Egypt : Abu Simbel

We flew to Abu Simbel from Aswan by Egypt air flight. It was a 40 min flight. In afternoon we visited the temple. This village is located near the borer of Sudan. This is a UNESCO heritage site and one of the most famous Nubian monuments. The entire site was relocated due to the creation of Lake Naseer. Flocks of birds can be seen returning inland at dusk , they flew out in the morning to catch Nile fish. We watched Light and Sound show at Abu Simbel. It was one the…

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Egypt: Dahshur ,Memphis and Saqqara

🇪🇬 🇪🇬 🇪🇬 For most visitors Egypt is synonymous with majestic pyramid of Giza and Sphinx. We decided to take a less traveled route on day 2. We took a cab from outside of our hotel , it was an old fiat model , looked straight from junkyard.  The driver was also aged like his car but he was a nice chap. We first visited Saqqara , which was the ancient burial site for the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis. The main attraction here is the ancient Step pyramid of Djoser which was under renovation. This is…

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Egypt: Giza plateau

🇪🇬 🇪🇬 🇪🇬 We reached Giza in the morning by an overnight train from Luxor. The train was very comfortable. It was comparable almost to a standard hotel with a well made bed , private toilet and shower cubicle. Dinner was also included in the price.  We were staying in a Luxury hotel for two days . After check-in we immediately left for Pyramid complex. I took some random street cab for 1 USD to take me to the entrance. On the way few locals just climbed the running cab and wanted to offer…

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Egypt Itinerary

🇪🇬 🇪🇬 🇪🇬 Part 1 Day 1: London - Cairo - Bahariya =>  Overnight flight from London to Cairo and from airport we immediately started our journey towards desert. The night was spent at a nice hotel in El Bawiti Day 2: Baharia - Black Desert - White Desert => Continued our journey towards white desert . Camped overnight at white desert. Day 3: Dakhla Oasis => From white desert to Dakhla Oasis through Farafra Oasis Day 4: Kharga Oasis => From Farafra to Kharga Oasis. Day 5: Kharga Oasis to Luxor =>  Kharga Oasis to…

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Sunday walk to Lavender Farm

🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 This was my first meetup. We met at Clapham Junction and then took a train to Chipstead village in Surrey via Croydon.  We walked around 14 miles through lovely landscape of Surrey . The Lavender farm itself is in Banstead. It is a family run business named Mayfield Lavender. Weather was perfect and it was a very nice day out.  

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Portugal : Porto & Douro Valley

🇵🇹 🇵🇹 🇵🇹 Porto was the last stop in my itinerary. Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal.  This place was the origin of port wine. It is also famous for its iconic bridges. In fact it is the only city in Europe which has 6 bridges. I stayed in Porto for 2 days. Weather was not at its best but there were intermittent clear sky. There are few unique charm to this city, Lello Bookshop with its amazing neo-gothic interiors (Harry Potter shooting happened here, it was Hogwarts library) . Then there…

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Portugal : Lagos & Albufeira Region

🇵🇹 🇵🇹 🇵🇹 I landed in Faro airport at 12 PM. Faro is the capital of famous Algarve region of Portugal. I booked my transfer to Vilamoura from Airport. Vilamoura  is one of the finest resort towns in Porugal. However due to wet weather my boat tour was cancelled . I spend the day walking around town. Vilamoura is famous for its beach , resorts and million dollar yachts parked at the marina . Vilamoura Marina   My next destination was Lagos. The town is famous for its old town, cliffs and Atlantic beaches. Still sea…

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Spain : Andalusia region – Seville

🇪🇸 🇪🇸 🇪🇸 Seville - Granada - Ronda Day -1  Seville  Seville is the capital of Andalusia region. There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain, Andalusia is the most populous and 2nd largest by area. I missed my original flight to Barcelona so I had to knock off Barcelona and Madrid from my original itinerary and instead arrived Seville two days latter. First thing I noticed are orange trees, they are an integral part of the landscape. If you make the mistake (like I did ) of biting one of the oranges you will understand…

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Gibraltar

🇬🇮 🇬🇮 🇬🇮 Day 1 I started early from Ronda. It was 9.18 train to Algeciras from Ronda. Weather was not good , it was raining incessantly from morning. At Algeciras I had to wait for sometime to catch a local bus to La - Linea. From La - Linea bus stop it was 10 min walk to the border checkpoint and then another 15 mins walk to my hotel in Gibraltar. Gibraltar is a tiny patch of land (less than 10 Sq Km) still part of British oversees territory. It has its own…

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