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This is apparently a real McDonalds - it’s in Kristiansand, Norway. McDonalds wants to be the little hamburger that could.

Nigella Lawson has done the near impossible - make me disinterested in a cooking show. “Nigella” which is now shown on ArtsCentral features Nigella cooking with celebrities such as Val Kilmer, Brooke Shields and Joan Rivers. This is a schizophrenic show.

The cooking is kept fairly basic because Nigella has to switch between preparing food and chatting with the celeb who sits nearby watching her. Half the time I’m worried she will scald herself or something. The camera switches between the salad mix and Val Kilmer’s face - so annoying.

At some point in the cooking, Nigella will invite the celeb to help out with cutting up the vegetables for about 10 seconds so that the celeb won’t feel totally useless. After the perfunctory cooking lesson, they move to another part of the studio where 2 other people join in a chat with the celebrity and it becomes a talk show.

British talk shows are some of the most boring western TV you will encounter. The host is boring, the audience is boring, the set up and lighting of the studio is boring and everything just makes even the most exciting guest boring. I wonder if Nigella’s cooking skills are up-to-scratch enough for her to carry off a real cooking show all by herself.

nigella cooking TV

Continued from Day 8: Back to life, back to reality

The cruise ship that served as our mobile hotel for the first 4 nights in Egypt is the SS Miriam. Consisting of 3 decks of cabins, a lower deck which serves as the dining room and a sundeck, the cruise ship is one of many that ply the tourist route on the River Nile. I would say our ship lies in the middle class level as I see other ships more luxurious than the SS Miriam but also quite a few which are way more run down. There’s really nothing much to complain about the cruise ship. The fittings and decor are a bit faux luxurious but they try. And because this mobile hotel brings us to our next attraction while we sleep, a lot of time is saved plus we don’t have to sit for hours in the coach everyday. This way of holidaying is perfect.

The cabin itself is not big and is more utilitarian than luxurious but it serves its purpose. At least there are amenities like a hairdryer and when you ask for something from housekeeping, they appear almost instantaneously.

The sundeck is quite comfortable with a wading pool and covered areas with lots of deck chairs and some exercise treadmills and bicycles for those who want to work out after all that sumptuous food served on board. Having coffee and cake on the sundeck in the evening cruising on the Nile with a cool breeze blowing and enjoying the river scene is a really nice experience.

Food is Mediterranean buffet with wide varieties of delicious salads, breads, cheeses and choice of meats. The desserts are many kinds of pastries and fruits which always includes oranges. Oranges and mandarins are everywhere in Egypt.

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travel package tour egypt

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Continued from Day 8: Alexandria - city by the Mediterranean

LAST MEAL IN EGYPT
We have our dinner at this funky nightclub which has a restaurant above it. I guess they want to end our tour on a good last impression. Back at the hotel, we do some last minute shopping at a supermarket 2 minutes’ walk away from our Grand Pyramids Hotel. There is a bakery in the supermarket and some buy boxes of date pastries. It poses quite a challenge as numbers in Egypt are in arabic numerals - not roman numerals.

CHECK OUT
The next morning, it’s check out time and at around 12.30pm we board the bus to the airport. By the time our luggage is checked, boarding passes issued and passports verified, it is almost time to board our flight to Doha at 3.30pm. A word about the Grand Pyramids Hotel - it looks 5-star but the service is anything BUT. More on this when I post on the SS Miriam cruise ship later.

Strangely, although we feel a little sad about our vacation coming to an end, there is also this sense of relief about heading home. It could also be because we are running out of clean clothes.

Continue: On the good ship, the SS Miriam.
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Continued from Day 7: The spectacular pyramid sound and light show - NOT!

DAY 8: ALEXANDRIA
We take a 3.5hr bus ride to Alexandria today. This is the 2nd long bus ride of the tour. All holidays should be like this - minimal bus rides and hotel changes. Situated along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, Alexandria is rather European in its architecture. And all that sea front property - so prime but so run down.

