12 minute read
It’s 2 weeks since we returned from our 12-day trip to Egypt, and I’m still feeling its sun, its energy, its sense of awe, of people turned gods on earth. Ancient Egypt has been my favorite historical era since primary school. I’ve read several books about pharaohs, particularly about Ramses II, and of course played computer games like Age of Mythology. My mom wanted to visit it for a long time as well. We also wanted to do a trip somewhere sunny during the usually depressing month of November… and so it was decided – Egypt!
It’s really cool that one of my breakdancing friends Katarina’s dad is Egyptian – so they recommended the perfect tour agency for us – Gremo V Egipt. It’s a boutique agency run by a Slovenian woman named Nada with her Egyptian husband Talaat. I let my mom decide which things she wanted to see and they fitted them as best as they could in our 12-day itinerary. My wishes were quite modest (I think) – I didn’t want to share the room with my mom, and two “rest” days with no activities planned, preferably at a hotel with a gym. Two weeks of 24/7 sightseeing is just tiring, I see no point in holidays if you come back more tired than you left.
Nada prepared a lovely pdf with the plan for us. That’s when I first started to get really excited. Even the small, low-res pictures on it looked amazing. Floating in a salt lake in Siwa Oasis 70m under the sea level. The biggest temple complex in the world Karnak. Cairo and the pyramids of Giza. Exploring and then camping in the desert. Whoa… this is going to be epic!
A week or so before my mom and I were supposed to fly from Ljubljana via Istanbul to Cairo, I actually decided I wanted to go “destroy my legs” as my friend Sarah used to call it. I did it at a techno party in Budapest. Fideles, Joris Voorn, Nto, Dubfire… I mean the lineup was sick. So I met up with Misha, danced till 7 freaking AM, and then slept for a few hours till 1PM. At 2 I was on the way to the airport, for a direct flight to Cairo.
My mom and the agency’s rep Mohamed were already waiting for me. Mohamed had the visa for me and got me into the fast cue for passport check. He helped us with our bags and took us to the van that was waiting for us. The drive to the hotel took about half an hour, and we already started to notice that traffic was insane in Egypt. We checked in at the hotel, which was quite meh to be honest, but then we came to its terrace for some food. And boom – the pyramids of Giza open before us, seemingly at the reach of our hands. Welcome to Egypt!
Day 2 was all about the Pyramids and the Sphinx. Our lovely guide Malak (woman’s name) and a driver were waiting for us at 9am in front of the hotel. Check out and we’re on our way… It was mega sunny and really warm, about 25 degrees celsius. Much different to the sunless and cold November in Slovenia. We rode camels, I even kind of surfed on one, we saw all the pyramids, my mom entered the biggest one too. I passed because I’m somewhat claustrophobic. While she was inside I talked to Malak and learned people don’t make much money in Egypt. A full month’s salary could be as little as $200… it’s crazy. I told myself I should tip well…
We spent most of day 3 on the road. I think it was about 8 hours of driving. After we got out of Cairo, there was literally nothing around us for miles and miles. Just us, some other vehicles and a lot of sand. We spent the night at a truly beautiful eco-hotel ran by a lady from the US. She warmly welcomed us and briefly told us her story of how she ended up in the middle of Egypt running a hotel… The dinner was yummy, some chicken with rice, and an interesting barley soup. My mom went to bed, and I walked around for another hour or two. It was too early for bed, and I was missing movement. It’s hard for me to just sit still all day…
On day 4 two Beduin drivers picked us up at 9am at the hotel in their Toyota Land Cruiser. You can tell that the vehicle was made for off-road driving. It just looked so sturdy and solid. We saw the black dessert, the crystal mountain and then ventured into the white dessert. I could write pages just about this day, but suffice it to say it was a mix of magical and extremely frustrating. Magical because it was so beautiful. The sand sculptures in the white desert that the wind carved over thousands of years are just awe inspiring. A lot of them looked like rock mushrooms, but there were rabbits, ice cream cones and more. Nature, baby! If you looked quickly, the white dessert also looked a lot like icy-snowy landscape, except it wasn’t. Last thing about the magic – the energy of the deserts was so powerful. It was extremely calm, think high mountaintop calm. Yet carried some energy of the endless sea too. Sand and stone everywhere you look. Deserts used to be the bottom of the ocean floor…
It was annoying because the drivers were apparently best bros, and couldn’t stop talking in loud Arabic. I tried to ignore it for a few hours, but they kept going. Like two freaking high-school girls. They literally talked ad nauseum for about 7 hours. After lunch I started to complain, use my headphones, even got into a small fight with my mom cus she said I was overreacting. Close to sunset she finally agreed with me that it was horrible. I literally told the guy “you talk way too much, can you guys be quiet please, at least till the camp?” I could tell he really really didn’t like that, the atmosphere turned icy, but I didn’t care. Finally peace!!
