It’s been years since we attempted one of our ‘adventure’ trips that we used to take so regularly when we had one or two children. This spring, we decided to give it a try again.
We take long road trips in the States each summer and we’ve taken several shorter road trips in Egypt before. IT was time for a longer one!...
It was very early when we loaded children and luggage into our small family vehicle. Please be impressed that we didn’t have to put any luggage on the roof. This is is a big deal for a family of 6 on a 7 day trip in a small car. Even Mike said so, ha!
We managed to get coffee at the one place to stop between Cairo and Aswan. Literally I think this was the only place to purchase coffee in all those miles and hours of driving. It was no Starbucks, and this is no typical road trip!
He’s pretty much my fav road-trip partner ever.
There was nothing but a lot of desert to look at for the first several hours. Later on, as we got nearer the Nile things got more interesting. Like these mountains in the background.
At one point on the road, we passed through a checkpoint (there were many of these) and they made us turn around. They didn’t want foreigners on the Desert Road, and they re-routed us to the Agricultural road on the other side of the Nile. This road happened to be the much slower, older road that took us through village after village after village after village.
It also took us over a speed bump approximately every 45 seconds for about 5 hours (Yes, I did time it at one point). We made a new tourism slogan for the region:
Needless to say it slowed us down. But there was a lot to look at out the window in each of these little villages.
As our food rations began to run out (we had expected that there would be at least a few proper places to stop on the way but there were not), we pulled over at a stall in a village. No matter where you are in Egypt, there is never a lack of chips! That’s a small consolation?
There were benches to sit on and the shop owner let H use his bathroom in his home nearby (although H wouldn’t recommend that, ha! Utilizing the desert behind a rock or a bush is much preferred for all of us.)
N’s Dorito bag contained about 5 chips. Which is okay since we paid about 5 cents for it.
Mike drank coffee and made friends. They don’t see too many people like us in those parts…
Back on the road we started to see lots of Nile Cruise Boats. It’s a popular way to tour the south of Egypt, which is actually called Upper Egypt (fun fact.)
We arrived at our hotel 5 hours later than scheduled, due to the scenic route. But the children did great (thank you Amazon Kindle Fires) and Mike and I enjoyed the 15 hour drive for the most part.
We parked (a feat in and of itself), unloaded, checked in, went upstairs and then cringed at our surroundings. (Okay maybe mostly me.) The hotel was less than desirable, which was very difficult for me. Very. After 24 hours though, I became somewhat desensitized to how ‘rough’ it was and managed to make it through.
We had made it to Aswan. More adventures would begin the next day!
We take long road trips in the States each summer and we’ve taken several shorter road trips in Egypt before. IT was time for a longer one!...
It was very early when we loaded children and luggage into our small family vehicle. Please be impressed that we didn’t have to put any luggage on the roof. This is is a big deal for a family of 6 on a 7 day trip in a small car. Even Mike said so, ha!
We managed to get coffee at the one place to stop between Cairo and Aswan. Literally I think this was the only place to purchase coffee in all those miles and hours of driving. It was no Starbucks, and this is no typical road trip!
He’s pretty much my fav road-trip partner ever.
There was nothing but a lot of desert to look at for the first several hours. Later on, as we got nearer the Nile things got more interesting. Like these mountains in the background.
At one point on the road, we passed through a checkpoint (there were many of these) and they made us turn around. They didn’t want foreigners on the Desert Road, and they re-routed us to the Agricultural road on the other side of the Nile. This road happened to be the much slower, older road that took us through village after village after village after village.
It also took us over a speed bump approximately every 45 seconds for about 5 hours (Yes, I did time it at one point). We made a new tourism slogan for the region:
“Welcome to Saaid. Enjoy every speed bump.”
As our food rations began to run out (we had expected that there would be at least a few proper places to stop on the way but there were not), we pulled over at a stall in a village. No matter where you are in Egypt, there is never a lack of chips! That’s a small consolation?
There were benches to sit on and the shop owner let H use his bathroom in his home nearby (although H wouldn’t recommend that, ha! Utilizing the desert behind a rock or a bush is much preferred for all of us.)
N’s Dorito bag contained about 5 chips. Which is okay since we paid about 5 cents for it.
Mike drank coffee and made friends. They don’t see too many people like us in those parts…
Back on the road we started to see lots of Nile Cruise Boats. It’s a popular way to tour the south of Egypt, which is actually called Upper Egypt (fun fact.)
We arrived at our hotel 5 hours later than scheduled, due to the scenic route. But the children did great (thank you Amazon Kindle Fires) and Mike and I enjoyed the 15 hour drive for the most part.
We parked (a feat in and of itself), unloaded, checked in, went upstairs and then cringed at our surroundings. (Okay maybe mostly me.) The hotel was less than desirable, which was very difficult for me. Very. After 24 hours though, I became somewhat desensitized to how ‘rough’ it was and managed to make it through.
We had made it to Aswan. More adventures would begin the next day!
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