We take you along for part 1 of a 9-day adventure through Egypt starting with the iconic Pyramids of Giza, Great Sphinx of Giza and the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum and then taking to the seas for a 4-day Nile River cruise stopping at ancient temples in Aswan and taking a side quest to a colorful Nubian village.

On this trip we went with Gate, cruised on the Queen of Hansa and in Cairo stayed at ⁠Cairo 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.

Listen to our episode on Egypt part 2 on the Nile River Cruise to Abe Simbel and Luxor? Make this trip longer for 9 days exploring Egypt’s history.

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.

Great Pyramids of Giza & Aswan – Episode Itinerary

0:35

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad podcast. Today we’re taking you along with us to Egypt, the land of Pharaohs, mummies, ancient temples, the Nile River and of course, the Great Pyramids.

0:56

Egypt had been on my bucket list for so long.

I really wanted to see the pyramids because they are the last surviving of the original 7 wonders of the ancient world, and I thought that was incredibly intriguing.

But I feel like that was just the tip of the iceberg because Egypt had so many temples, historic sites, And I think Egypt has tipped into probably my top ten list of trips that I’ve been on, maybe even possibly edging into five.

1:21

I’m not quite sure, but it’s really high up there and I hope you guys felt the same way.

I really liked Egypt.

Egypt was one of those places that had been on the top of my list since the beginning.

Iconic great pyramids.

Like everyone dreams of seeing those in person, and it was as cool in person as you’d think it would be.

1:40

And if you listen to us, you know Kim loves ancient ruins.

So you can’t get more ancient than ancient ruins in Egypt, that’s for sure.

And we saw a lot of ancient ruins, like Brittany said, way more than I was expecting.

I kind of feel like when we did the Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu, everyone thinks about Machu Picchu as like the main attraction.

2:01

But along that way you get to see all these ruins that are private and cool and amazing.

That’s kind of what Egypt was like.

Everyone talks about the Great Pyramids, but there was so, so much more that we saw that was equally as crazy.

Yeah.

And when I was originally thinking Egypt like you obviously think of Cairo, but then we also went to Aswan and Luxor and there’s so much to do and I really enjoyed this trip and I can’t wait to share this with you guys squaddies.

2:26

And the reason that we went on this trip was came threw it out there.

She said let’s do Egypt as our next destination.

So we found a gate one sale actually, and we made it happen.

Love me some gate one.

I was going to say, we hadn’t said yet that this was a Gate 1 adventure guided tour.

So thank you for that, Brittany.

2:43

So this was a nine day tour including flights.

So we did spend time in Cairo, went to the pyramids like you said, flew, then down to Aswan, Nile River cruise to Luxor, back to Cairo.

So we’re going to tell you guys all about it and everything that we did.

3:00

And price wise, it was pretty reasonable for tour, which included the flights, the hotels and everything that we did.

It included some meals.

It was about 3300 a person.

The flights were out of New York though, so you did have to find your own flights to New York.

3:16

We took advantage of that and spent a weekend in New York prior to our trip, which was nice for us.

But yeah, I thought it was affordable nonetheless.

I thought it was affordable too because with gate 1 you can put AI think $300 deposit down and then pay off your trip over time.

3:33

They also give you a 5% discount when you pay with cash so you get a little savings on that.

We booked this like a year before the trip so it’s like girl math it was free.

Yeah, by the time the trip came, it was definitely free.

And of course, being with Gate one meals included.

3:49

Not every meal, but at least on this tour particularly, I feel like pretty much every meal was but other Gate one adventures sometimes not every meal included.

So take that in consideration as well.

We didn’t have to even really buy food while we were here.

And I want to say this before we get too far into the episode also, yes, we did mention Squad Trip Gate 1 tour, but we had OG Squad with us on this one.

4:13

Zana came and then honorary squaddies Kasha, Ryan, and Robin.

So this was a group of seven and we were just having the time of our lives in Egypt and really enjoying it.

What a good bunch, right?

It really was.

I had a fantastic time.

4:29

And then just the ambiance of Egypt made it that much better because it really is one of those destinations in the world where everybody wants to go, right.

And I, I say that in the sense, OK, maybe everybody doesn’t want to go.

But honestly, like people think Egypt, everyone’s heard about ancient Egypt, everyone knows the pyramids.

4:47

It’s that country with its own lures.

So that was really cool when we were finally there and getting to see it all.

And Jamal mentioned that there was seven of us, but we were actually part of a larger group because this was a Gate 1 tour.

So there was 36 people on our tour.

We made-up seven of them.

5:02

And then we had our amazing guide Hosam with us along the way and he was so amazing.

Yeah, he was actually a Egyptologist.

He has this degree in Egyptology, so it was not just a tour guide.

And he knows these things like really this is what he went to school and study and has gotten into the tourism industry.

5:20

So it made our trip that much better because every site and location that we went, we really did get super in depth knowledge and understanding of what it was, where we were, the significance of it.

And I think that’s really cool because a lot of times you go places around the world, I mean, it could be Egypt, it could be anywhere else.

5:40

You go see these famous sites.

But if you really don’t get the story that goes along with it, sometimes you’re missing and lacking that full experience.

And we got it here on this trip.

I think early on we knew we wanted to do a guided tour to Egypt.

It’s just one of those a little bit more hectic destinations that you certainly could navigate on your own.

6:01

But there’s some challenging points and we have some stories about that as we get into it.

No, absolutely.

But in addition to a guided tour just being so much more seamless of an experience, you’re right, The history that you get with it, I don’t think it would be anywhere near as enjoyable to go to these places if you were just walking around looking at them.

6:19

You’d be like, OK, I saw one, I saw another.

They all look the same.

But no, there’s like these really cool, amazing, funny, interesting stories that date back 4000 years.

So yeah, huge.

Yeah, or if not, longer for that.

And Kim, I love that you said that because I feel like that segues perfectly into tips.

6:37

And that was one of our first tips is to actually visit Egypt with a guided tour.

Now, of course, like you said, you can really do it on your own, but you’re really missing that historical context unless you hire a specific guide at every location.

Plus then you have the hassle and hecticness that goes with transferring and traveling all on your own.

6:57

So I really do think and what you think actually it is very conducive to do Egypt on a guided tour.

You said hectic with like transfers and all that.

Even driving.

I wouldn’t recommend renting a car and driving around Egypt.

They’re pretty crazy with their driving.

Yeah, absolutely not.

7:14

It is not a country that I would would be like, yeah, let’s rent a car and drive around ourselves.

Nope.

It would be a place that you would either want to hire a driver or go again with a tour group.

And I thought our situation was perfect because our guide was with us every single day.

7:30

So we got to know him.

We got to know his style.

We got to hear all of the stories.

He’s a trained Egyptologist.

He’s been doing tourism and tours for over 36 years.

So it was fantastic.

Next tip would to be bring cash.

You definitely want it for souvenirs in the markets and for tips and more importantly, of course, lots of places around the world.

7:51

Egypt is one of them.

You have to pay to use public restrooms.

So you’ll need small Egyptian bills, denominations 10 to 20 Egyptian pounds for the restroom.

But you can change a small amount of money into Egyptian pounds.

8:06

But they really do like the US dollar or euro.

They told U.S. dollar, euro, they really don’t care.

So if you just figure out what the conversion rate is for your currency and it’s a strong currency like dollar, euro, you can utilize that without really having to change to Egyptian pounds if you don’t want to.

8:23

The first hotel that we stayed out actually had a little bank in it, so we were able to exchange money there, which was really helpful.

Most importantly, you needed those smaller bills, especially for the bathrooms.

It’s a really big tipping country.

Yes, everyone is expecting a tip, wanting a tip.

8:40

There were sites that we went to or restaurants even that we went to where our guide would tell us that the bathroom’s free to use here, but there would still be a tenant there who is wanting or even expecting a tip, even though our tour guide said that no tip was needed at that point.

And that’s actually in a restaurant setting, of course, if you’re talking real public restrooms, like out and about those ones, yes, you have to pay and maybe even give the attendant a tip too.

9:05

But like in a situation of if you’re like in a private restaurant and you are actually dining in there, you know, the attendant may want it, but you don’t really necessarily need to give it.