Our first stop is the Roman Amphitheatre ruins. Since I have already seen The Mother Of All Amphitheatres - the Colosseum in Rome, plus lots of other Greek and Roman amphitheatres, this one does not impress me that much although it is quite nice.

POMPEY’S PILLAR
After an interesting bus ride through the market street of Alexandria, we reach Pompey’s Pillar. Nothing much to see here. Just a column and 2 sphinxes. These ones have the Christian coptic crosses on their heads as a sign of Christian influence in Alexandria. They are still digging in the area. One wrong footing sends you tumbling downhill. We tread very carefully on the rocky rubble.

QAIT BAY’S FORT
Next are some rather uninteresting sights that we drive by - some mosques and monuments, I don’t even remember their significance. Whatever. The city itself is more interesting to me. We stop by Qait Bay’s Fort supposedly constructed from the rubble of the destroyed Alexandria Lighthouse - one of the ancient wonders. The Mediterranean is really nice and some people are fishing right where waves crash onto the promenade. (Main picture)

KING FAROUK’S PALACE
After a seafood lunch at a restaurant by the Mediterranean promenade, the bus takes us to King Farouk’s Palace. Looks nice enough, but after you have seen the temples at Abu Simbel and the Giza pyramids, this palace has a tough act to follow. I don’t bother to trudge up the hill to the grounds. Then it is time to start our 4 hour bus ride back to Cairo.

Continue Day 9 and 10: Back to life, back to reality

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Continued from Day 6: Crawlspaces, pyramids and sphinxes

DAY 7: TIME TO COVER UP
We visit the Citadel of Salah Eldin which is a copy of the Blue Mosque in Turkey. Quite spectacular. A few in our group who are not fully covered up are given long capes to wear. There is a spectacular view of Cairo city from this hilltop. Everything is brown and dusty from neglect and pollution.

We have roasted pigeon stuffed with basmati rice for lunch. It looks plump in the picture but there is really very little meat. It’s all rice. Quite a few of us are not loving it, myself included. The rice tastes fine but unless you really dig in by slurping the flavour of the pigeon bones, it gets boring very fast.

THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
No cameras are allowed within the premises of the Egyptian Museum so we leave our cameras in the bus under the care of the driver. All the King Tut treasures are here, including the famous gold mask and multiple sarcophaguses. We decide not to go into the royal mummies room which is an extra fee. I had seen a mummies exhibition before while in Spain a few years back.

OFF TO THE BAZAAR WE GO
Cairo’s largest bazaar is the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. It’s a maze there and we take our bearings from the clock tower there. We don’t have much time to browse - only 1.5 hours. According to our original schedule, we are suppose to have the whole afternoon to shop. However, we suspect that we are only given a short time here as the local guide does not get any commission from our shopping here. The sights and sounds here are more interesting to me than the wares on sale which are mostly tourist souvenirs.

THE PYRAMID SOUND & LIGHT RIP-OFF SHOW
This optional show costs US$35. Very expensive but we expect a good show. It is a laser light and sound show at night at the pyramids. It is a total rip-off. The show is boring and the laser effects amateurish. Maybe this is the exact same show designed 20 years ago when laser lights are state-of-the-art technology and they have not changed it since. Not even the mighty pyramids can save this dud of a show. You can almost hear the sighs of relief after the 1 hour show comes to an end. Applause is little and feeble - probably made by the attendants themselves. Don’t waste your time and money on this crap!

Continue Day 8: Alexandria - city by the Mediterranean

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com

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Continued from Day 5: A 3am wake-up call for Abu Simbel

DAY 6: CAIRO
We reach Cairo railway station at round 7am and set off immediately to Memphis to see the colossal statue of Ramses II and the alabaster sphinx - this is the 2nd largest sphinx after the one in Giza.

