The husband is chiming in today with a little commercial…which perhaps should be cleaned up a bit before it gets true airtime and funding from the Egyptian Tourism Ministry, but his heart is in the right place and I agree, come to Egypt if you can make it happen, it’s mind blowing to see this place…

Go to Egypt, now.

Don’t go to the Sinai Peninsula, ISIS is over there trying to destabilize the government by attacking the military right now. There’s not much over there to see, so you won’t miss much. And the Suez Canal, while tempting, is just a canal. It borders the Sinai, so that’s right out as well. Don’t go to dangerous places.

But go to Egypt, as soon as you can. It is a stunningly amazing place, and it needs visitors. Tourism is down a LOT since 2011. It’s down over 70%. For the Middle East’s most stable country, its most populous country, and by far its oldest country, that is bad news bears. Over 300 river boats run on the Nile normally – right now less than 10% are running, and even those are running, like our ship, with 18 guests on board. Unemployment is up to almost 30%. But the country is stunning, and safe. No, really.

Yes, I know about the Mexican tour bus attack in the desert. Don’t take a safari to a militant hot spot with an unscheduled picnic stop somewhere dangerous – stick to the normal stuff and you’ll be fine. But honestly, the Egyptian government has bolstered security at every site (and seemingly everywhere in between with random checkpoints) it’s hard /not/ to feel safe. The attack at Karnak was foiled at the parking lot entrance checkpoint this summer. And even that was the first target of a tourist site in /years/. It’s safe. It’s not Juarez-Mexico-in-2008 dangerous everywhere, with cartels kidnapping and beheading busloads of students and police and military. You wouldn’t go to Juarez then, but you’d still go to Cancun, you know?

Maybe I’m going about this the wrong way. Go to Egypt.  You’ve got a country that desperately needs your tourism dollars. You have people who are beyond friendly and hospitable. You have guides who have Masters in Egyptology explaining hieroglyphic scenes and characters and history to you.  And no one is here to see the wonders of a 7,000 year old civilization. Sites are near empty. Temples. We had the Bent and Red Pyramids to ourselves. We were in the Great Pyramid – alone. We walked around an entire pyramid on the plateau by ourselves, no one else was there to enjoy them. And it really is safe. Not once have I felt truly unsafe (ATV riding through Dead Camel Lane notwithstanding). The scenery is breathtaking – the Nile is a juxtaposition of blue water and green fields up against a harsh orange landscape of sand and rock.

And no one is here. This sounds like a PSA – but go to Egypt. Tourism is down, the sites are empty, safety is everyone’s goal, and it is amazing. Hmph.

 Anyways – here are some quick hits:

• One day in Cairo is more than enough. Giza pyramids early morning, by 10:30 head south to the Bent and Red and Step Pyramids. It’s 1-2pm now – head to the Museum, see King Tut’s treasures and you’re home by 5:30. Leave Cairo for Luxor.
• Take a Nile Cruise. Spend an extra day or two in Luxor. I didn’t know what to expect with temples and whatnot, but I regret not having more days for more time at Karnak, maybe the Valley of the Nobles, the Valley of the Queens, etc.
• Hey, the Nile hasn’t had a crocodile since the dam was built in the 60’s. Who knew.
• Lake Nasser has a bunch of crocodiles since the dam created it in the 60’s. Who knew.
• They let you, from Luxor on down, just walk up to basically anything. You /could/ touch it if you wanted. Don’t. I’m talking hieroglyphic carvings (carved in or carved out!) and paintings and obelisks and statues and pillars etc. They are crazy old and amazing.
• No one is here right now, so I spent 3-5 minutes standing in front of King Tut’s funeral mask – 11kg of solid gold – with no one around me or bothering me or pushing or anything. Just me and King Tut having a staring match. Crazy.
• I totally could’ve climbed up the entire “small” pyramid of Giza’s big three. No one was around. I didn’t. But I could have.
• The Nile is awesome.

OK, photo time.

And now, an updated map set!