yeah, it’s going to be the Egyptians, which I think is pretty cool and a good thing for themselves that they get.

They might not have been the first, but they’re the best documented.

That is correct.

24:39

That is correct.

So like you said, 10 AM back on the boat sailing for EDFO.

But before we get into EDFO again, I just really appreciated this time where we were actually sailing.

So we had some downtime.

All of us went to the boat rooftop and just enjoyed sitting in the sun.

24:58

January here in Egypt, the weather is really good, but don’t let that fool you.

You sit in the sun long enough, you’re going to feel the sun.

Poor Robin, I know she got a little sunburn on her those at some point in time.

I was worried for my skin.

We know my skin is very fair and pale.

25:14

I’m in the sun enough.

It’s bad.

I had to switch sides because I was actually like facing the sun and then I turned away from it and was able to stay up a little bit more.

But it’s just nice, like the upper deck of the entire ship is just a seating area where you have like couches, love seats.

25:33

There is a covered area as well too.

And then the pool is up there.

But we were all just sitting on the couches.

You have your table nearby.

We ordered some coffees and it was just a nice time to relax and actually sail and enjoy the sights that you’re passing here while you’re on the Nile.

25:48

And some of those sights on the Bank of the Nile, we actually saw ancient Egyptian ruins.

That’s very true.

And then, of course, we haven’t even talked talked about like, the popularity and significance of papyrus.

But then here you are.

As we’re sailing, we see all the papyrus flowers that are still blooming along the river’s edge of the Nile.

26:08

So I thought that was really cool too.

Yeah, so we made it to EDFU.

EDFU is a city in Upper Egypt, and it’s best known for the Temple of Horus, which we went to, and it’s one of the best preserved ancient Egyptian temples.

But Edfu itself is on the West Bank of the Nile, and it’s between Oswan, which is where we previously were, and Luxor, which is where we were going to be heading to the next day.

26:31

So we ended up taking a bus to the Edfu Temple, and the Etfu temple again is for the Temple of Horus, which is the Falcon headed God.

And so outside of the temple, you’ll actually see a large Falcon headed statue we took pictures in front of.

26:49

But this temple is just so beautiful and it has so many stories within it.

Our guide, he did a really great job taking us through the temple.

You’re going to see these huge grand pylons, amazing detailed hieroglyphs.

27:04

These big tall columns inside, with that Greek architecture on the top of it, Just massive structure.

And this was a really great one to visit to.

I really enjoyed visiting this temple.

Some of the lessons that our Egyptologist, our guide, had told us was about why we see some of the carvings carved out, like their faces would be carved over, their bodies would be carved over.

27:27

And it has to do with when the Christians came into Egypt and we’re wanting to destroy symbols of paganism and the way the Egyptians went on things.

And we saw some of that here at this temple.

And the ones that they couldn’t get to, like rooftop carvings and paintings, they would actually just burn.

27:46

And on this one, we saw all those burn marks on the ceiling.

Yeah.

And then what’s interesting too, is how the ones that they would actually be able to deface, they always did it on the left side of the temple and not necessarily on the right side of the temple.

Because in ancient Egypt, right, like everything that was alive was on the right side of the Nile.

28:05

So it’s on the east side where the sun rises on the West side.

So then that would make left, if you’re kind of like looking forward, if you’re with me on that is where they always buried people.

So then because yes.

And death.

So because they thought these people were gods, they always destroyed the carvings on the left side because that symbolized like death and gods, but they didn’t believe obviously that those were going to be gods in the afterlife.

28:32

So again, just these like things that you learn along the way so you understand what it is that you’re seeing and why these things were ruined or defaced is just puts this whole trip and every site that you go to into context, which again is why we were really hyping up doing this as a guided tour.

28:50

So you get that historical context and significance and story at every temple.

So it’s not like you’re looking at the same thing, just a different place.

So after I time at Edfu Temple, we did return to our boat and we started to set sail for Luxor.

29:08

When we got back on board, they were having a tea and coffee hour in the lounge and bar area.

So we did do that for a little bit.

And again, I like how the boat tried to put things on.

You really are off the boat a lot of time though these small amount of times when you’re actually like on the boat there, these trying to put activities to keep you entertained.

29:29

So in that sense, I did appreciate and it gives us all excuse to come together versus, oh, downtime, like in a room, we’re back on the boat and all seven of us are able to hang out and just socialize.

This was going to be the Egyptian night and they kept hyping up Egyptian night on the boat.

29:46

There’s also things you can buy.

There’s a gold and silver jewelry store.

