I know, we've been putting off our honeymoon for one reason or another, but Daniele and I have decided we'll finally take our honeymoon at the end of this year or beginning of next year.
We've already selected one portion of our trip (hopefully political situations improve and entry points reopen, I'm keeping our destination secret for now), but we are having a hard time deciding between two options for the second half of our trip. We've narrowed it down to Egypt or India, but the reason we are having a hard time deciding between the two is 1) they are two of my favorite countries and Daniele has an interest in visiting both 2) our first choice only allows Americans to enter with an organized group, and it'll only be half a year after our honeymoon that I'll have my Italian passport which allows for tour free visits to Iran.
We'll have a total of three weeks, one week will be reserved for the secret destination and two weeks for India or Egypt.
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Our Secret Location, But It's Not The White Sand Beaches That Make This Place Unique |
I had the best time in both countries, but I traveled as a solo female and I really think that's part of the reason why I had such a minimal hassle trip in each place. As I've written before, India and Egypt are both countries where it's a bigger hassle to be a male traveling than a female. But Daniele has a good laid back personality that tends to make him very likable and less harassed. I've seen it happen more often than not where we'll start getting a hard sell and when it's found out that he's Italian the mood changes completely and the conversation changes from a sales pitch to gushing love for Italy.
For
India, we'd visit a few places that I skipped when I went. Other than the Taj Mahal, everything else would be new to both of us.
Amritsar
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Via Wikipedia |
Varanasi
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Via Wikipedia |
Ellora Caves
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Via Wikipedia |
We may replace the Ellora Caves with a location in Rajasthan, for example we could visit one of the fort/palace cities and Chand Baori.
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Via Wikipedia |
And if political tensions do not improve for our secret location we'd go to the Andaman Islands or Sri Lanka instead.
Egypt on the other hand would include a few more places I've visited previously, but also new locations.
We'd start in Cairo for the Egyptian Museum and the Pyramids at Giza (Dashur as well), perhaps stay a little longer in Cairo to see a bit more of the city.
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No One Is Immune To Cheesy Pyramid Photos |
From Cairo, depending on a few factors, we'd either head to Luxor to take a cruise to Aswan, or head to Aswan to take the cruise to Luxor. Daniele and I originally looked at the Steamboat Sudan, the same boat that Agatha Christie was on while being inspired to write
Death On The Nile, but I think I prefer taking a dahabiya instead.
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Dahabiya, A Little More Luxurious Than This Felucca |
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Karnak |
Aswan would be new for me since I skipped it for more time in Dahab.
After the cruise (and associated sights at each end) we were looking at either diving in Marsa Alam on the coast or somewhere along the Sinai (yes, I am aware of the recent ISIS activity in the area, I'm monitoring this daily) to make it an easy trip into Jordan or Israel if we feel like it.
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Petra |
Part of me is leaning towards Egypt for the exact reasons why most tourists (mostly Americans) are staying away from Egypt. I've been kicking myself ever since I missed an opportunity to visit Syria in 2010, and now refuse to miss an opportunity to travel to locations that may be drastically changed in the future. I'm not saying monuments will be destroyed in Egypt(insha'Allah) like they were in Iraq, Afghanistan, and China, but there are also ambitious plans to change Egypt in ways similar to the modern constructions of Dubai. So whether it be war, terrorist attacks, or modernist folly, Egypt will be changed in my lifetime. Plus, Egyptians are just awesome people. I've honestly never met an Egyptian that I didn't like.
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