Aswan - Lili on the Loose

14 06, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 8, Part 2 – Aswan Felucca Sunset

By Lili|June 14th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Felucca, G Adventures, Hibiscus Tea, Karkade, Middle East, Nile, Nubia, Nubian, shooting star, sunset|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Thursday October 29, 2015 Egypt: Day 8, Part 2 – Aswan Felucca Sunset After returning to the room to shower and change we headed to the lobby to meet the rest of the group. Then we all walked together down the the Nile. It was easier to get on the boat than I expected. Just had to walk down some steps and then helpful hands guided you across a short board onto the boat. Photo by Thomas A

7 06, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 8, Part 1 – Aswan Sunrise

By Lili|June 7th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Felucca, G Adventures, Middle East, night train, train, unfinished obelisk|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Thursday October 29, 2015 Egypt: Day 8, Part 1 – Aswan Sunrise I awoke in the middle of the night around 1 AM. I was cold sleeping on top of the covers, and the bed was just too stiff. So I stood in the corridor looking out the window at the small towns and villages that we passed. I spied a few people walking the streets and watched them as the train moved past. After a while I returned

22 04, 2016

Philae: the Temple on the Water

By Lili|April 22nd, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Agilika Island, Aswan, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Hieroglyphics, Middle East, Philae, Philae Temple, Photo Friday, Trajan, Trajan's Kiosk, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|0 Comments

Trajan's Kiosk seen on Agilika Island, part of the Philae Temple complex. The original Philae island (below) would frequently be flooded. But once the great dam was built, the island was going to be year-round flooded so a rescue effort to move the complex to nearby Agilika Island was done in the 1960's. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

4 04, 2016

Museum Monday: Evening at the Nubian Museum

By Lili|April 4th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Christian, Cross, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Lion, Middle East, Mummies, Mummy, Nubian Museum, Photo Essay, Ramses II, Shawabti, Temple, Temple of Gerf Hussein, UNESCO, Ushabti|0 Comments

Ramses II statue from the Temple of Gerf Hussein surveys the main exhibition hall. Traveling in Egypt, you become accustom to expect everything to be rather old and dusty. From the markets to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, things are not well labeled and lighting is almost non existent. So when visiting the Nubian Museum it was a pleasant surprise to find a modern museum! Finished in 1997 with UNESCO's help, it covers the history of Nubia, the area from Aswan and into Sudan, from pre-history all the way up to its more recent Islamic past to the

17 02, 2016

30 at 30: Best Experiences So Far

By Lili|February 17th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: Abu Simbel, Africa, Anaheim, Antigua, Asia, Aswan, Bath, Belize, Belize Barrier Reef, Bent Pyramid, birthday, Bostan, California, camping, Canyon Ranch Spa, castle, Caye Caulker, Cenote, Central America, Champ de Elysee, Chino, chocolate, Christmas Market, CIE, Concert, concert photography, Costa Rica, Dahshur, Dashur, DC, Disneyland, Egypt, England, Epiphany Night, Europe, Ewok, fireworks, Florida, France, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, golf carts, Great Britan, Guatemala, Harry Potter, haunted, Ik Kil, Ik Kill cenote, Ireland, Island of Adventure, Italy, Japan, Karnak, Lake Placid, Las Vegas, Latin America, lightsaber, Luxor, Massachusetts, memories, Mexico, Middle East, Munich, museum, Nagano Prefecture, Nevada, New York, North America, Orlando, Paris, photography, Playa Del Carmen, Pyramids, racing, Red Pyramid, reef, Rome, San Francisco, sharks, sheep, Sister Cities, snorkeling, Spa, St. John, Star Wars, Suwa, swimming, temples, The Vatican, Tokyo, tombs, tour, Trafalgar, Trajan's Column, travel experiences, trolly, Tucson, UK, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Universal Studios, USA, USVI, Vatican, Vatican City, Washington DC, white water rafting, Wizarding World of Harry Potter, yukata|1 Comment

Today is my birthday, and I've hit the "Big 3-0". I wanted to look back at 30 of my favorite travel memories in my life, in no particular order: Fulfilling my dream of going to Egypt, seeing so many amazing tombs and temples Sitting alone in the temples of Abu Simbel and Karnak Climbing into and on top of a pyramid Wandering the Christmas Markets of Munich Seeing the castles of Germany Taking a haunted trolly/walking tour of Boston graveyards. Seeing as many museums as I could in Washington, DC Swimming with sharks in Belize Racing golf-carts on Caye Caulker Making

11 02, 2016

Night Train to Aswan

By Lili|February 11th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travel Tips|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Esna, Giza, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Middle East, night train, Qena, train, train travel, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

Farmland out the window. On my trip to Egypt, I spent one night on the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan. The train from Cairo to Aswan for tourists only runs at night, so you must take the night train. It took about 13 hours. Here are my thoughts on the experience. The Station I boarded at the Giza Station. I was a bit sad as I was hoping to see the famed Ramses Station and its beautiful architecture, but we were on the Giza side of Cairo and it didn't sense to fight traffic back into town. The station is

17 12, 2015

The Martian and Me

By Lili|December 17th, 2015|Categories: Books, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2015, Africa, airplane, Andy Weir, Aswan, Book, Cruise, desert, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, kindle, Luxor, Mark Watney, Mars, matt damon, Middle East, Movie, Photo Essay, Reading, Red Desert, Saqqara, The Martian, Travel Thursday, UNESCO World Heritage Site|2 Comments

Source “Mars is a barren wasteland and I am completely alone here. I already knew that, of course. But there’s a difference between knowing it and really experiencing it.” -Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir Egyptian Desert as seen from a Nile cruise. I remember the days before I had my Kindle. Stacks of books taking up space in my bags. I could easily go through 5-7 books per trip. And god help me if I had only brought a few in a series...and it finished on a cliffhanger! I remember many frustrating trips

26 03, 2015

Egypt Trip Itinerary

By Lili|March 26th, 2015|Categories: Itinerary, Travel, Upcoming Travel|Tags: 2015, Abu Simbel, Abu Sir, activities, Africa, Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Cruise, Dahshur, Dashur, Denver, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Europe, Frankfurt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, Giza, itinerary, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Memphis, Middle East, Munich, museum, Nile, North America, Pyramids, Saqqara, Sharm, Sharm el Sheikh, Temple, tour, USA, Wadi Natrum|0 Comments

Within the next few months I will be embarking on my dream trip of a lifetime - EGYPT! I've been wanting to do this trip forever and actually had the money saved up to go in 2011, but the revolution put a kink in my plans. I was skittish, not wanting to go during that trouble period. But I realize now, things will never be stable...at least not for another decade or so. And so I must take a leap of faith, stop waiting, and just go! So for the last few months I've been planning this trip. Below is