They also have different Egyptian like dresses, the gallobias, the beaded head hats, scarves, other things of Egyptian style that you could buy and they were pretty affordable prices.

30:03

I mean 5-10 bucks for some of that stuff.

The jewelry of course was priced to market, but we didn’t know there was going to be an Egyptian night.

So we weren’t really prepared.

But after a couple of coffees at the tea and coffee hour in the lounge bar, I went into that little shop.

30:20

Brittany was this close to dropping a pretty penny on some jewelry.

I know I never went back to get it, but yes, I was very close.

But you ended up getting was it a headscarf or like this?

Beaded hat.

It was almost like a little beanie with beads that hung down on your hair area.

30:39

It was actually really cute and it was the only thing that could make me look Egyptian tonight.

Like think 1920s flapper style, but baby, make that Middle Eastern with the beads and then the the way it fits is a cap on it.

I mean, obviously what we’re talking about here that you got Kim is specifically for women, but nevertheless, it put the whole ensemble together for you.

31:00

You ended up borrowing an outfit that Felicia had that was more Galabia style, so lots of people dressed up.

Don’t forget about your headscarf.

Well, I brought a headscarf from home.

My dad’s Lebanese.

I had a male version 1.

I did put that on.

I did not put the the male version of a Galabia or tho bond, which is, you know, traditional Middle Eastern attire.

31:23

That is the loose fitting stuff of course, like it’s when it’s hot in the desert, etcetera, but I had the headdress, no doubt on that.

But beyond just dressing up, this was the only night on the ship where they were actually doing all food Egyptian, which again, I said that earlier.

31:39

I really wish they would have had more Egyptian food as a whole on the boat, but they did always have a good repertoire.

Different cuisine, but this was all Egyptian night tonight.

And it was really good.

In the morning they had falafel that was so good, and they did not have it at dinner.

31:56

I was disappointed.

But they did have a lot of really good Egyptian food.

And when we went to Lebanon, the food was so good.

I just fell in love with Middle Eastern food and I love Greek food.

Egypt’s food was very different.

I think I was expecting more like Greek Lebanese style and it was very different.

32:15

That’s the thing about Middle Eastern food, right, is a lot of it kind of is the same, but they also make it very different regionally.

And I again, I don’t say this hyping up because I am half Lebanese, but this is a simple Google that anybody can just determine by like whoa, what is ranked as like the best Middle Eastern food And Lebanon will always come up or they will say Levant area, which includes like Lebanon, Syria, etcetera, because their cuisine is a little bit more fresh and light compared to like other places, right?

32:47

So a lot of the same stuff, but also a lot of different stuff and made in different ways.

But nevertheless, it was still good.

But you’re right, nothing like that Lebanese food that we were used to when we went to Lebanon.

We did get to try kosheri, which is Egypt national dish.

33:04

And when we had asked our tour guide what’s your favorite Egyptian dish, this is actually what he told us.

And we asked him to describe it.

And it’s very interesting because the way it’s described isn’t as good as it actually tastes.

It tastes way better than it is description wise.

It’s a mixture of rice, macaroni and lentils topped with spicy tomato sauce, chickpeas and sometimes like fried onions or vermicelli.

33:28

So when you hear that, you’re like, OK.

Carbs.

Yeah, but I did try and it was pretty good.

I was actually.

I did enjoy it.

I know you don’t think that combo will go together.

I think what really throws it off is the macaroni or the pasta.

But it goes.

It goes, that’s for sure.

33:45

Rice and vernicelli and pasta and beans.

Lots.

Of carbs, well, what can you say, but nevertheless, again Egyptian food was good afterwards.

Then they had some dancing, of course, trying to pull people on the dance floor.

This is when the photographer and cameraman was out.

34:02

That’s on the boat taking professional photos, videos, and this is where we were saying earlier and last week’s episode is that Taggle everything.

They have a set price of how much the photos cost on the boat, but you can negotiate with them.

They tried to tell Zaina a price $35.

34:18

She ended up paying 15.

So, you know, just be sure to haggle.

This night they would not let up on the dancing.

So now this is the third night in a row that they have us dancing, dance, monkey dance out there on the dance floor.

One of our tour mates, his name is Rico, so he was part of a larger Filipino group that was on board with us.

34:37

He was hilarious and he loved to dance.

Like at one point I looked over and he was in the middle of the dance circle, just having the time of his life.

He was really funny.

So Day 7 is the day that we wake up in Luxor.

34:54

It’s the last full day on the cruise and it’s also another early morning.

