egypt | The Leirdal Blog

One of the more dramatic experiences in Egypt was how different and similar things were. In one second you got to see utter poverty, and the next second you get to see the same cars and bird life that we have in Norway.

A great number of herons live by the Nile. Some of them we may find in Norway as well, like the grey heron. Other herons we got to see were black-crowned night heron, little egret and cattle egret. (Pictures of these birds will probably be published later.)

Have a look at some of these pictures.

Life by the Nile 2010

For us living in Norway this life seem a bit old-fashioned, but most farmers in Egypt do not use machines.

Egyptian Fish

We were in a fish restaurant in Alexandria and had a great dinner. These guys were on the menu if you want to try them.

Life in Cairo

If you want to sell, go to your customers. Don’t you have a car? Carry your produce.

Life in Cairo 2

This was a mobile soup-salesman I think. I had some problems communicating in their language.

Life in Cairo 3

Everything people transported by hand.

Nile bird life

This guy was relaxing on the riverbed. The desert was in the background. I guess it is a grey heron in the desert sunset.

Nile bird life 2

A close up of the same kind of Heron.

Spices

Spices and other colourful substances where available almost everywhere.

Posted from Bærum, Akershus, Norway.

View of Giza from the plane

Early this month my girlfriend and I visited Egypt. For years we have wanted to see the traces of what was once one of the greatest civilizations of the world. In order to see as much as possible of the best sights of Egypt we joined a packaged trip from Escape Travel. It might not be a back packer tour, but we had a great time.

We started our trip in Cairo and by visiting the pyramids of Sakkara and Giza. It was about time though. The chief archeologist of Egypt has decided that in order to protect the Sphinx and some of the pyramids they are going to encapsulate them in stone. More or less restore them. I am sorry to say, that is not all great in my eyes. I would like the preserved in their original state, not a restored version of them.

After the noise and bustle of the capital of Egypt we traveled to Alexandria for a visit to the library of Alexandria. After returning to Cairo we headed for Luxor and among else the Karnak temple and the Valley of the Kings. From Luxor we went by river boat to Aswan. On the way we stopped in Edfu and Esna. The nature around Aswan was fantastic, and when we went to see the temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel we got to see the real desert. Finally we returned to Aswan, Egypt and then to Norway. All in all we stayed in Egypt for 10 days. A bit short to see all the fantastic sights of the country, but we did manage to visit some of the biggest ones. Pictures from this part of the journey will be available later.