Vacations Blog

Who has not wanted to see the wondrous archeological sites and dazzling artifacts to be found in Egypt-a land perfectly laid out for archeology buffs?  Now, guided tours of Egypt and all its splendor are available for travelers from all around the planet to go to and explore.  Let’s have a look at what many steered tours have to offer .  

Most guided tours of Egypt begin in Cairo, where Egypt’s biggest airport and biggest city are waiting to greet you.  While in Egypt, your guide may take you to the famous Egyptian Museum, where the treasures of Tutankhamen and other traditional artifacts are available for viewing.  You may take a drive to Old Cairo, the area where ancient Christians and Jews lived in the city.  Have fun shopping at the colorful Khan El Khalili Bazaar and remember to bargain.  

One of the most beautiful sites on guided tours of Egypt is a trip to the pyramids and the great Sphinx of Giza, a five thousand~ five thousand years old monument.  After taking as many pictures as you can, visit the nearby Solar ship Museum and continue on to the traditional town of Memphis, the first main city of United lower and upper Egypt, and see Sakkara, the site of the Step Pyramid of Zoser.  

Longer guided tours of Egypt will fly you out of the area to Sharm El Sheikh, a town on the sea with beautiful beaches, pure white sands and a chance to go diving in the Ras Mohammed Underwater Nature Reserve.  An alternative choice is a walking tour to
visit a Bedouin camp in the desert.  Other visits include the St.  Catherine priory or night tours of Mount Sinai, where you can watch a beautiful dawn and visit the monastery found there.  

Next, some steered tours will take you on a flight to Luxor where you’ll take a fabulous cruise liner for a rememberable experience on the Nile brook.  Cruise trips typically last 5 days and four nights.  You’ll visit the Luxor church that was originally dedicated to the God Amon-Ra.  Karnak church is nearby too.  Guided tours of the area will have you continue on your cruise liner and will take you to the famous Valley of the Kings and Queens, where you can see the Funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and countless other archeological findings.  The cruise ship will be sailing upstream and will take you up to Edfu where you can visit the Edfu temple, a famous part of Egyptian design.  Still on the cruise ship the day after, guided tours of the Nile will stop off at the church of Kom Ombo, another Egyptian archeological find and to the Nilometer, a superb site built by the pharaohs of Egypt that was built to measure the height of the waters of the Nile river.  

Next, guided tours along the Nile brook will show you the fantastic and famous Aswan High Dam, as well as the Philae church and the enormous half finished obelisk in the nearby granite quarry.  At this point, your ship journey is complete and you will fly back to the town of Cairo.  Steered tours of Egypt, particularly if they’re complete, will show you dozens of dazzling archeological sites and will teach you the history of this interesting part of the world.  You’ll see hundreds of ancient Egyptian artifacts and you’ll come away with a new appreciation of how the traditional Egyptians lived and built their monuments.  
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Do you enjoy reading this? If yes, you may also visit famouswonders.com to read more about some of the best places to visit in the world and have a look at Karnak Temple Egypt.

In my capacity as the UK director of operations for One World Tours Limited, over time, it came to my attention as to what a minefield in can be booking a holiday in a destination like Egypt through the myriad of’internet’ based travel firms ; especially local Egyptian companies

I thus though it could be useful to suggest a kind of’checklist’ of things to search for and questions that should be asked’prospective’ holiday suppliers. 

1.  Are they a travel agent or a Tour operator ? 

especially at a local level, service from a tour operator is often higher than that of an agent as tour scheduled through local agents’can’ risk the undeniable fact that the agent is only passing on your booking to a 3rd party.  This is not always the case, but it’s’s something to think about.  Comeback if you have Problems is also to be considered as an agent can blame the third party and vice versa. 

2.  Do they require a deposit or are they offering payment in full on arrival ? 

If the company you are potentially booking thru accept payment in full on arrival, it implies one thing - your aren’t scheduled.  While will a company risk booking hostels, tour guides, drivers etc on the of chance you can basically turn up ? 

three.  Do they accept mastercards as payment ? 

This is vital whether you are counting on paying that way.  Accepting credit cards ( particularly in travel fields ) will probably mean the company has been pretty well vetted and certainly will be offering you some added assurances ( and of course protection )

4.  Do they offer Testimonials…  ? 

The second half of this question perhaps the most significant part,’Do they offer Testimonials…and are you able to contact them’ ?  If their testimonials are genuine then surely there isn’t any reason why they can not be contacted. 

five.  Do they have a recognized dispute mechanism ? 

Any forward thinking and honest company will know that there will always be the odd problem.  Having a dispute procedure in place shows the company won’t just try and fob you off, but from the ground up, they will try to fairly take care of any problems you may have. 