So it’s kind of one of those things, just watch out because everybody wants a tip in Egypt.

Like even inside the temples, you have people who are standing trying to take a photo for you, who are maybe even security guards in there.

9:27

And they’re not doing it to be nice.

They are doing it with the expectation that if they take a photo of you, you’re giving them a tip in return.

So just do know that.

And look, the conversion is like 50 Egyptian pounds to a dollar.

So when you’re tipping 1020 lbs or even 50 lbs, it’s like $0.50 or, you know, $0.30.

9:48

So it’s fine.

Like the tips are just a part of the culture there.

No, of course, just making sure people are well aware of that.

Oh, and a couple things that our guide had said is for some people when you give them the tip, no matter how much the tip is, they will still give you a look like come on, that’s it.

10:06

And then his other tip around using money was at the little shops and restaurants and everything out in the streets.

He didn’t recommend us using credit card.

Maybe there was a safety issue with it, perhaps he didn’t really elaborate.

So we use cash for all of those things, he said.

10:21

At the resorts and the hotels like the ones we’ll recommend because we stayed there, credit card is OK to use.

Yeah, I know you said he didn’t really elaborate, but the way I got it when he told us that Kim was unless it’s a major institution like a hotel or a like larger restaurant, credit cards are safe to use in locations like that.

10:41

But St. vendors who are selling stuff like if they have tap or Square or like whatever it is, they’re like, don’t trust those ones because that’s where it could get like really scammy.

So that’s where you’d want the cash.

But larger institutions, yeah, feel free to use your credit card for sure.

And we mentioned, you know, giving a tip to the bathroom attendant, but sometimes the attendants will even give you toilet paper.

11:01

And as a backup, make sure you’re packing toilet paper in your purse or in your pockets or whatever, because some of the restrooms we came across didn’t have TP.

Reminded me of China in that sense.

Yes definitely.

Also like China, you don’t want to drink the water there so drink from just water bottles.

11:19

I brushed my teeth with the water, that was fine, but our guide had also just recommended not to eat leafy green salads and we didn’t for at least the first few days and then we were OK.

I mean, I definitely ate stuff that were greens and vegetables too that were uncooked, right?

11:36

He said.

Basically the water is clean and filtered, but of course it has bacteria that our gut as travelers aren’t used to, so it could cause potential issues.

So if you’re going to do it and be there for a while, obviously do it with caution, but do it in little increments so that your body could get used to it and you don’t give it a big bomb so to speak.

11:54

Eating a lot all at once and just not being used to it.

Just go slow till you build up your tolerance.

No one in our group got sick that we know of, so this ended up working out well for us.

You know what?

My stomach was actually hurting the week I got back.

All week I was like, as soon as I get back to America my stomach started hurting.

12:12

Well, better here than there, that’s for sure.

And maybe it’s because once you got back to America, you’re eating food that really isn’t food and processed.

And we had natural over.

There because we ate really good on the Nile river cruise that we.

Did that.

But another tip for you guys, bring layers, especially if you visit during the winter.

12:31

So we went here in January.

It is winter.

The weather was perfect.

I mean highs in the 70s, maybe even low 80s.

But then the lows got down into the 50s at night.

But definitely people forget that the desert gets cold in the evening.

12:46

We woke up a lot of days and it was quite cold.

Of course it warms up a little bit later, but just have those layers and pack accordingly.

And while we’re talking about packing, I do I want to mention to wear and pack good shoes.

We went over a lot of uneven terrain.

When you’re going into the tombs in the pyramids, you’re either walking up ramps or up and down stairs.

13:08

And then even outside of the temples, the walkways are uneven.

So just make sure you’re wearing good shoes.

I want to give a really, really important tip, I think one of the most important tips for Egypt, negotiate everything.

Everything is negotiable and you should negotiate even the candy at one of the shops that we went into at these temples, which there’s a shop at every temple, every site will have some form of a market.

13:38

We went in to buy candy.

You know, when you go into a convenience store, you buy the candy.

It’s not really something you think to negotiate.

Robin was going to buy buy all these candies and it wasn’t that many.

It was like a souvenir chocolate bar and a handful of other candies.

I would think it would be like 10 bucks.

They were wanting the equivalent of $33.

13:55

Oh my gosh.

Well, and just real quick before you continue on, Kim, I want to say for the most part Egypt is relatively inexpensive, especially for stuff like in markets.

But here in the tourist areas, yeah, coffee was overpriced, Coca-Cola and soda was overpriced.

Like so the official stores, so to speak, where you could get like snacks and food at these places are like really expensive.

14:17

So that’s how a few things came to like 30.

Whereas if you were to buy it on a normal St. in Egypt, it’s not going to be that price.

So yes, continue on.

Well, we did negotiate, got him down to about half and then he threw in two free candies.

So you just got to roll with it.

14:33

Negotiate, negotiate, don’t accept the price.

I mean, obviously hotel is going to be different, no doubt, but pretty much everywhere, yeah, negotiate where people are selling.

Things even on our crews, they negotiate.

Our friends negotiated a basically a buy one treatment, get one massage free.

14:53

Right.

And they were taking photos on the cruise.

They told you price and then you could just tell them, no, that’s too much, I’ll pay this.

So yeah, negotiate.

And while we’re talking about negotiation, obviously you’re having to do this in a language.

So most people that we came across did speak English and also a lot of people spoke Spanish there too, even though their official language is Arabic.

15:12

Yeah.

So I honestly think anyone who you encounter in the tourism industry there, like on the river cruise boats, if you do that or pretty much anywhere, is going to be multilingual, definitely with English.

And if you’re coming from another country too and prefer even to speak to Spanish, if you know English fluently, I’m telling you they know Spanish over there just as well.

15:33

So no need to worry about that translation barrier.

Another tip for you is they do have Uber but it could be unreliable and so we have some stories about this.

We on the first day wanted to go to a market and we needed two cars and so I requested one and my Uber driver said that he arrived and that he picked me up but he had not picked me up and then Kim couldn’t even find a driver.

15:58

So that was our first experience using Uber.

Our second experience using Uber was that I was able to request and get a ride, but immediately in the app he asked for more money to take us there.

So then you have to decide do you want to pay more money or do not want to pay more money which?

16:15

When we put it into perspective, wasn’t the original ride like one or two dollars?

$2.00. $1.00 each per person.

Yeah, it was $2.00 and then he wanted double that for four.

So, OK, so we’re.

Like, yeah, of course.

And we took that guy on a journey.

16:31

We will tell you all about that later.

But yeah, point being, in a nutshell, use Uber at your own discretion.

I’m not saying don’t use it, but yeah, we had circumstances with it, let’s put it that way.

Other people on our cruise had success with it though, and they were surprised by our issue.

So like Brittany said, unreliable.

16:48

Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t.

And if you happen to do this chore, it was a lot of go, go, go, a lot of early mornings.

So last tip, sleep when you can because you’re going to need it.

I would suggest just sleeping for like a week straight before you go because and.

17:05

Then when you come back.

Day one of our trip started in New York City.

It was our travel day, so the group of us had all flown in early.

We were all at the same hotel.

We got into Ubers, we went to JFK and Britt and Jamal, you had an exciting start to this trip.

17:25

We did have an exciting start, you know, as I get older, I’m not going to lie, I’m just really finicky about a lot of stuff.

I really hate flying economy now, especially for long haul flights.

I’m not trying to be this bougie person because that’s not really in my personality.

I could do five hours in economy.

17:41

It doesn’t really bother me, but at a certain point my butt starts to hurt in those economy seats.

It’s uncomfortable.

I got to move.

I can’t really sleep.

I, I hate it.

And the last few times we’ve flown economy, I’ve had people sit by me that have just made the experience so much worse.

17:57

So just like really unlucky in that sense of things.

So Brittany and I had a plan.

We’re like, OK, you know, these flights were with gate one.

It was automatically everyone on this tour was Egypt Air out of JFK International Airport in New York, right.

So you didn’t really have any choice whatsoever on your arrivals or flights.

18:16

But we said to ourselves, when we get there, let’s see how much it costs to upgrade to business class.

And so Brittany and I asked the question.

