Egypt: Dahshur ,Memphis and Saqqara

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ 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. ย The driver was also aged like his car but he was a nice chap. We first visited Saqqaraย , which was the ancient burial site for the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis. The main attraction here is the ancientย Step pyramid of Djoser which was under renovation. This is…

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Egypt: Giza plateau

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ 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. ย 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

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ Part 1 Day 1: London - Cairo - Bahariya => ย 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 Elย 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 throughย Farafra Oasis Day 4: Kharga Oasis => From Farafra to Kharga Oasis. Day 5: Kharga Oasis to Luxor => ย Kharga Oasis to…

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Sunday walk to Lavender Farm

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง This was my first meetup. We met at Clapham Junction and then took a train toย Chipstead village in Surrey via Croydon. ย 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

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Porto was the last stop in my itinerary. Porto is the second biggest city in Portugal. ย 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

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡นย ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น 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.ย Vilamoura ย 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.ย 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

๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธย ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Seville - Granada - Ronda Day -1 ย Sevilleย  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 Iย 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 )ย of biting one of the oranges you will understand…

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Gibraltar

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฎย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฎย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ฎ 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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Ajanta , Ellora & Elphanta Caves en-route to Mumbai – Ellora

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ ย  There is no direct public bus to Ellora from Ajanta. I took a bus towards Aurangabad in Aurangabad - Jalgaon road and got down at Phulambri. Fromย Phulambri I took shared trekker on Amdapur - Jenefal road towards Ellora. This took very long time. Next day I utilized fully to visit caves. Caves in Ellora are famous for sculptures. There are 34 caves which can be visited ; these consist of 12 Buddhist caves, 17 Hindu caves and ย 5 Jain caves. Most of these caves are monasteries or viharsย that are carved…

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