Glad to read your trip to Egypt has been positive, although cautious. I definitely would like to visit one day, and was sad to read the past few years about the troubles there, and the tourist industry virtually shutting down. You are showing there is hope again!

We indeed had a great time in Egypt and would recommend visiting it. Stay tuned for more great riding days in Egypt!

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Small bikes, big adventure --> www.amsterdamtoanywhere.nl

When the alarm goes off at 7:00 am, we are both already awake and listening to the honking traffic in the streets of Alexandria. It has not been quiet that night.
After a quick breakfast of bread with cream cheese, we put all our bags in the wooden elevator of the hotel. Once down, I am glad to see that the bikes are still there and the wheels are still under them. Closely watched by the parking attendant and his friends we tie our stuff on the bikes and ride away from the hotel early in the morning. On to Giza, on to the pyramids! After a glance at the map, we drive around the crowded suburbs this time. From Alexandria two main roads lead to Cairo: the “Agricultural Road” along the Nile and the “Desert Road” just west of the Nile. The area along the Nile is completely crammed and very busy, so we opt for the desert. Although the name suggests that we will drive through an endless sea of ​​sand, this road also appears to be pretty busy. The only thing that reminds of the desert is the dust in the air.

We share the highway with lots of heavily loaded trucks, pick-ups full with fruits and minivans that take travellers to Cairo. It is a strenuous ride and we need to keep paying attention. At some points we make good progress, but the traffic can suddenly stop. Often because the road is very bad and the traffic rides very slowly through the holes. And although it is a highway there are many donkey carts on the road, people trying to get to the other side on the oddest places and minivans stopping anywhere to pick up passengers.



We are on our way to Giza. Once a town just outside of Cairo, but now a suburb of Cairo. A few kilometers from Cairo we see the huge city with its 19 million (!) people looming in the distance. As far as we can see there are buildings and flats. An unreal sight and hard to imagine that in one city are more people than in the Netherlands.

The highway winds through the hills. The closer we get to Cairo, the busier the already busy road becomes. We ride with the fast minivans along the slower traffic. On one of the hills we suddenly see them: the pyramids! Left of the road we can see the two largest pyramids. They are huge and much higher than the flats near them. Fantastic! There we are: 13:26 pm on a Monday afternoon on our own bikes in Egypt along the pyramids!. It gives me goose bumps.

We follow the ring road around Cairo on to Giza. The rumors about the traffic of Cairo are correct: it is crowded and very chaotic. The experience we have gained in Alexandria comes in handy. The GPS leads us off the highway into Giza. Once we get off the main roads the asphalt stops. The road now consists of hard dark brown sand and is full of potholes. We bump on through the dusty streets of Giza until we arrive at our destination: Isis Garden Camp. When the doors open we suddenly are in a green garden with a high hedge of bougainvillea and a pool in the corner. Truly an oasis from the busy and dusty streets we just drove through.



We are warmly welcomed by the Egyptian Helal and his Australian wife Sue. We can set up our tent in the garden and are taken up to the rooftop terrace. From the fifth floor we have a wonderful view of the pyramids, which are only 4km away. A wonderful place!

It is not only the environment that has changed, but also the sounds. The birds in the garden sound more tropical with the “hoop hoop hoop’ of the Hoopoe and pleasant cooing of the little purple dove. Outside the gates of the camp we hear donkeys, water buffaloes and especially lots of dogs. The cars also are much noisier, not in the last place because of the hard horns that are installed.

Furthermore, since we entered Africa in Tunisia the ringing of church bells is replaced by the call of the muezzin. Five times a day we hear “Allahu Akhbar ” through the speakers by which Muslims are called to pray. The mosk-density in Cairo and Giza is enormous. The residents have to walk not more than a few hundred meters to go to the mosque. When the time for prayer comes, we hear the call from all corners at the same time. Well, almost at the same time, so it sometimes sounds like a badly directed canon choir that hums through the city for a few minutes. The closest speaker hangs about 100 meters from our tent and is so loud we could not hear each other. But we are lucky because our muezzin sings ’live’ and has a beautiful voice. Although it is a bit of a shock the first morning at 04:30 am, you get used to it soon enough. And even though we do not use the call to pray to Allah, it does give the opportunity to stop with what you were doing and think about the finer things in life five times a day. Not so bad.

