Day 30 We spent the night here in the Bahariya Oasis and leave this morning for a 10 hours in our 4 WD deep into the Western Desert The only things out here are sand and checkpoints. There are markers for a new road to be built but only minor construction has started in small sections. The landscape here is mainly that of sand dunes and flat rocky areas. We stop at a wreckage of a helicopter. We are told that it is of a German helicopter from World War II. We stop for a picnic lunch along the desolate road under a large rock appropriately called “ship rock”. The desert once again has shown its versatile history as the rocks here are made entirely of shells. Millions of years ago this entire area was a ... read more

DAY 25 The winds have slowed down and not as powerful as they had been and the breeze is refreshing after breathing in sand for such a long time. We have breakfast on the boat of crepes, jam, honey, boiled eggs and fresh bananas. We bid farewell to our wonderful crew and hop a mini van that has come to pick us up and take us to Luxor. We pass up the opportunity to stop at 2 minor temples in favor of a shower and a few hours of rest at our hotel; because we begin a tour at 4:00pm to the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. Today was filled with travelling and sightseeing. We had a local guide who has completed studies in Egyptology. So we were thoroughly informed of all the customs, rituals and ... read more

DAY 22 We alight from our train in Aswan at about 9am and go directly to the Nuba Nile Hotel. This is not even a three star hotel, although it is clean and we have a fridge and air conditioning. That's all that matters. This morning is free and we head off to the souq to explore. We are approached by every shopkeeper to buy. Angie finds her Egypt collector pin and we have had enough. The temperature is climbing. We head back to the hotel. On our way we see the milkman doing his deliveries. He has his donkey with a metal milk can on either side. He has a metal ladle and pours some into a plastic bag, ties a knot in the top and hands it over. The egg man is doing his ... read more

DAY 21 Yella (Let's go) we are off to the Pyramids today. We take a private van with our guide and the sight of the pyramids from a distance are amazing but as we grow closer it is unbelievable how big these are. Francine has been here before but Angie is in total amazement. We have a great time taking photos and climbing on the bottom area of the largest one. We are able to go into the the middle one and the steep incline down and up is done 90% of the time in a bent position because there is so little room. The air is hot humid and very thick as ventilation is poor, We enter the burial room and take a quick look around and can't wait to get out. We just want ... read more

DAY 13-15-tour DAY 16-18-independently We take a public bus to MARRAKECH about 3 hours. We are staying in a very nice hotel but poor service and the staff are not very helpful. This city feels more like a French city than a Moroccan one. Our first visit is to the famous DJEMAA EL FNA, a large market area with everything imaginable. Tonight we are dining al fresco in this carnival atmosphere, the food is okay but the ambiance is unbelievable, There is all manner of food from seafood, chicken, beef, salads and boiled goats head. The meat from the cheeks are the sweetest (so we have been told). Here we wander around, singers, drummers, dancers, storytellers, snake charmers, fortune tellers, tooth pullers and denture makers, jugglers, monkeys and lizards. This has been dubbed the greatest spectacle ... read more