(electronic music)
A lot of people have asked me
if I felt safe while I was traveling in Egypt,
and I'd have to say, yes, definitely.
There are things happening all over the world,
but there are safe ways to travel.
Traveling with an experienced guide,
traveling in a group,
being careful about where you put your money,
and your passport and your electronics.
There was security everywhere we went in Egypt,
and even though the vendors were a little forward,
No, thank you, no, no no, no no.
(speaking Egyptian)
At no point did I ever feel scared or unsafe.
What was surprising was how few tourists there were.
Normally when you go to a major tourist site,
you're dealing with a lot of waiting, lining up.
And feeling trapped because of all the people,
But that just was not the case on this trip.
We went to Luxor Temple as the sun
was setting, and it was incredible to just
be able to roam around freely, at night.
(electronic music)
It was pretty surreal,
and at times I just completely forgot where I was.
I felt like I was on a movie set, but, then I realized,
"No, I'm in Egypt."
Hi, I'm Andrew.
Also known as Gunnarolla, musician and world traveler.
This time, I'm off to Egypt with Contiki
on an eight day guided tour.
We saw pyramids and temples, rode camels,
and maybe even ate one.
I rather enjoy camel.
Can I take a breakfast selfie?
But, that's not all we did.
This is the story of Egypt and The Nile.
Okay, we're going to see the sound and light show.
We've reached that point of the trip
where I've stop giving a crap about how I look.
So, later that night,
we went to see a sound and light show at Karnak Temple.
I don't know what I was thinking.
I was expecting a big laser light show,
with an orchestra and fireworks.
But that's not what this was.
- [Announcer] Do not be overwhelmed by the sheer size
of these ruins, the citadel that arose here,
was not designed on the scale of men,
But on the grand scale of God, from whom all things flowed.
Well, (laughing) that was interesting.
If I'm being honest,
I don't know that I could follow along
with the entire story, but, it's crazy to think about,
how many people built this space.
Passed through this space.
And now we're passing through this space, too.
The following day, we checked out of the boat,
and went to the Valley of the Kings.
Aside from our first day with the pyramids and camels,
this was my favorite part of the trip.
And I wasn't allowed to document any of it.
I didn't want to risk getting fined.
We got to go inside tombs, to see how they were decorated,
how they were engineered, some of them had booby traps.
We got to see King Tut's tomb, and his mummy.
- [Tour Guide] You know, guys,
each one of these tunnels,
this is like a documentary.
Look at how much stuff, history, everywhere.
So, these are statues that they
just recently discovered? - [Tour Guide] Yes, yes.
Am I making things up?
- [Woman] In the last ten years.
In the last ten years, so, that's not very recent.
But I guess in the grand scheme of things,
it could be recent.
It's fascinating to think about how many
centuries of history are on that site,
and how many tombs,
might still not have been discovered yet.
- [Tour Guide] This used to be where people lived.
Five thousand people used to live here,
on the right hand side.
Guys, where we're going is like,
the site is amazing,
because the people constructed in the cliff of a mountain.
And we used to describe the temple,
we'd say that, the mountains give a hug.
The mountain is hugging the temple.
So, we are heading to, Queen
Hatshepsut's Temple, right over there.
- [Woman] Queen Hot Chicken Soup!
Queen Hot Chicken Soup!
I've met some pretty incredible people
on these Contiki trips, and many of them
have become very good friends of mine.
I've been very lucky to be able to see some of them,
again, somewhere in the world.
One of my favorite people on this particular trip
would have to be Georgette.
It was her first "Kantiky",
and I get along really well
with people who like to laugh.
(laughing)
And clearly I must have inspired her.
Because she made an attempt at video blogging.
- [Georgette] Hi guys, this is our little video.
Hi! Say hi, everyone.
Hello!
I can't pronounce this woman's name.
Queen Hujupsu. Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut, she's my favorite,
'cause she's the first female Pharaoh.
And that's what I would love to be.
The first female boss.
Well, be careful what you wish for.
Georgette's a celebrity.
(vairous girls speaking egyptian)
(horns honking)
All these Egyptian girls swarmed her.
They wanted photos, and I guess they really liked her look.
We have to go.
- [Egyptian Girls] Bye! Okay, thank you, bye!
(Georgette laughing)
They're so sweet.
How did you feel about that?
Like a movie star- ooh!
(laughing)
Then, after that little run-in
with the paparazzi, we got to learn
more about the temple and explore it.
- [Tour guide] That's her picture on the wall.
Look at how perfect, that picture?
Look at the eye, the cow eyes?
Guys, this picture is three thousand,
five hundred years old.
Look at how it's so well preserved.
- [Vendor] Con-tee-kay! Con-tee-kay!
- [Man] Andrew, are we going to do a selfie with everybody?
- [Woman] Yes. Are we?
(laughing, crowd talking)
Oh wait, it's a movie.
Ahh! Ahhh! (laughing)
(crowd talking)
You know, I'm starting to like this selfie stick thing.
I don't really want to do this,
but I'm getting some pretty good shots.
We went back to Karnack Temple,
this time during the day,
and again I was struck by how few tourists there were.
Let's talk about the fact that it's empty.
Like, there's no one here, it's empty.
There's no one here except for us.
Like, which tourist attraction could you go to
in the world, where there's no one here?
Which of course was the perfect opportunity
for me to get my favorite type of footage.
Walking in slow-motion.
(dramatic music)
That's it, that's the temple!
And with that, our trip was coming close to an end,
with one stop left, Hurghada.
Next Friday on Gunnarolla.
Okay, this is a resort hotel.
- [Man] We're gonna party tonight, sir.
(laughing)
- [Andrew] Today, we are going to try
McDonalds kangaroo burger.
No, it's camel. It's camel.
This is the saddest part.
Let's go talk to some passengers.
How you doing today?
Today? Yeah.
Sorry, again? (laughing)
Anything you're looking forward to,
on the last two days of our trip?
(sighing) I'm.
Two days left?
We only have two days left.
Wait, I just got really sad. (laughing)
I'm really looking forward to our beach party!
Yes, that's gonna be a lot of fun.
And if we had taken a look over here.
We have the beautiful city, of.
(everyone laughing)
Let's go talk to Dave.
Which Contiki is this for you, number.
This is Contiki number three for me.
And how does it compare to the rest?
It's a completely different experience.
And what's been the highlight for you so far?
I like the temples, the temples are really cool.
All the temples we've seen have been awesome.
I mean, yeah, and like, um, Abu Simbu?
That was like, that was like one of the best things.
I like it.
That was the best thing we did.
Well, plenty of temples to come, here in Egypt.
(laughing)