Helal and Sue invite us the next morning for a traditional Egyptian breakfast of flat bread with falafel and salad of eggplant. From the roof terrace we enjoy not only breakfast but also the beautiful view. Sue and Helal tell a lot of stories about Egypt, Giza, the pyramids and other beautiful sites in Egypt. Their enthusiasm is contagious and we cannot wait to go and see all those sites. Today we will relax on the rooftop terrace and in the garden, but tomorrow we will go to the pyramids by camel.



The next morning the owner of the camels pick us up at the campsite. We bump through the dusty streets of Giza in his care while he questions us about ‘Goelit’ and ‘Kroijf’ and other soccer players from the 80s. We stop at his stables where he shows us his horses and camels. After some negotiations on the price, we both get assigned our own camel after which he sends us off with two ‘guides’. The camels are on their knees waiting for us to get on. When we sit on the saddles one of the guys says: “Hold on tight and lean back”, after which he gives a tug on the rope. With a huge force the camel gets up. It is good that we actually kept on firmly and leaned back, otherwise we would have surely glided off the camels.



We set off with the two boys, one on foot and the other on a skinny horse. The neighbourhood we go through before we get to the pyramids consists solely of stables. Everywhere are horses and camels waiting for tourists who want a ride. In heyday it must have been very busy, but now we are almost the only tourists.





We take a turn, walk through the gate and suddenly are in the desert. The boys take us to one of the hills next to the pyramids where we have a wonderful view of the nine pyramids, the Sphinx and the city. After some pictures we continue our tour in the desert and go to the base of the largest pyramid. Again it becomes clear how incredibly high they are! Extraordinary to think that the pyramids were built around 2560 BC and thus are already more than 2000 years older than the construction of Leptis Magna we visited when we where in Libya. Great to see, especially from our camels!







The next day we go to Cairo. We would like to go to the Egyptian Museum where -among other things- things from the tomb of Toetanchamun are shown. The museum is located at the Tahir square, which is especially known from the demonstrations that have been held there for a long time. The latest reports show that it is quiet in the square and we can visit the museum without any problems. Sue and Helal send us out with Walid, who will be our driver for the entire day. It is a great luxury to ride through busy Cairo and enjoy the view from the back seat.

The road to the Tahir Square and the museum is blocked. Behind the barricade is a long row of tanks and in the buildings along the way are large groups of young soldiers. Here we can see for the first time that it can be unstable in the city. We follow a group of tourists along the barricades and tanks to the entrance of the museum. Since we are in Egypt we have only seen a handful of other tourists. That is quit different here, because in front of the entrance of the museum are large groups of Chinese and Russian tourists. Once inside the museum we do not see them again and we can walk around without any crowd.

From all the pyramids, tombs and temples that have been found in Egypt. things have been brought to the Egyptian Museum. The museum is full of statues, parts of walls with hieroglyphics, sarcophagi and stuff that has been found in the various tombs. The museum is very big, but still too small to show everything. The cellars of the museum are apparently still filled with all kinds of treasures that will be shown in a new museum. And to think that probably only a small part of all the tombs and temples in Egypt is found and the greater part is still hidden below the Sahara sands.







It is extraordinary to see everything. Especially Peter, who in his heart is a explorer and who did pay attention in school when the old Egypt was covered, is very happy to be at the museum. The most special items in the collections are probably the things from the tomb of Toetanchamun. Although he has not played an important role in the history of Egypt, he is one of the most famous pharaohs because his tomb was found and was complete. In his tomb was all the stuff that he had used during his lifetime supplemented with stuff he got when he died. Beds, chairs, jewelry, clothing, really everything you can think of. Lots of it in solid gold! We could also admire the famous mask that had been placed over his mummy. Wow!