I felt that they told us a number that was incredibly fair for a 10 hour flight.

And so we jumped on it.

18:31

Brittany and I paid a little over $600.00 each per person to upgrade to business class for this flight.

So that was quite nice.

Yeah.

And we actually will have a mini episode on that business class experience.

So listen to that episode to hear all about our flight.

18:46

So that was exciting.

We got all checked in.

Unfortunately our plane was delayed for two hours.

I’ve been noticing flights lately have been doing this and they didn’t do it in years past where they’ll actually give you a voucher for like 20 bucks to shop in whatever store in the terminal because of your delay.

19:03

Southwest had just done it to me recently and now we got one on this flight.

So have you seen that before?

I have not seen airlines be so proactive to give you what they are entitled to give you in those sort of delays.

But I think there may be recently has been a little bit new legislation.

So they’re just kind of nipping it in the bud so that they don’t have any anything really happened.

19:20

And so, yeah, they gave us automatically because they already knew when we checked in that it was going to be about two hours late.

They gave you and everybody else $20 to spend in the terminal on food, snacks, whatever they gave Brittany and I and Zana, because Zana did upgrade to business class as well, $30.00.

19:37

So they gave the business class people 10 more dollars to spend.

But I will say it came out to really be worthless.

I mean, we did buy some snacks.

But the great thing is here at JFK, they have a amazing lounge, especially the credit card lounge.

It’s the Centurion Lounge for American Express, the Capital One Lounge, Sapphire Reserve Lounge for Chase, amongst all of us who are traveling and with the guest allowance that they have for people to go into the lounge, we decided that we were all going to go to the Capital One Lounge to start.

20:08

And we’ve actually heard, because none of us had experienced it yet, that the Capital One lounge in JFK, because it is relatively new, is absolutely amazing.

And it did not disappoint.

I loved it.

We all had some dreams.

Good food in there and a great way to relax before the 10 hour flight.

20:25

I totally agree, compared to the Chase lounge, Capital One lounge is much better.

Way less crowded, much better food, a lot more options, better drink menu, all around better.

I went back with Cash and Riot at the tail end of the trip and then when they left I went to the chase lounge and it was like night and day.

20:43

Same menu, crowded place over here at Capital One.

Calm, no one there, Great food, great drinks.

Well, that’s crazy.

Is like in this last time that we were all there, we didn’t use the Chase Lounge and we have the card to get in.

But Brittany and I, one of the last times we flew out of New York, the Capital One wasn’t open, the Chase was.

21:02

And I remember really liking that Chase Lounge.

But I guess over time now it’s gotten kind of busy, maybe it’s falling off a little bit, but I remember even liking it.

But now if you’re saying it wasn’t that good, that’s just how much better the Capital One Lounge is at JFK.

Yeah, definitely.

And Chase is real stingy about their three hour policy.

21:21

And every time you go, you still have to put your name on the wait list.

So I think I had tried to go in like 40 minutes early in there saying this pleasant voice.

We allow guests 3 hours ahead of time and you’re like, OK, so there’s always a wait.

They’re really stingy about the three hours.

21:37

Capital One let me in as Kasha’s guest and I had like a six hour layover.

That was very nice.

So you got to kill some time in that lounge.

So Jamal and I recently opened American Express Platinum Cards, which allows us access into the American Express Centurion Lounge at JFK.

21:53

So towards the tail end of our visit, Jamal and I hopped over to the Centurion Lounge just to check it out.

More particularly because the Centurion Lounge at JFK has a Speakeasy and we really wanted to go find it and experience that.

We did find it and I thought it was really cool because one, there was no one else in there and two, they serve different drinks with better alcohol than the regular lounge.

22:17

And how is it hidden?

So it’s not labeled.

You have to go down a level because it’s a two-story lounge.

You see you have to go down a level and then there is like a small bar towards the back of it and there’s going to be a door there that just says the numbers 1850 and you just pull that door open and that enters the Speakeasy.

22:35

Yeah.

Because it doesn’t advertise what it is, it’s not a very inconspicuous door, but it’s like if you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t know what that was because it’s shut and you don’t really see a lot of people opening or closing it.

So that’s really your entrance in.

So we did a little bit of lounge hopping before the flight here.

22:53

And again, like I said, they gave us the vouchers to use, but since we were in the lounge, eating food, having drink, we really all utilized it to pick up snacks for the trip.

Yeah.

So we just ended up boarding our flight.

It was a 10 hour flight and we ended up landing on Tuesday around 8 AMI.

23:09

Was actually really excited to land early in the morning.

We ended up getting picked up by our Gate 1 representatives.

Everyone who was on the tour with us was on that flight and it was kind of funny because you realize who’s going on that flight, like as a local going home, etcetera.

And then you could see who the tourists are, right?

23:26

I did not identify anybody from the plane, did you?

I feel like I saw well in our cab, in our cabin.

It was a little bit the smaller, but yeah, Kasha and Ryan were sitting by somebody who was on our tour.

Well, we had one of the couples, the Filipino couple, they were sitting right in front of me and Robin and he he was trying to get something down out of the plane when we were exiting and an Egyptian lady turned around and started yelling at him to hurry up and go.

23:52

So we got to know him.

In that moment, I was like, he is he’s getting it together.

And I defended him little to find out he’s on our tour.

Yeah, I know.

It’s like, relax, you know, calm down.

We’re just taking our time getting off the plane, right?

But nevertheless, we all arrived at the same time.

24:09

Metergate 1 reps who just said, hey, this is how you get through immigration and security because they met us before you go through customs and immigration.

They told us what conveyor belt our luggage was going to be, stay and wait for them.

And then once everybody had all of their luggage, then we ended up getting taken via bus to our hotel.

24:30

And it was only at that point in time when we got on the bus that we were introduced to our tour manager, Hosam, because he was not in the airport.

He only met us on the outside at the bus.

I also do want to mention before we move on into that, you do have to have a visa to enter Egypt.

And so Jamal and I were actually able to get our visas online in advance, but Kim, you and Robin needed to get yours at the airport.

24:52

So that’s also an option that you can pay in cash, exact change at the airport if you need to.

Yeah, you could pay upon arrival or do it ahead of time.

This is another nod for gate one, or just a guided tour in general.

Gate one had an airport team that met us there that gave us the visa, that told us where to go, that got our bags.

25:11

Even on the way coming back, that same airport team took us in.

And if you’re worried about like navigating a country, I think that’s a really good reassurance that we didn’t even know we were going to get that.

I’ve never experienced that with Gate 1 before.

But whatever reason they did, There is a lot of weird things in the airport to like men and women are separated in certain security lines.

25:31

You might get called over to sign a book.

I got pulled into the backroom.

Just different things going on at the airport, Yeah.

So they kind of help you let you know what is or isn’t safe or what’s a scam or just how to follow procedure, right?

So that is good.

So again, we got onto the bus.

25:47

We were staying our first day in Cairo at the Cairo Marriott Hotel Omar Khameyam Casino.

I did not see the casino.

I was looking for it, didn’t see it.

But what an amazing hotel we were staying at when we ended up getting there.

I loved it.

Yeah, it actually was a historic palace called Jazeera Palace, and the way that it’s been transformed now is amazing.

26:08

It’s a beautiful hotel.

It has a spa, gym, women’s locker room, and that has a steam room, a sauna, and a hot tub.

And interesting enough, the hot tubs in Egypt were never hot when we tried to go into them.

So not sure if that was a local thing or if it was just circumstantial.

26:25

Not sure.

But the steam room and sauna were amazing and the men’s side had that as well.

I was going to say I love how you said women’s locker room and didn’t include the fact that they have a men’s locker room also, but yeah, I mean, yeah, so.

And they had a huge pool.

Yes, the pool was amazing.

26:42

Hot tubs lack less because they weren’t really working, but steam room, sauna, the gym, everything.

I mean, this was an amazing hotel.

The restaurant of the hotel was actually old historic palace and they have like other conference rooms and things that were there but then around it.

26:57

Then they have the courtyard of the pool, the gym, the towers of the hotel.

So not only was it a great hotel, we were staying in a historic spot just as well.

Also very secure, it had a whole gate around it with the security measures for cars coming in.

