Egypt: In the Nil valley from Cairo to Abu Simbel. A journey about 17 days leads us to Egypt, the country at the longest river of the world with its singular culture and history. We will begin in Cairo, the largest city in Africa with approx.. 18 million inhabitants. Here in the political centre of the country there are numerous interesting sights worth a visit Cairo The Egyptian museum offers a selection of statues, gold objects from temples and funeral places as for example the treasure of the Pharaoh Tutanchamun with its unique gold mask. Afterwards one can visit the medieval citadel in old Cairo with the interesting Alabaster Mosque, which was established by Mohammed Ali. It is considered as a jewel of the Islamic art. From the terrace of the mosque one has a impressive view over old Cairo with the two mosques Er Rifai and Sultan Hassan. You can get another impressive view over modern Cairo from Cairo Tower on the island Gezira. In old Cairo we can go to the Khan el Kalili market where one finds arts and crafts and souvenirs, in addition also things of the daily life. The pyramids of Giseh at the edge of the city are the only of the 7 world miracles who are still preserved. The pyramid of Cheops, which one can recognize from far, is at the edge of the desert. It is the largest with 227 meters length and a height of 137 meters. The pyramid of Chephren with a height of 133 meters is the best received. The statue of the sphinx is part of a temple in the Nile valley. It is a stone body from lion and human head. It symbolizes the virtue of the Pharaoh and its physical and spiritual strength. The pyramid of Mykerinos is the smaller of the 3 pyramids made from granite blocks. Abu Simbel The journey goes far by flight to Abu Simbel to the temple from Ramses II. This wonderful building is 297 kilometres south of Aswan at the border to the Sudan. It was dug by Ramses II as a centre of the admiration of the God Amon and Ra-Harate 55 meters deeply into a mountain. Four seat statues of the king with a height of 20 meters expect the first sunlight of the morning. Beside the temple is the small temple of the God Hathor and the Queen Nefertari, the woman of Ramses II. One should not miss here the Sound and Light Show. The temple of Abu Simbel was saved in a world-wide relief work from flooding by building of the Nasser dam. Aswan Aswan is a modern city close to the famous island Elephantine, which formed in former times the border between the old Egypt and the Nubian Empire. Here one can visit the incomplete obelisk in the quarries. The obelisk were brought from here up to Cairo. For the temple Philae we cross the old dam and traverse by boat to the island Egelikia. Here you can find now after its rescue before the floating water the temple of Philae dedicated to the goddess Isis. This temple is one the most beautiful in completely Egypt. Luxor East Luxor we reach by train from Aswan in 3 hours. Here we visit the temple of Karnak, the largest temple of the old world with 134 columns with Egyptian Hieroglyphic. The temple of Luxor is dedicated to the woman of the God Amon Ra, the goddess Mut. It was built during the XVIII dynasty and terminated by Ramses II, whose statues you can find in the whole temple. < We reach Luxor west with the crossing of the Nile. Here lies the valley of the kings lies, with graves in the rock. Here so far 64 graves of Pharaohs and kings were discovered. To them belongs the most important Ramses II, Ramses III, Nefertari and Tutenchamun. The graves are richly decorated with designs. To the temple of the Hatschepsut we come by foot from the valley of the kings. The temple is built in 3 terraces in front of a natural cliff of 300 meters. At the walls you can find reliefs of the famous expedition to the country Punt. The colossal Memnon Statues are statues of Amenofis III and formed the entrance to the death temple. Hurghada In Hurghada one can explore some days the well-known water world of the Red Sea at the end of the journey. Water activities as diving and snorkelling are possible. Also at a visit to the island of Gifton different fish and corals can be observed.   >> regard photos          >> info main-page