In a separate section of the museum are the royal mummies. That means the mummified bodies of the kings and queens of ancient Egypt. They are in display cases in a refrigerated chamber under a white sheet which only shows their heads and sometimes their hands. Some still have a full head of hair and a good set of teeth. Very special to see!

Apart from the collection, the museum itself is an attraction also. It is located in the building at the Tahrir Square since 1900 and has not changed much since then. It is full of beautiful wood cabinets with yellowed notes with text that was typed with a typewriter. The one time in English, sometimes in French. It is definitely worth a visit!

After three hours, Walid picks us up on the other side of the wire. He treats us to Kushari, a spicy dish of rice, pasta and lentils with spicy red sauce. Delicious! At the suggestion of Helal and Sue we then visit two mosques and citadel of Cairo. During our previous trip to Morocco we were not allowed to visit mosques as non-Muslims, but luckily for us that is different here. On our socks and with a scarf covering my hair, we admire the various buildings. Like in Rome, we especially like the pretty, painted ceilings.

When we arrive at the campsite after a day in the smog of Cairo, there is a small fire burning in the street in front of the gate of the camp. On the fire is a teapot with water. The rest of the evening we all sit around the fire drinking tea. A nice ending to a great day !



We ended up staying two more days at the campsite in Giza. We relax in the garden, call home using Skype, enjoy home cooking in the outdoor kitchen by the pool and enjoy the delicious food cooked by Helal. Above all, we enjoy the beautiful view from the rooftop terrace of the pyramids and also the many minarets, the donkey carts in the street, the pigeon fanciers with their flags, street dogs that run after a cyclist and the sunset over the desert.

A great week at a great place we intend to visit again!

Distance to Giza : 5,913 km (3,675 miles)

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Small bikes, big adventure --> www.amsterdamtoanywhere.nl

From Cairo there are different routes we can take to go south: along the Red Sea coast, along the Nile or through the Western Desert. We do not take the road along the Nile because it is too crowded and we will probably ride along the Nile for some time after Luxor. The route along the coast brings us to the beautiful beaches of Hurghada, but the chances that we will go there some day are quite good. That might be different for the desert. In the guest book of Isis Garden Camp we read that the oasis route through the desert and especially the “White Desert” was one of the highlights of Egypt for several overlanders. Sue and Helal also are very excited about the desert landscape. With the map of Egypt on the table Helal points us to places of interest and places where we can get fuel, wood and water. He also shows where we can bush camp in the desert. We would really like to sleep under the stars, so we store enough food and water to camp several nights.

The first place we go to is in the “Black Desert” at about 20km from the Bahariya oasis and about 400km south-west of Giza. A fairly long journey, so the alarm goes early that morning. It is still nice and fresh as Sue and Helal wave us goodbye (in their thick winter coats).

On the road it is pretty busy, though it is questionable whether the traffic is ever calm in Cairo. We drive from Giza to ’6 October City’, another suburb of Cairo. With a full tank, we then head towards the Western Desert Road. Just outside the city there is still some industry and hence a lot of big trucks, but once the buildings stop we are suddenly in the middle of the desert and almost the only vehicles.





We had prepared ourselves for some hot days in the desert and had left off our sweaters this morning. Although the sun is shining brightly, the wind is still pretty fresh and we both have our heated grips on for the first part of the day. Until the Bahariya Oasis there are no villages and there is only one gas station. Because we do not know when we can get fuel again we refuel both bikes. The only buildings that we see from there on are telephone poles, bus stops and the occasional abandoned office of an oil company. Every hour we only pass a handful of cars.