You have to kind of get up and beat the crowds because Luxor, it’s basically like an open air museum all over the place and it can get super busy.

It used to be the capital of ancient Egypt, so there’s a lot of ancient Egyptian ruins here.

35:14

And I really like this day because our first visit of the day was visiting the Valley of the Kings.

Yeah, and the Valley of the Kings, I’m sure maybe you’ve heard that terminology before, But what it is, it’s actually a historic necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile near the city of Luxor.

35:31

And if you remember what I was saying, the West side of the Nile is really where it symbolized death.

So this is the necropolis and tomb areas of hundreds of kings from ancient Egypt that were buried here over span of 500 years.

35:47

So it’s famous for its elaborately decorated tombs, including that of the famous king Tutankhamun and of course other kings.

But the valley offers a glimpse really into ancient burial practices are an Egyptian beliefs of the afterlife.

36:03

So in that sense, I think it’s also really cool.

You have all this stuff here, but this is really kind of the center of the religion of Egypt and the of their afterlife all put into this practice.

Let’s have the tombs, let’s have the carbines on the walls, etcetera.

So this was really cool to get out here and see this early in the morning.

36:22

From the outside, it’s like a wide open dirt area, mountainous area.

It looks like, yeah, it looks like a mountainside with some poles carved in it is really what it looks like.

And.

So all the attractions, of course, are the tombs underground, and there’s a lot of tombs here and probably a lot more that they have not yet discovered.

36:40

Yeah.

So we had a general ticket that got us into three different tombs that we could choose from, from basically the list.

And then our guide beforehand, he had prepped us and said you have time to add on two additional tombs if you would like.

And he recommended two different tombs that he thought would be worth going into.

36:59

So we decided, you know, when else are we going to be in Egypt and see these things?

So let’s go ahead and add them on.

So first he took us in all together into the tomb of King Ramses the 4th.

And so you basically go underground and you’re kind of on a ramp underground, but as you’re going down, it’s like this long hallway with all of these detailed carvings and paintings.

37:24

And this is where all of the color comes out.

Before, you would see all of the carvings and paintings, but they were more muted.

Here they are very bright and vibrant.

Yeah, because at the other temples that we’re at, again, not all of them still have a good amount of color, but some of them do.

37:41

And even when you see the color, it’s really concentrated in a few areas and just not really as bright.

But like you were saying, Brittany, he, this is the spot where when you’re in these tombs, all of these tombs and the color that you see painted on the walls within the hieroglyphs that they’ve actually hand carved out, they are still their natural colors.

38:02

No one has retouched this up.

So I mean, these colors were put here thousands of years ago when these kings were buried here during that time.

So again, we went into the tomb of King Ramses the 4th 1st and then afterwards our tour guide basically said OK, you have your own free time now.

38:22

You can go into two other tombs with the general ticket that was included with our tour.

And he listed like 6 different tombs that he would recommend for this reason or that reason and gave us the choice of which ones to actually go to.

But like we had mentioned earlier, he also said there’s some tombs in here that your ticket does not include that are worth going if you want to pay and buy the optional ones.

38:46

And we did that and we bought it specifically for King Ramses the Six and of course the famous tomb for King Tutankhamun.

King Tutankhamun, even though he’s the most well known because he’s the most recently discovered, his tomb was actually not the biggest or the most impressive because he had died suddenly.

39:04

They weren’t ready for him.

They didn’t have his tomb ready and they had to quickly paint in there, quickly try to build it.

I think it was attended for someone else and they took it from that king.

Yeah, the high priest.

Yeah, it was for a high priest.

So the tomb itself is rather small.

39:21

And like you said, they had to paint it.

But his is the only one without actual carved hieroglyphics in it.

It’s actually just painted because they didn’t have time from when he died to really put all that work and effort into it.

So he’s in a rather small 1.

39:37

He does have a lot of vibrant colors in there, but again, small and it’s less impressive, I will say, because when you see the color actually carved into the stone and the hieroglyphs, it’s cooler than actually, oh, it’s just painted on the wall.

But I would say what makes going into his tomb the coolest is his mummy is still inside, covered in a glass case.

39:59

So you can actually see the real mummy of King Tutankhamun still inside of his tomb.

He was only 19 years old when he died.

They again weren’t ready for his death.

He died quite suddenly.

They think that he had broken in his leg and died of an infection.

40:16

What I thought was really interesting though, was we went to the Grand Egyptian Museum and we saw his sarcophagi, we saw his death mask, We saw the chambers that they built within the tomb.