After that we are off to see the Step Pyramid of Sakkara. The wind is blisteringly cold. Here is where you need your thick jackets and scarf or shawl to keep out sand. The strong cold winds and sandy air force us to retreat to our bus. We are not fully prepared for the transition from 30 degree Celsius temperatures to 12 degrees.

FUNKY T-SHIRT BROS
Another pitstop to buy stuff. This shop sells t-shirts made from fine Egyptian cotton. Pity the designs are mostly tacky. Still, we spend about an hour here with most of us buying t-shirts from the children’s section. They make these tourist t-shirts for Caucasians, you can tell.

LUNCH IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMIDS
We break for a very nice lunch at the Caviar Restaurant which is near the Giza Pyramids. What a feeling - having a delicious lunch with the pyramids just outside your window.

“DO NOT CLIMB THE PYRAMID”
There is a short 15 minute drizzle, something of a miracle in dry Egypt. It helps to cool things down but more importantly, helps to clear the air of dust. Fine sand dust is EVERYWHERE. The Pyramids of Giza are of course a must-see when you go to Egypt but what a sad state they are in. There is rubbish and litter everywhere and when the wind blows, WATCH OUT. You get rubbish and sand in your face.

We do the tourist thing, riding on camels. It’s quite high up on the camel and you need the help of the camel boy to command the camel to kneel down before you can get off without hurting yourself. Stories abound of how some independent travellers get stuck on the camel when they refuse to give in to extortion by the camel minders. Our tips are included in the tipping pool of US$65 we handed to our Egyptian tour guide at the beginning of the tour, so we don’t have to deal with this hassle. Even then, the camel minder tries his luck and asks for a tip after we get off the camel. We just say “Hazeem”, who is our local guide. They don’t come after us.

CRAWLING INTO THE PYRAMID
A group of us opt to go inside the 2nd pyramid which is open to visitors. This is an extra fee of 25 pounds (US$5). Those who are very unfit or freak out in small spaces should know that it is quite taxing physically. The elderly will face some problems, as well as those who are big-sized. It gets very stuffy and hot inside the pyramid. Cameras are not allowed.

You descend into the pyramid in a sloping angle of about 30 degrees. The size of the square tunnel is about 1 metre square. This 1 metre space is shared by a line of people entering the pyramid and another line of people exiting. You have to stoop and bend your waist almost in half to enter the tunnel. Your face is facing the butt of the person in front of you. It gets even smaller further in - you basically crawl along on your knees till you reach an airspace where you can stand straight up and walk.

Then it’s more crawling until you reach the chamber where the empty sarcophagus is. Across the chamber walls are huge letters written in the 1800s by the man who discovered this chamber proclaiming his find. He has basically defaced the burial chamber. Then it’s more enclosed space as you make your way out. Sometimes there is a people jam and you get stuck and breathless.

“IF YOU BUY, YOU ARE WELCOME. IF YOU DON’T BUY, YOU ARE ALSO WELCOME. BUT IF YOU BUY, YOU ARE MORE WELCOME.”
After the pyramids and sphinx, we take a short 5 minute walk to a perfume shop. We are served turkish coffee - which tastes nice if you can get pass the fine sediment present - and peppermint tea while a man gives us the sales pitch on the many varieties of perfume. They even claim they have the equivalent scent of 99% of all famous brand perfumes such as Chanel etc. Quite a lot of people buy but after some consideration, we decide not to.

There is a provision shop next to the bus and we discover bottled water is much cheaper than getting them from the bus driver. Two 1.5L bottles cost 6 pounds compared to two bottles of 500ml for 5 pounds. Our guide tells us we have been upgraded to a 5-star hotel, The Grand Pyramids Hotel instead of the original 4-star Cairo Oasis. Cheers all round.

Continue Day 6: The spectacular pyramid sound and light show - NOT!

