If you are planning to come to Egypt for the 2 August 2027 Total Solar Eclipse, and particularly if you want to experience it in Luxor, there is something you need to understand now: do not assume you will be able to find accommodation when you get here. Luxor is going to be one of…
A lot of people write to me hoping to share the cost of a private visit to the Great Pyramid, the Osirion, or the Sekhmet Chapel. Here’s what actually makes that work: letting me plan your whole trip, not just that one visit.
How the cheap tours make their money A $45 or even a $75 day tour doesn’t cover its own costs on the tour fee alone. A private vehicle, a driver, a licensed guide, fuel, entrance fees, transfer permits and insurance cost more than that to provide. The gap is closed in a few places –…
Today I walked into Esna Temple with my grandson. The colours caught my attention immediately. Photographs had not prepared me for them. The blues were deeper, the reds richer, and the yellows – gold where the light hit them – still seemed to hold sunlight despite the passing centuries. Above us stretched a ceiling alive…
Today we can look at the Nile, its temples, and the ancient monuments that line its banks from Abu Simbel to Alexandria, and from everything we know, easily see the chakra layout as in the human body. And that brings us to ask a question that has no clean answer: how much of what we’re…
This post was originally published on 15 Sept 2025 but completely rewritten and Last updated: 16 June 2026 If you would like to arrange exclusive access to places such as the Great Pyramid, the Sphinx, the Osirion, or the Sekhmet Chapel solely for yourself, your family, or your own group, the cost is approx €3,000…
According to Google, the question people ask most often about travelling to Egypt is still, “Is Egypt safe?” The simple and truthful answer is yes. I’ve lived and worked in Egypt for more than 25 years and, during that time, I have never had to cancel a single guest’s trip, tour or hotel booking because…
Last updated: June 12, 2026 Every week I hear from travelers who have already booked their Egypt holiday through a major tour company, luxury travel agency or online platform. They have booked VERY expensive trips – there is still a mindset out there that subconsciously and automatically, without detailed investigation associate a high price tag…
Luxor temple’s chambers, walls, and sanctuaries are designed not just to guide the body and mind, but to awaken your emotional depth, spiritual insight, and the subtle, magical aspect of your being.
You have been emailing. You have been researching the best packages. You have been ruminating. You have been asking questions. You have been holding back on confirmations and deposits. Now I want to explain why that could cause you to lose the entire trip. You have been holding back because the normal way to book…
What if the insect bite had caused a more severe reaction? What if the balloon accident had left someone unconscious? What if someone on blood thinning medication was in an accident, bleeding, unconscious and nobody is thinking – blood thinner? These aren’t dramatic hypotheticals – they are real situations that real travelers face. How to prepare for the unexpected?
Something stirs in every human being in the moments before a celestial event. It isn’t excitement. It’s older than that. On 2nd August 2027, the sky above Luxor goes dark. Most people will be at a temple. I’ll be on the Nile – and I have twenty years of reasons why.
Twenty-three years in Egypt. More clients than I can remember now and always — questions about Nile cruises and dahabiyas. And for most of that time, my answer about dahabiyas was the same: the idea is better than the reality. The concept is beautiful — a traditional Egyptian sailing vessel, small and intimate, gliding silently…
The Only Tomb in the World Where You Can Sit With a Mummy. Could You Survive It? Could you sit alone in the dark with a three-thousand-year-old mummy? Not metaphorically. Not in a museum with lighting and other tourists and a gift shop twenty metres away. Actually alone. After dark. In the tomb. In the…
You’ve probably read quite a bit on this site by now. Good. Use it all — it’s yours. But here’s what I can’t put on a public page: which operators I’d never send you to and why. Which “exclusive” experiences aren’t. What the marketing doesn’t say. That kind of thing I only say in an…
This is part II of a two part story – you will find part I here Four – The Blood She came across Scota the way you come across the things that matter – sideways, not looking, in the middle of researching something else entirely. A footnote. A name in a medieval Irish manuscript that…
One – The Door They come in the morning, before the heat becomes a physical argument with the body. She watches them arrive from where she stands near the entrance – the slight disorientation they all have, that particular jet-lagged bewilderment of people who have stepped out of one reality and not yet fully entered…
When a traveler sees unfinished buildings, their brain makes a quick judgment. But what looks like poverty to an outsider is actually a multi-generational family home — no mortgage, no babysitter needed, no nursing home. Mara House offers high-end travelers something no marble lobby can: a chance to understand Egypt, not just see it.
My journey from Ireland to Egypt yesterday began as it was destined to end – with delays. But given what’s happening elsewhere in the world, I actually felt more patience than usual. Either I’m maturing like a fine whiskey, or the bar has simply dropped that low. First up: the Dublin-to-Cairo flight took off about 30…
Procedures in Egyptian hotels and Nile cruises have changed — and most travellers don’t know it. This article explains the Egyptian tummy bug, why early treatment matters, and the essential steps to take before leaving home.