Oh.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

27:13

They take their security very seriously there and we’ll talk a little bit more about that later, but yeah, felt really safe.

Not that I was going to go into Egypt and thinking I was going to feel unsafe at all.

Definitely didn’t have that.

But yeah, if safety is of concern to you, a lot of these hotels have amazing security measures.

27:30

You even have to go through security before you get into the lobby, right?

So they do have that.

But upon arrival, being early in the morning, our rooms were ready, which was fantastic, but they also told us breakfast was still going on.

So if we we wanted to eat, we could have breakfast and the breakfast buffet that they had was delicious.

27:49

So all of us were feeling a little lackluster about the food that we had on the plane.

Like our business class food was good.

So I’m not going to say anything, but I know the economy, food on Egypt Air, you guys said was horrendous on this.

One thank God we ate in the lounge.

Yeah, I didn’t even want it.

28:06

We all enjoyed what we had for breakfast.

Yeah, breakfast is great.

And then afterwards we we all decided we were going to take a nap.

I showered.

Well, you know, I didn’t really need a nap because I had slept for 10 hours on the plane, maybe 8 to 10 hours on the plane coming here.

28:25

Because once again, I have a great strategy of just staying up most of the night before you fly and you just sleep the whole way.

And I think this is really guys, one of my top skill sets in life is sleeping on plane.

That’s the Kim over 30 mindset is just stay up all night so that you could sleep the whole time.

28:43

Yeah.

So Kim did not need the nap.

All of us decided that we were going to take a nap after breakfast.

But I just want to take a step back real quick because I did not say that this first day arriving, since we were there so early, was a free day.

The only thing that we had to do that day part of the tour was meet back at a certain spot in the hotel at 6:00 PM for our group orientation and 1st night’s dinner.

29:08

So by the time we were done with breakfast, everybody squeeze in a nap, minus Kim because she got so much beauty rest on the flight over.

And then we decided that we were going to do a couple things.

Well, I actually did take a little nap anyway.

Had another hour.

Why not, right?

29:24

Well, you’re bunking with Robin, and if she turned off the lights, what are you going to do?

Just sit there and keep her awake?

So.

But here’s the another hack for you.

Squatty is what I did.

Was put on a sheet face mask, put on my eye sleeping mask.

So took a little nap, woke up, skin refreshed, ready to go.

29:40

And where did you want to go, Kim?

On our free day, if you like know anything about Cairo, the market comes up.

This is the Khan Al Khalili market is very well known as an amazing place to shop in Cairo.

It’s a very big market.

We started going down the market and I thought it was just one big passageway with maybe some offshoots.

30:02

But once you really get in there, it’s a weaving, winding, narrow alleyway that opens up into a big courtyard.

Crazy cool market and I’m really glad that we could make it.

It is because I mean it where we got dropped off, we had to take stairs down.

If you go a certain way, then that area of the market is just a spice market.

30:20

Then you have the craft area of the market.

And then at some point, Egypt is known for its gold and silver.

You can get to the gold and silver alleys where they sell legitimate gold and silver and other sorts of jewelry and everything.

So you’re going to find a lot here.

And so the Con al Khalili market, it’s again a famous bazaar in the historic center of Cairo.

30:40

And you can Google this.

It is actually one of Cairo’s main tourist attractions and even a tourist attraction for Egyptians coming from other places in Egypt.

So I mean, dare I say that this might be the number 3 attraction, all of Egypt, I would say #2 is going to be the new museum that they have and then won the pyramids.

31:00

But this is really high up there of a place to go.

So we made our way to the market, did a little bit of look in, a little bit of shopping and just enjoyed ourselves.

Yes.

And so when we we’re going to go to the market, we tried to request the Ubers.

That’s what I was talking about earlier.

31:16

My driver said that he arrived, he never did.

Kim couldn’t get a driver.

So we resorted to asking the hotel if they could arrange us.

Which I think we should have done in the 1st place.

You said resorted.

I think that’s a great number one first option.

Yes, it was a little bit more expensive in terms of Egyptian price, but very affordable otherwise for it was like $5 a person round trip.

31:39

That’s the key I.

Know and that’s what’s going to say.

They gave us the Peace of Mind because they said that they would pick us up at a certain time.

So it wasn’t what we got to find a Lyft or Uber back or even worry about flagging down a taxi and negotiating prices and making sure they were taking us to the right spot.

31:54

We got legitimate people that the hotel works with to take us and do a round trip.

So wherever you are staying, I would see if your hotel has that capability to do that because I honestly think that’s the best and easiest way to get around.

Obviously it’s going to be more expensive.

32:10

If you’re feeling and adventurous, go the other routes.

Not stopping you, but that is a great route for just simplicity and comfort.

Yeah, we’re talking about a few dollars difference.

And Kim, what did you end up buying at the market?

Ooh, so I had seen in like pictures of reviews of the market these lamps that are egg shaped and look like stained glass, really beautiful, different colors, different sizes and they just have walls of them in the in the market different shops.

32:38

So I knew that’s what I wanted to get and I did find one for me and one for someone else, can’t say who.

While you’re leaving us in suspense, I think I know who it is, but I’m not going to say it here.

But yeah, So the great spot to pick up souvenirs, gifts, and even if you’re not planning on doing that, just roaming around, it’s a really cool place in Cairo to go and just check.

32:57

Out.

I feel like me personally thinking about safety, and I know that’s a hot question for so many people thinking about Egypt.

If any place would have sketchy things I’d be worried about, it’d be a market like this.

Tight quarters, winding alleys, don’t know where you’re going, people trying to sell you something.

33:15

But I actually didn’t feel that way.

We were with a group, but occasionally going off in shorter groups or alone, whatever.

I didn’t feel any unsafe feelings here.

So just to let everyone listening, rest assured it was fine.

Yeah, so after the market we went back to the hotel, we met up with our tour mates and they always have like an informational meeting where you learn about what we’re going to do on the tour, some guidelines, You meet your tour mates, you introduce yourself to everyone and then we all had dinner at the hotel together.

33:45

Dinner at the hotel was good, not as good as the breakfast I’m not going to lie, but still a very good dinner.

We did enjoy it that evening.

You and Zana both went to the sauna and steam room, did you not?

Yes, we went and enjoyed the sauna and the steam room, which was really nice.

34:02

And then you and Ryan went to go hookah and Kim met up with you guys out there, right?

That is correct, yeah.

Cuz Kim, what were you doing?

You were doing a little bit of actual work.

Cuz that’s another life hack that you are excelling at later on.

The life is working on vacation and then sleeping on planes, right?

34:18

So you are doing something, I think it was work.

And then we’re finished with that.

And then you saw me and Ryan in the courtyard of the hotel having hookah by the pool.

And then you joined us for a little bit, which was a fun.

I just love going to the Mideast when hookah is around.

34:34

It’s a great social thing to do.

I’m not advocating it for anybody who doesn’t want to do something like that, but just a fun time all around and join the ambiance.

Yeah, it’s very nice, relaxing.

And that was the end of our Tuesday.

So our second real day in Egypt, day three of this trip, we are hitting the ground with the top #1 attraction in Egypt, the Great Pyramids.

34:57

So we had an early morning wake up call to have breakfast.

Be ready to leave the hotel at 7:00 AM, which is still pretty early but not incredibly early.

But I’m glad we did because we arrived at the Pyramids of Giza and we were one of the first people and tours that were there.

35:15

Like when you arrive, your bus isn’t just going straight up to the pyramids.

They have a gated area, of course, the official entrance, and a very, very large parking lot.

There wasn’t anybody in the parking lot whatsoever.

We got our tickets, went through security.

35:31

Once you go through security, then your bus meets you back around that area and then it advances you and takes you closer to the Pyramids.

So there wasn’t very many people there and I would say we are very fortunate that we got there early in the morning to enjoy it.

And you mentioned getting tickets, so the site of going to the pyramids itself was included within our tour.

35:53

But if you wanted to actually enter and climb up within the Great Pyramid, you did need a separate ticket that we did decide to purchase.

Because if we’re there, we might as well do it right.

You got to go inside the Great Pyramid.