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com

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Continued from Day 4: 4,000 year-old crocodiles and a con job

DAY 5: ABU SIMBEL
Abu Simbel is some distance away from the River Nile, so we have to set off in the bus at 3.30am in order to reach there at around 7am. This is one of only two long bus rides we have on the tour, unlike most other tours where it’s a 5 or 6am morning call almost every morning and half day bus rides are the norm. We don’t even have time for breakfast. Anyhow, who eats breakfast at 3am. We are given a breakfast pack which contains enough food for 3 persons.

It is quite overwhelming to finally see the temples in real life - what joy! What awe I feel at the sight of these majestic monuments. It is certainly the highlight of the tour, the yet-to-be-seen Giza Pyramids notwithstanding.
The larger and grander temple is built for Ramses II while the smaller temple is for his favourite wife, Neferteri. These temples are built near the entrance river banks to scare off likely invaders.

The temples have been buried under sand for a long time until they are discovered in the 1800s. You can see grafitti carvings from the 1870s on the leg of one of the statues. Since photos are not allowed inside the temples, we can only take our photos outside.

This scene from 007-The Spy Who Loved Me is in fact filmed inside the bigger temple of Ramses II. The area is cordoned off and you can only stand about 4 metres away from the statues which represent 3 gods and Ramses II himself in an effort to position himself as one of the gods. Once you go to the film location do you realise how ridiculous these films are as far as setting up your communications centre inside a 4,000 year old monument really is.

ON THE BOAT AGAIN
After returning to the cruise ship for lunch, we have some free time before we going for our felucca boat ride which is mostly a waste of time. We have 2 cabins for our use; to shower before our overnight train ride to Cairo as we have officially checked out of the cruise ship and no longer have our rooms to go to.

The felucca ride is just for the experience of sitting in an open top sailboat which is commonly used by the Nubans for fishing and transport. We sail around what I presume are The Elephantine Islands which in fact we already did the day before when we went to the Nuban Village. This time though, we just made a circle around here and there and then returned to port. Even on the felucca, we are sold souvenirs and stuff. We also order some hieroglyphic pendants from our local guide, Hazeem.

Our overnight train to Cairo is, according to our guide, “the best overnight train in Egypt”. Woah…Houston, we have a problem. It is grubby, musty and has braking problems. It jerks ever so often, so forget about getting any decent amount of sleep. We are served a tray of cold, hard and grey food that I leave mostly untouched. The cabin is not terribly spacious as expected but magically transforms into a double bed bunk by our train steward after the dinner trays are collected. The toilet is best unused unless it comes down to life and death situations.

Continue Day 6: Crawlspaces, pyramids and sphinxes

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com except “The Spy Who Loved Me” movie still.

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Continued from Day 2: Valleys of The Kings and Queens

“HALLO! ESSCUUZZ ME!”
The Nile River is overrun by small boats selling printed fabrics and Egyptian costumes. The cruise ship has slowed down since it is reaching the Esna Lock where it must queue up to cross the lock. This is slated to happen at around 3am. Some people are going to get up at 3am to witness this. I intend to sleep right through the whole thing. As it turns out, there is some delay and the ship only gets to cross the lock at around 9am.

These small boats latch themselves onto the cruise ship, no doubt with help from cruise staff, and get pulled alongside the ship. Soon though, the cruise ship slows down to a halt and more small boats appear, hollering “Hallo! Esscuuzz me!” to passengers on the sundeck. They toss the packets of fabrics up to the sundeck with astonishing precision. The passengers toss them back if they don’t like what they see.

However, many end up in the Nile since we are not accustomed to tossing stuff 4 storys (3 floors cabin plus the sundeck) overboard. But the hawkers do not really try to salvage those that land out of reach - they just let the wares float away. I will include a video of this as soon as I figure out how to do it.

DAY 3: HORSE CARRIAGE RIDE TO HORUS TEMPLE

We take the horse-drawn carriage to Horus Temple (also known as Edfu Temple) which is quite a nice experience. Edfu has some very nice street scenes and I managed to capture some even though it is hard to get a sharp image on the move. What would be nicer though is that the carriage drive through the side roads so we can see the everyday life of countryside Egyptians.

