Middle East - Lili on the Loose

9 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 3 – Jet Lag in Giza

By Lili|February 9th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, airport, bomb, buffet, Cairo, customs, Dream of Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Emeralds, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Giza, Grand Egyptian Museum, Great Pyramids, hibiscus, Hibiscus Tea, Holland, immigration, Jade, jewelry, Middle East, necklace, Poland, Pyramids, Saqqara, Scarab, Windmills|1 Comment

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Saturday October 24, 2015 Egypt: Day 3 - Jet Lag in Giza It was hard to sleep on the plane, especially knowing that it would arrive to Cairo at nearly 2AM. The girl and I spoke some more. She was from Holland, but I was so tired I kept asking her about "Poland". She told me how its so flat and there are windmills everywhere. It actually sounded pretty idilic. As we entered the terminal, my G Adventures airport transfer

6 02, 2016

Shopping via Boat in Esna, Egypt

By Lili|February 6th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, bargaining, boat, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Esna, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, Nile Cruise, shopping, table cloth|0 Comments

As the first small boat made its way towards our cruise ship, bumping up against the bow, people gasped. "Oh no! They crashed into us! Are they okay!" People asked while craning over the railing to get a better look. And then a second boat crashed up against us, and a third, and a forth. They just kept coming. As more and more small boats tied up against us, it became clear what they were doing. They unfurled towels, scarves, large table clothes, shouting at us to look. And then, they rolled it up, and chucked it clear up to

1 01, 2016

Shining Light on Egyptian Hieroglyphics

By Lili|January 1st, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Edfu Temple, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Hieroglyphics, Horus, Middle East, Photo Friday, Temple of Edfu, Temple of Horus|0 Comments

A new year, a new weekly series: Photo Friday! Each week I'll bring you some of my favorite photos, some of travel, some of my general life. I hope you enjoy! This Photo Friday, I share my favorite photo from Egypt. I was wandering the sanctuary area within the Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt. This area in ancient times would have been quite dark and only available to the priests of the temple. I turned around and saw the light shining through on the hieroglyphics, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography

31 12, 2015

My Top Instagrams From 2015

By Lili|December 31st, 2015|Categories: Year in Review|Tags: 2015, Africa, Cider, Colorado, Colorado State Capitol, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, DMNS, dog, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Ingress, instagram, Local, Middle East, museum, North America, park, puppy, snow, The Old Mine, USA|0 Comments

These are my most popular Instagram posts this year! Travel, Museums, Local Experiences, and of course Puppies! Sounds about right! See more here and be sure to follow me!

31 12, 2015

2015: The Year of Exploration

By Lili|December 31st, 2015|Categories: Year in Review|Tags: 2015, 2016, Africa, blogging, Canada, Egypt, Florida, Ingress, Miami, Middle East, North America, Toronto, travel blog, Travel Thursday, travel writing, USA, year in review|0 Comments

This has been an amazing year more focused on travel! I had two very opposite business trips. The first, in the dead of winter, was to Toronto, Canada. I had just a little time to explore and so visited an aquarium & museum before a nasty snowstorm hit. The second work trip was to sunny Miami, FL in the heat of summer. This trip I had tons of bad luck and ended up just having a short time at the beach. And throughout this year I was busy preparing for my dream vacation to Egypt! Thankfully everything went smoothly and

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

7 12, 2015

Travel Missteps: Terror on the High Seas

By Lili|December 7th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Missteps|Tags: 2015, Africa, Cairo, Camel, Camels, Dream of Egypt, Dream Trip to Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, fear, fear of heights, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Giza, Middle East, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site|1 Comment

They call camels the "Ships of the Desert" as they are the most resilient and efficient form of travel. I actually hadn't planned on riding a camel. I had been warned, "They spit! They bite!" And other travel bloggers noted that the gate of a camel is awkward and will make you walk funny for days after. But I got caught up in the mystique of the pyramids, and so happily joined my friend on a camel trek in the desert around the Great Pyramids of Giza. Plus it cost so little! Just 120 EGP (plus 10 EGP tip at

3 12, 2015

Egypt: Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ships, & Submarines

By Lili|December 3rd, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Review|Tags: 2015, Africa, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Egyptian Sidekick, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Memphis Tours, Middle East, Photo Essay, transportation|1 Comment

I thought it would be fun to count all the ways I traveled on my 2.5 week trip to Egypt! Planes: 8 Trains: 3 Taxis: 8 Vans: 17 Shuttles: 3 Private Cars: 4 Trams: 5 Boats: 4 Ships: 1 Submarines: 0 (sadly didn't get to go on this one, as I had to cancel my day trip to Sharm) Horse Carriages: 4 Camels: 1 And a whole lot of walking, one time swimming, a handful of elevators, and a few people movers.

19 11, 2015

Egypt Trip Cost & Budget Analysis

By Lili|November 19th, 2015|Categories: Travel, Travel Budget|Tags: 2015, Accommodation, activities, Africa, airfare, analysis, baksheesh, breakdown, budget, Cairo, cost, Denver, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Egyptian Sidekick, Europe, food, Frankfurt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Germany, hotel, Lufthansa, meals, Middle East, Munich, North America, optional activities, shopping, spending, Super Shuttle, taxi, tour, travel insurance, Travel Insured International, USA, Visa|0 Comments

This is my budget breakdown of my trip to Egypt (with a layover in Frankfurt, Germany). I knew going into this trip that it was going to be on the expensive side. I had budgeted $6262.41 in expenses for this trip. Here is how I actually spent that budget: Airfare: $972.26 I had watched airfare obsessively for about 2 months before I saw the airfare drop significantly through Lufthansa. I was able to get a 1 stop through Frankfurt on the way to Egypt, including a 12 hour layover in Frankfurt. And then on the way home I'd have 2 quick stops in

6 11, 2015

Egypt Books, Movies, & Documentaries

By Lili|November 6th, 2015|Categories: Resources, Travel, Travel Planning|Tags: 2015, Africa, Agatha Christie, books, documentaries, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, lloyd alexander, Middle East, movies, travel guides, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

Yesterday I discussed the many online resources to help plan a trip to Egypt. Another important part of my planning process is reading books and watching shows on the place I'm traveling to. Here are some of the other resources I used in planning a trip to Egypt. Books Travel Guides: I actually had started planning a trip to Egypt back in 2009. So many of by guidebooks I have are older. I actually found the older guidebooks (pre 2011) to be more detailed and many more options. After 2011, when tourism dropped it seemed the guidebook publishers pulled funding and effort