How are you not going to go inside the pyramids?

36:09

You could look at it, but it’s even cooler to go inside of it, right?

And a lot of Tik Toks and Reels that I saw had kind of downplayed how cool it is inside.

They were like, oh, it’s not colorful.

You don’t see anything.

Don’t believe what you see on the Internet.

36:25

Well, it’s not colorful, that’s for sure.

So I want to give, I want to give them that but.

But like you were just saying, how could you not go inside?

It was a cool experience.

No, it it was a cool experience and so I just want to say something, you know, on that orientation dinner, our tour guide was telling us all about this.

36:40

He said exactly the same thing.

Tomorrow when we’re at the pyramids, we have our entrance.

We could go see him, but Gate 1 does not provide entrance into the pyramid.

If you want to do that, you could buy a ticket.

And he gave us all the pros and cons of doing it and not doing it.

He said exactly the same thing.

36:57

There’s no colors in there.

So if you want to see colors, you don’t do that.

If you’re claustrophobic, don’t actually do that.

If you’re not in the best physical health, don’t do that because you got to squat down in a small area and climb 3, 300 feet.

Yeah.

37:12

So we’re already talking about a lot of things that are negative against it, right?

But if you know that going in, but just want to say, hey, I’m in the center of the Great Pyramid of Egypt and actually take the time to like climb in it, be in it, see it, do all of that.

37:28

It’s just an experience worth doing if you know that it’s not going to be like a big payoff of colors or inscriptions of hieroglyphs or anything like that.

But you are in the center of the only left standing 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

And the timing on it is the bad things that we’re mentioning, they’re so temporary.

37:48

You walk up, you stand in it, you see, you come down.

It’s like less than 30 minutes of some discomfort to have that amazing experience.

Yeah.

I mean, when else will you be in a structure that was built over 4500 years ago?

I mean, these are massive structures, right?

38:04

And they served as royal tomb.

So when do you have the opportunity to go inside a pyramid royal tomb and see like the incredible engineering of how they made these?

Well, we got to go into more royal tombs when we’re in the Valley of the King, but they are not in pyramid.

38:20

So the cool thing about this is that this one is in a pyramid, right?

So again, pyramids were built over 4500 years ago.

We know this.

There’s three of them in the great Pyramids of Giza on that plateau.

And it was just really awesome being there, going in the one, seeing the others.

38:39

Take photos, touch it with your bare hands and just really think like, wow, how did people this long ago really build all of this?

And I find that to just be incredibly amazing because I mean, there’s theories and some people say, Oh yeah, we know how they did it, but no one really knows how they did it.

38:56

And it’s still an engineering marvel if we think about it.

And I think that’s really.

So it’s $30 a person to go inside.

So we had our own separate ticket for that.

And you start by climbing up on these big steps outside of the pyramid and then you enter through like this cave like entrance and you go through a little cave tunnel and then you have to ascend up on these ramps that have like little wood slots on them so that you can keep your balance, I guess.

39:25

Have some sort of grip on the climb or even support on the way down.

But while you’re ascending up, you are hunched over.

How hunched would you say you were, Jamal?

I mean, my back is almost at a 90° angle.

I mean, that’s where you’re at.

I was not that hunched.

39:41

Okay, well, maybe not that hunched, but definitely hunched a little bit higher than that, right?

Not at a lower degree of angle, but.

Between a six foot something guy and A52 girl.

Well, that I guess that’s very true if we’re going to put height into it.

But let’s just put it this way.

39:57

I would wager to say like again, you’re ascending so that you’re in this small area that’s going up at maybe what, a 45° angle like the.

Chamber that you climb up through would maybe be at a 45° angle, maybe a little bit yeah as not as deep, but I would wager to say that it was no more than four feet high.

40:19

So even a 5 foot person has to like bend over and be hunchback to climb it.

If you’re any taller you’re definitely more bent over and hunchback.

Climbing it and going up is way easier than going down because going down then you’re at the angle going down which makes how you have to hunch down even further on your back to not really hit your head or do anything.

40:42

But that’s just the first part of it.

So you go up this ramp and you’re hunched over, but then it opens up a little bit.

You climb up a little ladder and then you are in another chamber spot where you’re also going up.

But now you don’t have to hunch over and everything is like super high ceiling.

41:01

It opens like an atrium in a way.

Of course not with an open atrium ceiling that you could see out, but I would just say like high volted ceiling in that pyramid shape as you are ascending up to the tomb.

And then once you get to the top of that you have to climb up another like 2 foot ladder and then you have to almost crawl under a small section before you enter the tube chamber.

41:25

And then when you’re in the tube chamber, again, no color, no hieroglyphs, you could just see the empty tomb that is still there and you are already hot and tired from climbing up and even more hot and humid in there with everybody, anybody else.

But still just an experience that I think if you’re physically able, you really need to do.

41:43

And then you go down just the opposite way of that.

So it is a two way ramp that you’re basically going up and down.

So people are coming up while you’re going down.

So again, if you’re claustrophobic, this isn’t necessarily great for you.

You have back or health issues or heart issues, probably not the best.

41:59

So not everyone in our group did this, but I’m glad we did and that we had the ability to do it.

So as soon as we were done on the inside again, we just enjoyed time around the pyramid complex taking photos.

And then we had a certain time to meet back up with our tour guide because then from there, the Great Sphinx is not too far off.

42:20

It’s sitting right there with the pyramids, but it wasn’t in view from where we were.

So we took a short bus ride to go to the Sphinx.

The Sphinx is a giant Sphinx statue, a limestone statue.

It has the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh, and it’s guarding the Giza Plateau.

42:40

It was carved like we were talking about over 4500 years ago, still mostly standing.

There’s some parts where it’s a little messed up, of course, but or it’s been restored.

Really, really cool to see this.

And when I thought of the Sphinx before coming, I thought it was, you know, the Sphinx.

42:58

As we start exploring other temples, we see tons of other sphinxes.

This was a big thing outside of temples and places like this, even rows of sphinxes, but none as massive as this one.

None as massive as this one.

And of course with the lure that it has and the location of being with the the Great Pyramids, right?

43:19

So none of the other ones that we saw were as big.

But Speaking of the Great Sphinx, I also want to say it’s not as big as people think.

I didn’t go into it thinking it’s going to be Oh my gosh, so huge.

And again, I’m not going to sit here saying it’s tiny.

I was so impressed by the size.

43:34

Oh really?

Yeah, the lots of people will actually say, oh, I thought it was going to be like bigger than that, So that’s why I say that.

But that’s good to know that you were impressed with the size, Kim.

So it’s good for everybody.

I think in that sense of things, you know, you may think it’s going to be bigger, may think it’s smaller, doesn’t really matter.

43:52

It’s still the Sphinx.

So we just got to go look at it, walk around it, and it’s just captivating really, because there’s still a lot that’s unknown about it.

And you can see the pyramid still in the background because it’s very close to the area, of course, as well.

44:08

And then from there, we ended up taking our bus again to another spot.

It was an overlook where you can see the three pyramids together.

And this was the spot where we were actually able to do a camel ride here.

And then your guide will take a few pictures of you in front of the pyramids on your camel.

44:25

This isn’t part of the Gate 1 experience, so it’s not included.

But our guide did help set us up.

And it only cost $10 a person.

And then you just tip your camel guide 1 to $2.00 a person.

And again, going back to what you said, Ken, that’s what our tour guide said.

If you give somebody a tip, no matter how good it is, they’re going to say what this is it.

44:43

But really the one to $2.00 is enough for a tip for the person who is guiding your camel.

So when we rode it, we were all got on.

He leads the camel’s, you go for a little walk, not very far, but he takes you to a good spot where there’s an overlook of all three and starts taking our photos while we are on the camel.

45:04

And then we have the short ride back, so it’s not like a crazy camel adventure, but still one of those fun, unique things to do.

And before this trip, we all said like, hey, when we’re at the pyramids, we’re going to ride the camels and get the shots.

And we all did it.

We all did it, we got some good shots worth the $10.00 for sure.

45:22

Absolutely.

Did you know right here in this overlook, the very next day, Will Smith and his family were there?

I did know that because you were on Instagram or whatever and we’re like, Will Smith is at the pyramids.