Horus Temple is impressive with a lot of intact hieroglyphics and carvings. This temple has also been used as a hideout for early Christians to avoid persecution by the Romans. Their coptic crosses can be seen on the walls. They are also responsible for defacing a large number of wall carvings. This place can easily be used for the next Indiana Jones movie.

We only get to see one place today because of the unforseen delay at the Esna Lock. The ship didn’t get to cross over till late morning and so we only arrive at Edfu after lunch.

Continue Day 4: 4,000 year-old crocodiles and a con job

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com

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Continued from Day 1: A temple. church and mosque

DAY 2: Luxor / Edfu

It’s an early 5am morning call for the bus ride to The Valley Of The Kings. The air is cool but very quickly becomes hot as the sun comes up. Along the way, we pass the house of Howard Carter - the man who discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamon - on top of a hill, now left unused.

DOWN IN THE TOMBS
The best time to visit The Valley is as early as possible before the crowds start and before the sun gets too hot. Still it is very hot. Our ticket entitles us to fixed visits to 3 tombs of 3 different Ramses, but unfortunately not the most important king, Ramses II which is under restoration. A plastic model in the main building shows the maze of tombs under the valley which helps in configuring the relative locations of the tombs. There are still many tombs to be discovered since some known kings’ tombs have not yet been found. Entrance to King Tut’s tomb costs an additional 60 pounds (about US$15). However entrance fees change at will and differ from time to time.

The stairs down into the tombs are quite steep and can be taxing for the elderly. It is quite cool inside the tombs and the walls are cold to the touch. No photos are allowed inside the tombs. The caretakers at the entrance of each tomb tears off 2 corners and the middle portion of the ticket with each tomb entry. A primitive yet effective way of regulating your entry. The human lines go into the tombs in a single file, make a circle around the tomb and go out in a single file. There isn’t much room inside the tombs. The walls and ceilings of the tombs are covered with paintings and hieroglyphics. It’s a definite worthwhile experience to go inside the tombs.

THE ONLY FEMALE FULL PHAROAH OF EGYPT

The Queen Hatshepsut Temple (pronounce “Hak-chek-soup”) is on the other side of the hills of The Valley Of The Kings. Queen Hatshepsut is the only female full pharoah of Egypt - a legitimate pharoah in her own right. Sadly, her temple has been mostly destroyed by her step-son Tutmosis. What is left now is but a small section of the the original complex. We are taken up the 1km or so road to the temple on a train of carriages pulled by a forklift. This temple is also the site where over 10 years ago, a tour bus full of tourists were machine-gunned down after they got off the bus. Apparently the terrorists rode with them to the temple.

The heat here must have been one of the worst during the time I am in Egypt. I daresay it must have been at least 35 degrees Celsius. I nearly got knocked out from heat exhaustion. On the way out, I bought a map of the River Nile which had illustrations of all the attractions along the Nile for 25 pounds. I got ripped off. I did not check at the time but a similar version is sold for 10 pounds on board the cruise ship.

After Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple, the tour coach made a quick stopover to see the Colossi of Memnon. These statues are huge but very badly damaged and used to flank the entrance to a grand temple. Very sad.

THE ALABASTER SHOP
And it is time to bring the tourists to a tourist shop again. This time, it’s an alabaster shop. They make all kinds of souvenirs out of different types of alabaster. I got a small pyramid made of white alabaster for 60 pounds (US$15). The workmanship could have been better. I’m forced to bargain as in Egypt, bargaining is part of their culture.

COFFEE BREAK
It’s not yet the end of the day but we are already back on the cruise ship, in time for coffee break! We set sail for Edfu and have to cross the Esna Locks. Egyptians really know how to make pastries and desserts - they are delicious.

