Overnight Bus to Aswan | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 2 (Part 20) 01D19

16 Hours Overnight Bus | Cairo to Aswan

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

After visiting the Pyramids, I reached the Oasis Hotel around 3:00. Our expected pickup time at the lobby was at 5:45.

To avoid the 16-hour bus trip there were two options available: upgrade to a sleeper cabin train for $110 CAD or a flight for $167 CAD. I was unlucky because both of them were sold out. So I had no option but to take the bus.

I rushed to finish my shower and get some rest after returning to the hotel. After packing my 2 small pieces of luggage, I had some time to have coffee in my room. I was at the lobby at 5:30 to be picked up.

I met some of my travel mates, but didn’t find a few of them as they were able to get flights. We all gathered in one area and chatted about our expectations and experiences in Egypt so far.

The bus came on time. It was a huge, shiny two-level bus. Inside the bus was very comfortable and that’s what I needed for this long journey. I chose to sit on the upper floor. Everyone sat far apart, as the bus was able to accommodate that.

We left a little later than 6:00, but no one complained. I saw two security officers to guard us throughout the journey. They had light semi-automatic weapons tucked under their suit.

I felt Egypt was very safe and the people were friendly towards tourists, but the government had to take all precautions to safeguard us, which I appreciated. 

The bus trip was full of events I will talk about in my next posts.

The Great Pyramids of Giza | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 2 (Part 19) 01D19

Egyptian Tent Lunch | Eating Experience Like Never Before

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Lunch was not included with our tour on Day 2. We were given an option to go to an Egyptian-style tent outdoor restaurant. Those who don’t want to eat can still join and just sit or have tea.

I decided to have lunch because of the unique experience. We drove a while and the tent restaurant was in the middle of nowhere. The area was big and there were chairs and tables separated into sections to accommodate various tour groups.

The tents were not really closed tents. They were protecting us from the desert sun, but all sides were open so I could still have the views of outside.

Our group all sat together. Most of us ordered lunch. I ordered chicken kebab with rice. They grilled the kebab on the table in front of us. I also had Egyptian tea, which I started liking by then.

There were several smaller portion items that came without meals. I didn’t know the names of many of them, but they were all delicious. Lunch costed 200 LE (Egyptian Pound), which was around $16 CAD. I found it a bit expensive compared to the other Egyptian meal I bought outdoors.

The overall experience, sitting in an open space and eating together, was unimaginable. The food tasted very good, but spicy with lots of oil and salt. Still, it felt like food from heaven as we were hungry and thirsty from the activities and desert sun.

From here we would go back to the hotel and get some rest. A very long 16-hour bus journey to Aswan awaited us.

The Great Pyramids of Giza | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 2 (Part 18) 01D19

The Sakkara Complex: The Pyramid of King Titi

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

The Pyramid of Titi (or Teti) is a smooth-sided pyramid located in central Saqqara. It was one of the earliest pyramids containing pyramid texts. Dated 2300 BC, King Titi was the ruler of the 6th dynasty.

The Titi Pyramid doesn’t look extraordinary on the outside. This is the only pyramid in which I went inside.

The entrance tunnel was not pleasant, and the tour guide asked people with heart or other conditions not to enter. You have to kind of crawl in a half-sitting position for a few minutes through the long descent of 1800 meters of narrow tunnel to enter the chambers.

Once inside, it shockingly transports you to another world. The ceiling is covered with lots of stars and the walls are covered with spells in hieroglyphs. 

There are several passages and chambers inside such as a funeral serdab, an antechamber, and King Titi’s burial chamber. Moving from one to another, you need to bend over as the doorlike entrances and short tunnels are made of stone and can’t support most people standing at full height.

Like many other pyramids or tombs, the Titi Pyramid had been broken into and robbed by tomb robbers.  The lid in the burial chamber was broken, but the basalt sarcophagus is well preserved still today and a first to have had a single band of the Pyramid Texts inscription.

The experience of seeing inside a pyramid was mind blowing. This is something I have been dreaming of all my life and it felt different upon achieving it.

We will be heading to have an Egyptian-style outdoor lunch from here.

The Great Pyramids of Giza | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 2 (Part 17) 01D19

The Sakkara Complex: Tomb of Ka-Gmni, TiTi Pyramids, Step Pyramids

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

The Sakkara (or Saqqara) complex is an extensive archaeological site in Egypt that hosts many tombs and pyramids. Our tour covered only three sites from the complex: the Tomb of Ka-Gmni, the TiTi Pyramids, and the Steps Pyramids.

Tomb of Ka-Gmni (Mastaba of Kagemni)

Kagemni was a vizier or high-official/high-priest of King Teti of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt and he had his own tomb in Sakkara. This type of tomb called a mastaba, or eternal house, in Ancient Egyptian. The tomb was a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward-sloping sides.

The Tomb of Ka-Gmni was discovered in 1843. The tomb is huge. There is a chapel which has six rooms, a hall by the entrance and another pillared hall, five magazines, two chambers containing boats, and a serdab. There is a staircase you can take to reach the roof.

The burial chamber has an inscribed stone sarcophagus with a coffin inside. The walls have beautiful and decorative bas reliefs all over depicting agricultural scenes, fishing scenes, and presentations of offerings. Some of them looked colourful, but I saw some of them were damaged or the colour was fading.

The Pyramid of Djoser or Step Pyramid

The Step Pyramid is located inside a huge pillared complex. The 6-tier, 4-sided structure is a colossal stone building built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser.

The Step Pyramid is considered one of the oldest stone structures built by man. Entirely made of limestone, the Step Pyramid has survived for more than 4700 years. As the name suggests, the Step Pyramid is made of 6 steps, 60m high on top of each other and built as a step pyramid, and gradually getting smaller as the steps ascended.

I was more mesmerized by the huge complex made of tall walls and gigantic pillars. To enter the complex, you must go through a narrow door-like entrance curved in the stones. The complex had lots of unfinished structures and ruins.

My next stop will be TiTi Pyramid, where I will go inside the Pyramid.

The Great Pyramids of Giza | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 2 (Part 16) 01D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Giza Pyramids & Sphinx, Sakkara Tombs, TiTi Pyramids, Steps Pyramids

Giza Pyramid Complex

We were circling the Great Pyramid to see what’s around and behind. The problem was lots of local guides or possibly random people trying to make money off tourists were bombarding us to help take pictures, for horse rides, or explaining history.

Our tour guide told us to ignore any help at any cost, so we were just ignoring everyone coming to us. I saw lots of ancient debris, broken pieces of ancient sites here and there.

I saw a desert and caravans in the desert, which looked very picturesque. Some camels resting in the sand were very curious upon seeing us and came close, observing us and to extend friendship.

The Sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is located close to the Great Pyramids. The giant 4,500-year-old limestone statue is 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high.

The guide told us the Great Sphinx was there even before the pyramids and no one really knew why or how it was there, although there are many theories regarding the origin of the Sphinx.

The Sphinx has the body of a lion and the head of a human. I saw that the face was badly damaged on one side, especially the nose. It looked like the Sphinx even has a tail or the remnant of a tail. 

I saw some restoration works in progress for the Sphinx and I took a stroll around it. However, I wasn’t able to see one side close up because walking around it would cover a lot of ground.

We were to visit Sakkara (Saqqarah) next, where there are several tombs and pyramid complexes located. We will concentrate on the TiTi Pyramids and the Steps Pyramids.