Golden Chambers.

And they were also intricate.

40:32

But then the tomb that he actually got was quite small and they didn’t do any of the carvings.

They only did paintings.

And when they put him in there and they closed the tomb, the paint was still a wet like it was kind of like so rushed on the interior, but what they placed inside to encase him in was so intricate.

40:51

So I thought that was very interesting that they like did so much detail for one thing, but then the walls and stuff, they didn’t do as much detail.

Couldn’t do it all, so they had to choose and they chose the gold.

What’s also interesting, this tomb, because they painted it really rushed close the tomb up before the paint was dry.

41:10

You could see kind of the bubbling in the paint that how it settled different than how others settle.

And then when they cracked open this tomb, the people that went in there got very sick from the fumes of the thousands of year old tombs and the paint and all that.

41:25

Yeah, the mold, the spores, the bacteria, all of that, just because it was closed while it was still wet climate.

That’s great.

Yeah.

Well, lots of them got very, very sick, and some of them did die, Right.

So that’s why they said it was cursed.

But scientifically now they’re saying they believe it was obviously like that region.

41:42

There was just lots of nasty stuff in the air because of how hastily they really had to finalize and close his tomb and paint it.

And again, with the paint still wet and everything like that.

So I mean that was King Toot comments tomb. 01 other fun fact I just want to share about it is how it was discovered, since it was discovered in, you know, relatively recent years for ancient Egyptian history, right?

42:06

The newest one and how it was discovered was a local Egyptian boy bringing the crew water every day.

One day he set his can down and it just clinked a little different than what he was used to.

And there’s so many tombs here that anytime you hear a different kind of clink, could be stairs leading into a tomb, could be a tomb wall, and that’s exactly what it was.

42:30

Yeah, because they had been searching for it forever and then there’s another tomb right on top of it.

And so our tour guide was even saying that a lot of rubble from when they were clearing out the other tomb and finding it was piled on top of this one.

So it amazing.

It also harder to find.

But yeah, just the weird way he knew the sounds that the natural ground should make versus when something’s buried below, right?

42:51

And he heard that, and that’s what caused everybody to dig and that area and they found it.

But one of the other paid tombs that we did, and I would say probably the best, right?

King Tutankhamun has the lore, but I think the tomb of King Ramses the 6th was the best one that we had gone into.

43:11

He was a pharaoh during Egypt’s 20th dynasty and ruled like in the 12th century BC, so a really, really long time ago.

But his tomb is so elaborate.

I would say like again, all the tombs in here really still have a lot of vibrant color, but his was just the best.

43:30

I felt like it was the biggest.

It had multiple rooms.

The colors were so vibrant.

The ceiling colors that he had were just a different shade of blue or darker blue than any of the other ones had trimmed with gold.

And then you get into the area where his actual sarcophagus was.

43:47

And of course, it’s empty now, but they still had it in the center right there for you to look at.

So his mummy’s not in there.

But this one was just so grand, so full of color.

And it really looked like you were walking in there when it was made, you know, like, nothing about it looked old.

44:02

It still looked pristine.

And I thought that was really cool.

It had a big hallway with all those paintings, and this was one of the least crowded.

I know because everyone’s supposed to go to King Tut for whatever reason.

I mean, I know for whatever reason, right?

But this one is the one that shines in my opinion.

44:19

Probably was not crowded because you do have to pay for an extra ticket.

The extra ticket for this tomb was only $4.00 at the time that we went versus King Tut’s which was like $15.00.

So everyone wants to go to King Tut’s because it’s the most famous.

You can see a mummy but this one is so elaborate.

44:37

It was very colorful.

This one was our favorite 1 and it wasn’t crowded at all.

So if you have the chance to go, definitely visit the Tomb of King Ramses the 6th.

That was the one that we liked the most.

We also got the opportunity to go into two other ones that were included in our general ticket.

44:54

These were ones that our guide recommended.

One of them was very interesting because it was originally built for a queen and then later a king came and kind of overtook it as well.

So now it had both of them.

Because there was a Valley of the Queens.

45:09

But she said no, I want to be in the Valley of the Kings.

And then the king came in and said, no, no, no, I’m going to take this and remake it the Kings 1.

So yeah, you got the little hybrid in this one of like it was carved for one, and then you have the carvings of the other in there.

So that was really cool.

And then the other one that we went to was one of the most decorated tombs, but it is the largest and deepest tomb, so you do have to go down some very steep steps to get to it.

45:35

It is a small tomb area, but the colors in there were really great.

