Nile Cruise, Edfu Temple & Luxor Temple to Luxor – Day 05 & 06 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

As we reach our fifth day on the Travel Talk Tours Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour, we continue our journey sailing down the world famous River Nile after spending our first sailing night on board. Whilst we might be relaxing on our five star ship we do get to disembark to see the fascinating Edfu Temple.

Previously, before we set sail we were privileged enough to explore the amazing Abu Simbel Temples that were moved to higher ground by marvelous engineering feats to save it being lost forever with the construction of the High Dam.

RECAP: Aswan, Abu Simbel, Philea Temple & cruising the Nile – Day 04 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

Leaving Aswan behind on this portion of the trip the group takes in more ancient history and culture of Egypt by visiting the Edfu Temple. This temple is one of the best preserved in all of Egypt. We make our way back to the ship where we continue to cruise our way back to Luxor where we dock for the evening.

Sites & activities include…

• Nile Cruse
• Edfu Temple
• Luxor Temple at night

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Day 05: Nile Cruse, Edfu & Luxor – 30 November, 2016

Waking up this morning we are greeted with an amazing sunrise over the River Nile that can be viewed from our room balcony. However for the best results if you’re up early enough make sure you make the effort to get up and make your way to the deck for some great photo opportunities.

This morning we have awoken to our ship docked at the city of Edfu where we will spend the morning exploring the main attraction the Temple of Edfu. Before we leave we have plenty of time to get ourselves ready and to have breakfast from the extensive buffet on offer on board the ship.

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As our ship is docked next to another ship, to get off onto the dock we need to walk through that ship first. Thinking back we were really lucky that we were the ship docked on the outside as I wouldn’t of had that view of the sunrise from my room, instead the view would have been looking into another person’s room.

Once outside we gather on the road where it is an array of organised chaos full of horse and carts scrambling to pick up the many tourists coming off the ships to take them to Edfu Temple. The cost of catching the horse and cart is covered by Travel Talk and we are advised that if we would like to tip the driver then we can but it’s not required as Travel Talk covers this cost also. The main thing is that if you tip the driver for taking you there, don’t tip them coming back and vice versa.

When we arrived at the temple we were dropped outside a marshaling area for the horses and carts. We will have the same driver to take us back to the ship and as soon as we left they found you miraculously in amongst the crowd of other tourists.

The Temple of Edfu is an ancient Egyptian temple located near the town of Edfu half way between Luxor and Aswan on the west bank of the River Nile. Built between 237 and 50 BC, the temple is one of the best preserved in Egypt as it is one of the more modern complexes from ancient Egyptian times.

The temple was abandoned when the Roman Empire was in control of Egypt and converted to Christianity which meant paganism was outlawed in 391 AD. The site was then consumed by the desert sand with homes being built on top. In the 1860s the site was excavated and was once again revealed to everyone. Being covered in sand for all of these years meant that the temple was preserved and kept in pristine condition for visitors to enjoy today.

Entry to Edfu Temple costs EGP 60.00 (AUD $5.00) and once again is payable to your guide who will organise the tickets for the entire group. We start walking up to the entrance and are hounded by people wanting to sell us things which is to be expected. I even had a guy “Mohammad number 1” give me his business card and would leave me alone if I came to his shop after looking at the temple. Of course he was waiting for me and got angry when I didn’t want to go look at his shop wanting his business card back. Not only was I not going to look at his shop I was keeping his business card and getting the hell out of there.

VIDEO: Visiting Edfu Temple with Travel Talk Tours

Once inside the entrance of the temple grounds you walk up a long path leading to the main temple, you start to gain some impressive wide views of the temple and can start to appreciate how big the temple is. We gather outside the entrance of the temple where our guide Shady explains the history behind the temple and why it is constructed in the shape it is as was the practice in the New Kingdom of Egypt.

We start to walk inside the temple where we are greeted with the main court of the temple lined with many columns supporting the outer walls. On the opposite side of the main court where the public would come to make offerings to their god is the hypostyle hall. Inside is twelve large columns that hold up the roof of the hall and on either side of the entrance to the hall are the statues of Horus of Behdet in the form of a falcon.

Walking to the end of the temple you’ll be able to see a sanctuary where an impressive pedestal is located supporting the Boat of Horus. The boat is surrounded by many stories depicted on the walls displaying many of the ancient traditions that took place during the time of the New Kingdom.

Once Shady finished taking us around the temple we then had enough free time to go around and explore the temple on our own. You don’t really need much time to look around as Shady comprehensively showed us around and explained all the main features. During this time it’s a good opportunity to take some more photos that you may have missed during the time being guided around.

