Traveler's notes
Cruise/conference "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt"
Our trip to Egypt
October 1 – 11th, 2020
Led by: Dmitry Pavlov
ATURS Travel Organizer
ATURS Travel Organizer
October 12th, 2020
Another trip by LAH, "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt," is complete, spanning from October 1st to October 11th, 2020. The route of the trip began in Cairo and continued to Abydos, Dendera, Luxor, Karnak, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan, finishing in Cairo, in that order.
20 people from 6 countries took part in this trip including USA^ Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Germany, and France. The age of the participants also varied between 20 and 60 years of age. All participants spoke Russian, eliminating any language barriers, and developed a team spirit during the trip.
In my experience, this was the most outstanding trip of all my 30 years of travels to Egypt. It all began in March of 2020, when media and governments all over the world began to report on the dangers of the virus COVID-19, its' horrific consequences, and some of the most frightening events happening during our time.
Scheduled trips to Mexico, India, Peru, and Egypt were all pushed back for an indefinite amount of time. Not because the participants were afraid, but because the flights were cancelled and entire countries were closed due to the virus. By the end of the summer, the situation seemed to become more stable, with Russia and Egypt agreeing to open their borders, once again. LAH decided to arrange the very first trip to Egypt and announced their intentions. We were to ride blind, since there was no flight schedule published yet, while only having chosen dates, October 1-11th. We chartered a ship, that was under a firm quarantine and had a low probability of operating any time soon. We also did not have information on whether or not the most interesting spots of Egypt will be open for tourism by our arrival or if we will have to sneak our way in. The decision was made and we began our preparations.
Scheduled trips to Mexico, India, Peru, and Egypt were all pushed back for an indefinite amount of time. Not because the participants were afraid, but because the flights were cancelled and entire countries were closed due to the virus. By the end of the summer, the situation seemed to become more stable, with Russia and Egypt agreeing to open their borders, once again. LAH decided to arrange the very first trip to Egypt and announced their intentions. We were to ride blind, since there was no flight schedule published yet, while only having chosen dates, October 1-11th. We chartered a ship, that was under a firm quarantine and had a low probability of operating any time soon. We also did not have information on whether or not the most interesting spots of Egypt will be open for tourism by our arrival or if we will have to sneak our way in. The decision was made and we began our preparations.
We began by asking all the people who were not able to go with us in Spring to see if they wanted to go to Egypt in the beginning of October. Many certainly refused, citing unclear conditions, while others expressed stronger intentions to venture out, despite the risks and what might be on the horizon. Most of the team consisted of people who saw our invitation videos to test yourself in unusual situations, without the crowds of tourists. Our hopes came true and a final team of 20 individuals gathered, in less than a month. Our travel itinerary ended up changing a few times due to changing flight schedules, lack of clear information about flights and hotel bookings, lack of fixed pricing, etc. The situation was complicated, to say the least, combined with the fact that all tourists have to provide up-to-date proof of a negative result for COVID-19, upon entry into Egypt. All team members understood that the situation is serious and can be unpredictable. In the end, all 20 participants passed all the trip's challenges and returned back home safe and sound, though no one would know that beforehand.
Sometimes we hear that LAH trips are simply light tourism trips, led not by researchers, but tour guides. That they stay in comfortable hotels and go on light excursions… This is because these critics have not experienced our reality. This very trip proves what LAH is about.
The trip to Giza showed the plateau and the pyramids abandoned by tourists. I have witnessed many things… I was in Egypt during the Arabian Spring, but even at that time there were small groups of tourists. During this trip, there was no one around. At times, there appeared to be some local children, students. At first we were happy at the possibility to see all the details and take some samples for investigation, but our happiness only lasted for the first few minutes.
The trip to Giza showed the plateau and the pyramids abandoned by tourists. I have witnessed many things… I was in Egypt during the Arabian Spring, but even at that time there were small groups of tourists. During this trip, there was no one around. At times, there appeared to be some local children, students. At first we were happy at the possibility to see all the details and take some samples for investigation, but our happiness only lasted for the first few minutes.
We had hardly approached the Chephren Pyramid, when police officers came to us and began to lead us to the route they wanted us to take, showing where we can go and which paths are not allowed. Unfortunately, the crack we needed to investigate was in the forbidden direction, so we focused on all the places that we could officially reach. That trip around the pyramid of Giza, in complete silence, was gorgeous!
I won't go into all the details and places we visited, as you can see them all on our website: www.aturs.ru I will, however, stress that our ship was not issued a license for travels and we had to re-route our trips to be all on land. At first, we were not happy about this, but eventually realized that we got to see much more than we planned on via the river cruise. I was worried that people will not be satisfied with the cancellation of the cruise, but I was wrong. Everyone understood and accepted it, shifting their focus on investigating all the unplanned objects they were coming across.
As all LAH trips, there was no traditional tour guide telling you to "look left" and "look right." Instead, the lead became an investigative partner to the team. They eagerly prepared their own reports and actively participated in all the situations, helping with tasks when needed.
