Continuing the intro from the previous post...

ITINERARY:

Day 0.1 Wednesday Nov 22, 4.30 pm Boarded United Airlines Flight from Houston, only our US visa checked, no talk about guarantee letter or visa for Egypt. We had only cabin bag and a personal item. Bag not weighed or even looked at when the girl handed out our printed boarding pass we requested

Day 0.2 Thursday Nov 23 9 hour layover at Munich, Boarded Flight to Cairo

Day 1 Friday Nov 24: 2.20 am landing at Cairo airport, Cairo Downtown apt Checkin, Egyptian museum facade, Abdeen Palace Museum

Day 2 Saturday Nov 25 Giza pyramids, Egyptian museum

Day 3 Sunday Nov 26 Saqqara Dahshur Memphis museum

Day 4 Monday Nov 27 Egyptian museum, Museum of Islamic arts

Day 5 Tuesday Nov 28 Egyptian museum, Coptic museum, Citadel

Day 6 Wednesday Nov 29 Flight to Luxor, Luxor pass purchase, Luxor West bank Farida apt checkin, Ramesseum

Day 7 Thursday Nov 30 Medinet Habu [cos the cops did not allow us to drive to VOK due to some VIP presence at 5.50 am],ValleyOfKings, Temple of Seti, Khukha tombs, VOQ[ONLY Nefertari] Colossi

Day 8 Friday Dec 1 Karnak temple, Luxor temple, Luxor museum, Public Ferry back to west bank, 700 m walk to apt

Day 9 Saturday Dec 2 Sunrise Hot air balloon ride, back to apt at 7am for breakfast, Valleyof Queens at 8am, Deir el Bahri, Hutshepsut, Tomb of Nobles

Day 10 Sunday Dec 3 Deir el Medina, released driver, took public ferry to east bank [10egp/pp for foreigners], Mummification museum, Luxor sign, back to apt by public ferry

Day 11 Monday Dec 4 Farida apt checkout at 6am, Bag drop at Mama Africa apt 1 km away, Abydos Dendera, Mama Africa apt checkin [we had added 1 more night at Luxor later and could not continue on at Farida apt, hence the move]

Day 12 Tuesday Dec 5 Edfu Kom Ombo Aswan, checkin to Basmatic Nubian Guesthouse, Elephantine island

Day 13 Wednesday Dec 6 Philae, high dam, unfinished obelisk, nubian museum [by Careem and hailed taxi as contracted driver did not turn up at 8am]

Day 14 Thursday Dec 7 Checkout, 6am owner's boat ride to ferry dock Koti side, Aswan to Abu Simbel, Checkin to apt, Abu temples. Evening 5 pm back to temples, 20usd tickets for Sound, light show, 6.30 show under a sky lit up with 100 plus stars

Day 15 Friday Dec 8 Abu Simbel to Luxor AIRPORT, 8.30 pm Flight to Cairo, Uber from Cairo airport to Downtown apts, check in to 8^th floor apt [earlier it was the 5^th floor apt]

Day 16 Saturday Dec 9 Cairo NMEC National museum of Egyptian civilization, Coptic CAIRO [St George's church, Hanging church], ISLAMIC Cairo: Uber to Bab el Futuh at 8pm, walk from Bab el Futuh to Khan el Kalili

Day 17 Sunday Dec 10: visit to fair price souvenir shop at 10 am, checkout at 12 noon, uber to cairo airport [153 egp], flight at 4.30 pm back home via Frankfurt

Day 18 Monday Dec 11: 9pm-next day 1pm [16 hour] layover at Frankfurt, flight to Houston at 1.45 pm, landed at Houston 6pm after 11 hour flight.

HOORAY!! It was an AWESOME VACATION!!