So if you had the option to do those, I would highly recommend it.

Gate One likes to throw in the shopping and the shops that show the products that the culture puts out right.

45:52

We talked about the perfumery now here we’re going to an alabaster factory and shop This was actually a pretty quick stop.

I think we were there just about an hour.

We saw a nice demonstration with some Egyptian men outside who showed us how they what the alabaster look like, how they tink away at it when they carve it by hand, and then what it ends up looking like after.

46:12

And then we had a little bit of free time to shop around and there were some really beautiful pieces in there.

I don’t think anyone in our group bought them.

It is kind of heavy, even though they’ll tell you it’s light.

It is still heavy pottery.

But they do ship DHL.

Yeah, that they do.

46:27

So you could do that.

It was really cool to just see because again, the way they work, the alabaster, of course they have machine made now, but a lot of people still make this by hand the way that the ancient Egyptians did.

And we got a demonstration of that and of course, got to see all of the different stones work and vases and designs that you can buy for that.

46:49

So none of us ended up picking up anything, but other people on our tour enjoyed it.

But still cool to really get the historical significance and information on the way they make it.

The next place we went was the Temple of Hot Shit Suit.

This temple is really cool.

47:04

It is actually one that is carved into the mountain and it almost feels like dune when you’re out there.

It’s like literally sand dunes and mountainous and then you can’t such an eye and you do happen to see a massive temple.

That’s true and like he said, carved into the mountainside.

47:23

But what’s really cool is this is like a three tiered temple with a staircase that’s going up right.

And when you get to the top, then of course you can actually just see the statues columns.

There is an area where there’s some slight color, which is cool to see.

47:40

But what I find really interesting about this temple of Hatchet suit is that she’s one of the few female rulers of Egypt.

And she was known as a female ruler who always liked her imagery to look as if she was a male.

So of course, it was a female, but always made herself look like a male.

47:59

So when you’re here at her, like Mortuary temple, you kind of were like, OK, this is for a girl, but I don’t see anything that looks like a girl because she always has herself designed and looking like a man.

That was her thing that she did.

But I really liked how this was a multistory structure and, of course, carved into the mountainside.

48:18

And I think that’s a great analogy that you gave Kim looking like doom.

This one, when you get in with your ticket, then you get on these golf carts that hold probably 10 to 20 people, and you zip down the pathway to the temple where you then walk through.

48:34

Yeah, huge temple also has huge statues, probably 2030 feet tall.

It is all sun exposed though, and this is the day that besides the day that we were sailing, I was wearing a black dress and I was getting pretty toasty even in January up here.

Yeah, most of the days have been kind of cold.

48:51

This was our first warm, warm day.

Well, I wouldn’t say it was too warm.

I mean, it was warm, but it’s one of those things when you stand in the sun long enough, and we were in the sun long enough because there’s really no shade here at this point.

So yeah, it did get a bit toasty, so do keep that in mind.

49:07

But nevertheless, really enjoyed seeing this temple.

Thought it was really cool.

But then after this temple, we made a quick stop along our way back to the cruise ship to the Colossae of Mimnon.

And the Colossae of Mimnon, they’re just two massive stone statues standing on the West Bank of the Nile near Luxor.

49:28

Both the picked pharaoh and Hemotep the Third seated on his throne guarding his Mortuary temple.

So these definitely aren’t in the best shape and definitely have wear and tear to them.

But there’s still the two towering figures over 60 feet tall.

49:43

It just really is an impressive symbol of ancient Egypt, it’s power and artistry.

So we only stopped here for a quick photo op before we continued on to the ship for lunch.

We made it back to the ship for lunch and as we went into the room every single day they were doing towel animals just like they would on a normal cruise.

50:00

And this day they actually had a crocodile towel animal and on top of it were my sunglasses and then Jamal’s scarf to decorate it.

Kim’s was decorated too, but with her items that were in her room.

Yeah, it was really cute.

The day before they had a monkey hanging from something as you walked in the room.

50:18

That one was like right in your face when you walked in.

It was actually kind of like a little bit of a shock.

But in the first day they did a swan, so they did a bunch of different towel animals.

Enjoyed them.

We had lunch and then after lunch we went to the temples of Karnak.

The temples of Karnak was so grand, it’s so amazing.

50:35

It was built over a period of 2000 years ago and the site honors the God Amun Brah.

But I want to reiterate, it was built over the span of 2000 years because king to king, pharaoh to Pharaoh, they always added to this complex.

So it was always an ever building complex that truly to some point was never done until the eventual collapse of the Egyptian Kingdom and empire.