Once our time was up we headed back to our horse and cart to be taken back to our ship for departure to Luxor. When we arrived back my driver chased me down for a tip even though I gave him one on the way there. I refused, telling him I already gave him one, but he wanted one for the trip back, he wasn’t getting one.

Back on board the ship the rest of the day was ours to relax and watch the world sail by. At 12:00 the bell would ring signifying that it was lunch time, so when everyone was ready to could make your way downstairs for the buffet lunch.

Later in the afternoon we would continue to sail and suddenly some small dingy looking wooden boats would catch up to our ship. Some locals decided they would try their luck at selling some items to the people on board the ship. They would tie their boat up to the side of the ship and then proceed to yell out to everyone to come and look at their stuff. The entertainment came when they would try and send the stuff up to the top deck of the ship so people could look at it, they would try and throw it up in the hope it would land on the ship. They were pretty good at this, I guess they have had  a lot of practice, however some items landed in pool saturating them, some missed the ship altogether and floated down the Nile.

At one point we reached a lock with one of the small boats making it through the tight gap between the wall and the ships bow. It was a close call but that didn’t deter them from trying to make a sale. At around 4:00pm afternoon tea is served on the top deck of the ship and if you want any other drinks instead you can have these too but they will be charged back to your room.

VIDEO: Nile Cruise with Travel Talk Tours

Before you knew it we were back in Luxor, I didn’t realise we would be back so quickly, anticipating to back back tomorrow or at least wake up in Luxor in the morning. Despite being back in Luxor we would spend another night on the ship and most of tomorrow lazing about on board.

In the evening dinner starts at 7:00pm and it’s a bit of a stampede so it’s best to plan to get there early before you have to be stuck waiting in a line. This evening in the lounge there was a belly dancer preforming, I decided I would stay in my room this evening as I had already seen two belly dancers on this trip, one in Dubai and one in Cairo so it was nice to have a movie night in my room.

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Day 06: Luxor – 01 December, 2016

A new morning and for the last time the group wakes up on board our five star Nile cruise ship. Breakfast is once again on board but with no commitments to depart for any activities this morning everyone takes advantage of the 10:00am check out time.

Today we are pretty much spending most of the day chilling out on board the ship while it’s docked in Luxor. Later this afternoon we’ll have lunch on board and with most guests having departed we have a set menu. Before departure it is also your responsibility to take care of your room’s drinks bill.

We all spent the day sitting on the top deck of the ship and while it might sound like a slow day it was still nice to just chill out and not be rushed around. The purpose behind waiting on board the ship was to not only needing to wait until check-in time for our hotel in Luxor but also for the Felucca group to make it back from Aswan.

A short time after lunch we disembarked the ship with our luggage and our mini bus is waiting to take us literally two blocks to our hotel. Once again we’ll be staying in the Steigenberger Nile Palace Luxor Hotel, the funny thing being that our ship docked pretty much in front of this hotel so we didn’t have to move very fast.

This is the same hotel we stayed in last time when in Luxor but this time our rooms were way more impressive than the last time, they were massive. My bathroom had two showers, and even had a room dedicated for luggage. The views from the balcony were amazing, looking right over the Nile. I kind of wished we stayed here another night so I could get up early in the morning for the sunrise and to see the hot air balloons fly over, however tomorrow morning we’ll all be in a hot air balloon floating over the hotel.

After having plenty of time to relax in the hotel (and have a nanna nap) tonight the group was going out to see the Luxor Temple followed by dinner at an Irish Pub across the road. While we are at the Irish Pub we’ll also be able to purchase a custom made cartouche with your name written in hieroglyphics. Firstly we go to the Irish Pub to order our dinner so that while we’re at the temple it’ll be made for us, we strategically get there before Group A so ours would come out first.

We head over to the temple in our bus, entry to Luxor Temple is EGP 60.00 (AUD $5.00) and it was great that we were able to go and see this temple at night with it all lit up. The danger on a trip like this seeing so many temples is that they can all start to look the same, this way we can gain a different perspective and given there is the Karnak Temple to see tomorrow in Luxor it would have all looked the same during the day.

The Temple of Luxor is located on the east bank of the River Nile close to the modern day city of Luxor and is an ancient Egyptian site of significance having served many purposes; becoming a shrine, a church and finally a mosque over the different political and cultural dynasties. In ancient Egyptian times the city was known as Thebes with the temple built around 1400 BC it is believed that it fell into disrepair somewhere between the fall of Roman control and control taken by the Arab uprising.

