Posted by Sam McCurdy:
This week, Jen Marshall took us on a journey to Egypt and Jordan by summarising highlights of her visit there in 2017 with her best friend Lisa. The trip was her last before having children and it completed Jen's goal to visit all 'Seven Wonders of the Modern World'.
They marvelled at the size of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx from the air, as they flew into Cairo. Jen summarised the various shapes of the pyramids, with the largest one being the Great Pyramid of Giza. At the Red Pyramid, she got about 1 metre into the 1 metre2 and 60 metre long corridor into the Red pyramid, before being overcome with claustrophobia.
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| Great Pyramid of Giza | Great Sphinx of Giza |
From Giza they took the train to Aswan, where they visited a Nubian village and the Abu Simbel temple. The Nubians have occupied the Western Banks of the River Nile near Aswan for as long as 8,000 years!
Luxor was their next stop, where they were amazed at the massive size of the statues. Another highlight there was a hot air balloon trip over the Valley of the Kings and the eventual sideways landing of the balloon's basket.
From Luxor, they travelled to Sinai where they had hoped to climb Mt Sinai. However, due to advice on the security risks, they decided to spend some relaxing time at the beach instead.
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| Luxor | Petra |
From there, they took a boat trip to Jordan, where they were picked up by a dodgy-looking truck and taken to Petra. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. It is also called "Rose City" because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved.
The next stop was Amman, the capital of Jordan, where they viewed some ancient mosaics. From Amman they took a one hour trip to the Dead Sea, where they experienced the saltiness and exceptional floating property for which it is famous.
Marta Faithful followed Jen's presentation by giving an insight to her experience working in Egypt and Jordan as a Travel Adviser for an international airline. She was able to provide advice on what should and should not be done while travelling there, particularly on a cruise ship.
Well done Jen and Marta for a very interesting 'Travel' presentation.