Capela dos ossos (bone chapel) and the Igreja do Carmo church in Faro. The bones belonged to Carmelite monks. “Stop here and consider, that you will reach this state too”.

Visited the Frankenstein exhibit at the London Selfridges. Looking forward to watching the movie 💕

Surreal to be in Egypt. The first view of the Nile River. Our adventure begins tomorrow 💕

Wadi el Hitan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for basilosaurus (ancestral whale with hind limbs) fossils from 40 mya 💕

At the National Museum of Civilization, Cairo. Interesting artifacts from pre-history to having 22 pharo mummies all in one place. Some of the pharos met gruesome death having been murdered, injured in battle or being diseased 😬.

Khan el Khalili bazaar, Cairo. Established in 1300s, a novel experience for your senses 😉

Giza necropolis with pyramids built over 4500 y ago. Amazing engineering resulted in iconic structures of symmetry & magnitude 😉

Memphis, the old capital of unified Egypt south of Cairo, inclues monuments from early dynasties to Ramses the Great.

Saqqara necropolis shows the evolution of the pyramids from the step to bent to symmetrical forms. Oldest structures date from 5100 y ago.

Carpet makers of Memphis.

Flew to Luxor and visited the Karnak temple, world’s largest ancient religious complex that took a thousand years to build by over 30 Pharos including Cleopatra. 134 massive columns representing the papyrus, obelisks and hieroglyphs make the site awe-inspiring.

Luxor Museum full of beautiful antiquities

Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of Luxor. Because the pyramids were being raided for treasures, from about 1500 BC to 1075 BC, the pharos, wives and noblemen were buried in secret locations in the valley. The famous one being the tomb of King Tutankhamun 😻

Hatshepsut Temple. After death of her husband/half brother, she ruled Egypt foften dressing as a man to exert her power. She established trade routes in modern day Somalia Her nephew/step son/son in law Amenhotep III tried to erase her in history by destroying records.

Life on the Nile…

Temple of Kom Ombo. Built during 180-47 BC (Greek period), people worshipped two Gods - good Horace (sky & protection) and bad Sobek (fertility). Mummified crocodiles show that people worshipped them 🐊

Temple of Philae, flooded in early 1900s with the construction of Aswan Low Dam. Luckily before the construction of the Upper Dam, it was moved to a higher ground. The temple was dedicated to Isis, the goddess of magic & wisdom. Cleopatra VII frequented the temple.

Aswan High Dam constructed in the 60s allowed controlled flooding of the Nile, resulting in multiple harvests and electric power. The enormity of the project can be seen by the size of the man-made Nasser Lake which is 500 km long and reaches into Sudan.

Shoppers’ paradise for Egyptian cotton, essential oils, glass and spices.

The impressive Great Temple at Abu Simbel was built by Rameses the Great in 1200s BC. The grandeur of its size was to impress the Nubians of Egypt’s power. During the Aswan Dam construction, it was cut into over 1000 blocks and moved in order to save it from being submerged.