Oh, btw, I sandboarded on a sand dune that day too. Pretty fun, but doesn’t go very fast.
That night we were camping in the desert. Guess what, more chicken and rice. I had started to get a feeling I will have way too much chicken and rice on this trip. I also had horrible diarrhea that night. From all the nights, this was the only one where we camped, seriously? So basically I would shiver for an hour in my sleeping bag covered with all the blankets and fully dressed inside, then when I couldn’t hold it anymore go out, walk to the portable toilet, take a runny shit, and then repeat every 2h. However, on the way back to my tent, I’d always stay for 5-10min to observe the stars and the moon. It was sooo beautiful! At first it was just the stars, and you can really really see them. And once the moon came up it illuminated the entire sky, whoa.
I woke up pretty weak, but luckily the diarrhea started to get better. I’ve also gotten some local drug called “Atinal” which works wonders. Much better than your standard imodium I’ve gotten to know in Thailand where I usually always get a minor infection in the first days. We ate breakfast in the desert (epic view!), which for me was just a Coke and a piece of bread lol. We drove out of the desert and waited for the driver at the rendezvous point. Mom and I were really happy to get rid of the Bedouin drivers. Btw, in retrospect – we just got unlucky. All of our other guides were great. I mean sure, Arabic men just talk really loud, but I am also a bit AD/HD and loud noises (that are not Techno) bother me more than the majority of people. I felt horrible that day, but now it’s all mostly forgotten.
Anyway, then we drove to Alexandria by a Siwan driver named Ramadan. Ramadan was really cool! He took us to some fish restaurant that was the BEST meal of the trip, and possibly of the whole year 2024. We had squid, octopus, various fish, king prawns – massive quantities of everything. And it was prepared so yummy, oh my god!!! We were feasting like kings and queens for almost 2 hours and were then barely able to walk. Good thing about fish feast is that the meat is kind of light, so you digest it pretty fast, and also full of protein. So if you go beastmode on something, that’s probably one of the healthier choices.
Oh btw, when I paid the bill I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was something like $30. And to think Ramadan said that this was a little more expensive restaurant before we went…
Anyway we spent the night in The Tolip hotel in Alexandria – next day was the rest day. Whoa, a 5 star hotel. Sure, it was a little outdated, but the glory of the past days still shined bright. Massive diamond like chandelier in the lobby, high ceilings, beautiful walls, friendly staff. We were in heaven. And to tell you honestly, it felt so good to properly shower after the desert, to sleep in a comfy bed. I’ve even did a random biz call that night, as it just popped up.
The hotel had 5 restaurants inside, so we went into the Italian one. The decor was legit, but the food was horrible. Mom’s pizza was just… I mean if I buy a frozen pizza in a supermarket in Slovenia it turns out a million times better than what that thing was. My pasta Bolognese was just okay too. And we paid more for these 2 dishes than the full fish dinner lol. There’s fancy for you.
