A week-long adventure with Goway Travel erases any doubts about travel to this dream destination. Egypt is safe, welcoming and full of ancient wonders.
While Egypt had long been high on my personal agenda, it always seemed to elude me for one reason or another. But after years of daydreaming about the land of the Pyramids and King Tutankhamun, I recently checked it off my bucket list on a trip organized by Goway Travel.
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This desert country straddling Africa and Asia, the richest source of archaeological treasures on the planet, proved to be everything I had hoped it would be. Our group spent a week touring Cairo, Alexandria, and the ancient temples and tombs of southern Egypt. A real highlight was a three-night cruise from Aswan to Luxor on the fabled Nile River.
With all that’s going on in the Middle East these days, was I scared about venturing to this part of the world?
Not at all.
Actually, now is a good time to go because you’ll avoid the usual hordes of tourists. The Israel-Hamas war and related events have kept visitors away.
A flood of cancellations has put a damper on the tourism industry, an important sector of Egypt’s economy. While Egypt shares borders with Israel, Gaza and the Red Sea, I rarely gave the current geopolitical situation much thought. Our Goway leader, Renee Stanton- Defaria, admitted she had thought about the war before arriving in Egypt, but “I never felt an ounce of fear or felt unsafe at all during my visit. There’s security wherever you go, and that puts your mind at ease.”
Pointing out that Egypt has not been involved in a war since 1973, Stanton-Defaria declared, “We do not take people into war zones.”
Fellow tour member Cece Drummond, vice president, strategic partnerships for Travelsavers network of travel advisors, said, “I never once felt safety to be an issue….While there is some concern about global unrest in the region, travelers should not wait to visit this area of the world. Go now before the crowds return and the cost increases.”
Grand Egyptian Museum. (Randy Mink Photo)
Grand Egyptian Museum
On our first morning, we got a peek at the brand-new, partially opened Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a $1 billion complex that has been in the works for years. It claims to be the world’s largest archaeological museum devoted to a single civilization.
We were blown away by the museum’s King Tutankhamun Immersion Experience, a half-hour visual extravaganza in a rectangular theater swirling with digital images that tell the story of the “boy king,” whose tomb was only discovered 102 years ago. Eventually, King Tut relics and other treasures now at various Egyptian museums will make their way into GEM’s spaces. The stunning building, across the river from Cairo on the desert plateau above the western edge of Giza (a separate city of 2.5 million), slopes toward the Pyramids of Giza, just a mile away, echoing their architecture.
Pyramid Scheme
What a thrill it was to come face to face with the trio of mighty Pyramids, the only survivors among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Built as pharaohs’ tombs 4,500 years ago, they were the tallest structures on earth until the 14th century and, remarkably, have remained in a good state of preservation.
The scene at the Pyramids, the very symbol of Egypt, is rather frenzied, as hundreds of vendors hawking souvenirs and camel and horse cart rides create a circus-like atmosphere. After a patio lunch at Khufu’s restaurant, our Goway gang went to a lookout point affording a panoramic view of the three monuments. Each of us paid $2 to pose atop a camel with the Pyramids as a backdrop. Before leaving the Giza plateau, we got a close-up look at the Sphinx, the iconic sculpture combining the head of a man with the haunches of a lion.
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Cairo Sightseeing
Our Cairo visit also included the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which covers every period in the country’s history. The dark, eerie lower level contains the mummified remains of 20 kings and queens from antiquity, many with blackened heads, feet and arms poking out of the fabric.
In Old Coptic Cairo, we toured medieval Coptic Orthodox churches and the 9th century Ben Ezra Synagogue. It’s said that the Church of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus is built over a cave that sheltered Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus for three months when they fled to Egypt to escape persecution from the Roman king of Judea.
On the outdoor terrace of Hill-Top Restaurant at Al-Azhar Park, an oasis of greenery overlooking Old Cairo, our Goway group then feasted on a lunch of chicken and lamb kebabs, rice and french fries. We dipped puffy pita bread into creamy sauces—tahini, hummus and babaganoush.
Cairo’s traffic-choked streets are a free-for-all. Expect to spend a lot of time in your bus or taxi because traffic moves slowly, or not at all. With horn-honking motorists constantly changing lanes while somehow avoiding pedestrians who nonchalantly weave through the nonstop parade of moving cars, it’s a wonder we never saw an accident, though close calls occurred every few seconds.
I like walkable cities, but Cairo is not one of them. Since there are very few stoplights to slow the steady streams of traffic, tourists don’t have many places where they can cross with confidence. I would often follow locals as they darted into the roadway, hoping for the best. In one instance, a man noticed my hesitation and led me across, returning to the other side after completing his good deed.
