On Thursday morning, I wake up early and enjoy one last breakfast on the hotel rooftop overlooking the pyramids. After that, I order a taxi to the airport, but the driver’s Uber app crashes, and he asks to use my phone with Google Maps directions to navigate to the airport. In Africa’s largest metropolitan area (with 22 million residents as of 2023), morning traffic is heavy, so an app is essential to find a route that gets you to the airport in reasonable time. At the airpor

On Wednesday, we fly back to Cairo. At Luxor Airport, we once again experience “kindness” in the Egyptian style. The food options in the departure area are limited to a tiny café offering only sandwiches and popcorn. After finishing our sandwiches and sitting on the benches, we’re asked whether we’d like some free popcorn that remained after the machine was emptied. We agree. Once we’ve eaten it, the man comes back and asks if we would please write a positive review on Facebo

On Tuesday morning, we take a hot air balloon ride near the Valley of the Kings. It is truly impressive—very peaceful and an extremely pleasant experience. From my own experience, I can say that flying by helicopter over Tallinn in strong winds was far more extreme. After that, we cross the river and visit one of the largest religious complexes in the world—the Karnak Temple. Once again, guards or workers approach us, offering access to closed areas where renovation work is u

On Monday morning, we plan to take a taxi to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. A boy on the street approaches us and says his father can drive us there, negotiating the price on his behalf. Eventually, we reach an agreement, and a middle-aged man named Mohamed picks us up. On the way, he talks at length about his difficult life and harshly criticizes President Sisi, saying that even during Hosni Mubarak’s time—who was overthrown during the Arab Spring in 2011—the dictator

Early Sunday morning at 5 a.m., just as the sun begins to rise, our cruise ship docks in Edfu. The light is still soft as we hop into a tuk-tuk and head toward the Temple of Edfu — the second-largest temple in Egypt. Dedicated to Horus, the powerful falcon god, the temple is one of the best-preserved ancient structures in the country. Walking through its massive stone gateway and into the courtyard, it is easy to feel the scale and authority the place once represented. Like m

On Saturday morning, I take one last walk around Elephantine Island and then return by ferry to the east bank of the Nile. After a slight delay, the tour company’s transfer picks us up to take us to the Nile cruise ship. However, we don’t get there right away. First, the remaining tourists are collected, and then we sit in the minibus for about an hour waiting while the driver goes to pray—and who knows where else. Eventually, we are taken to the dock and board a ship. But it

On Friday morning after breakfast, I strike up a conversation at our accommodation with a 28-year-old local who has come alone from Cairo to vacation in Aswan and plans to travel to Luxor the next day for a hot air balloon ride. He works as a graphic designer at a small creative agency in Cairo. He is self-taught and constantly improving his skills. He says that this job pays quite well, even by Egyptian standards. He doesn’t like Cairo very much because it is dirty and noisy

On Thursday, I spend the entire day in a small Nubian village in Aswan, right on the banks of the Nile. Our guesthouse is located directly by the river and even has a small swimming pool. From the second-floor balcony, there is a beautiful view across the Nile, where a new bridge is under construction and the opposite riverbank stretches into the distance. For breakfast, I choose an omelet, beans, and cornflakes with yogurt—simple but filling. The pace of life here feels calm

On Wednesday, we fly to Aswan. The local airline is perfectly fine—much more comfortable than, for example, Ryanair—and based on what I had researched beforehand, also completely safe. Traveling from Cairo to Aswan by car would have taken more than 11 hours. By plane, it took only 1 hour and 20 minutes. From the airport, we take a taxi ordered through the Careem app, a Dubai-based competitor to Bolt and Uber. The driver gives us his phone number as well, in case we need his s

On Tuesday morning, I try sandboarding in the desert. It doesn’t slide very well. There isn’t a very steep dune right next to the camp, and besides, the others are already waiting for me. After that, we are directed into a minibus, even though our second day of the desert tour is supposed to continue by 4x4 vehicle. This time, we do have an English-speaking guide, which we completely lacked on the first day. We ask why we aren’t continuing in the 4x4, and eventually it turns

On Monday, we checked out of our hotel in Cairo and set off for Fayoum for a 4WD desert tour. Our driver, Ali, picked us up in his early-1990s Toyota Land Cruiser — a vehicle that felt perfectly suited to the desert landscape we were about to explore. Our first stop was Wadi El Rayan , a vast depression lying 42 meters below sea level. The area is known for its lakes and even a waterfall — a rare sight in Egypt. Lake Wadi El Rayan itself was formed in 1966, when a canal was b

On Sunday, we visited the Egyptian Museum, where countless treasures discovered in the tombs of the pharaohs are on display. The collection is truly impressive. I was able to see Tutankhamun’s famous golden mask, although photography of it is not allowed. However, it is permitted to photograph many of the other treasures from the tomb of the pharaoh who died at just 19 years old. The museum houses an extraordinary range of artifacts: massive sarcophagi, intricate burial objec

On Saturday, I had what I thought was a clever idea: after buying the tickets, we would take a taxi directly into the pyramid complex. The plan turned out to be less brilliant than expected. Cars are not allowed through the pedestrian entrance, so the taxi had to make a long detour to the vehicle gate. There, we found a long queue. An additional fee had to be paid for vehicle entry, but it was not significant — especially considering that local tickets cost about ten times le

On my first morning in Cairo, I enjoyed breakfast on the hotel rooftop with a direct view of the Great Pyramid. Omelet, falafel, cream cheese, and salad somehow taste even better when eaten against a backdrop that is 4,500–4,600 years old. Later, I had lunch right beside the pyramids themselves at Rooftop 7000 restaurant, overlooking the Giza plateau. Buying tickets turned out to be an experience of its own. Only one small ticket office was open, and payment could be made by

I landed at Cairo Airport at 20:25 and took an Uber to my hotel. Driving across the city, I was struck by the endless neighborhoods of seemingly unfinished and rather unattractive apartment buildings. Many of them looked incomplete — the top floors exposed with only beams or columns visible, or entire sections left hollow and without windows. Yet, on the lower floors, people had clearly been living there for years. Later, I learned that buildings are deliberately left “unfini