Holy Land 2019 ~ Pharaohs, Sphinx and Pyramids (DAY 2 ~ CAIRO)

DAY 2 - Touring Egypt, The Land of Ancient Monuments, Pharaohs and Pyramids

First stop is the Giza Pyramid Complex, made up of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure and the Sphinx, arranged according to the Orion constellation.

These pyramids were built from 2600-2500BC and is the last remaining wonders of the ancient world. 

This camel knows his good angles :P

Ram wants to take a pyramid home...

Carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau is the Sphinx. It has the body of a lion with the head of a king or god. It is said to symbolize strength and wisdom. 

Lunch followed at Aklet Setti a local Egyptian restaurant ~serving authentic Egyptian cuisine.  Food is good and delectable. 

With our Tour Group family ~

After lunch we headed to Sultan Adam, Aromatherapy and Healing Oils 

Adam one of the owners and an Nth Generation Bedouin (Bedouins are known essential oil experts), explained the benefits of essential oils as holistic healing treatment using natural plant extracts to promote physical and emotional well-being.

Many (including me) ended up with bottles of essential oil from his shop.

Essential Oils are quite expensive, so make sure you are getting yours  from genuine sources

(Well, I have been using the mint and narwastu oil I bought; You only need a few drops per use the scent lasts 6-8 hours).

My eyes opened wide with interest, as we stepped in The Egyptian Museum.  

Too bad the new Grand Egyptian Museum is still under construction.  It is described as the largest archaeological museum in the world.  For now, our group has to settle with the Egyptian Museum.

I was amazed the minute we walked through the Egyptian Museum doors.. (just pure awe)!

I could spend a day here (just roaming)... 

Notes: 

• I purposely did not include pictures on mummies as others might find it unpleasant
  
• Pay a visit to the Royal Mummy Room and come face to face at the King Ramses Great.  My husband (also named Ram) was curious at seeing his namesake.  

We ended Day 2 with a Nile River Dinner and Cruise on board Nile Crystal.

We were entertained with Egyptian traditional belly dancing and whirling heritage Tannoura dancing.

The Nile River at night ~ 

The Nile is the longest river in the world. It's name came from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley. The annual flooding of the Nile deposits rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.

Please see also my other posts on our Holy Land Tour:

Holy Land 2019 ~ Dream Come True (DAY 1 ~ CAIRO) 

Holy Land Tips

Follow our DAY 3 - as we head off to Mt Sinai

For questions and inquiries on our Tour Package with CITTI please visit their facebook page at CORPORATE INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURS INC

Day 3 ~ Singapore Botanic Gardens and National Museum Singapore

Day 3 is all about good (and comfortable) shoes and lots of walking.

From Amara we took the MRT at the Tanjong Pagar Station to the Botanic Gardens Station. 

We entered through the Bukit Timah Gate, from here it is about a 1.4 kilometer walk to the garden's (not to be missed) main attraction National Orchid Garden ~ the house of Orchids: Imagine 1000+ species of them, excluding hybrids!

Look at what we found displayed in the VIP Orchid Section 

an variant orchid (Dendrobium) dedicated to Tatay Digong.  

TIPS:  

• Don't try to cover as much as possible in a day; I suggest you do a leisure walk and take time to admire nature.
• Stay hydrated, bring water.  
• Dress loosely and wear your best walking shoes. The garden is seriously huge (just imagine 82 hectares). 
• Entrance to the Botanic Garden is free, but you will need to pay extra (SGD5 for adults) to enter the National Orchid Garden.
• Torn between The Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay?  We have been at the Gardens by the Bay a few years back so we figured that for this visit, we should try The Botanic Garden I would say each one is beautiful in its own way. I find the the Botanic Garden more natural though and the Gardens by the Bay somewhat staged.  If you are travelling with kids, I think you would find the Gardens by the Bay  more suitable.

(Click here to check out our >>>> Gardens by The Bay). 

There are plenty of restaurants inside the garden, no need to worry, not finding a place to eat inside the Botanic Garden.  

We have decided on Casa Verde.  I think their specialty is pizza and pasta, but my husband and I settled on Singaporean local dishes.  

Word of caution,  servings in HUGE, so don't over do your orders, unless you are really, really hungry.  

Just check out these photos of our orders to see what I mean...

Food is great and highly recommended.  

We traced our steps back to the Botanic Garden Station and took the MRT to the National Museum.

My husband and I love history so with 3 hours to spare before our dinner date with Filipino friends  living in Singapore ~ we decided we drop by Singapore's National Museum. 

Coffee break was at the Food for Thought, a quaint restaurant at the museum's ground floor.

I love their coffee, which was perfect with a the carrot cake and banana cup cake we ordered.

We left the National Museum via Grab as it was raining when we finished touring. We headed back to Amara with enough time to freshen up, before meeting our friend at Maxwell Hawker Center (conveniently located within walking distance from our hotel).  