Khan-el-Khalili Market. (Randy Mink Photo)
Mesmerizing Marketplace
To me, Cairo, a city of 22 million, is all about street life, and there’s no better place to dive into the fray than labyrinthine Khan-el-Khalili Market, a typical Arab bazaar populated by stray cats, folks in traditional dress, boys carrying trays of bread on their head—and a fair share of tourists. Shopkeepers deliver well-honed sales pitches in English, asking passersby to “take a look.”
Along Khan-el-Khalili’s warren of alleyways, hole-in-the-wall shops brim with brass tea sets and sparkly belly dancing outfits, gold and silver jewelry, embroidered dresses and handbags, perfumes and carpets. King Tut and Queen Nefertiti statuettes come in all sizes. In a spice emporium with open sacks of dates, nuts, teas and herbs, the friendly owner opened jars of curry for me to smell. From an antiques dealer I snared my find of the day—a weathered Pepsi sign in Arabic that I now display at home with my other soft drink memorabilia.
Call of the Nile
From Cairo our Goway group took an EgyptAir flight to Aswan, the starting point of our Nile River cruise to Luxor. The next three days were nicely paced, split between archaeological site visits, shopping stops and time to relax on the Sonesta St. George, a 5-star river ship.
After settling into our cabins and having lunch onboard, we were off to the Temples of Philae, a series of temples that were dismantled in the 1970s, removed from flood-ravaged Philae Island and rebuilt on nearby Agilkia Island. Along with our Egyptian guide, we boarded motorboats for the short trip to the island in Aswan Lake.
Relaxing on the Sun Deck aboard the Sonesta St. George, a luxury river ship on the Nile. (Randy Mink Photo)
I’m glad I did a little reading about ancient Egypt before the trip. Knowing historical periods and names of certain gods, kings and queens prepared me for our guide’s commentaries. All guides on Goway tours are certified Egyptologists.
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Exotic Shopping
After the Temples of Philae, we were taken to two shops before going back to the ship. At both places we were seated on comfortable cushions in showrooms and served hibiscus tea while listening to sales spiels. Surrounded by bottles of essential and medicinal oils at Mohammed El Fayed Essence of Life Perfume Palace, we got whiffs of different scents applied to our wrists and forearms; some received neck and forehead massages using the oils. The lavender spray, we were told, promotes sleep and relaxation, while a few drops of clove oil in water not only helps to relieve toothache but stops vomiting and helps to curb the desire for alcohol and nicotine. From frankincense and myrrh to mint, eucalyptus and sesame oils, each elixir has some use in aromatherapy.
Then it was on to Al Attar Spices, where we were given tastes and smells of everything from ginger and ginseng to oregano and powdered mint.
I didn’t buy a single thing at the shops we visited but enjoyed the product demonstrations. These “commercials,” moreover, provided a welcome break from the history-heavy touring.
At an alabaster shop I got some good shots of turbaned artisans as they chiseled the stone. Salespeople at Sekhmet Papyrus Gallery showed us how papyrus leaves are processed and made into works of art. At Habiba Hand Weaving, many in our group bought Egyptian cotton textiles, and I photographed the weavers at their looms.
Edfu Temple. (Randy Mink Photo)
Noteworthy Temples and Tombs
Among the most photogenic sites we encountered was Edfu Temple, which we reached from the ship via horse carriage. One of the most striking and complete temples, the structure has survived so well because it was buried under debris for centuries until being discovered in 1860 by a French archaeologist. Begun in 237 B.C. under Ptolemy III, Edfu Temple was completed 180 years later by Ptolemy XII, the father of Cleopatra VII (played in the epic movie by Elizabeth Taylor). It is dedicated to the god Horus.
One could spend a week visiting the temple complexes clustered in and around Luxor, a city of 700,000 located 420 miles south of Cairo. Our Goway itinerary hit the highlights—Luxor and Karnak temples on the east bank and the burial places of pharaohs in the west bank’s Valley of the Kings.
Go With Goway
Goway (www.goway.com) specializes in custom-designed trips for groups and individuals. It recently introduced Odysseys by Goway, a new line of small-group journeys (16 guests maximum) with guaranteed departure dates. One of those is the nine-day “Egypt Odyssey.” The Toronto-based company takes globetrotters to 115 countries, and its website lists more than 1,500 suggested itineraries, 14 of them in Egypt. Many trips combine Egypt with countries like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar.
With the years of experience offered by planners from Goway, the possibilities are endless for a Middle Eastern trip of a lifetime.
By Randy Mink, Senior Editor
Lead Photo – For some tourists, a visit to the Pyramids of Giza is not complete without mounting a camel.
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