FullOfContradictions

Our overnight bus ride from Puno to Cusco was not exactly a good idea. We had tickets on this huge double-decker tourist bus and initially thought that it would be great! No one told us that there would be absolutely no heat and the Andean nights are freezing cold. So Shane and I were absolutely freezing. All the locals were wrapped in five blankets - I kid you not! Luckily, one of the kind locals offered us a blanket which Shane and I gratefully accepted. We stopped in every little small town along the way and our bus also broke down. We eventually got into Cusco two and half hours later than expected and then stumbled into our hostal room. Woke up five hours later. We had planned on seeing some ruins around Cusco and some ... read more

We made it back to Cusco this morning, a little worse for the wear, but quite enjoyed the trip! Peru is approximately two-thirds jungle. The most pristine and protected of the jungle is an area called the Manu Biosphere Reserve consisting of 20,000 square kilometers. It is also the most virgin/pristine jungle probably because it the hardest to get to and the most expensive to get to! There are 13 species of monkeys here (more than anywhere else in the country), 15,000 plants, 1,300 butterflies, and more than a milion insects that have not been even close to documented. To visit Manu Reserve, it is compulsatory to have a guide and there are only eight tour groups with permits to visit the area. We went with a highly recommended group called Manu Expeditions and paid $2700 ... read more

Well, our last day in Egypt! Finally we were going to see the Great Pyramids... the only standing ancient wonder of the world. Pretty wild stuff. Incidently, I have discovered a term that is used for Shane's and my style of travelling. I always thought that we were "moderate budget backpackers." Nope, the actual term is Flashpackers. Yes, flashpackers. Backpackers with a little bit of money. It's quite a growing phenomenon. Here's the article in the Sunday Times: http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10296-1339393,00.html. Fits me to a tee. We got up early and went down for breakfast. We then headed to the Pyramids of Giza at around 7:45 AM. There is a barricade down Pyramid Road, which leads down to - you guess it - the Great Pyramids. The guards let the tourists through at 8:00 AM. Since we were ... read more

It was quite sad leaving Dahab. As with Siwa, Shane and I wished we had more time. I managed to spend a couple of hours in the sun before we had to pack up and head back to Sharm El-Sheik for our afternoon flight back to Cairo. Ahh... The famous Oberoi Mena House. This was quite the splurge to stay here but we justified it by saying we were celebrating Shane's birthday by staying here. I am not sure how you could ever top celebrating your birthday by staying in a hotel that was a mere 37 meters away from the last standing ancient wonder of the world. Everywhere we looked, the pyramids towered. The Mena House itself is a former royal hunting lodge and its interior is luxuriously Oriental. Initially, when we had booked the ... read more

Shane and I got up nice and early (5:00 AM) to catch our taxi to the Luxor Airport where we caught our flight to Sharm El-Sheik. At the airport, we met up with a family from Denmark who we met on the train from Aswan to Luxor. We ended up splitting a taxi with them from Sharm El-Sheik to Dahab (160 LE). They were a very interesting family - she was a nurse and had travelled all over the world working. I think he worked in aviation engineering. They had the most darling children - a boy and a girl around 8 and 10. They were so incredibly well behaved and sat quietly throughout the trip on the train and in the taxi entertaining themselves. The kids have been backpacking since they were wee little ones ... read more