Traveling in Egypt was an exciting adventure especially riding a camel at the Pyramids by Annette Dixon On October 22, 2009, the departure took place in Kennedy Airport, New York to Cairo then Cairo
to Hurghada. It was a short connection to this prosperous resort
town on the shores of the Red Sea. Little did Iknow that Fort Arabesque
Resort Hotel was an all inclusive resort on one of the most beautiful stretches of the Abu Mahang Bay. It was the most elegant three nights, I have ever spent on any vacation. Many people go toEgypt, not necessarily to
the seaside of Hurghada. It is for this reason I travelwith SmarTours, so that I can go to the unusual places and stay at 5 Star hotels.On October 26, our group met with our tour director who is not only a Civil Engineer, but an Egyptologist. We traveled by bus to Luxor where we boarded a riverboat to explore the Nile River Valley. There we toured the Temples of Karnak and Luxor, the great cities of ancient Egypt. We walked the Avenue of Sphinxes and among the pillars of the colossal Temple of
Amon Ra. The next morning we visited The Valley of the Kings/Valley of the
Queens/Temples of Esna/Edfu. Here generations of Pharaohs and royalties
were buried in tombs cut into sheer rock. The cruise down the
Nile River brings us to many ancient and exciting cities to visit. For example we were at Deir El Bahari Mortuary rock temple of Queen Hatshepsut, an architectural masterpiece built against the backdrop
of looming cliff face and the Colossi of Memnon, two huge seated statues of
Amenhopep III guarding the valleys. On the cruise boat downthe Nile we could see camels, water buffaloes and the striking desert with tall palm
trees in the horizon. The enjoyment of the relaxation of the cruise and the excursions along the way makes for a pleasant trip. We took a short stop to visit more temples, the Temples of Esna and continued sailing to Edfu. We disembarked in Edfu and enjoyed a guided tour to The Temple of Edfu, this one was a Greek-built temple and preserved monument to Horus, the falconheaded son of Osiris. It took 200 years to complete and has helped fill in many gaps of knowledge about the Pharaonic architecture that
it was inspired by.

We docked at Kom Ombo where in ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank. A short walk brought us up to the temple dedicated to the falcon and crocodile gods. World History Classes, but what we may have forgotten is that this temple was transplanted from the submerged island of Philae. Before I forget I also
wanted to mention I did get into King Tut’s Tomb and saw his remains.The cavelike tomb is about a 3ft by 5ft. x 6 ft. high and he was
unwrapped. Also in Cairo was a famous museum with artifacts of King Tut.
Once in Aswan, we boarded a plane for a short flight to Abu Simbel to
view the Nubian Monuments which consisted of twin temples carved into
the mountainside. We took a felucca ride back to the riverboat for dinner.
In Cairo we had a guided excursion to the famous sites in Egypt including the place where Joseph and Mary brought baby Jesus, when Herod was killing all babies in Bethlehem. The Great Pyramids of Giza, which stood for 46
centuries are considered one of the Wonders of the World. Also looking close up at the Sphinz, a feline character with the body of a lion and face of Khufu, Cheops in Greek, carved from one stone and lies before the Pyramids made this trip perfect. To conclude this exciting trip was the Camel ride on the other side of the Pyramids which was so much fun. I forgot to put this one on my facebook. Back to the sailing on the Nile River, we were able to go and see the Aswan
Dam.

Aswan Dam was very important to see, which controls the Nile River and
gives the major source of hydoelectric power inEgypt. Later we boarded a
motor boat and visited an island of Agilika and there was the Temple of Isis, now this one we remember from