So we we missed Will Smith by a day.

45:38

He was in Egypt at the same time as us.

After we went to the pyramids, we were going for lunch.

I love when lunches are included in Gate One tours because you don’t know.

It’s a surprise.

You don’t know what restaurant you’re going to, you don’t know what’s going to be served.

And that was an experience for us.

I know well the all the restaurants, the with gate one wherever you go are usually pretty good.

45:57

I know you said you love when it’s included.

This was included because we did the optional afternoon guided tour, which was going to the new Grand Egyptian Museum.

So this lunch was included with that optional tour that we all paid to do.

46:13

And when I say all, I mean all seven of us who went on this and the entire tour group as well.

Nobody sat this one out.

So it made it very easy being able to go straight from the pyramids to lunch and then go to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

We got lucky because this museum just opened up at the very tail end of 2025.

46:33

Our squatty Reagan, she had gone to Egypt.

She had said it was like one of her best destinations, and they had gone to the museum too, but this one had not opened yet.

And she messaged us saying how jealous she was that we actually got to go here.

And it was quite an impressive museum.

46:49

It is the largest archaeological museum in the world, dedicated to one single civilization.

I’m not a museum person and I originally was not going to do this.

We didn’t have the optional add on chosen.

We added on later.

I think you were doing some digging and, and I’ve heard from almost everyone that’s been that it’s amazing you have to go to the museum and for not being a museum person, I do think it was pretty interesting.

47:12

It, it definitely is.

And it showcases thousands of ancient artifacts, obviously all from the ancient Egyptian civilization.

And you could see tons of different artifacts.

But the signature thing that most people people really love to see here that the museum has is all the treasures from King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

47:33

And so you have his sarcophagi that he was in.

And I said sarcophagi, that’s plural for sarcophaguses because that’s not really a word.

All right.

But he was buried in three.

And then on top of that, those three were in like 3 or 4 different gold gilded chambers.

47:49

And then you have all of that, his famous mask.

And so those are some of the greatest Egyptian treasures that still exist today are things that have come out of his tomb.

And I think our tour guide said that this is the first place that all of these things have been into together since they were originally in his tomb when they found it, right?

48:08

Because they were in like other locations or their old museum, not all of these things were showcased because they didn’t have the room for it, because they had other stuff and it was a smaller building.

So I mean, you’re going to see all the stuff from King Tut, but just everything from all Egyptian civilization.

That’s just so impressive and.

48:26

Is so impressed by the jewelry and the like bowls and plates and cups from made from alabaster that are still so nice.

Like I would buy that in a pottery store today or some of this jewelry.

And then you see, of course some mummies or then those jars, I forgot what they’re called, but they’re the four jars that have the heads of the animals on them, which are the ones that were the only organs that are removed when they actually do the mummification and they’re placed with the mummies.

48:53

So you see all this stuff in here?

That’s just so.

Incredibly 1000 years old I know and still in that good of condition.

It’s crazy.

And our guide did guide us through the museum through some of it and did a really good job explaining everything.

49:10

And then he did give us some free time to explore on our own, and that’s when we saw all of King Tut’s artifacts.

So that was really cool.

And then he also recommended that we go into another part of the museum that showcased King Kofu solar boat that had been reconstructed.

49:27

It was originally found in a huge pit in like 1200 pieces.

Now it’s all reconstructed and you basically go up these staircases and you wind around the boat and it’s really cool to see.

So that was our first real day exploring some of the treasures of Egypt, from the pyramids to the museum.

49:47

And then we went back to the hotel.

I think Brittany, you and Robin went to the steam room that day.

I ended up going to the steam room and sauna as well.

Didn’t get to enjoy as much time as I would hope in there because we had a very early morning the next day because very limited time in Cairo before we had a flight to Aswan for the start of our river.

50:10

Cruise yeah.

So Day 4 was a Thursday for us and we had to wake up at 2:00 AM to leave the hotel to get to the airport at 3:15 AM and we caught our flight to Oswen in the 5:00 hour.

So it was a very early day.

50:25

Luckily the flight was only like an hour and 1520 minutes, so not too long of a flight.

But we flew to Aswan, which is in southern Egypt.

So just a little bit of geographical context.

Cairo, where we were, is in the north of Egypt, very close to the Mediterranean Sea.

50:43

And then we flew S to Aswan, which is in southern Egypt, not super close, but close to the border with Sudan, but along the Nile, you know.

One thing that I thought was really interesting that our tour guide shared with us that Egypt’s population lives only on about 6% of the land. 94% of the land is not used for living.

51:08

A lot of it’s just desert.

And so the 6% that is used is just primarily along the Nile where people live and around the Delta, obviously because water flows through this area and water provides life and is sustainable and the other areas are so remote in desert like.

51:24

Yeah.

And he said some of the driest places on earth are here in Egypt as well.

So of course the Nile doesn’t start in Egypt, it starts more South in Africa and the lush areas where there’s lots of rain, etcetera, and it flows its way through here.

So.

The Nile is so critical and important to the Egyptian people.

51:44

Both the ancient Egyptians, as we learned they were obsessed with the Nile and people today it’s just the Nile is where it’s at.

Water is the giver of all life, that’s for sure.

So that makes a lot of sense.

So when we arrived in Aswan, after we had gotten all our luggage and everything, we immediately got on our next tour bus and we were taken to a temple right away, the Fila temple.

52:08

Yeah, so we actually had to take a water taxi to get to the Fila temple.

There’s a lot of markets outside of all of the temples and sites.

A lot of them have the same stuff.

So there was a little walkway here where people were trying to sell some goods.

But we boarded a water taxi and we made it to the temple.

52:23

The temple was cool.

One of the cool things I saw at some of these temples, this one was the first one, was that it’s not just ancient Egyptian ruins that you will see.

Some of these temples have Greek or Roman influence, and our guide was able to point out the structural differences in the pillars and some of the designs.

52:41

So you’re really getting a three for here.

Greek, Roman and Egypt should.

Yeah.

So if you’ve ever heard the terminology like Greco Roman, that’s when it incorporates kind of those European characteristics with other things.

So obviously at some point in time, the Empire of Egypt and Kingdom of Egypt did not fall.

53:00

But of course then you had European influence that came in Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, all that stuff kind of during the Greco Roman period.

So yes, our tour guide was able to tell us like you can tell when temples were of that time period simply for how when you look at the columns, just the way the architecture looks on top versus if you’re more Egyptian times before they came, then they don’t really have that.

53:25

So here at the Fila temple, they did have that Greco Roman architecture.

And so the Fila temple, it’s, it’s beautifully preserved temple on an island.

That’s why we had to take the water taxi dedicated to the goddess Isis.

And this temple is known for it’s elegant columns, detailed carvings, and the temple was actually relocated, stoned by stone to save it from flooding.

53:51

So of course, being along the Nile and as time goes on, I’m talking modern time, they needed to dam the Nile when they did, of course, you dam something that creates a lake.

So certain times of the year, this temple would actually flood, be underwater partially.

54:07

And of course, it’s such a historic temple that they don’t really want that to happen.

So when it wasn’t flood season and the waters were lower, there was a painstaking process of overtime where they moved it from 1 island that it was on to a very nearby island, which they now have it.

54:25

So this is an original temple, so to speak, that’s actually been reconstructed elsewhere, which I thought was incredibly unique and cool.

And then come to find out later that they did that with lots of things in Egypt when they damned it.

And we went to another one later along our tour, which we’ll talk about, where they did exactly the same thing.

54:45

So lots of stuff are still in the same spot, but some stuff painstakingly moved stone by stone.

So impressive that they were able to do that and put it back exactly as it was before.

Our guide had showed us pictures of I think it was the 80s or 90s, someone visiting in a canoe, canoeing up to the temple because it was in water.

55:04

Yeah, I know.

Could you imagine seeing it back then, just halfway covered?

I know, I know.

Definitely would have been cool, but I’m glad they were able to preserve it and actually move it.

So then after we visited the temple, we took a water taxi back to the bus and then our next stop along the tour was a perfume shop.

55:22

It was called Essence of Life perfume shop.

We all sat in this demonstration room area.