It was a wonderful Day 3 ~ relaxed and bit more spaced than yesterday's "Fully Loaded" itinerary :P

If you missed our Day 1 and Day 2 in Singapore, please click the link below:

Day 1 ~ China Town

Day 2 - Marina Bay, Clark Quay and Mustafa

Day 1 in Saigon ~ City Tour

After a tiring Seoul Trip, we figured our next out of country escapade should be somewhere less stressful and a bit laid-back...

Vietnam was an easy choice since my husband and I have always wanted to see Vietnam.  It was a toss though between Saigon and Hanoa, but believing the country's capital would be a better introduction to Vietnam's culture and people ~ we eventually decided on Saigon.

WELCOME TO SAIGON ~ ARRIVAL

We flew from Manila to Saigon via Philippine Airlines.  We left Manila at around 7am and arrived in Saigon 830am local time (Travel time is 2 1/2 hours, but Manila is 1 hour ahead of Saigon).

We exchanged $100 at a forex counter, we found right outside immigration.  

TIP: The rate at the airport was quite reasonable  (and in fact almost  the same as the exchange rates at forex establishments in District 1, however we find withdrawing money via ATM the easiest ~ costed only VND 22,000 for a VND2,000,000 withdrawal).

We pre-booked local SIM cards and transfer to Hotel Majestic via Klook.  If you haven't tried out using Klook yet, I highly recommend it. Klook is an efficient attractions/tours booking site and you get to earn rewards from bookings and referrals which gives you savings on future travels.

Click here for Klook booking discount for first time users: Klook Discount Code.

It took as about an hour to clear immigration, get VND, pick up our local SIMS and find our transfers. 

We reached Hotel Majestic at 10am and was allowed to check in at 11am.  While waiting we wandered around the hotel's vicinity ~ we found lots of souvenir shops, coffee shops, restaurants and forex establishments (We like our hotel's location ~ check here for the link of a separate review I did on Hotel Majestic Saigon).

LUNCH AT PHO 24

With plenty of time left, entered one of the many restaurants hops away from our hotel ~ Pho24. 

Pho24 sells traditional Vietnamese soup "Pho".  

We ordered beef pho and side dishes ~ fried and fresh spring rolls (can't decide which one to order, so we got one of each).  Our meal with drinks was about VND225,000 (roughly PHP500+).

Sauces if you can't decide if you want your pho "hot" or "really hot"!

SAIGON CITY (WALKING) TOUR

We returned to the Hotel Majestic after our early lunch to rest and freshen a bit, before our scheduled afternoon Saigon City Tour with Saigon Hotpot. 

Saigon Hotpot is a non-profit organization, offering FREE guided tours of Saigon.  If your are interested in locally guided experience of Saigon ~ check them via their website: Saigon Hotpot.

Our tour ambassador (TA), Ms. Thuong arrived promptly  at the hotel lobby, where we requested to be picked-up for our afternoon walking tour of Saigon.  

Our first stop was the grand Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Notre Dame is one the Catholic's main stronghold in a mostly Buddhist country. Unfortunately the Cathedral was closed for renovation when we visited, so we were not able to get in. 

Central Post Office

The Central Post Office of French design and architecture was designed by Marie-Alfred Foulhoux (not Gustave Eiffel as your might see or read from many online articles) was built in the late 1800.   It is important to note, that this is a working post office.  One can actually send postcards to any part of the globe from here.  I see tourists buying some and sending it friends back home.

Independence Palace (a.k.a. Reunification Palace)

The Independence Palace is the seat of power in Saigon before the Communist take over in 1975.   They say that the first Communist tank that arrived in Saigon crashed through the palace gates. 

The palace interiors carries Chinese influence ~ from the colors to the design which mostly submits to Feng Shui fundamentals.

War Remnant Museum

This museum documents the brutal effects of war.   

Most of the exhibits and pictures here are quite appalling and my heart goes to the helpless children and civilian casualties of the war.

Vietnam lost 3M of its citizens from the war (among them 2M are civilians); 2M people were injured and 300,000 were missing in action.

The tour left us tired and hungry, so we took a cab to our next stop ~ The Saigon Skydeck. We got our Skydeck (with Heineken) entrance ticket from Klook.


BANH MI STOP OVER

Our TA offered us a taste of "Banh Mi" Vietnamese Sandwich and brought us to a local food court just across the Skydeck.

Huge Bahn Mi paired with strawberry shake :P

SAIGON SKYDECK

Our last stop was just across the street the "Saigon Skydeck". 

 We got combo tickets which included a side trip to the World of Heineken.  
It was a relaxing way to cap our Day 1 in Saigon ~ cold beer on hand with the best view of the city!

Although Heineken is not a Vietnamese beer (which actually originated from the Netherlands), the brand has been dominating the Vietnamese market.

My husband trying his hands on beer crafting :P

There are also interactive games to try...

This one reads "NO TO DRINKING AND DRIVING"!  

Yes you guessed right, this driver crashed his drive...

In the company of our sweet TA :P

The package includes take home Heineken beers with personalized message.  
Mine reads "Pretty in SGN" (I know right?). 

Day 2 in Saigon is up next ~ A VIP Day Tour of Cu Chi Tunnel and Mekong Delta.