Above is the huge Ramses II statue at the GEM in Cairo.
Last day in Egypt and it was an early start, 7.45 on the coach, for the transfer back to the airport for our flight back from Luxor to Cairo.
Everyone on two very familiar dash 8's. The airports are still crazy, so much screening.
We are staying at a hotel closer to the airport. We went straight there for lunch.
This below is the beautiful, if a bit Disney like, foyer.
The room was a bit ordinary with a dreadful view. But maybe I'm getting a bit spoiled.
Before I move on to our last Egyptian adventure I'll record our adventures of this hotel.
We had a really early start the next day for Jordan. We had to have the bags outside our door at 3.30am and were departing at 4am.
Just as we were going to bed for an early night a fuse blew an our room had no power. We had to have the hotels electrician fix it. Then the people in the adjoining room talked and smoked until the early hours. And that pyramid in the above photo had a disco going! Arrrgh!
(So many smokers in Egypt. We've forgotten what its like to sit in a restaurant when people are smoking)
So now to jump back to this afternoons excursion, and we end our Egypt tour the way it started with a museum.
Grand Egyptian Museum - GEM
-------------------------
I didn't take the above photo because I couldn't get it all in a shot, but what a beautiful building.
I did take these below, the tiles are pyramids, and ingots with hieroglyphs.
Its so new its not yet finished!
(Its grand opening day was to be in July 2025, but it has been postponed since mainly due to an escalation of troubles in the Middle East. (which luckily for us on the 24th May 2025 was still bubbling away and didn't explode into all out mayhem until we were safely home. Not a great look to be throwing a big party when people in a neighboring country are being bombed and starving to death...)
It is one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen and I'm sure in the future will become one of the greatest museums in the world.
They have great website, go and visit and you can tour virtually.
https://grandegyptianmuseum.org/
They intend to move Tutankhamen here with his grave goods to a special purpose built gallery. (Which I'm sure they will charge extra to enter). YAY, we've already met the superstar Pharaoh.
The future plan is to maybe have all the tour coaches start here, tourists to visit the GEM and then be somehow taken to the pyramids. Stopping the thousands of coaches that must be polluting Giza and damaging the pyramids. Also controlling the number of tourists, and maybe the Egyptians will charge a bit more for this trip, I bet its more than 'one dolla'.
The view to Giza, some parts of the GEM are still a work in progress.
Bye bye Pyramids!
Well, lets finish the way we started with the female Pharaoh, Hatshesput.
So that's the Egypt leg of the trip finished and tomorrow we fly to Jordan. I'm feeling a bit tired and homesick at this point and sort of regret adding on this extra trip. But its booked and paid for so off we go for a few more days.
My favourite Egypt bits
---------------------------
1/ The Nile River is wide and stunning. Without the river there would be no Egypt as its like a life blood. One green strip running up the middle of a vast desert.
2/ The temples and tombs. Especially The Valley of the Kings. All the beautiful decorations and the stories they told about the Pharaohs and Gods and goddesses.
3/ The beautiful ship the Osiris and how well Viking looks after its guests.
I didn't mention the pyramids or the Spinx here, because although they are stunning they look just like they do in pictures! Been there, done that, tick it off the bucket list...
My least favourite Egypt bits
------------------------------
1/ The 'Vultures'. Aggressive shop owners who get right in your face. Also other people who expect a "one dolla" tip for any little thing. If people weren't so demanding we would have bought more and tipped more.. Whenever we did spend money on souvenirs we came away feeling incredibly ripped off. (Except for the grand-daughters beaded necklaces that we bought on the little motor boat on the way to Philae Temple, these were a good buy and we didn't have to barter).
2/ Airports. Absolutely chaotic. Thank goodness for the Viking people helping us negotiate these.
3/ Heat, feeling hot, hot, hot... Nobody can help the weather of course. But when your blouse is so wet with sweat that its like a damp rag and when you return to the ship you can hardly peel it off..... Arrrgh.
Look out Jordan, here we come....