After more than 350km we can do some last minute shopping in Bawiti, the largest village in the Bahariya oasis. The closer we get to Bawiti the more vegetation we see along the way. Palm trees, low bushes, but also fields of corn. It is also busier on the road with cars, donkey carts and mopeds. Along the side of the road we see the first signs for hotels and restaurants. Bahariya Oasis is easy accessible from Cairo and is therefore often visited by tourists who will stay a night or two in the desert. Once in the village it is clear that they are accustomed to tourists. When we stop to take fuel people come towards us from different sides to offer us a room in their hotel. We thank them kindly and drive out of the village at the end of the afternoon.



The desert is not as flat as earlier in the day. There are large pointed black hills, like small volcanoes everywhere. The ground is strewn with jagged black rocks and give this part of the desert its name “Black Desert”. On both sides of the road we see tracks disappear into the desert and when we see no other traffic we turn right. The gravel road turns into a sandy path that leads into the desert. We find a beautiful spot not far from the road, but completely out of sight where we set up our tent on a sandy plane. At dusk we get out the cooking gear and by the time the pasta is ready we sit down to eat in the light of the nearly full moon. The moon gives so much light that we do not even need a flashlight to find our stuff.



The rest of the evening we lie on our backs looking up at the stars. Even though that evening is not so long, because around 20:00 we both can only just keep our eyes open so we crawl into our sleeping bags. It is quiet, very quiet! The are no background noises, we hear no cars, no dogs, no highway or planes, no wind, nothing. Maybe this is what they call ‘deafening silence’.
In the middle of the night Peter suddenly wakes me up. He hears something and thinks that someone is walking on flip-flops towards the bikes. That is about the only thing we do not want. We both listen for a while, but hear nothing. Then it turns out that Peter woke up from the sound of his beard against the sleeping bag and his own heartbeat!



After an otherwise quiet night, we make coffee at first light and take our time to eat breakfast. This evening we want to go to the “White Desert” which is only 100km away. We only want to look for a camping spot at the end of the afternoon (to reduce the risk of unexpected visitors) so we have the whole day to cover that distance. We pack our stuff, ride over the black stones and through the sand back to the main road and then continue south.

All along the route are several police checkpoints where we are asked to stop. In a log our names, our nationality and the number of our Egyptian license plates are written. In addition, the policemen want to know where we are going. The further we enter the desert, the more checkpoints we encounter. There is little traffic on the road and the officers seem pretty bored. When we slow down for the bumps just before the checkpoints they suddenly wake up and come running out to stop us. Some still in their underwear holding a toothbrush in their hand.



A friendly “Salaam Aleikum” from our side, is answered with a warm welcome to Egypt. They ask if we are married, whether we have children, whether we were afraid in Libya, what we think of Egypt, how much our bikes cost and much more. We are often invited for tea. Although we usually friendly decline, today we decide to stop, this to the delight of the agents. We have plenty of time and we would like a cup sweet mint tea. Despite the language barrier, we make a friendly chat. After the delicious tea and some pictures they call their colleagues at the next checkpoint to tell them that there are two “Hollandi” coming. At the next checkpoint, they are already waiting for us. Not for the formalities, but also for a chat and photos of the bikes.

In El Heiz, a village in a small oasis between the Black- and the White Desert, we stop to buy wood. Helal had told us exactly where we could find the wood and also told us what we should pay. Once in El Heiz we find the teahouse next to the police station, but unfortunately they do no have any wood. One of the villagers asks us to follow him because he does have wood. Not much later, we drive out of the village with on the back of our bikes a large pile of wood for a camp fire. Great!



The desert changes as we drive through the sandy hills. We have left behind the black tops and the color of the desert is now brown again. At the top of one of the brown hills, we suddenly have a beautiful view over a white valley, the beginning of the White Desert! To the left of the road we see jagged white peaks and a dirt road that runs in between them. This appears to be a great place for lunch.



The Western Desert Road then leads us further into The National Park White Desert. As far as the eye can see, there is a white plain with small white pointy hills in all kinds of special shapes.


