Greece, Egypt & Jordan

Fairmont Amman 20 January 2026 Our last day in Jordan and our last day of the holiday.  We awoke refreshed - this is really a lovely hotel. We had a sumptuous breakfast at the breakfast buffet and then lounged around for a while before deciding to visit a local shopping mall.

Fairmont Amman 19 January 2026 We all awoke pretty weary this morning after our Petra experience, but still had to be up, packed and on the bus by 7.30am. We had a long drive ahead of us to our next stop - the ancient Roman town of Jerash, on the outskirts of the capital, Amman.

Movenpick Petra Hotel 18 January 2026 Our long-awaited visit to Petra today - and it did not disappoint! I didn't know what to expect and I hadn't read up on any of the history, but I was ready to be impressed by one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

Movenpick Petra Hotel 17 January 2026 We headed off in the bus this morning to nearby Mount Nebo. It turns out this is the mountain where Moses supposedly viewed the Promised Land and a Franciscan order built a monastery on the site. (Someone had a vision there, so obviously this was the right location.)

Movenpick Dead Sea Hotel 16 January 2026 We awoke at 2am today, so we could leave the hotel at 3am and head for the airport. Once I was up and had a cup of coffee, I actually felt fine. The airport was bustling, even at this early hour. There were people everywhere and all the shops were open, so it was easy to forget how early it actually was.

Hilton Cairo Heliopolis 15 January 2026 We were up nice and early today to leave our lovely riverboat and head to the Luxor Airport. We all caught a flight to Cairo and arrived mid-morning. We are staying at a hotel close to the airport this time, because everyone is going their separate ways tomorrow morning. We head off for our tour of Jordan!

Viking Amun Riverboat 14 January 2026 Jim ran out of his cold and flu medication this morning, so we asked the boat staff if we could go into town to a local pharmacy. They were happy for us to go, but provided us with security - as a guide and protection. Thank goodness they did!

Viking Amun Riverboat 13 January 2026 Today was an enjoyable day - and something different. We actually went on a lovely motorboat trip up the Nile. (Much better than just being in a bus.) Jim still wasn't feeling 100% and so decided to stay on the riverboat. 

Viking Amun Riverboat 12 January 2026 Jim coughed all night and woke with a temperature and miserable cold. Such a pity as today was our special trip to the temple of Abu Simbel. It was one of the optional trips we booked because Abu Simbel is supposed to be one of the most amazing sites in Egypt.

Viking Amun Riverboat 11 January 2026 Today was a relatively lazy day.  We had to be up and out the door at 8am for a walking tour of Esna Temple but, other than that, we were strictly on board and sailing today. We had no trouble waking up as our boat was parked right in front of a mosque and at 5.12am, the morning call to prayer (amplified by modern speakers) shocked us instantly out of sleep. People on the other side of the boat weren’t disturbed as much, but it was like an alarm for us!

Viking Amun Riverboat 10 January 2026 Today was the day for the Valley of the Kings – the long awaited day! It was gorgeous weather – blue sky with a light breeze.  We set off by bus across the bridge to the West side of the Nile. In ancient times, the Egyptians all lived on the east side, as the soil was extremely fertile from the annual flooding. The west side was just desert, where everyone was buried. These days, people live on both sides, and the Nile no longer floods because of the dams, but everyone basically lives in a narrow strip of land on each side which has easy access to water and there is desert beyond that. Lots of desert in Egypt!

Viking Amun Riverboat 9 January 2026 We slept well in our lovely cabin and awoke around 7am, in the hope of seeing lots of hot air balloons flying over the Valley of the Kings. A group of about a dozen people from our boat got up at 4am to go out to the ballooning field, only to be told that conditions weren't suitable for flying today. They were very disappointed (obviously) but I would have loved to see the balloons as well.

Viking Amun Riverboat 8 January 2026 A big travel day today! We had to be up and packed by 5.15am and ready to leave for Cairo Airport by 5.45am. The trip from Cairo to Luxor, to meet with our boat, is a 7 hour drive - or a 1 hour flight, so we went by plane.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 7 January 2026 Although today seemed like it would just be a duplicate of our experiences in our first few days in Cairo, we ended up having a great time.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 6 January 2026 Well - the first day of our official tour of Egypt with Viking! The day began nice and early with a briefing at 8am, where it was emphasised that we were to be punctual. (Good!) Then it was off to the buses to our first destination - Saqqara.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 5 January 2026 A quiet day today. We didn't have anything planned - except checking in with our Viking Tour Guides. They had a table set up in the hotel lobby and we checked in with them, were given some information about how things are organised, what to wear, what to take on the day excursions (toilet paper, apparently, because not all sites provide it!) and what the plans are for tomorrow.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 4 January 2026 We had a wonderful day today - we actually saw the pyramids! And they were just as impressive as we could have hoped.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 3 January 2026 We had booked a private tour of the newly-opened Grand Egyptian Museum for today. We are going to the Museum with our Viking tour, but they only allow you a few hours and we want to have more time than that to see the largest museum in the world.

Sheraton Cairo Hotel & Casino 2 January 2026 We woke early, bid a fond farewell to all the animals we have collected over the past week, locked up the house and headed off for the 2 hour drive to Athens.

Village House, Hotoussa 1 January 2026 An absolutely freezing night where it got down to -1 degree. We woke to lots of fog, which means a beautiful sunny day - and, true enough, the fog cleared to the sunniest, most glorious day of our trip here.