Next day I gloriously did nothing. I slept till almost noon, caught up on my social media and just chilled. In the afternoon I wanted to go to the beach as Alexandria is next to the sea – it’s where the Library of Alexandria used to be. Well still is, but it isn’t a wonder of the world anymore. I needed about 20 min to cross the road, because people drive like maniacs there. I was literally afraid for my life, it was also 5 lanes on each side so… I just kind of observed what other people do and sort of followed suit when a bigger group decided to cross. I did find a beach, but I needed to enter through a hotel – turns out most beaches are private there. I don’t like that at all, plus the beach looked kind of dirty. (Especially as I sit here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with the Caribbean sea around me…) So I just went back to the hotel and proceeded to chill.
Next day Ramadan picked us up and we drove almost all day to the Siwa Oasis. A lot of sand and roads. We did stop on the way at Cleopatra’s Beach in Mersa Mutrih, which was pretty cool to see. But mostly just road and driving.
But when we arrived in Siwa we knew we came somewhere special. It’s a proper oasis. Basically a small town in the desert, because there is water. We checked in at this gorgeous eco hotel. I’ll let pictures speak for themselves but it was kind of like teleporting a few centuries into the past, both mom and I loved it. And there was a special energy around there too.
We’ve stayed in Siwa the longest, I think 3-4 days, and we weren’t bored at all. My favorite part was the salt lakes. You see, Siwa Oasis is a depression. It means it’s below the level of the sea. And there’s a massive salt lake there. So they basically bring huge machines, dig up small pools, and then let the water dry up – and salt remains. Again, pictures will tell you a lot more than words, but it’s really cool. Also, because of the massive amount of salt in the water, you literally float on that water. It’s kind of like Float Center Ljubljana, the floating pod business I opened in May 2024 in Slovenia. Natural floating, whoa!
We’ve also went to salt caves where they buried us in salt for 30 min, apparently for health properties. I really liked it and fell asleep, and my mom wasn’t the biggest fan.
Btw, and this point – massive kudos to my mom. She was so excited all the time and wanted to try everything. I mean she was climbing with us around Cleopatra’s beach, she rode the camel, she entered the Pyramid, I mean this woman is fearless hehe. I was also thinking it would be a lot harder to co-exist with her for so long. I think I have never spent so long together with her since I was a kid. It wasn’t hard at all. We gave each other space, or rather she gave me space as seems like I need more of it, and like my long loner moments in the day.
We also visited the Shali fortress, which was really really cool. The view from up there was awesome, and it looked like something out of a movie or video game. Kind of like a massive ant house, but for people lol. We’ve also seen the Mountain of the Dead, and Cleopatra’s Pool (she was quite famous in Egypt). I also hiked some hills close to the eco hotel because I was healthy again and had too much energy. I also decided to cut coffee there and it was a great experience.
One of my (and I think the same for mom) favorite moments was the sunset in the desert in Siwa. Our lovely guide Ahmed that was with us for 3 days, definitely not the typical loud Arabic guy lol, took us around that day, and then into the beginning of the Sahara desert. I sand boarded again, but meh, it wasn’t so cool. It’s just not fast enough, only good for IG lol. But then we just sat there on the dune, observing the red ball of fire going down. It was so, so beautiful. And I was really happy to be there with my mom. It’s that kind of moment that you can’t repeat, it’s priceless. Even some stray doggo came over somehow, no idea how he found us there, but he joined and sat with us. And he was very happy to be petted by both of us as well. When we left, we thought he’d kind of follow us… but he just left too. I guess he “used us” and was then on his way lol.
Oh, we’ve also seen the Oracle temple in which Alexander the Great got some dope advice. Nice.
Next day we drove for a few hours till we came to the Jaz Almaza Resort – another rest day. A beautiful 5 star resort with the most amazing beach – but it was too cold to go in the sea. It was mad windy, and I was slightly coldish even with a sweater. So we had a great lunch – I think we went for burgers lol. We both chilled on our own, again, a nice shower, comfy bed. I hit the gym too.