WHATSAPP CONTACT NUMBERS

Cairo airport authorized tour agent for providing guarantee letter: Hedra +20 0122770 7473 [50usd pp charge, sent guarantee letter on official letterhead in case it needed to be shown before boarding the flight in the US, WAITED FOR US when we landed at 2.20am at Cairo airport with 2 visas already bought, stuck those visa on arrival stickers on our passport, took us through passport control]

Cairo driver Mohamed [Airport pickup at 2.20am [13usd given to apartment guy, later uber was just 185 egp], Saqqara , Dashur 1200 egp for pickup at 7am and full day till 4pm at the sights. He quoted 1000 egp for 2pm exit from sights] +201156326913

Cairo Downtown sweethome owner Hassan +20 1010609948 [2bedroom apartment booked through booking.com 186usd/6nights when we landed Nov 23-29, 53 usd/2 nights when we left Egypt Dec 8-10, taxes included]. Very professional, both stays we arrived at odd hours. Manager was waiting at the apartment gate when we drove up in their arranged taxi at 3.30 am. Driver was in touch with them on phone. For our next stay we rang them up and told them we are on our way at 10.30 pm, again prompt service, no waiting for us. Owner Hassan was always prompt with replies to our whatsapp messages.

Luxor Farida apartment Mohamed Montelb +20 1091334443 [2bedroom apartment booked through booking.com 65usd/5nights]. Very nice guy. Excellent apartment with lovely views. Booked our sunrise 1 hr hotair balloon ride for 55usd/pp

Salem hotair balloons: 55usd/pp, booked through apartment owner, +20 01020384744, +20952284682, +20 0952284681, +20 1003804322

Luxor Hamdi 'Helicopter' : +20 100 808 5246. [230usd,

Day 1:airport pickup, Luxor pass pickup at Karnak temple, Ramesseum, west bank Farida apartment drop off,

DAY 2: 6am pickup, west bank till 4pm

Day 3: 6am pickup and drop at Karnak temple [we did rest of the day on our own by Careem

Day 4: 8am Valleyof Queens , Deir el Bahri, Hutshepsut, Tomb of Nobles

Day 5: 6am pickup, Deir el Medina and drop at apartment , we did rest of the day by public ferry, careem on our own

Day 6: 6am pickup Abydos Dendera full day

Day7: Edfu Kom Ombo Aswan ]

Aswan Driver Yasser +20 1127561473 [who was suggested by Hamdi for Aswan local and AbuSimbel and back leg. He ditched us for Aswan local and passed us on to Romani for the actual drive to Abu Simbel, overnight stay, drive next morning back from Abu Simbel to Luxor airport]

Aswan Romani [Drove us to Abu Simbel, stayed overnight, drove us back to Luxor airport, paid 130usd] +20 1140076831

Here are a few more highlight pics continued from previous post

EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

Boy King Tut Ankh Amun golden funerary mask [he reigned from when he was 9 years old to 19 years when he died. His tomb had 5000 precious objects buried with him and caused a global stir when discovered]

It is constructed of two sheets of gold that were hammered together and weighs 22.5 pounds (10.23 kg).

The gold sheets used in this wonderful mask are joined together by heating and hammering.

The eyes are of obsidian and quartz and the eyebrows and eyelids are inlaid with lapis lazuli. The broad inlaid collar called ‘usekh’, is of semi precious stones and colored glass ends in falcon heads.

Little less grand than Tut's mask but neverthe less exquisite funerary mask of 21st dynasty King Psusennes I

Pectoral of Psusennes I

Votive offering exquisite jewellery in gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, coral as funerary goods in the tomb of 21st dynasty Psusennes I

The pectoral of Psusennes I is framed by alternating precious stones, topped by a cavetto cornice, and with a row of alternating djed pillar and tit (Isis knot) symbols at the bottom, below a row of sun-discs.

A winged scarab can be seen in the middle, and a cartouche of the king above and below, with the uppermost cartouche surmounted by a winged sun-disc. A uraei or rearing cobras also emerge from the sun. On either side of the scarab’s wings can be seen crouching goddesses Isis and Nephthys