At the end of the afternoon we leave the main road to find a place to camp. After some climbing we see a nice place at a slightly higher plateau which we can also reach with the bikes. It appears to be a super place with a nice view over a valley with white turrets. Everywhere we see small black dots on the white ground. It seems we share the platform with goats or rabbits. If we look closer the dots however appear to be fossilized coral. The stones we have most beautiful forms. Incredible to think that this barren desert once was an ocean.





Against a bright pink sky we eat a large plate of pasta. After dinner we make a camp fire and we continue to look at the stars until the fire is out.



The next morning we drive through the White Desert into the Farafra Oasis. We buy food, drinks and fuel and also get freshly fried falafel for lunch.



Today we will go to the Dakhla Oasis about 300km away. In El Qasr there should be some hotels. Apart from the police checkpoints there is nothing much to see along the way. We have left the White Desert behind us and have now swapped it for a big yellow plain. All around us we only see sand. We both listen to music through our intercom and only stop at a nice spot to eat our falafel. It is now quit hot and as we can not find any shade, so we quickly eat lunch and get on the bikes again to enjoy the riding wind.



Along the way, we do not see much traffic. If we encounter cars or trucks, there is always a hand sticking out the window to say hello. Some come up to drive next to us to call from the window “Welcome to Egypt!” Others even stop to give us water and oranges. We drive with our light on and that is not common here, so oncoming traffic keeps signalling us with their lights. If after a while we do turn off our lights, everyone continues to signal us. So it was to say hello too.



Half way to the Dakhla Oasis we are approached by another two cars that are again signalling their lights and the drivers are also very busy waving at us. As we get closer we see that they are two well equipped overland trucks! We stop, turn around and drive back to stop alongside the cars that are now also by the side of the road. Just like that we meet Susanna and Karl from Austria and John and Ruthi from Australia in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Overlanders that have been on the road for a while and are now on their way from Cape Town to Cairo. It is super nice to meet other overlanders, to hear their stories and to share tips. We are given the coordinates of a camp site in El Qasr and are advised to take a dive in the hotspring. After we have exchanged email addresses and have said goodbye to everyone we drive away with new energy about all the beautiful things that still await us in Africa.





Using the coordinates Beir El Gebel Tourist Camp is found quickly. We are warmly welcomed by Hatem, a large man in a white jalaba. His three children follow him closely as he shows us the camp site and the rooms. The site houses traditional buildings made of mud brick that are painted in cheerful motifs. Although we could set up our tent, we choose for a little more luxury after two nights in the desert and take a room.



That evening we eat fish from the Nile (600km away) and we meet Friedel, a German lady who lives in a house behind the camp. About 25 years ago she traveled with her husband in a car through Egypt and the Egyptian desert (at a time there was no asphalt and GPS did not exist). She was touched by the Dakhla Oasis and had always said she would try to go back. And that is what she did. Eight years ago they bought a piece of land and had them build a beautiful home. She now lives in El Qasr for five months each year. During that period she also receives tourists for meditation, dance and drum workshops. The perfect place to get away to relax.



After the delicious fish, we take a dip in the hotspring. A year ago, Hatem, Friedel and some local farmers had a well made. The source is hot water of about 38 degrees! The water has been used to turn part of the sandy desert floor into green fertile farmland. If the water does not go to the fields, the hotspring can be filled. When Hatem opens the tap the water roars into the tub. The water contains a lot of iron and smells funny, but it is delicious and very hot! We wash off all the desert sand and float under the stars until our fingers wrinkle.

It is such a nice place that we decide to stay two nights. In the garden we can read in the shade at ease, surf the net, update the blog and Skype with our family back home. That evening we again enjoy a delicious meal and talk with Friedel about her life in the desert. Later that evening Hatem, his wife and their three children join us. Hatem happily smokes his shishah while he asks us about the journey, the route and the bikes. We become friends on facebook and show him our blog.