I was starting to get a little tired of just hopping from place to place, but we only had a few days left. And apparently the best for the last – Luxor and Karnak – the world’s largest temple complex.
We left the Almaza resort after lunch and drove to Cairo. Jumped on a plane. Well actually I bought 7 salt lamps in Siwa, and then security at the airport thought I had bombs lol. So that took a while to clear, but luckily our agency airport rep Mohamad was there with us and helped to clear the confusion.
Luxor was amazing from the first moment – I would have loved to spend more time there in retrospect. We checked in at this lovely hotel with the view of the Nile – what a majestic river. Super nice dinner and then off to bed – busy day tomorrow.
We woke up and went to Karnak. WHAAAAATTTT. I’ve seen Rome, and it’s epic. I’ve seen Athens and the Acropolis. I’ve seen the Mexican pyramids in Chichen Itza and Teotihuacan, I’ve seen many golden Thai temples and large Buddhas. But let me tell you, Karnak is something else. Those massive painted columns, over 5 thousand years old (or more), it’s just mind blowing. When you walk around there, you can get a sense of how majestic this was back then. I mean it’s still majestic today, and this is in time of the Burj Khalifa. But I can just imagine how people felt there thousands of years ago. It was only possible that the gods made all that, not mere men.
So yeah, the Egyptians, damn, they did things on a scale. There are obelixs, which are dozens of meters long granite stones – made from a single piece of granite. There were massive stone sculptures of pharaohs and their gods.There was the sphinx promenade, which features a path from Karnak to Luxor temple, and there were thousands of sphynx on each side every couple of meters the whole way.
I mean I’m a little tired of writing this long piece, but Karnak was by far the most epic ancient world thing I’ve seen, and maybe my favorite man-made building ever.
And then in the evening we went for a sunset sail on the Faluka, the traditional Egyptian sailboat. I mean, it was so beautiful it was corny. The river, the sunset, the Hibiscus tea, the smooth movement of the sailboat on the river. So, so beautiful. We have a few pics from there when both mom and I look truly happy. What a nice day, I still can’t believe it.
Next day we woke up and then a little more tourist stuff before the airport. First we checked out the temple of Queen Hatchepsut on the West Bank. There’s this thing in Luxor where everything is divided into East and West Banks of the river Nile. Everyone lives in the East, because the West is (was) reserved for the dead. Anyway, a really cool temple and cool history too. Traditionally the rules of Egypt were men, but Hatchepsut was a clever little girl and managed to become a female Pharaoh. It’s also where I had 2 tickets to Circle shows with Adriatique playing and I didn’t go… ah well.
We’ve also seen the Valley of the Dead and entered 3 crypts of various pharaohs. Pretty cool too. But at this point we’ve seen SO MUCH epic stuff, we were literally too full of epicness. Like the heart and mind could take no more lol.
Evening flight, check in at the airport hotel. Both mom and I really wanted some none chicken and rice food lol, we went for Italian. Fancy restaurant. Horrible pizza again… what is it with these people lol.
Anyway, and this is how our adventure finished. It’s kind of fitting that I am destroyed after writing all this, because I was destroyed at the end of the trip too. But it was so-so amazing, and I’d never change it for anything in the world. We got to connect with my mom, and we’ve both finally seen Egypt. It’s majestic and awesome, and I will surely be back.
At this point, I’d like to give massive thanks to Nada and Talaat from Gremo v Egipt for organising this for us. Honestly, the price was nothing compared to a lifetime of memories and experiences we’ve gotten, not to mention a ton of very cool pictures and videos. I highly recommend you book with them, because going on this trip solo and with no local guides, I have no doubt would not be even close to what it was for us.
Plz LMK if you read all the way to the end. I was literally working on this piece for 2 months and sat down 3-4 times to write and it was very hard to finish. But a lot of people said they want to know how it was etc, so I’ve decided to put it on the blog…
Anyway, take care, and please put Egypt on your bucket list, I can guarantee you won’t be sorry. And bring diarrhea pills lol 😀
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