I want to especially thank the author of YouTube channel MyTechnoLab, Sergey, who came from Belarus and spent 5 days with us. He also prepared his individual report and his ideas aroused numerous discussions. This was a great time!
After the excursions, as usual, the team gathered in the evening, listening to reports from all LAH members and participants, opening the floor up for vivid discussions. Those that had been to Egypt only as a tourist in the past, found themselves really surprised to see so many new discoveries, unfamiliar to the common eye.
I want to especially thank the author of YouTube channel MyTechnoLab, Sergey, who came from Belarus and spent 5 days with us. He also prepared his individual report and his ideas aroused numerous discussions. This was a great time!
After the excursions, as usual, the team gathered in the evening, listening to reports from all LAH members and participants, opening the floor up for vivid discussions. Those that had been to Egypt only as a tourist in the past, found themselves really surprised to see so many new discoveries, unfamiliar to the common eye.
I would like to say a few words about Oasis Hotel, where we ended up staying instead of Cataract Hotel (due to the hotel not being able to get an operating license by our arrival). In Aswan, we were pleasantly surprised when we checked into a hotel on a hill, that gave us a night sky view of Aswan. What a real pleasure it was to look at the night lights above the Nile River. In the morning, we had a magnificent, bird's eye view of Elephantine. It is impossible to describe, so I suggest you see it with your own eyes!
The 2 days we spent in Aswan, we used the best we could. We visited the famous quarry with the unfinished obelisks, visited Abu-Simbel, sailed around Elephantine, visited the Botanic Gardens, visited the West Coast twice, and bathed in the icy cold water of the Nile River. It was 43 degrees Celsius, but the heat didn't seem to be exhausting us…
Before going to Aswan, we spent 2 nights in Luxor, in our favorite Iber Hotel. The difference between this visit and our last ones was that we were the only guests, so the hotel offered us their best rooms with amazing views of the river and the Western mountains, not to mention their best meals. While there, we visited the Colossi of Memnon, the Valley of the Kings, Rhamesseion, Karnak, and Luxor Temples. In the evenings, we rode in horse carriages to the local shops for souvenirs and wine.
Not only did we travel along the South of Egypt, but also visited the Cairo Museum, Giza the Great Pyramid, the King's Tomb, the Great Gallery, the Princess Camera, and the Underground Camera. We visited Saqqara (Amon-Tafnath shaft, Unas Pyramid, Djoser Pyramid, Userkaf Pyramid, Serapeum). We also had time to visit Dahshur and went inside the Red and Bent Pyramids.
The last day of the trip was planned fully to relax, but due to the unexpected changes of the program, we decided to visit Meidum and its famous tomb, Mastabas 16 and 17. While there, we made a few videos interviewing members of our team. We ended our trip with a bus tour to El Lahun, which was recently opened for visitors.
We returned to Cairo in the late evening and had dinner at Caviar restaurant, which is well known among LAH members. Andrey Sklyarov used to visit there and make videos for his film series, "Mysteries of Ancient Egypt." This restaurant has a magnificent view of Khafra and Cheops Pyramids.
The evening program was initially a wrap-up, but ultimately turned into mutual exchanges of impressions from the whole trip, in a warm and friendly atmosphere by the pool.
P.S. I would like to give my deep gratitude to Dmitry Maslennikov and his wife Mira, who live in Egypt, and did a great job organizing all the day-to-day issues of our group during the trip. Also, the travel company "Festival Travel," who did everything at the best level of quality!
The evening program was initially a wrap-up, but ultimately turned into mutual exchanges of impressions from the whole trip, in a warm and friendly atmosphere by the pool.
P.S. I would like to give my deep gratitude to Dmitry Maslennikov and his wife Mira, who live in Egypt, and did a great job organizing all the day-to-day issues of our group during the trip. Also, the travel company "Festival Travel," who did everything at the best level of quality!
ABOUT US
We are a team of like-minded people. We believe that a travel must be exciting, dynamic, full of varieties and our history must be clear and true.
We have arranged many expeditions, conferences and seminars in Egypt, Mexico, China, Peru, Bolivia and other countries where you can find many evident artifacts and other traces of the technogenetic civilazation that was present on our planet long time ago.
We have done dozens of films and video reports, most of them you can watch free on our Youtube channel, that already has more than 180 000 subscribers. Materials done by our members have been watched by over 50 mln people all over the world.
We are Laboratory of Alternative History.
We have arranged many expeditions, conferences and seminars in Egypt, Mexico, China, Peru, Bolivia and other countries where you can find many evident artifacts and other traces of the technogenetic civilazation that was present on our planet long time ago.
We have done dozens of films and video reports, most of them you can watch free on our Youtube channel, that already has more than 180 000 subscribers. Materials done by our members have been watched by over 50 mln people all over the world.
We are Laboratory of Alternative History.
| LEARN MORE ABOUT LAH PROJECT |
TRAVEL
WITH US!
WITH US!
OUR NEXT EGYPT TOUR
November 19 - December 1, 2020