They did a demonstration of different scents and uses of the oils because they use essential oils.

Some of the oils can help with pain.

Some were strictly just for fragrance.

55:38

And then you could ask them if they have imitations of certain scents.

Jamal, you were looking for a few different sons, and so were you, Kim.

So they were able to pull out ones that mocked them and they smelled just like them.

They definitely did.

And so I mean, this stop here, gate one does this and lots of tour companies do this where they’ll take you to licensed shops, so to speak, of things that are popular in the area and Egypt and this region, they’re definitely known for their perfumeries and natural oils and fragrances that they’re able to get from natural product, right?

56:11

So this one 1 is a famous licensed one.

Lots of people don’t like these spots, right?

Because they feel like they’re trying to sell you something.

And if you’re that type of person, I mean, I understand it.

Believe me, sometimes I don’t like going to these ones either.

But the way I look at it is they’re taking you here not necessarily just to sell, but you’re also looking at and learning about something that has historically significant to the region and culture.

56:36

And that’s why these things are actually popular.

So I liked kind of the history that we were getting when we’re doing that.

If I was able to find the specific Cologne that I wanted, mix and match, I probably would have gotten one.

But you ladies pick some stuff up just as well.

And what I really like about this is what they were saying is they don’t add alcohol into it like they do with normal perfume or Cologne.

56:57

These are like the actual scents and most famous colognes are pretty much all of them only use like a handful of scents that are mixed in the right quantities or certain this and that to create fragrances.

So they can do imitations, so to speak, that are in the more natural state, which I also think is really cool.

57:14

The shopping experience in Egypt, whether you’re in the market or in a licensed shop like this, is a little bit hectic, and it was that way here.

We did buy some stuff.

I knew I wanted to buy perfume.

I love perfume.

I have a beautiful perfume collection and I want more.

57:31

And they had these gorgeous glass blown bottles that you could pour the oil into and they look so cute.

They were lining the shelves as we were walking in so I was hot to buy, but they didn’t really make the buying experience easy here.

Yeah, they had people that were helping us, but sometimes you would ask for something and they weren’t understanding completely.

57:54

But we ended up getting what we needed and Kim helped us assist a deal, so we got a little bit of a discount off.

Negotiate.

Negotiate.

And that what she said, Yeah.

So you got to negotiate.

You got to negotiate the price per bottle because they’ll be coming at you fast.

Still cheaper than what you would find for perfume wise in the US, but more expensive than I would anticipate in Egypt.

58:15

So Kim, you got 2 fragrances cash and I each got a fragrance and then we each got our own little perfume bottle and we bought it all together.

Because if you buy it as like a group together, you’re going to get more of a discount Then if each individual person buys just one thing.

58:33

I will say the really cute perfume bottles you can find in any of the other markets for probably half the price, so.

I did ask quotes on some and it was $5 whereas we paid 10, so double the price.

But yeah, it’s still a good deal, and oil smells really, really nice.

58:49

You just have to kind of ask him, like, let me smell this one, let me smell this one, let me smell this one.

They didn’t give us a lot of description of scent notes.

They’re offering different scents for you to try.

You kind of have to take the reins on the conversation.

But after the perfume shop, we boarded our cruise for the first time and our cruise ship was called the Hansa Spirit Ship.

59:12

And where we were docked in Oswan, there’s just so limited docking space.

So it’s very common for all of the cruise ship boats to line up next to each other.

And then you have to walk through the lobby of each one to get to your own boat.

59:29

And we were boat like #7 So we had to walk through six different lobbies to get to our boat.

Our boat held 140 people and it had a gym, sauna, pool, sunduck, lounge and then it had a restaurant area with like a set up that served breakfast, lunch and dinner.

59:47

And every day that we were on the cruise, all three meals were included for us.

Did you hear that Squatty’s?

We had a breakfast buffet, breakfast, lunch and dinner for four days straight on the cruise.

The food was delicious.

I will say this as we get more into the episode is that I wish they served more Egyptian food, but they served really good food, different varieties of food all the time for every meal.

1:00:10

So he definitely didn’t leave here hungry, I honestly felt.

Full the entire time.

By the time I was done with breakfast and lunch rolled around, I was like, Oh my God, I’m still full.

And then I still ate and then dinner came around and I was like, Oh my God, I’m still full, but I still ate.

I did not go hungry once We were on the Hansa Spirit, let me tell you that.

1:00:28

But we ended up boarding the boat.

Now this was deemed a Nile cruise.

Yes, we are on a boat.

Yes, we are on the Nile.

But when you see Nile cruises advertised in Egypt, a lot of them have you stay on board like a night or two before it will start even sailing.

1:00:45

So we didn’t even sail.

This was just our hotel on the water.

We stayed the night here because the next day, and you know, I’m going to backtrack a little bit because we did something here in the evening, but then the next day we had a full day tour elsewhere.

So whenever you see Nile cruise, just really pay attention if you’re doing it on a tour or even on your own, how many days you’re really sailing because it’s usually limited and more often than not it’s just using the boat on the water as a hotel.

1:01:13

Yes.

So when we boarded, we got there at around lunchtime, we were all going to have lunch and the rest of the day was a free day.

And so our guide said, hey, I can walk you to an evening market if you want.

But we had already been to market.

So we’re like, no, it’s OK.

And we were approached by one of the other tour mates that we had on board.

1:01:32

Her name was Felicia.

She was on her tour.

She was also 36.

Yeah, she was 36.

She was a nurse.

She fit in well with our group, and she had done some research of this area.

And she was like, hey, I was really hoping to go to this Nubian village across the Nile and also a Wellness resort.

1:01:51

My mom doesn’t want to go with me.

Is anyone in your group willing to go?

Let’s have an adventure.

Out of the seven of us, three of us went.

Well, guess what?

Guess which three?

The ones that are in the travel squad, and I just want to say that just goes to show how much vigor and excitement and passion we have for travel because everybody else kind of crapped out.

1:02:10

Wanted to take a nap?

I know everybody else crapped out and US 3 rallied hard with Felicia to go ahead and make it happen.

And you know what?

I’m pretty sure at least three of the four of them had FOMO once we got back and wish that they had gone.

1:02:26

That’s very true, but you know what, that’s our experience to tell right now so that they could relish in it.

And you squaddies can make sure if you go to Aswan you check out the Nubian village as well.

OK, so this was quite an adventure.

So our plan was to take a boat on the Nile to get to this Nubian village because Felicia had done some research.

1:02:45

But we went up to the front desk on our boat and he said how do we get a boat to the other side?

And he was basically discouraging us and telling us it would be too long.

So we were like, okay, well we can still get there by land.

So this is our other experience requesting an Uber.

I requested an Uber and it said it was going to be $2.00 to take us and we had it to take us to the Wellness retreat, which was farther than the Nubian village.

1:03:09

But in the same vicinity?

Yes, on the same Rd.

So the Uber driver immediately was like, instead of $2.00, can you pay me for?

We’re like, yes, absolutely.

We get in the car and all is seeming well.

I mean, we’re just sitting in kind of Egyptian traffic, nothing new there.

1:03:25

But then we cross the Nile and we end up on some dirt Rd. that end up becoming like more sandy than dirt.

And we’re and he’s worried about his car and tons of potholes.

Like this is not a real Rd.

1:03:40

But the GPS says that we are on track and we are determined to make it to one of these destinations.

We finally realized, you know what, maybe we should just actually get dropped off at the Nubian village instead of going all the way to the Wellness resort.

1:03:56

And I’m so glad we did that.

But literally the road was going to end.

We’re looking down at this like sand dune.

And we tell our Uber driver, can you wait here?

We’ll pay you more money if you just wait right here.

And we climb down the sand dune.

We go into the village.

1:04:11

We’re walking through people’s like front yards.

We’ll.

We weren’t even sure if that was the village right, So we were going to go check it out to see if we were there.

So we make it down, we realize we are in the right spot, it is the village.

We see a whole bunch of vendors and then we find the dock with a boat so that we can see like, yes, we can actually go back.

1:04:29

And that’s when we realized the hotel front desk guy just probably didn’t realize what we were asking.

He didn’t recognize the wilderness Resort name.

