Last stop in Egypt, Nuweiba port right up the Eastern Sinai coast. I knew it was a long day getting across the border, but man, those Egyptians are unorganised! We arrived about 8am at the port, and watched the show in various spots through the process until we got onto our 11am ferry at 3.30pm. Egyptian men do tend to stare at western women, so us chicks are used to that, but this place took the cake! It was as if a thousand guys had just got eyes for Christmas and were taking full advantage of using them. I had never [View Full Entry]

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Ahh, Dahab, oasis of chill and happiness and western food. Two nights in Dahab did a lot to ease our travel weary souls. We stayed in a backpackers place right by the beach, and basically spent a day and a half relaxing, tourist shopping and remembering what hot showers and real beds felt like. I did a bit of tourist shopping, just because my backpack isn't full enough already, and visited Omar the sheesha master. He's very passionate about the art of sheesha, and when buying one you have to go through the full demonstration of how to assemble it properly, [View Full Entry]

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OK, now here is a historically significant place, nature/landscape appreciation and really cool thing to do rolled into one! After driving through the day from Cairo, including passing under the Suez canal (no ships passing through it to be seen, but we didn't have a great vantage point from the highway) we arrived at St Katherines protectorate in the early evening. Dinner in the carpark and after getting geared up with layers of clothes, water and sleeping bag, we proceeded to trek up Mt Sinai. Most people go up about 3am to catch the sunrise, but we were different (thanks Kumuka) [View Full Entry]

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There's not a lot to say on this one. After we got off our feluccas, we visted Kom Ombo and Edfu, both temples near the Nile between where we finished our cruise and Aswan where we got back on our train. As usual, they were both stunning, with huge engraved walls and impressive columns and entrances. Unfortunately we were not in the mood to be wowed by more temples, especially after the arak (the local spirit, like ouzo) that we had been drinking the night before so they didn't get the attention they deserved. I'll let the photos speak for them. [View Full Entry]

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Another iconic Egyptian thing is to take a cruise down the Nile, and I am not one to break with tradition! The day before our cruise, we took a two hour camel safari, and two hours was quite enough! They are not the most stable creatures to ride, and give elephants a run for thir money in the bumpiness stakes! But still lots of fun, especially as I had one of the tallest fastest camels, so kicked ass in our informal camel race. Sweet. The next morning we hopped onto the feluccas, on which we had two nights. As we had [View Full Entry]

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Abu Simbel, another highlight of Egypt - they just keep coming! A three hour convoy (the Egyptians love them) to the site. At least we were in a normal bus, we could keep up with the rest this time! And we had the usual pit stop (dubbed the one pound pee - that's the usual cost price for use of the facilities - the quality varies!) on the way there to give us time to be hassled by all the seagulls (street vendors and shopkeepers) to pay exorbitant prices for their wares. At least in a convoy you don't have the [View Full Entry]

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As usual in Egypt, things don't always go according to schedule. Our 7.30am train to Aswan became a 11am bus as a train had broken down the day before, which apparently stops all trains everywhere, go figure. So we arrived in Aswan with just enough time to go out to Philae Temple in the afternoon. Aswan is described as a picture postcard place, which is certainly is. After so much desert and sand and dryness, the Nile with Palm Trees, Camels and Feluccas was just what we wanted. Philae Temple is on an island, a Greek/Roman era temple complex that was [View Full Entry]

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I apologise in advance - in this entry I'm going to try to describe the Valley of the Kings and will fail miserably. No pictures are allowed inside the tombs, so what you see is just outside stuff. You'll have to go there yourself to really see and experience it! First off we stopped at the Collossus of Memnon, which was once a large temple for Amon, but all that remain are two very large statues, which by memory are of Ramses II. He had a fondness, to put it mildly, for massive architecture featuring himself. He's everywhere! Back in Roman [View Full Entry]

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Ahh, now this is how a holiday should be. Relaxing on a large boat, sparkling water, hot sun, nothing to do but sleep and sunbathe! We took a long five hour journey to Hurghada on 27 March. All foreigners are required to travel in a daily convoy when travelling between Luxor and Hurghada. So we duly turned up ready to depart at 2pm with all the tour buses. The police take their duty seriously, but anyone wearing a black thick wool uniform in the 40+ heat can't have all thier camels in the top paddock. Unfortunately our overland truck doesn't keep [View Full Entry]

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I'm still shaking the sand out of everything after the desert sandstorm - and it was only a mild one! But otherwise it's nice to be in Luxor. This is the place where so much history happened, the centre of a united Egypt for so many years. We have wandered around the Karnak Temple complex today. Wow. That really sums it up! (But you know me, I won't stop there.) It had been built onto by a succession of Pharohs over the years, and starting with the massive statues, obelisk and sphinx avenue out the front, through the huge courtyards, the [View Full Entry]

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