Pyramids and Sinai

Africa » Egypt
February 13th 2006

Published: February 13th 2006

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Jimmy and Anna

Pyramids

Taking in the awesome Pyramids

Well it is not often we come back from a holiday and feel like we could do with another one just to relax. I guess we knew this would be the case with Egypt, certainly not a relaxing holiday but what an amazing experience.

Anna and I booked a 10 day tour which saw us travel to Cairo, Luxor, Hurghada, and Dahab. It is winter time in Egypt at the moment but we were glad we did it at this time as temperatures in summer would have been to hot. Most days were 25+ and lots of sunshine so having 10 days away from the English winter was a huge blessing. Anyway here is a quick overview of our travels.

Arrived in Cairo on the 2nd of Feb and met up with the rest of the tour group. We had a small group so this was also a bonus. The following day we went through the Egyptian Museum and then to see the Pyramids and Sphinx. This was amazing and one of the highlights of the trip. Got to have a camel ride and went inside one of the pyramids which was not really designed for tall people like

One Two Three Four

Four of the Pyramids in Cairo

me. That evening we caught an overnight train to Luxor, 9 hours arriving in the morning. We spent 3 days in Luxor which allowed us to have a good look around. Went through the markets on the first day which was classic. You are constantly hassled by the locals but never in a threatening manner. It was a good laugh. The following day we headed over to the west bank where we had donkeys waiting for us. We rode for 90 minutes until we got to the Valley of the Kings where we spent a few hours checking out all the tombs. We then headed up the mountain to get on the donkeys again and they took us down the otherside to see the Valley of the Workers and Queens. The donkeys were a lot of fun but the bum and legs were rather sore at the end of it. The next day we checked out the temples, Karnak and Luxor. It is amazing seeing these buildings still standing and in such good condition and especially considering they are thousands of years old. Very impressive.

The next part of the trip was over to Dahab via Hurghada, another long

Anna P for Pyramids

Anna posing as usual

trip in bus and ferry. We had 3 days in Dahab were we knew relaxation was coming but before that could happen we climbed Mt Sinai, famous of course for the Ten Commandments and Moses and the burning bush. We left the hotel at 11pm and arrived at the foot of the mountain about 1.30am. The walk was exhausting and on top of this we were constantly dogging Camels that were going up and down the mountain. We arrived at the summit around 5am and there we waited desperately trying to keep warm until the sun came. It was all worth it though. As the sun came up the view was incredible and well worth the effort to get up. On the way down we managed to go into St Katherine's Monestary and see the burning bush, obviously not burning now but so amazing to see firsthand something that relates back to biblical times.

It was then time to relax. Dahab is a great little town right on the red sea and famous for it's excellent diving and snorkelling. We spent most of the time either chilling by the pool or down by the water. We had one day

Camel Time

In Egypt on a camel by the pyramids, cool hey.

at the blue hole snokelling which was quite amazing. So many amazing fish and great to be swimming in the sea again. And before we knew it we were packing our bags and heading back to Cairo where we flew home.

Egypt is certainly one of those places that is so different to anything we have ever experiennced before and we are so happy we did it. But for now it is back to winter for another month or two. Well at least we can now look at photos and remember what it is like to be hot and in blue sky.

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