How do you experience the Magic of Egypt?
As a child, I have always been fascinated by the ancient civilization of Egypt.
Intrigued by the mummies and tombs, to the beautiful jewelry, to the half-animal-half-man Gods and Goddesses.
There was always a kind of deep yearning in my soul to go whenever I see objects, pictures and associations to the Egyptian ancient culture.
There was a kind of mystery in the air when we talk about Egypt.
Egyptologists have gotten so much artifacts but yet we truly know so little.
A spontaneous decision at the NATAS fair got us signed up for a tour with Chan Brothers Travel. (approx SGD$2100 per pax -air fare inclusive of airport taxes via Qatar Airways, hotels, 95% of meals included for a 10 days 8 nights tour)
The savings we got signing up at the fair was big enough an incentive to just pack and go!
It was about a 10 hour journey by air, 7 hours to Doha and approximately 3 hours before transiting on an hour flight to Luxor. We landed in Luxor International Airport.
Wasting no time, we disembarked and started our tour of Luxor city with one of the most important and largest temples in Egypt, the Karnak Temple.
I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED IN EGYPT!! Could not be more excited!
The Karnak Temple is actually one of the most well preserved temples in Egypt, considering it's intricate architecture and grandiose proportions. But it was sad that most of the colour on the limsetone had already been worn off over the years and some parts of the temple were destroyed.
Despite that, it was not hard to see the temple with one's imagination walking through the corridor of grand columns.
This is how tall they are...
The Obelisks are still very well preserved...
With my faithful travel companion!
One of the animals i love... Look how deep the carving is! I was in awe, still am!
Luxor had some of the most important sites in Ancient Egypt history and another important temple was the Temple of Luxor dedicated to the God Amon Ra.
Inside the temple with statues...
There is just something special about visiting the temples at night.
Mystic just fills the air.
This is 6pm in the evening during the winter season in Egypt. One of the best times to go to Egypt would be in winter (Nov-Feb), as summer can see temperatures scorching above 40 degrees Celsius !
Even in winter, it gets really hot (30C) in the afternoons.
We continued our journey into the city of Luxor on a horsecart carriage.
It was quite an eye opener to be riding through the city into the little streets where the locals stayed.
To conserve electricity, the electricity in the different areas of the city would be switched off for awhile, how long exactly i wasn't sure, but through my hour of ride most of the small streets where the locals lived had no lights. The locals lighted their candles and many just sat at their doorsteps while their children played bare foot in the dark on the streets. Others hanged out at their friends' or at their nearby little coffee shop which was really just a bare stall with some small tables and stools. The lack of light did not seem to bother them at all. Life in Luxor was simple. It made me think how we have taken all our basic necessities and infrastructure back home for granted. The thing that made me reflect on the most was that most of the locals looked rather happy and contented even though they were living in such harsh conditions of having just very basic amenities and meagre money they have. It made me realize that having more may not necessarily always be a blessing.
The second day at Luxor started really early with us rising at 4 am as we wanted to experience the hot air balloon over the Valley of King as an optional tour. It was my virgin hot air balloon experience and a part of me was all excited and the other part extremely frightened! First i was uncertain about the safety of the ride and secondly, i had a fear of heights. That was a tough one to overcome! But at the end, i battled my ghosts and hopped into the basket!
It was interesting as the journey to the venue where the hot air balloon departed included a ferry ride across a river where they played host by serving us a biscuit and a cup of coffee/tea, which i politely declinced at the thought of not having the bathroom being up in the sky; later of which many of my fellow mates regretted afterwards. The wait was over and it was pure excitement just watching them check the canopy of the balloon and heat it up.
At approximately 5 am in the morning... i was hardly awake...
I instantly loved the rainbow canopy balloons!
Slowly one by one, the heat got the balloons ascending.
Taking off...
Up and away....
The Egyptian sunrise was special...
As a child, I have always been fascinated by the ancient civilization of Egypt.
Intrigued by the mummies and tombs, to the beautiful jewelry, to the half-animal-half-man Gods and Goddesses.
There was always a kind of deep yearning in my soul to go whenever I see objects, pictures and associations to the Egyptian ancient culture.
There was a kind of mystery in the air when we talk about Egypt.
Egyptologists have gotten so much artifacts but yet we truly know so little.