Before we leave the next morning, we get a tour through Friedel her beautiful home and garden. Truly a very special and beautiful place, especially when you consider that they bought an empty piece of dry desert land where now is a little green oasis. It was a special meeting that we remember with great pleasure and a place that we might visit again.



When we finally leave El Qasr our tanks our almost empty and we start by finding usable fuel. Until now we used ’90′ or ’92′, but that is not readily available on the desert route. Most gas stations have only ’80’, which is fine for the 40-year-old cars the Egyptians drive, but not so good for our 2012 Hondas. At the advice of Hatem we take a little detour, where we indeed find ’92’ to fill our bikes. With a full tank we drive through the Kharga Oasis towards Baris (also known as Paris).

On the map Baris seems like a big town. At several police checkpoints on the road we are told that there will be a hotel there. At the end of the day we drive into Baris and before we know it we drive out of Baris again at the other side of the village. It is smaller than we had expected and we did not see a hotel yet. We stop and soon there is a large group of men around us. We ask for a hotel or camping. They look worried and point us to Luxor (300km away) or Kharga, where we just came from. After heated discussions the men find the solution: at Dush Temple we should be able to camp. The men call some boys and order them to take us to the road that leads to the temple.



We follow the group of guys on motorbikes to the edge of the village. They stop and point: if you follow this road for another 10 kilometers you will arrive at Dush Temple. It is around five o’clock and the sun is almost setting. We quickly continue to avoid having to drive in the dark. After 10 kilometers we reach a fork. There is a sign but we can not make sense of the Arabic text on it and we have not seen a temple yet. Now what? A truck stops next to us and the passenger asks: “Dush Temple?”. We nod yes and he gestures us to follow him. After a kilometer the asphalt road stops. On the top of a hill we see some ruins. The man who spoke to us earlier gets out of the truck and introduces himself as “Magdi, guard of the temple.”

The temple complex is examined by French archaeologists from October to December. The team then stays in the houses next to the temple. The archaeologists are now gone, but the site is still under constant surveillance. Tonight is the turn of Magdi and Ahmed. They show us where we can put up the tent and invite us to their campfire.





After the tent has been put up we take our cooking gear to the campfire so I can make pasta. Even before I open my bag, there are plates with feta cheese, tomato and bread in front of us. No cooking tonight.

Magdi prepares some sweet tea and pokes up the fire. With the little English they speak we fill the evening talking about their wives, their children, our journey, the French and the temple.
We ask where we can refuel at Baris and where we can buy bread. Again the worried faces. In Baris we can only get ’80′ and bread is only available very early in the morning. But they know a solution. Ahmed takes his telephone and says at the end of the conversation: “Do not worry, it’ll be fine.”

The next morning, Peter climbs up the hill to the temple for an exploration of the complex in the first sunlight. He makes some nice pictures. After we have packed the tent, we again join Magdi and Ahmed. Their fire is still burning and used to make new tea. They first light a cigarette while they are stretching and rubbing their eyes waking up. They played dominos for the greater part of the night and only slept for a few hours.



Just when the tea is ready we see a car approaching us. The man that gets from the car holds a 20-liter jerry can of fuel in one hand and a bag full of bread in the other. Ahmed called a friend in Kharga (100km away), who came to Baris the evening before to bring our fuel! We cut a water bottle and use the top of the bottle as a funnel to fill the tanks of our bikes. We pay for the fuel, the service and the bread and say goodbye to our new friends.

Distance travelled to Dush Temple: 7085 km (4403 miles)

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Small bikes, big adventure --> www.amsterdamtoanywhere.nl

Egypt outside of the cities seems to be the place to be! Very warm people, it seems. I can guess they long for tourists just as tourists long for Egypt!

Thank you for the photos and update on your travels! I love reading the reports from travelers on smaller bikes!

