I want to get a head start on it.
Yes, yes, I know, Egypt sucks, I’ll be sure to come prepared. A local guide will be hired, I will watch my back. One big question is if there’s a reputable air conditioned place to watch, since it will be August in the desert.
Old post, but I just subscribed to /c/travel and there haven’t been any other replies here…
I noticed the path of totality goes over Luxor. There are ample air conditioned hotels with rooftop lounge areas and some with grounds and gardens right in town. Then you won’t have to leave the air conditioning for long to watch the eclipse, and you’ll be in a great spot for getting your fill of antiquities the rest of your trip.
We took the train from Cairo and flew back. Skip the train. Just fly. The airport is fine. The trains are uncomfortable. I mean, so is flying, but that’s a couple hours compared to being stuck on a train for 12 hours. Both will probably not run on schedule. Allow wiggle room for delays.
Luxor was my favorite place to visit, but it wasn’t easy for a first time Egypt traveler that decided she didn’t really need to go with a group tour. I really dislike group traveling, but this is one place where I prefer it.
The hotel was supposed to pick us up at the train station but flaked. Maybe we should have just taken our business elsewhere after being stood up, but we had prepaid for the nights. It was a headache calling them to sort it out.
Other hotel reps and cabbies are very aggressive to get your attention if you don’t look attached to any other travel professional. We agreed to hire a cabbie to take us to our hotel, and we expected shenanigans once he had us in the car. He gave us a very hard sell to take us to another hotel, but he did eventually get us to the correct building. It helped that I had my map out and watched where we were going.
So yeah, if it were me, what I’d probably do is find a group doing Luxor > Nile cruise > Cairo, and is planning around the eclipse. Travel company sorts out all the logistics of getting from A to B, and you don’t get hassled every time you turn around.
Curious to know if you’ve found out any other particulars since you posted this. It’s a little over a month away from the North American eclipse. We’re taking the camper on a lil road trip for it!
Nope, not really. I’ve searched it a few times, but mostly have seen “coming soon” type posts.
I was imagining a temporary location a bit out of the way in order to best take in the splendor, but I suppose in town would also be fine.
Would Cairo > Cruise > Luxor make sense? That way the best would be saved for last. Of course, this being August, maybe I don’t want to linger in the country anyway. I have family near-ish, which is a reasonable alternative. Probably cheaper too, during the tourist frenzy, considering I’m not made out of money.
Since I posted this the region has gotten a little bit hairy. We’ll see how the situation develops but I almost regret not planning for the NA eclipse instead. There was always a risk my chosen viewing spot would be clouded in here, though. The desert of Egypt is just an ideal location that way, and IIRC it’s the longest totality of the century.