Shokran Egypt! Before I left for Egypt my status update on Facebook was “All I got is a visa and a return air ticket – EGYPT surprise me!” and when I got back from the trip state of mind was “Egypt: Baby you make me say oh oh oh OMFG!”. It truly was one of those last-minute unplanned trips that turned out epic. The expected land of the Pharaohs surprised me with beauty of White Desert and Blue Nile river. Here is brief Egypt itinerary of the trip.
My Top 10 Travel Experiences in Egypt
- Waking up to sunrise at a campsite in White Desert
- Hot air balloon ride over temples and ruins of Luxor
- Luxurious cruise over wide, blue and gorgeous Nile river
- Reliving the grandeur of temples with sound and light show at Karnak temple
- Sunset ride on felucca around Aswan
- Visit to floating temple of Philae
- Sampling delicious Egyptian food especially spicy Koshari
- Admiring the cutting-edge modern architecture of Bibliotheca Alexandrina
- Trying to demystify Egyptian hieroglyphs at temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu
- ….and most clichéd, visiting the great pyramids of Giza
10 Day Egypt Itinerary
During my ten days in Egypt I travelled to top sights of Cairo, White Desert, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu, Luxor, and Alexandria. The itinerary includes four day/ three nights Nile Cruise from Aswan to Luxor.
Here is my ten day Egypt itinerary in a nutshell.
Day 1: Cairo Sightseeing and Egyptian Museum
Walk around Cairo city and visited the Egyptian Museum. Night stay in Cairo.
I stayed at the Cairo Moon Hostel located in Dokki district of Cairo.
Day 2: Organized Tour to White Desert
White Desert in Egypt is a well kept secret! And my top recommendation for places to visit in Egypt.
Booked the two-days/one-night White Desert excursion for US$120 from my hostel in Cairo. We had an early morning start for White Desert. It took about 5 hours by road to get there. Full day excursions in the desert included visiting Crystal Mountain and Black Desert.
Night stay at the campsite in White Desert.
Day 3: Day Second of White Desert Tour
Day started with sunrise. Then walk around Mushroom Rock and sand boarding in White Desert. Left the White Desert in later part of the day back to Cairo.
Took overnight train to Aswan.
Day 4: The Bazaars of Aswan
Day of visiting markets aka souk in Aswan and relaxing.
I stayed for a night at Pyramisa Isis Corniche Aswan.
Day 5: Day Trip to Abu Simbel
Booked the half day Abu Simbel trip from the Aswan hotel for EGP400 in a private taxi. They allow limited number of taxis in a day to Abu Simbel, so it’s better to start very early in the morning.
Returned by mid-day to join the four day/ three nights Nile Cruise.
In the early evening visited the Philae Temple and the High Dam from Aswan. Sunset with Felucca ride around Aswan. Night stay on the cruise ship.
Day 6: Temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu
In the morning visited the temple of Kom Ombo.
Later sailed to Edfu and in early evening visited temple of Edfu.
Night stay on the cruise ship.
Day 7: Valley of the Kings, Temple of Hatshepsut and Karnak Temple in Luxor
In the day time visit to the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut. Evening visit to Temple of Karnak with the night light and audio show.
Night stay on the cruise ship.
Day 8: Hot Air Balloon Experience in Luxor
Early morning hot air balloon ride for EGP700. In the day visit to the Luxor temple.
Took overnight train back to Cairo.
Day 9: Alexandria
Day trip to Alexandria visiting Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Citadel of Qaitbay.
Night stay in Cairo.
Day 10: Visit to the Great Pyramid of Giza
Visited the Great Pyramid of Giza and other sightseeing spots in Cairo.
Flight back to Mumbai in the night.
How Expensive is Egypt to travel?
The approximate total cost of this ten days trip (according to prices of December 2010) was INR 92k.
Of which INR 23K on air fares and INR 30k on Nile Cruise were the biggest expenses.
The Nile Cruise four days / three nights package included sightseeing on private vehicle basis with a guide, all the meals and stay in a private room on single occupancy basis. The cruise price also included overnight train tickets from Cairo to Aswan and Aswan to Luxor.
Mastmusaphir 
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