We leave Temple Dush and drive back to the main road through the village of Baris. At the police checkpoint at the intersection we are kindly greeted. They had already recorded information about us when we passed there the night before, so after we have confirmed that we will directly go to Luxor today, they wave us through. It is Friday, the rest day for Muslims, and therefore very quiet on the road. Apart from a number of trucks we see almost no other traffic. The town of Baghdad is the last oasis on the route and after the police checkpoint there, we do not pass any other villages or checkpoints any more. On both sides of the road we only see a golden sand sea. There is a strong wind and we can only just keep our light motorbikes straight.

At the beginning of the afternoon we see a city looming in the distance. The end of the desert is in sight, we are approaching the Nile. From one moment to the other we drive along green fields, meadows with cows and fields of sugar cane. The transition from the dry desert to the green fields is very abrupt, as if a line is drawn in the landscape with a ruler. We drive along a canal towards Luxor. It is busy on the road. Most cars and donkey carts we pass are loaded with sugar canes. The canes are loaded on railroad cars that are waiting on a railway track that runs parallel to the road.





After we have driven along the canal for some time, we turn right and drive up a high bridge to cross the Nile. The river is extremely wide and has a strong current. Along the side of the river cruise ships are waiting for tourists to take a Nile cruise. We enter Luxor and immediately notice how clean it is. For the first time we see street sweepers that sweep all the trash into a green bin with a big broom. We drive through a ’green corridor’ with oleanders and tall palm trees on both sides of the road. A big difference with the dusty roads in the desert and oases.

We can camp in the middle of Luxor at Rezeiky Camp. In the past the site was often visited by overlanders, but now we are the only guests. On the advice of John and Ruthi (the overlanders we met in the Egyptian desert) we eat at the restaurant of the camp site that evening and enjoy a delicious stew and our first since Italy.

After the quiet nights in the desert, we have to get used to the sounds of the city again. We hear cars honking until late at night and early next morning the call to prayer blares loudly throughout the city. The rooster and the dogs at the camp site are also making a lot of noise that morning. The dogs, a mother and three young pups, are playing on the camp site and running round the tent at high speed. At some point I hear a strange noise and then someone next to me cursing heartily. One of the puppies has ran into a line of the tent at full speed, leaving a huge tear in the nylon. If it then appears that the toilet does not flush and there is no water in the shower, we are a bid fed up. A rough start after a short night. Only after a strong cup of coffee and some pastries we leave the broken tent for what it is and head into town to visit the Valley of the Kings.





With the sun in our faces, we walk to the ferry that takes us to the west side of the Nile. We buy a ticket for the ferry and find a place on the upper deck. It is hazy and we can hardly see the other side of the river. When we are still on the ferry we are approached by a taxi driver. He offers to drive us around Luxor to visit different sites that day for a fixed price. He speaks good English and shows a notebook in which where several tourists have written nice comments about him. Clever marketing and it works, because after we have negotiated about the price we agree that he will be our driver that day.



Once on the other side, an old Peugeot from the 70s stops in front of us and we are introduced to the cousin of the marketeer. As we get in the car it becomes clear that his cousin will actually by our driver, while the smart marketer himself will look for new customers. Not quite what we had agreed, but okay for as long as we safely get where we need to be. In the old Peugeot he takes us to the entrance of the Valley of the Kings. We exchange phone numbers with the cousin so we can call him when we want him to pick us up.

At the entrance to the Valley of the Kings we are approached by a small, slightly older man named Mohammad. He offers to be our guide and gives us his business card. It states that he graduated in 1980 as an Egyptologist and has been working as a guide in Luxor ever since. He already has one customer, a student from South Korea, and for a good price we join him.