51:00

So like this is the largest temple complex in all of ancient Egypt.

And Amanrah is the number one God.

The ancient Egyptians believed in one God, and from that one God he had the Falcon headed God and the he.

51:17

Had Horus and all soul back and all these other ones.

But they all came from one God.

So this is the OG Amanrah, which is why the Temple of Kardak is so massive.

Yeah, because every pharaoh wanted to add a piece to it.

O When you enter, you’ll walk along an avenue of sphinxes.

51:36

O that’s really cool.

But these sphinxes all have ram heads on them.

So they’re not pharaoh heads or lion heads or anything that you would usually associate with the Sphinx.

It’s the body of a, a lion like you would associate with the Sphinx, but then with a ram head, which I thought was actually really cool.

51:55

And then you enter into this complex and then you have this one hall, the famous Hall of Hippo style, and it’s famous for its 134 giant columns.

And here at Karnak, all of these columns still have the vibrant colors just as well.

52:12

So in this area you do see these giant columns, the largest temple, and then these colorful carvings still there.

And to give you perspective on how big these columns were, they said that you have to have 10 people standing around and holding hands to go around 1 column.

52:30

Like, these are huge towering columns and there’s 134 that you can just like spread out and roam through.

And they said to stand at the top of one column, you could fit 100 people at the top, like if they were all just standing together.

So if you’re standing all around it arm to arm, you need about 10 people or possibly even more.

52:50

But they’re so wide that 100 people could stand on top of just one column, just because that’s how large the circumference and diameter is.

Our guide was also explaining the design of this big courtyard hall area, where the columns in the middle up at the top were open like flowers.

53:07

All of the other columns were closed.

And when it was an active temple back then, they had a bunch of trees that would cover as a roof.

Maybe that’s probably why the colors lasted a little longer.

Well, a lot longer.

But this beautiful design, where some of the columns are open like flowers and some are closed because they’re in the shade, is, as our guide had told us, a architectural design that’s been mimicked in many other countries and homes homes across the world.

53:37

We also got to see some of the obelisks there.

I think this was the first time we saw an obelisk at a temple.

Yeah, because most of them have actually been taken out of Egypt and are in other countries or in museums, like famous obelisks around the world that they have one in New York, London, France, in front of Vatican City, lots of them in Rome.

53:58

All of these ones have been stolen from Egypt.

Or were given as gifts for helping them move the temples.

Well, yes, whether our guy did say a couple of them were given as gifts, no doubt, but there’s very few full standing obelisks left in Egypt, and there are several here at the temple of Karnak.

54:16

So that makes it very unique as well because you’re not really going to see these at a lot of other temples.

But I just really appreciated being here.

And then when we were done with our tour that our tour guide was giving us, at the very end, we were close by a statue of a scarab.

54:32

And a scarab are those like little beetles?

And if you’ve ever seen the movie The Mummy, the scarabs were the ones that ate people.

But these beetles don’t really do that.

That’s just something that they made in the movie, but just for context of what a scarab is.

But they were thought in ancient Egypt to bring good luck.

So to this day, you can see people walking around this scarab statue.

54:52

You’re supposed to walk around at 7 times for good luck.

So when we entered our tour, our tour guide said, do you see that people are doing that?

That’s why they’re walking all around that.

Of course we had to go walk around it and I made a good wish after my seventh time around.

I can’t say it otherwise won’t come true, but I made a good one, ladies.

55:09

Yes.

Yes, I wish.

I’ll tell you I’m getting engaged in 2026.

Oh, all right, well, if that happens, we’ll know it worked.

And if it doesn’t happen, it didn’t happen because it’s fake or.

A lot of the ancient Egyptians would wish for marriage or fertility.

55:25

Yes, yes, when I said fake, not the love that you’re hoping to get proposed to by, but I.

Didn’t say I was falling in love, I said I was getting engaged.

No.

OK.

All right.

Well, I would nevertheless.

All right, we’ll see.

We’ll see.

It was such a great visit to the Temple of Karnak.

I think this is my second favorite of the temples that we visited on this trip.

55:44

It’s just so grand and there’s just so much history here, and I really enjoyed it.

From here, we went to the Luxor temple at dusk.

This is the only temple that we saw at dusk, which was a different perspective.

We got to see some of the sites, like backlit, and so they kind of look like they were glowing.

56:03

But by the time we got here, it was very, very crowded.

It’s also right in the middle of the city in the main area, so it’s extremely accessible and it’s a massive temple with these huge columns.