Continue Day 2: River hawkers and a horse carriage ride

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com

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Continued from Day 1: Review 10 Days Wonders of Egypt

DAY 1: Luxor

NO TIME TO WASTE

It is about 3pm and touring begins immediately with Karnak Temple after we have our McDonald’s lunch. Linked to The Luxor Temple by The Avenue of Sphinxes, this temple is a popular filming location for many Hollywood movies such as “007-The Spy Who Loved Me” and more recently “The Mummy”. Often scenes involve heros and villians playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek among the 134 columns.

Luxor Temple itself is very badly damaged, both from invaders and disrepair over the thousands of years from floods from the River Nile. The facade is mostly in ruin with one of the obelisks cut off by a Muslim king as a present to a French king. It can be found in Paris today. Some restoration works are going on in some parts of the temple. For those surfaces which have not been damaged, they are covered in hieroglyphics.

Surfaces which are underneath beams at the top of the columns, protected from the sun and rain still retain their colours. It’s easy to think that the temples are always in the brown dust colour they are today when in fact, 4,000 years ago, they were decorated in bright colours. Used as a hiding place by early Christians to escape persecution, renaissance style religious frescos can be found next to ancient Egytptian gods. Once buried under silt from the River Nile, a mosque was built on top of Luxor, which is still in use today. So this temple has been used as a place of worship by ancient Egyptians, the Christians and the Muslims at different points in history.Grafitti left by Roman soldiers can be seen on the walls. They didn’t have spray cans back then, so they carved their Roman characters.

The 2 temples are linked by The Avenue Of The Sphinxes - a row of sphinxes with animal heads line the avenue through which religious processions take place between the 2 temples. Restoration works are underway to recreate this 2km long stretch and in future, tourists will be able to walk between Karnak and Luxor Temples.

MAKE THE TOURISTS SPEND SOME MONEY
After this, it is time to get us to spend some money. We are brought to a shop that makes paintings on papyrus - the water reed from the River Nile that ancient Egyptians used to make paper; the plants among which baby Moses was found. First, the soft sell. A guy demonstrates how the papyrus plant which has a long stem with a triangular cross-section (triangles predominate in Egypt - they are a symbol for eternal life).

Basically the stem is stripped lengthwise into many thin layers and laid in horizontal and vertical layers to form a lattice and dried under a heavy stone. The strips stick together to form a parchment. Interesting stuff. Unfortunately I have no photos as they are not allowed in the shop.

The paintings are the typical touristy images - pyramids, hieroglyphics, camels, King Tut etc. All pretty gaudy stuff and just doesn’t match my home decor no matter how you see it. Prices range from around US$20 upwards. Someone bought a large piece of papyrus however, so not all was in vain for both shop owner and the tour guide, who obviously gets sales commission.

CHECK IN, AT LAST
Finally, after almost 24 hours without proper sleep, we are taken to our cruise ship, the SS Miriam to check in at around 6pm. I will write about the SS Miriam in a separate entry.

Continue Day 2: Valleys of The Kings and Queens

Click small images to enlarge. Copyright ©emigrestudio.com except for “The Spy Who Loved Me” movie still.

travel package tour egypt

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I went on a package tour “10 Days Wonders Of Egypt” from Chan Brothers Travel in the beginning of March. We booked the tour package in early January and paid almost S$2,500, including all the different taxes. Another US$65 in total tips is set aside for the various guides, porters, camel boy etc. There are about 30 people in the tour group, including a tour leader from the travel agency.

Overall, it has been a memorable trip with good accommodation and food with little to gripe about. But of course, there are gripes even though as tourists, we can expect to get ripped off at every available opportunity even by our own tour agency. The Egyptian tour agency which handled our group is Spring Tours.

If you visit the Chan Brothers Travel website, you will notice their itinerary differs from what we actually had because of several re-arrangements the local guide did and the delay at the Esna Lock.

The Itinerary

DAY 1 - SINGAPORE / LUXOR (Via Doha)
Karnak Temple, Luxor Temple

DAY 2 - LUXOR / EDFU
Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut Temple, Colossi of Memnon

DAY 3 - EDFU
Horus Temple