Travels around Egypt with stopovers in Crete and Corfu

A visit to Egypt
via Crete and Corfu

March-April 1984

Crete, Greece

25^th March. We flew on BA to Athens then Olympic to Heraklion, Crete.

	We hired a car and drove from Heraklion east to the Venetian port at Rethymnon.
	We drove south to Plakias and west to Malia, where we saw some windmills.
	Then across the Lasithi plateau to Agios Nikolaos ....
	... with its nice harbour and boats.
	We visited Gournia Minoan ruins and the famous Minoan ruins at Knossos. This is the throne room at Knossos.

Cairo, Egypt

30^th March. We flew Olympic via Athens to Cairo and stayed at the Grand Hotel on 26^th July Street.

31^st March. Cairo.

We visited the Egyptian museum .....

... and Nile bridge, and checked out the Railway station. We had tea at the historic Shepheards Hotel on the Nile Corniche.

In the evening we went to the market and had Shawarmas.

1^st April. We visited Islamic Cairo, including Khan el Khalili bazaar, Bab el Futuh, Bab el Nasr and Ezbekiya Garden.

	Bab el Futuh, Islamic Cairo.
	Bab el Futuh.
	Piles of garlic inside Bab el Futuh.
	We had tea at Groppi's on Talaat Harb square (on the left), once the most famous café, tearoom and patisserie in Egypt.

We had dinner in the Cairo tower (£12 each plus drinks at £6).

We got a horse and carriage back to the Grand Hotel for £3 - Jamie drove!

2^nd April.

	We visited Ibn Tulun mosque ....
	.... where we eventually got inside ....
	... and Rifai mosque ...

... the Citadel (£E2) and the nearby Anderson House (£E1).

We met Mohammed Kamal who invited us back for tea to his flat in Gizeh!

We saw the son et lumiere at the Pyramids (£E4).

We visited the luxurious Mina House hotel beside the pyramids and got the bus back to Cairo.

3^rd April. We visited the Hilton hotel and got a taxi to Old Cairo, the Coptic Christian area, where we visited the Coptic museum, Babylon fortress, El Moollaya church and St George's church.

Amr Ibn Al Aas mosque in Fustat, Old Cairo.

We walked to the Nilometer and got a train back to Cairo. Had tea at Groppi's and had dinner at Ali Hassan Al Hathi restaurant.

4^th April.

	We went to the Hilton hotel again and went for a Felucca ride on the Nile.
	Visited Cairo tower to see the view .....

... and got a horse and carriage to the station to get the overnight train to Aswan.

Aswan and Abu Simbel, Egypt

5^th April. We stayed at the Old Cataract hotel, Aswan, and had tea and a swim there. We went on a tour to the unfinished obelisk, the Philae temple and the Old dam (but the new dam was closed). Had dinner at a riverside restaurant.

6^th April.

	We flew to Abu Simbel to see the temples, and back on Egypt Air.

	Back in Aswan we went for a Felucca ride on the Nile.
	Then we got the train to Luxor where we had chicken at the 'Salt and Bread' café by the station.

Luxor, Egypt

7^th April. We stayed at the Grand Hotel, Luxor.

	We visited the Valley of the Kings and some of its tombs - Tutenkhamun, Ramses VI, Horemheb and the 'safe tomb'.
	We visited the Winter Palace hotel and Luxor temple ...
	... and the souks.

8^th April.

	We visited the magnificent Karnak temple.
	Sunbathed and swam at the Winter Palace hotel.

And then got the overnight train back to Cairo.

Alexandria, Egypt

9^th April. Where we got the train on to Alexandria.

	View from the train on the way to Alexandria.
	We stayed at Hotel New Capri, 23 Port Street, with a view of the square below.

We had lunch at a pizzeria, got a tram and a walk to Fort Kait Bey and had a carriage ride to the Amphitheatre.

10^th April.

We visited Fort Kait Bey, on the site of the famous ancient Pharos lighthouse at the mouth of the harbour.

We visited Ras Al Tin, Pompey's pillar, the Catacombs and the Amphitheatre. Ate at 'The Diplomat' Italian restaurant.

11^th to 13^th April. Relaxing in Alexandria. We visited the Montazza palace, had sunbathes on the beach and went for tram rides and had a game of Tavola (backgammon) with people in a café. Had dinner at an Egyptian restaurant near the hotel.

Cairo again, and Suez and Ismailia

14^th April. We got the train back to Cairo and had a Chinese meal.

14^th - 18^th April. We stayed at the Grand Hotel again.

We visited Fort Schulkowski, the Babs (Islamic city gates) ....

	... and the Tombs of the Khalifs.
	Inside one of the tombs of the Khalifs, Cairo.
	We found the Bookbinder's house (Beit Gamal-ad-Din at 6 Hosh Kadam off Sharia Liddin Illah), from directions in a hundred-year old Baedekker guidebook!
	We hired a car for a day and drove to Suez. The car was a wreck, it wouldn't go into reverse gear and we had to ask people to push us out of parking spaces! We drove to Ismailia and saw Lake Timsah, part of the Suez canal system.
Back in Cairo we revisited the Pyramids and Mina House hotel. Then we visited Memphis and Sakkara for yet more pyramids and Ramses statues ......
	Ramses II at Memphis.
	Lord Ti journeys through the papyrus thickets, Tomb of Ti, Sakkara, 2500BC.
	A timeless scene near Sakkara.

Corfu, Greece

19^th April. We flew to Athens on Egypt Air and on to Corfu on Olympic.

	On Sat 21^st April we saw the Easter pot-breaking festival in Kerkyra, where people smash pots by throwing them out of the windows....
	... and looked around Kerkyra town.
	We went to Nissaki at the north end of the island and had a meal opposite Albania.

Went to Paleokastritsa and Kouloura in the north, then down to Marathias, Lefkimi and Kavos in the south ....

.... and back to Vlahema Monastery at Kanoni near the airport.

24^th April. We flew back to Athens on Olympic and on to London on BA.

Shady Motors on the Nile Corniche in Cairo - would you buy a used car from them?!

If you would like to read about our other travels, please click here .....