And so it’s really accessible and it’s really impressive and also for those reasons, really crowded.

56:21

Yeah, and this is a temple.

It was dedicated to the God Amun, along with Mutt and Konsu.

But what’s unique amongst this temple is wasn’t necessarily like a Mortuary temple, but a Center for religious ceremonies.

But it’s one of those things where we saw so much this day and this was at the very tail end of it.

56:41

I don’t think I appreciate it as much.

What I really liked most about this as we saw it at night and it was lit up and we hadn’t really seen anything else.

But by this point, I’m not going to lie, I really was tuning out the history and everything.

I don’t think it’s because we’re at the end of the trip.

I just think this one was like a really long day with lots of stuff.

56:59

And, and all honesty, I feel like we saw so much cooler stuff today than the Temple of Luxor.

But of course, if you’re in Luxor, you do it first thing in the day when it’s not crowded or didn’t have as busy a day as us.

I’m sure this would just be equally as impressive.

I mean, it was still a cool sight to see, no doubt.

57:15

This is where Brittany had a little quarter freak out.

What quarter freak out did I have?

In the security line to get into Luxor Temple.

Oh, yes, OK, touché, touché.

Well, I’ll give you a little story about this.

57:32

We’re all in line to go through security.

Most of the sites require you to go through security.

Put your bags through the X-ray.

Some of the times they make you put your bags through the X-ray.

So we are in line, clearly in line, and there is a line for people who don’t have bags.

57:48

So as we’re in line, another group of people realize that they have to put their bags in too.

And instead of following the line, they decide to try to cut us off and put their bags in.

And so there is one person now who has cut in front of us who has put her stuff on the little conveyor belt X-ray machine and she is motioning to all of her friends to hand them her bags.

58:16

So she is now not only cutting me off, but making a line with all of these bags coming down.

So at this point, Xena had handed me her bag and she’s like, here, you take the bags, put them through.

She’s going to go through the non bag line and she’s going to grab our bags on the other side and wait for me to walk through.

58:34

So as this lady who had cut in front of me is, you know, disrupting this whole line, she’s asking from the for the bags from her friends, and she’s taking all of this time.

I throw my bags on the conveyor belt and I just push my way through.

And I think she said something, but she didn’t say it in English.

58:51

And it was basically like, what are you doing?

And I was like, you’re cutting in line.

And I walked through and she had said something in Arabic and Xena had hurt her.

So Xena then yelled at her.

But I was just being assertive, Kim.

That’s what was happening.

That throw elbows.

59:08

At the same time, I think Ke$ha did the same sort of thing.

Yeah, I saw so feisty and Ke$ha thought she was going to throw down.

Can be a little aggressive here at these security lines.

You got to be, got to be.

So I mean, that was our time at the Temple of Luxor.

59:25

Then we headed back to the ship, had dinner at the very and they did have the belly dancing show for our last night on board here.

They lie.

They did lie.

They had a belly dancer, did a little bit of dancing, but try to grab people up.

No, no, no, I know.

59:41

Night 4 of gate one trying to get us to dance.

Monkey Dance This belly dancer does the exact same 4 moves that they’ve been doing every day in Egypt.

Well, I don’t know if it’s a gate one thing or a boat thing that they hire them to come on and it’s the boat activity.

So I’m going to give gate one credit on this and just say that it’s the boat.

59:59

But yeah, don’t say it’s going to be belly dancing and then try to grab people up and dance with you.

And I don’t know if I’m seeing a belly dancing show.

I want to watch a belly dancer dance, you know?

So that was a little upsetting, no doubt.

But they advertise the belly dancing thing.

1:00:14

But there was only one belly dancing.

She had her little part, but then all of a sudden they have more going on for this entertainment night.

So they had an Egyptian man come out and he’s wearing this big outfit and he starts spinning.

So come to find out they’re called tenoras and they are traditional Egyptian performers and it was pretty cool.

1:00:38

I don’t know exactly what all the pieces are called, but it was this big parachute looking thing that he was spinning around and he’s spinning around.

That man spun around for probably 15 minutes straight and didn’t look like he was dizzy at all.

1:00:53

Don’t know how he didn’t pass out from doing the spinning.

That was a lot better than the belly dancer, I’m not going to lie.

Enjoyed watching that show a little bit, but nevertheless, you know, disappointment with the false advertising on the belly dancer.

But the show afterwards with the guy with the Tenura was definitely entertaining.

1:01:12

But we couldn’t stay up too late because what do you know, next day, another early morning last night on the boat, had to wake up at 4:00 AM, leave at 5:15 for the airport for our flight from Luxor to Cairo.