Hopefully these five things may help you regarding your future plans when thinking about a visit to a country such as Egypt.

How many wonders have you visit during your lifetime? Visit famouswonders.com and see the top wonders of the world and also have a look at Egypt travel tips.

On my last holiday I travelled to Antigua. The general surroundings were brilliant. To be fair,l i actually didn’t want to come to Antigua, the Maldives was my first option. I fancied going Whale Shark diving, but the hotels I wanted to stay at were all booked up so I decided on my second choice – Antigua.

When I made it to Antigua though, I was pleasantly surprised. The hotel that i arrived at, just made my day. It was phenomenally amazing. I was staying in the Hermitage Bay Hotel, a five star boutique hotel. I needed to find out where my room was, and to my surprise my room was fantastic. I had been Wind Surfing before so i had this booked into my schedule, as well as some snorkeling.

Basically the reason that i went on holiday on y own was because my Fiancee had gone on a holiday with a load of friends, and I needed inspiration for my Blog. Now I promised myself “no looking at other women”, but it’s very difficult when you’re staying at a place like this and you walk onto the beach!

I managed to resist though, I just stuck to the general sports activities. I tried to go Windsurfing as much as possible. The waves and the air were perfect; it was just strong enough to help get some good speed. I also indulged in some Spa Treatments as well, mainly the massages. Now that was good stuff, recommended to anyone who stays in the Caribbean.

Antigua actually turned out to be one of the best holiday destinations that i have ever visited. The people were very accommodating and the scenery was fantastic, I had a great flight as well.

So basically I think that this holiday has turned out better than I thought Maldives holidays would be like, I definately recommend Antigua holidays, and another place I found amazing was Egypt, Egypt holidays are truly stunning.

The Valley of the kings is a place full of history and all its visitors can surely reassure you of that. Egypt and his mysteries are waiting for you to discover them as well!

Gates of the King, better known as Valley of the Kings, is a valley that can be found in Egypt where tombs for the Pharaohs were built for about 500 years; not only the pharaohs but basically if you were rich enough and powerful enough in the Egyptian society, then you got to have your tomb built there. This valley can be found along the west bank of the Nile river right across form Thebes now known as Luxor. Even though the name is in the singular, the “Valley” is actually made up of two valleys, the East Valley and the West Valley.

This is arguable the most famous archaeological sight in the world, we have had archaeologists digging in the dirt in these valley for many years…what made it famous though is the fact that it was here where they discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen; you know the tomb that had the curse of the pharaohs on it?

The Hills of Thebes have one hill in particular that dominates all the rest, it is known(translated) as “The Peak” and it is thought that this is what gave rise to the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. They think that because the hill is being seen on the form of a pyramid when you look at it from the right distance.

The Isolation of the area allowed the tombs to be guarded because of the reduced access. It is strange that what has come to be a symbol in the world’s eyes of ancient Egypt ( the pyramids on the Giza Plateau) really is not the way they did things back then; most of the tombs that can be found were cut out of rock, even most pyramids have sections in them that were cut out of solid rock, you can even find solid rock tombs that date back thousands of years! So what is with the pyramid craze?

There was a time when Egypt was not united, they had separate rulers and separate ideas; when the country was united, at long last the pharaohs wanted to show off their new power and the only way that they could think of to do this, was to build these huge elaborate tombs that told everybody what great people they were.

The Valley itself has about 63 tombs, the first being that of Thutmose the first and the last being Ramesses X. Like I mentioned before, even though the valley is called “Valley of the Kings”, there were all kinds of nobles buried there and nobles wives and children, so instead of calling it “Valley of the Kings” they should have called it “Valley of the Rich and Powerful”.

During the eighteenth dynasty, the only people that got to have big beautiful tombs were the kings themselves; when somebody was buried that was not of royal blood, they got to have a much smaller tomb, basically a chamber cut into the rock, this tomb was usually near the tomb of his master…kind of interesting when you think about it.

There was a little village called Deir el-Medina, this is where the workers lived; they built the tombs and decorated them. People have been interested in this place for a while, this has been he sight for major modern Egyptological exploration…before this it was just a place for tourism (a few hundred years ago of course). The strange thing is that even though they have been exploring this place for years, only eleven of the tombs have ever been completely recorded….now why is that? Eleven out of 63.

The Gate of the King, it might be gate of the King but almost all of the tombs have been ransacked…so much for having even a little bit of respect for the dead.

Today tourism is going on good in the valley, there are usually about 16 tombs open to the public (never at the same time of course). Photography is not allowed and people are expected to touch nothing and to walk in single file through the tomb not making a sound (don’t want to disturb the dead you know).

The Gate of the King is an interesting place with an even more interesting history. I highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance!

By Claudia Miclaus