It wouldn’t have been that far from boat.

We could have gotten there by boat.

So.

Definitely, yeah.

So you guys know, you can definitely get to the Nubian village by boat.

1:04:45

The Wellness retreat, not necessarily so much.

We’ll we’ll get in a little bit more detail later.

But once we got down, we confirmed, hey, yes, we can take the boats back to where we need to go to our hotel and ship where we are staying.

And so we’re like, OK, we’re going to do that.

1:05:00

How do we get to the Wellness resort?

They told us you have to take a tuk tuk.

So we’re like, all right, this is going to be our plan.

Let’s just ditch the taxi or Uber.

No, no, no, no, but but I know, I know.

But by ditch it, I’m in in the sense of like, we’re going to scrap that plan of utilizing that to get to the Wellness resort.

1:05:18

So we walk back to our Uber driver, give him the more money that we promised.

I just wanted to say that, you know, give us some credit.

We definitely did give him a lot more money for his hassle of driving on the road.

And we’re like, all right, look, thank you.

We don’t need to get there.

We’re going to go back.

1:05:33

No need to wait.

And he was really grateful.

He knew English too.

He was really, really nice.

So I.

See, like jumped out of his car, opened his trunk, gave us all gum.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know.

And we told him sorry for the trouble.

And he’s like, no, you’re a guest in my country, Happy to do it, you know, So really friendly people, by the way.

1:05:50

Yeah.

And just in general.

So we let him go and we explored the Nubian village.

Now, we’ve said this a couple times.

Well, what is the Nubian village?

So the Nubians are actually an indigenous ethnic group with ancient roots to southern Egypt here in this area and close to Sudan.

1:06:08

And so they even have their own language, which when you hear of the old kingdoms of Egypt, Upper the Egypt, Lower Egypt, the Nubians were part of the Upper Egypt Kingdom.

And when we say upper, it’s because that’s up the Nile River, right?

You know, So that’s why even though it’s South, they are upper, but they still have their ethnic roots here.

1:06:28

People, they’re in this area of Aswan.

So they have their own village, not purposely segregated, but that’s just how they choose to live, a little bit separated.

But this village has shops, really colorful buildings, and it’s just a really fun place to go and check out.

1:06:44

Very colorful, very vibrant.

All of the architecture in this area has this beautiful artsy design to it that just makes you want to explore.

And like stairways are painted, railways are painted like beautiful pinks and oranges and Blues.

And we did stumble upon one.

1:07:01

It was this beautiful building.

I was like, I have to use the bathroom and see if they have one.

They did have one of course, taking pictures of this beautiful building.

And what else do they have in?

They have some baby saltwater Crocs there.

And guess what?

Kim decided to hold one for a photo op.

1:07:17

She’s a little scared at first, but she did it.

But yeah, So I mean, it’s one of those things, right?

You’re going there.

You see the colorful buildings of where they live.

I mean, they paint them these colors just because maybe to bring in tours.

But honestly, I think they were doing that anyway for a long, long time.

1:07:33

Super super friendly, vibrant people too.

No, absolutely.

And then you just get to see their own unique culture, buildings, the tourist shops and things that they have.

There were even people riding camels through the streets that we saw while we were there.

1:07:48

So it’s like a fun chaos is the way I would describe it.

St.

There, I would say they’re more like dirt roads.

They’re not.

Yes, absolutely.

Yes.

I’m really glad we came here.

Prior to coming to Egypt, I had never heard of the Nubians, so I’m glad we got to experience this side of Egypt.

1:08:05

Yeah.

So once we were done exploring town, we went to the boats and we were like, hey, can we get a boat ride to the Wellness resort?

And they’re like, no, you can’t get there by boat, but we can get you there by tuk tuk.

So we hired A tuk tuk to take us.

There was four of us, Felicia, Kim, myself and Jamal.

1:08:21

And Oh my gosh, it was such a wild ride.

They are just going full blast where you’re holding on to this tuk tuk and you’re going through the desert.

And we were laughing and screaming and like holding on.

It was such an adventure.

Tuk tuks can look different country to country, but this one was kind of like motorized bicycle with a back on it that could fit 6 people crunched together, open air, no seatbelts, just like the bed of a truck.

1:08:49

Kind of.

And there’s no paved Rd.

So we are going on these dirt roads that are uneven, these potholes and sand, sand and.

Down.

So I am so glad we did not take our poor little Uber driver all the way to this Wellness.

1:09:04

Oh no, he would have hated it.

And I think at some point you probably would have turned around.

So we did take the tuk tuk there.

And again, just in terms of general safety, I mean, we’re talking about in the no seatbelts, but in terms of people’s like comfort factor, this Wellness resort that we keep talking about, it’s called the Cota dual Wellness resort.

1:09:22

It’s relatively new and people in this area are obviously familiar with it.

But the tuk tuk that we hired, we told them like we want to go, we obviously need it round trip.

We set a time that they were going to pick us up and we did not pay them until they picked us up and took us back.

1:09:41

So you don’t really need to worry actually about are they going to show up if you negotiate and most of them do just tell them, look, of course it’s round trip, I’ll pay you when I get back.

They’re definitely going to come get you because they want their money.

And our tuk tuk driver even called the resort and was inquiring with the people up front saying, hey, if I might guess that I dropped off, are they ready?

1:10:00

So, you know, rest assured you’ll get picked up from there.

Yeah, the Wellness resort was this beautiful, the tree over in Oswan, and it had this big, beautiful facade that was painted.

It had a rooftop, it had pools, it had seating area overlooking the Nile.

1:10:19

It was really beautiful at sunset.

It also had a restaurant there as well.

I think to stay here, it was like 150 a night.

Obviously we didn’t need to stay here because we were on the cruise at this point, but if you were doing something on your own, this would be a very beautiful place to stay.

1:10:36

It’s.

Katho Dual Wellness Resort, and it was beautiful.

That whole outside area with the pool, the gorgeous day beds that they had set up with the beautiful pillows, all the colors.

You were overlooking the Nile River in a area of the Nile that was really beautiful with islands in the middle of it.

1:10:55

It wasn’t, and just a straight river right there.

Yeah, I really like that because the overview, like you said, Kim, was really scenic in that spot because the islands or little areas that they had were almost like little green Oasis is in the middle of nothing, right?

Because of course you have the river, it’s wide, sometimes straight, obviously it curves.

1:11:13

But like here around this bend, it was like in this Oasi area, which just really added to the ambiance in the scenery.

When you’re on top of the hill looking down to the Nubian village and then across to the other side where the newer town and city of Aswan is that you can see in that region.

1:11:29

So I really did enjoy it a lot.

Like if you’re not staying here, this is a place to come, maybe get food, have a drink.

But if you’re really just coming here to enjoy the overlook view and then the building as well, because it’s really intricately designed and colored with a beautiful facade and painting.

1:11:47

Yeah, so we sit here for about an hour and then our tuk tuk came back, took us back to the Nubian village.

He took us to the dock and then we took a Faluca boat back to our dock in Aswan where the Haunted Spirit was located because we needed to make it back for dinner.

1:12:03

I think it was 6:00 PM.

When we got back to the cruise, we basically got back at the time dinner was starting, so we changed and cruised right into dinner.

And then after the dinner buffet, they had a performance up in the bar lounge area and lo and behold, it’s Nubian Music night.

1:12:21

Yep, they did some music and dance and Gate 1 loves to have like music and dance and pull the audience in.

So it was the first night we got pulled onto the dance floor.

Well, I am thankful I was not there because we know I do not like to get up and do any of the dancing.

1:12:36

I was in the room.

I didn’t purposely avoid this.

I did have lots of work to do, missed calls work wise, taking care of business while on vacation like you or Kim when we were in Cairo and other nights as well.

So duty called for me.

So I missed this, but I heard it was a fun time and good experience.

1:12:54

Squaddies, before we get into day five and talk about Abu Simbel and the Nile River cruise and Luxor, we’re going to break this into a two-part episode.

So you’re getting a 2 for here.

Next week’s episode.

We’ll go all into that.

1:13:10

We’re going to break it right here. Thank you so much for tuning into part one of our Egypt adventure.