The temple succumbed to the flood waters of the River Nile becoming buried under river silt that a mosque was once built on top of the temple having since been excavated. At the entrance of the temple once stood two obelisks, only one remains today with the other now located at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

VIDEO: Luxor Temple at night with Travel Talk Tours

When we arrive at the temple we are taken through the security entrance and our guide Shady takes us to the front of the temple to explain its origins and the story about the missing obelisk that was given to the French as a ‘gift’. It now resides in the Place de la Concorde in Paris with the Egyptians over the years unsuccessfully trying to have it returned.

We’re shown around the temple and walk amongst the impressive columns that once supported the temple structure. The unique thing about this temple is that it also has a working mosque built on top of it that was all lit up and open for worshipers.

Outside of the temple is a road that is lined with small Sphinxes. This road was once roughly 3km long and connected to the much larger Karnak Temple that we’ll be going to see tomorrow morning. But for now it was a great experience being about to come and see Luxor Temple at night time.

After we have finished looking around at the temple we jump back on the bus and head to the hotel, crossing over the road to the Irish Pub to have dinner. While we are here the guy selling the personalised cartouche was in the pub and you could choose from an array of different designs. Once you put your order in he’ll go away and make it and at lunch tomorrow he’ll be at our restaurant to collect payment and give you your order.

Tomorrow we are in for another exiting day on the Travel Talk Tours Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse Tour as we get to explore the Temple of Karnak in the morning. After lunch we’ll then jump back on the bus and make the long journey back to Cairo where it all began.

UP NEXT

Luxor, Hot Air Ballooning & Karnak Temple to Cairo  – Day 07 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

LOOKING BACK

Aswan, Abu Simbel, Philea Temple & cruising the Nile – Day 04 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse
During this two week adventure with Travel Talk Tours our journey starts off in the capital of Egypt, Cairo before making our way south, down along the River Nile. Travelling by road to Luxor and Aswan, and checking out many of the famous monuments and temples along the way, we also have the choice of participating in some exciting optional extra activities. From Aswan at the bottom of Egypt and close to the Sudanese border, we jump on board a boat and spend three nights sailing along the Nile back to Luxor, checking out Edfu Temple and get a brief glance at Kom Ombo Temple along the way.

We end up back in Cairo to explore the capital in greater depth with a city tour before we start heading east towards Jordan. Before hitting the border we arrive in Dahab for two nights of relaxation by the sea and then travel by road from Egypt into Jordan via a 30 minute crossing through Israel. We spend our first night in a new country out in the desert park of Wadi Rum before heading to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Petra, a real highlight. We’ll go for a swim in the Dead Sea on our way to the capital of Jordan, Amman where our tour will come to an end. Before bidding farewell to our fellow travel companions we’ll spend two nights exploring this exciting capital.

This tour of Egypt and Jordan can be taken in three different forms, however a number of people on this journey travelled on nine day Egypt tours that started in Cairo and ended when we returned to Cairo. Other travellers with the group also did fifteen day tours that followed the same path to Dahab and spent just short of a week there before returning to Cairo…

• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse
• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Felucca
• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Land

GUIDE BOOKS

A guide book isn’t cheating! Before you leave on your next adventure ensure you plan to get the most out of your trip and check out the range of guide books from Lonely Planet. The comprehensive guide books on Egypt & Jordan from Lonely Planet will give you an insight on what to expect on your Travel Talk Tours journey of these two amazing countries.

ACCOMMODATION ON THIS TOUR

• Day 01, 07 & 08: Cairo – Pyramids Park Resort Cairo
• Day 02 & 06: Luxor – Steigenberger Nile Palace Luxor Hotel
• Day 03: Aswan – Helnan Aswan Hotel (Felucca passengers)
• Day 03 to 05: Nile Cruse
• Day 09 & 10: Dahab – Dahab Paradise Hotel
• Day 11: Wadi Rum – Hillawi Camp
• Day 12: Petra – La Maison Hotel Petra
• Day 13 & 14: Amman – Art Hotel Amman

Booking your accommodation has never been easier with our preferred hotel partner Agoda.

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Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered By Nile Cruise Reviews

loneXplorer travelled as a guest of Travel Talk Tours on the Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse tour. The cost of the 15 day tour was covered by Travel Talk Tours however all reviews and opinions on loneXplorer remain those of the author and have not been influenced by the tour operator, accommodation provider or anyone else. For more information on all the reviews you see on loneXplorer and the links provided to advertisers please click here.