Luxor, Dahab and Alexandria

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THURSDAY 9TH APRIL

I was up at the crack of dawn again this morning, and once again I was among the first on our felucca to wake up. I lounged about for a while before someone else woke up and we headed over to the toilets. During the night the felucca had moved across the river, essentially to the side of the road where there was a cafe, lots of locals and two toilets. Better than nothing.

After breakfast (more pita bread, eggs, cheese and stale cake with jam) we settled our drinks bill and tip kitty. We discovered we were slightly out on the drinks bill but given everything was quite cheap we ended up covering it no problems.

After getting on the bus we sat there for ages, which we later found out was because two of the boat captains were getting arrested for stealing money. Eventually we left and about 3/4 of an hour later arrived at Kom Ombi temple. It was right on the water where all the cruise ships pull in and quite high up on a hill. Sam took us through the temple and then we had a little free time to walk around ourselves. Saw the first of the holys of holys. Then it was back on a bus and about an hour later we arrived at the next temple, the Temple of Edfu. Again we looked around that one, which was quite different to Ombi, before heading back onto the bus and getting into Luxor.

Checked into a really nice hotel that was quite central. Given we hadn't had any food and it was quite late, after having our first shower in a couple of days we wandered down to KFC to get some food. Got harrassed quite a bit by the locals, and they were quite a lot pushier than the locals in Aswan. By the time we got back to the hotel we had a few hours chillng by the pool, before showering (again) and heading with the rest of the group to Luxor Temple. Was really nice to see a temple at night time, there were so many people there and it was quite large. Then it was onto a buffett dinner where we had the options to buy some jewelery before an early night.

FRIDAY 10TH APRIL

It was another early start this morning to head out to the Valley of Kings and the Valley of Queens. We saw a large range of tombs of various sizes, some quite heavily decorated and quite intricately decorated, while others had been ruined by the elements or had had their king die at a younger age and were therefore not as 'finished' as the others. Saw the Tomb of King Tutankhamen and his mummified body. He became a King when he was about 14 and died at the age of about 19. He was buried with so many artefacts and quite a lot of gold, and because his Tomb was one of the Tombs that was pretty much discovered untounched by tomb raiders, he is also among the most well known.

It was then onto the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is basically built into limestone cliffs and is quite dramatic. It was packed with kids who were obviously on school excursions and all singing in Arabic or something similar - all the school teachers in our group went a little bit gaga over them all.

Then it was back to the hotel for a quick shower and check-out, leaving our bags in reception, before heading to Karnak Temple, on the opposite side of Luxor from Luxor Temple. Stopped via a fast food place on the way to get some food as none of us had had the opportunity to grab some lunch. Bus ended up smelling like McDonalds for the rest of the afternoon as a result (I didn't have McDonalds for lunch).

After seeing Karnak Temple, where I also bought an English newspaper, we returned to the hotel and had enough time to grab our bags and for the 11 of us that were going onto Dahab to shout a quick goodbye to the rest of our group and our guide who we had barely seen, and jump onto another bus where we were to spend the next 18 hours. Yep, that's right, 18 hours.

We were pretty lucky on our bus for that 18 hour trip as nearly all of us had a double seat to ourself which meant we could stretch out and get some sleep. We also watched a few movies and stopped at various places along the way. Having left Luxor at around 3pm or so, we stopped for dinner at around 9pm I guess and had breakfast at a little cafe looking onto the Saudi Arabian and Jordanian Mountains at around 7am or so.

SATURDAY 11TH APRIL

After breakfast we had about another four hours until we arrived in Dahab in time for breakfast at the hotel. With 100 or so of us arriving it meant that there was quite a long queue for an omelette.

After breakfast we checked in and had showers before grabbing pizza and chips at the pool for a bit of a late lunch. Our new tour guide for this leg of the trip was Big Mo who is pretty much as his name describes, big and full of energy. We met him at 5:30pm and headed into Dahab where we had a quick city tour which mostly including pointing out the ATMs and money enchange places, some key shops and the 'alcoholic shop' which was where we all bought alcohol to take to dinner. As it is a Muslim country you can't buy alcohol at the restauarants although they are happy enough to keep it in their fridge and let you drink it. So we had dinner at a restaurant called El Mundo - I had the Portuguese Chicken dish which was really tasty but enormous. We got dips and cake included as well as sheesha, before we headed onto Tree Bar where we had 2-4-1 cocktails. Kylie and I got the midnight bus back after going past the supermarket for some water and other stocks.

SUNDAY 12TH APRIL

Most people had decided to go scuba diving today but we decided not to so we got up for a leisurely breakfast at around 10am before heading to the beach and pool where we pretty much spent the rest of the day. As with the night before, we all met for dinner at around 6pm and headed into Dahab. As with the meal with previous night, we went via the 'alcoholic shop' and then got free dips and cake with the meal and sheesha too. After that it was back to Tree Bar, before heading to the supermarket and then home.

MONDAY 13TH APRIL

Another leisurely morning planned which saw up down at the pool before lunch time. Most people were around today so the pool was packed.

Knowing that we weren't going to be getting much sleep tonight, we had a quick nap in the afternoon. At around 5pm we all met for the BBQ dinner on the beach. The hotel had set up basically a buffett BBC, complete with proper tables and real cutlery and everything. Because most people were going to be climbing Mt Sinai that evening it was a pretty chilled out dinner, most people didn't bother to drink, before everyone headed back for a nap. A couple of the English girls got really annoyed with Big Mo for changing the time of the mountain climb; they were soooo rude.

