News — travel blog

The Nile River is the central artery of Egypt. It is the sole source of drinking water and brings fertilization to the fields with the rich silt carried from deep inside Africa. The Nile is a major transportation corridor, ferrying people between the east bank and the west bank and facilitating commercial barge movement. But even with all that traffic, it is also the place where sailboats and motorboats cruise while filled with locals and tourists enjoying the sights.   In Cairo, the noise, traffic, sand, dirt, hustle-bustle and general commotion gets left behind the minute you depart from the...

Medinet Habu is known to be the mortuary temple of Ramesses III. It is located on the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt. Inside the Medinet Habu Temple are beautifully decorated columns and pillars. We loved visiting these archeological wonders in Luxor, Egypt. The temple is best known as the source for reliefs and hieroglyphic writings depicting the happenings during the reign of Ramesses III. At then end of this post is a photo of the cartouche in the temple depicting Ramesses name. In archaeology, a cartouche is an oblong enclosure of a group of Egyptian hieroglyphics, typically representing the name and...

Karnak, as the complex is referred to, is the largest religious site ever made, spanning more than 200 acres. It is located in Luxor which is just east of the Nile river and near the Luxor Museum.   The temple has been developed over a period of 1500 years and added to by different pharaohs. That resulted in a collection of temples, sanctuaries, pylons and other decorations that is unlike any other holy place in Egypt. Karnak is divided into three compounds for each of the different religious centers: Amun, Mut and Montu. Modern day visits to Karnak involve nightly shows with light...

Our Luxor Vendor We have been buying our hand-carved scarabs, alabaster and other items in stone and ceramics from the Matani family in the village of el-Gourna, across the Nile from Luxor.  This wonderful family has been involved in making replicas of ancient statues for as many generations as can be remembered.  The patriarch is named Mahmoud, one of the kindest, gentle vendors we have ever known. Mahmoud's home was originally made from sun-dried mud bricks, as were most homes in Luxor for countless centuries. When my parents, wife and I were on a buying trip in the mid 1990's there was...

Our owner Steve Collins, traveled to Cairo in 1979 to tour the Middle East with his college friend David. In the 3 month trip, they bought hand-crafts and jewelry along the way with the hopes of bringing their treasures back home to sell them and help pay for their trip.  Now, more than 40 years later, Steve is still at it!  He lives in the US, but he spends a good part of his year traveling to Egypt to find new treasures. Over the years, he has made relationships with artisans in Egypt that are as close as family.  Steve...