Yeah, this was a very early morning and there was one more optional tour that we could have booked.

1:01:33

We didn’t book, and I am so thankful we didn’t book.

It did sound really cool.

It was called Coptic Cairo and it does go to the hanging church and a few other churches and stops.

And all of the people that we talked to on our tour that went to it said they really did enjoy it.

1:01:49

And I would have loved to enjoy it.

But at the same time, I really loved that we had our own little Wellness day in Cairo because we were at a very nice Hilton Hotel and they had an amazing spa and we just had a wonderful Wellness retreat day.

1:02:06

It was the Hilton Cairo Heliopolis.

We’ll link these in the show notes because both this and the Marriott Hotel that we stayed in Cairo at the beginning were fabulous hotels and we would highly recommend them to anyone going there.

Absolutely.

So you ladies did a spa day actually paying and getting massages?

1:02:26

I ended up going in and doing steam room, sauna and of course lounging by the pool with Ryan, enjoying a few bevies and smoking hookah.

And sauna together.

No, me and Ryan did not steam room and sauna together can you should have our beer and hookah together by the pool and then when we were done then I went to the steam room and sauna by myself.

1:02:49

Jamal and Ryan went and had some hookah and they had some bevies and then as Robin and I were finishing up I think our massage, we saw Jamal go in and then he was like I’m going to go into the steam room and sauna.

Robin and I walked out.

1:03:05

We were lounging by the pool for a while and I know you were still getting your hot stone massage when Jamal walked out of the Wellness Center.

He just looked so effed up.

Oh, his hair was all messed up.

He looked like he was like what happened?

I don’t know what was going.

1:03:21

On you know what, I think I was just being tired from the trip.

I drank quite a bit with Ryan before I had gone in there.

So already tired, dehydrated, probably more dehydrated because I had alcohol and you know, they say don’t have alcohol and go into the sauna or steam room.

Now, in fairness, I was not drunk or like eat remotely what I would say tipsy, but I just think added to the dehydration, I’m sitting in there, I’m just like, Oh my gosh, I’m so tired.

1:03:46

I sweat it out.

Probably all the good water I had in me.

That’s really what it was.

I just, you know, needed a little nap before the farewell dinner to recover.

So we all enjoyed just really enjoying the hotel itself, even though I needed a nap to recuperate and recover before our farewell dinner.

1:04:06

But then we had our farewell dinner.

Kim, I feel bad you didn’t really get to enjoy it because that was one of the days that you were working.

So you had to leave a couple times from the table to handle a few phone calls, etcetera.

But still nice to just kind of all sit together, enjoy our final meal before we left the next day.

1:04:21

And the next day came early.

I worked all night.

We had a 1:15 AM wake up call, so I just didn’t sleep because my hours were 4:00 PM to 1:00 AM.

Anyway, me and Felicia stayed up drinking Rose.

Well, I didn’t go down there until probably 11:00 PM, so I wasn’t drunk at work.

1:04:39

But you know, we were hanging out casually.

There might have been a glass of Rose involved in the later hour of the night.

Why not as I was getting closer to 1:15 AM for the wake up call that we had, right?

Because we had to leave for the airport by 3:15 and our flight was like at 5:30.

1:04:56

AM 215 We left for the airport.

Did we leave at 2:15?

OK, you’re right.

You’re right.

So nevertheless, even more early, right?

We had to wake up early, leave even earlier, just get ourselves in and checked.

In and the great thing about Gate 1 is they tell you put your luggage outside the room, the porters come get your luggage, they take it to the airport.

1:05:15

There’s times where you have to take get back to like check in and stuff, but that’s a huge benefit of the guided tour is the lack of need to move around your own luggage when things are already hectic.

No, for sure, but minus the early mornings, I just want to reiterate and as we’re kind of rounding out this episode, say what an amazing time that I had in Egypt.

1:05:36

And I think it’d speak for all of us when I say that we all had like, I think all of us really loved Egypt.

We loved this tour as much as we complained about the early wake up calls.

It was so worth it.

And this was really a once in a lifetime experience.

Egypt was a great country to visit and really loved all the sites that we saw.

1:05:54

And I loved that the group that we had and the guided tour was great.

But the little group that we had, I just love travelling with groups of friends.

The dynamic is so fun.

To have seven people on a trip together and then everyone else that was on the tour was pretty cool. Now, absolutely now. Have great time all around.

Squaddies, thank you so much for tuning into our Egypt episode!