At 10pm we all met in the foyer and boarded the buses, equipped with passports, snacks, water, sleeping bags and a change of clothes. It was about a two our drive to the Mt Sinai region so most people got the chance to have another short and uncomfortable sleep before we got there.

Once there, it took us about an hour to go through another quite lame security check before walking up to St Catherine's Monastery for a toilet stop and quick coffee. We met our three local guides who were going to be keeping track of our climb up the mountain and headed up, past all of the Egyptian men trying to sell us a camel ride part way up the mountain. We had been basically told not to do the camel ride as they could be dangerous and you would also be separated from the rest of the group as well. The climb was to take about 3 hours and by the time we set off from the Monastery it was about 1am. There were kiosks scattered along the way which we stopped briefly at for water breaks and to catch our breath. It was a pretty steady climb the whole way. The breaks also gave the guides a chance to catch the back part of the group up to the front part of the group too, for part of the way we were in the middle but then we seemed to slide towards the back end of the group (although we weren't the very last!!).

We reached the bottom of the 750 stairs and had the option there to hire blankets and mattresses. There were a lot of people climbing the mountain too, being the week before Easter a lot of people climb Mt Sinai as a bit of a pilgrimage because it is retracing the steps of Moses and the 10 commandments.

At the steps Kylie and I pretty much separately, I took regular breaks along with some people, while others just basically started climbing quickly and steadily. I only ended up being about 10 minutes behind in the end though.

At the top of the mountain we staked out our spot, did a quick change of tops and snuggled into sleeping bags on the mountain.

TUESDAY 14TH APRIL

After about an hours sleep, if that, word started spreading around the mountain that the sun was about to start rising, which was pretty much the reason for us being at the top of the mountain at that time. It was 5am.

The sunrise was less than spectacular and I have to admit I was slightly disappointing having spent 3 hours climbing a mountain to get there. Still, knowing that we had achieved it was a good feeling. And then it was time for the trek down, which probably ended up taking about two hours. I slipped and grazed my knee on the way down (what a surprise!!). Ended up down in the Monastery cafe at around 7:45am where we got to eat our breakfast boxes amongst the thousands of cats there were there. Never want to see another breakfast box for as long as I live.

At 9am we went inside the Monastery for a look around, and by 10am we were back on the bus and heading back to the hotel, arriving at noon.

From there it was basically sleeping by the pool for the afternoon before meeting Big Mo in the hotel foyer at around 7pm for our final dinner.

Given that most of us hadn't slept much it was a very tame final dinner, with everyone basically sticking to soft drinks and being very subdued. I think Mo was slightly disappointed that all of us decided to catch the 10pm bus back for an early night, he on the other hand kicked on I think!! Good on him.

WEDNESDAY 15TH APRIL

We left the hotel this morning at 4am to head back to Cairo. Another long trip, this time on a pretty full bus. We arrived into Cairo at about 2pm and after checking in we went straight to the Cairo Museum where we spent a few hours looking around. The museum is huge, not very well labelled, and in need of a drastic refurbishment. The highlight was probably seeing all of the gold that King Tutankhamen was found with and buried in, the gold fingers and toes, coffins, head gear, etc. Having seen his tomb, it was amazing to think that he was buried with so many valuable treasures given him age, and that none of them had been stolen either.

From the Cairo Museum we headed back via the hotel to pick up some of the others before our next stop was a perfumery. They gave us food there which we needed and talked us through the process, before we had the option to buy. Essentially, they claim to produce a lot of the essence of all the famous cosmetics, so you could just list your chosen perfume and they could get it for you. I decided not to buy any as I couldn't be bothered and couldn't think.

After that it was onto Cairo Markets where we did a bit of rushed shopping, pretty much the only shopping I did the entire trip. Had some time to do some heavy bargaining before rushing back to the bus. Then it was to the local pizza place for dinner, some goodbyes to some other travellers and an early night.

THURSDAY 16TH APRIL

Another early start this morning as we had chosen to do the optional Alexandria day trip. There was only about 10 of us on the tour. The drive out to Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, took about an hour and a half. On the way, we had to stop (on the freeway) to give way to a herd of camels crossing. Only in Egypt. Alexandria has a population of six million and was founded by Alexander the Great. It is known for its wonderful beaches and as a holiday destination for Egyptians.

Our first stop was the Roman catacombs - the largest known Roman burial site in Egypt. Funnily enough, they were discovered by accident in about 1900 when a donkey fell down the hole. There is now a memorial to the donkey in the catacombs, which were thought to hold hundreds of mummified bodies at one stage. When they found the catacombs though they never found any bones or bodies except of some horses.

From there it was onto Pompeii's Pillar where we had a look around before heading to the impressive Library of Alexandria. Not only was it massive, but it was also built in a very practical way, encouraging natural light and air. If I had a library like that close to me I would visit it frequently. They also have a project underway to electronically catalogue every book and make it available online. What I found ironic was that the country is committed to throwing a lot of money into that project, yet it can't raise the necessary funds to build a new Egyptian Museum, despite that being more valuable in terms of their cultural heritage. From there it was a quick visit to the esplanade area where we caught a glipse of the Montazzah Palace and Citadel, before grabbing lunch at a restuarant and heading back to Cairo, where we arrived at around 6pm. We headed out and got some burgers and packed bags and had a very early night.

FRIDAY 17TH APRIL

Transfers were included this morning so we got picked up at about 4:30am'for a 7:30am flight. Arrived back into London around noon and headed home for a peaceful weekend. Even managed to get a sun tan while in Egypt!!

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