A spontaneous decision at the NATAS fair got us signed up for a tour with Chan Brothers Travel. (approx SGD$2100 per pax -air fare inclusive of airport taxes via Qatar Airways, hotels, 95% of meals included for a 10 days 8 nights tour)
The savings we got signing up at the fair was big enough an incentive to just pack and go!
It was about a 10 hour journey by air, 7 hours to Doha and approximately 3 hours before transiting on an hour flight to Luxor. We landed in Luxor International Airport.
Wasting no time, we disembarked and started our tour of Luxor city with one of the most important and largest temples in Egypt, the Karnak Temple.
I HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED IN EGYPT!! Could not be more excited!
The Karnak Temple is actually one of the most well preserved temples in Egypt, considering it's intricate architecture and grandiose proportions. But it was sad that most of the colour on the limsetone had already been worn off over the years and some parts of the temple were destroyed.
Despite that, it was not hard to see the temple with one's imagination walking through the corridor of grand columns.
This is how tall they are...
The Obelisks are still very well preserved...
With my faithful travel companion!
One of the animals i love... Look how deep the carving is! I was in awe, still am!
Luxor had some of the most important sites in Ancient Egypt history and another important temple was the Temple of Luxor dedicated to the God Amon Ra.
There is just something special about visiting the temples at night.
Mystic just fills the air.
This is 6pm in the evening during the winter season in Egypt. One of the best times to go to Egypt would be in winter (Nov-Feb), as summer can see temperatures scorching above 40 degrees Celsius !
Even in winter, it gets really hot (30C) in the afternoons.
We continued our journey into the city of Luxor on a horsecart carriage.
It was quite an eye opener to be riding through the city into the little streets where the locals stayed.
To conserve electricity, the electricity in the different areas of the city would be switched off for awhile, how long exactly i wasn't sure, but through my hour of ride most of the small streets where the locals lived had no lights. The locals lighted their candles and many just sat at their doorsteps while their children played bare foot in the dark on the streets. Others hanged out at their friends' or at their nearby little coffee shop which was really just a bare stall with some small tables and stools. The lack of light did not seem to bother them at all. Life in Luxor was simple. It made me think how we have taken all our basic necessities and infrastructure back home for granted. The thing that made me reflect on the most was that most of the locals looked rather happy and contented even though they were living in such harsh conditions of having just very basic amenities and meagre money they have. It made me realize that having more may not necessarily always be a blessing.
The second day at Luxor started really early with us rising at 4 am as we wanted to experience the hot air balloon over the Valley of King as an optional tour. It was my virgin hot air balloon experience and a part of me was all excited and the other part extremely frightened! First i was uncertain about the safety of the ride and secondly, i had a fear of heights. That was a tough one to overcome! But at the end, i battled my ghosts and hopped into the basket!
It was interesting as the journey to the venue where the hot air balloon departed included a ferry ride across a river where they played host by serving us a biscuit and a cup of coffee/tea, which i politely declinced at the thought of not having the bathroom being up in the sky; later of which many of my fellow mates regretted afterwards. The wait was over and it was pure excitement just watching them check the canopy of the balloon and heat it up.
At approximately 5 am in the morning... i was hardly awake...
I instantly loved the rainbow canopy balloons!
Slowly one by one, the heat got the balloons ascending.
Taking off...
Up and away....
The Egyptian sunrise was special...
It gets really pretty over the Valley...
It was interesting to watch how they land the hot air balloon, they needed many men to hold the balloon down before the passengers got off.
Yes DREAM BALLOONS! The dream is done! One off my bucket list!!
Two weeks after our trip, a hot air balloon explosion took place at the very same place we took the hot air balloon. As much as we were shocked and felt very sorry for the unfortunate incident, we were also very thankful that we were divinely blessed always. It is something that no one would want happen to them nor their families and our prayers go out to the deceased and their families for their grievances.
They have since stopped the rides. We got lucky with the last of the hot air balloon rides in Egypt!
TBC...
pictures shot with a Panasonic Lumix GF5
looking at ur pictures, the balloon ride must be really nice! the pictures of the balloons are so pretty...+ spectacular view. ah~I really want to try it too. (too, so sorry for the accident of balloon explosion, hope everyone gets a safe trip.)
ReplyDelete