Luke Smith

Well I landed at Heathrow after a couple of hours delay, headed through customs fought my way through the London Underground to Kings Cross station, where I was catching a train up to the army barracks in Catterick. The nest train left me with a couple of hours to kill, so I headed off into Kings Cross in the search of a cheap feed, no easy feat in a country where the rule of three essentially renders your currency useless, but after a little searching and a touch of bargaining I managed to score a pizza for £1.25. Then I settled back in at the train station for before I head out to Catterick. After arriving at Catterick station, where I was greeted by Toby, I was also informed of my new identity….Bourne, Jason Bourne. No ... read more

Well I was up early again for the 5:30 bus to Amman, I arrived in the capital around lunchtime entering through New Amman, very much a contemporary Arab city, I suppose it had the potential to feel refreshingly modern, but for me it was more disappointingly new age. Amman has never really rivaled the Middle East's great cities of Cairo and Damascus as a grand Islamic metropolis, but downtown does have its moments, and it is a central transport hub for other Jordanian areas. Slightly disillusioned, I headed for the old city centre and the Roman Theatre. The Roman Theatre in Amman encompass some of the last remnant of the outer reaches of the Empire and still stand as a solid testimony to a great Philadelphian era. It is cut directly into the Northern side ... read more

Well after hitching a ride in the back of a truck for two hours, I arrived in Dahab, a quaint little town perched on the Red Sea Coast. West are the ominously stunning mountains of the Sinai, to the North is the small Jordanian border of Aqaba and directly East and just across the Gulf are the violently striking peaks of Saudi Arabia. A truly overwhelming panoramic view irrespective of which way you gaze. Dahab translates from Arabic to English as "Gold" and is reminiscent of what I imagine Ko Samui to have been before the massive tourist influx. It encompasses a smooth fusion of backpacker's mellowness and local's humorous and apathetic sales pitches, all set against a décor of craggy golden beaches under a rugged mountain backdrop and dark blue seas. Time could easily ... read more

Well I arrived back in Cairo, after a somewhat less comfortable reclined overnight journey, and then decided I would head into the heart of downtown Cairo for a hostel, after a short snooze I headed out to Saqqara, around forty minutes outside the city limits. Saqqara is the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, and was one of the royal burial grounds for moiré than 3500 years, and consists of eleven lesser known old kingdom pyramids. I spent half the day at Saqqara, other visitors were few and far between, as a result there on the edge of the desert I found a peaceful serenity rarely created at the other ancient sites. The main monument in this area is the step pyramid Which is the earliest form of pyramid; it encases a descending passage from the ... read more

The overnight train wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Egypt doesn’t have sleepers only reclining seats, I was comfortable enough though to sleep almost the entire way. Arriving in Aswan was akin in one way to Jaisalmere, stepping off the train to be assaulted by a solid wall of 48' C heat, after the first natural attack I waited for the inevitable touts….. But they failed to materialise, I was instead offered greetings from proud and friendly strangers of "Welcome to Aswan" or "Welcome to Egypt" coupled with sincere smiles and nods. After making my way to my hostel, with heightened spirits from the local hospitality, and the unraveling of the ever familiar routine of storing my gear, I headed down to the magical Nile River to take a felucca down to a traditional Nubian ... read more