In the Valley of the Kings 63 royal tombs have been found from Pharaohs who lived from 1550 to 1069 BC. The mummies that we saw in the National Museum in Cairo were once buried in their golden sarcophagi in this valley. The tomb of Toetanchamun was also found here, as one of the few tombs with all its treasures still there. A map of the valley shows how long corridors are carved into the rock to different burial chambers. We visit three tombs and listen to the wonderful stories of Mohammad. He knows a lot about ancient Egypt and tells about the life of the pharaohs, the decoration on the walls, the hieroglyphs and the treasures that were found in the tombs. There are only a few tourists so we have plenty of time to walk around the tombs. It is beautiful and very impressive to see.





After three hours we call the cousin and not long after that the old Peugeot stops at the gate. It is time for lunch and we ask him to take us to a local place where we can eat koshary. He grew up in the area and quickly knows where to go. We both order a large plate of koshary and a coke (all for 22 EGP, which is around €2.20).

On the advice of Mohammad we then visit Habu Temple. The complex consists of several buildings and is still in very good condition. Especially the colours of the hieroglyphs are very well preserved. One of the guards of the complex is trying to make some pocket money by pointing us and all other tourist to the most special hieroglyphs and giving us access to closed areas of the buildings. He barely speaks any English and it seems he makes up most of the stories, but it still allows us to make some nice pictures. When we leave he asks for a contribution for his ’services’. We give him 2EGP, a common amount for services you did not really ask for. He pulls a glum face, gives back the coins and makes clear that he wants to receive more money. Only after I have put the coins back in my pocket and walk away he suddenly agrees to the fee after all.

The brown Peugeot is already waiting for us when we leave the temple. The cousin, now again accompanied by the marketer, takes us back to the ferry where we pay them the agreed fee. Even though we had agreed on a fixed price, they both ask for a ’tip’ on top of the price. One can always ask, but we have already paid enough (and probably even too much, as we are not really good negotiators yet). With a clear “NO” it is OK and they wish us a good day.

Both the actions of the guard at the temple and the question of the taxi drivers are in line with the image we had of Luxor before we came there. We were warned that we would be approached by people who would try to sell us something (a ride in a carriage, a boat trip on the Nile or souvenirs) and would have to negotiate the prices. Especially now that there are fewer tourists in Egypt, the salesmen have to make an effort to get your attention. In some cases, in an unpleasant way. Luckily we did not feel harassed of hassled in any way. While everyone is trying to make some money, most of them stop asking when we tell them friendly but very clear that we do not want to use their services.





On our second day in Luxor we visit Karnak Temple, again with Mohammad as our guide. It is one of the largest temples in the world and very well preserved. Mohammad is already waiting for us at the entrance when we arrive and has already bought tickets for us. We follow him along the beautiful tall columns, the huge obelisks and the many images all morning, while he talks about the history of the temple. Very beautiful.



It is obvious that Mohammed has been around as a guide for a while, because he leaves no question unanswered. He knows all the other guides, who casually say to us that he was their teacher. He also knows the guards of the complex very well, as he takes us to all closed corners of the temple while the guards squeeze a blind eye. A great experience, thanks to a very good guide!

The remainder of the afternoon we spent at the camp site. I work on the blog and cook pasta, while Peter repairs the tent. After a chat with the owner of the camp site about the dogs, the shower and the toilet, he allows us to take a hot shower in one of the rooms of the hotel. A good ending to a great day after all.



After three days in Luxor we get on our bikes again and continue our way south. We drive along the Nile to Aswan. A scenic route along the wide river and the green fields there right next to it. Along the way we meet a Chinese cyclist who has been travelling for seven months through the Middle East and Africa. His loaded bicycle stands on the side of the road while he sits in the shade playing his guitar. His name is Zhai Xu Dong, but like many Asians he has an easier western nickname and we can call him Tulsi. Like us, he is on his way to Aswan, to take the boat to Sudan. We exchange contact details and agree to try to meet each other in Aswan.

At the end of the afternoon we reach Aswan and we park our bikes at Adam Home Overland Camp (more on this in the next post).

Distance travelled until Aswan : 7596 km – 4721 miles

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