Monzyq

Had a good sleep and were up at 7am to the most amazing view! Took a moment to enjoy our veranda and view of the sea/beach before we headed to breakfast! Had a buffet breakfast and then had our optional cruise boat excursion which we didnt expect to have. Sherif organized this boat cruise so that we could go snorkelling and so the group could actually experience the Red Sea before they left today for Cairo. It was actually chilly on the boat, but nice in the sun so everyone picked out different sheltered areas on the boat to sun tan. We stopped at 2 snorkel spots which were both wicked! The water was freezing but most people braved it. I stuck right with the snorkeling guide in the water as he fed the fish so ... read more

Since we partied too hard, we skipped the 6:45am wake up call and sightseeing of Edfu temple:( We had a very lazy morning recovering and then when the group was back, we all went for buffet lunch. Today was a sailing day so everyone just spent the day lounging in the sun and recovering from last night. There was a really funny moment when we were going through these locks and all the locals swarm to the boat and try to sell things to the tourists! Some men were following along beside us in their tiny boats and throwing scarves up to people who were bartering with them. Some of the men were making profain gestures at us and it was weird to see some of the tradings that were going on. Money being thrown from ... read more

My first good sleep so far in the last 3 days has been this overnight train! Fell asleep around 11:30pm and were woken up by the train staff at 8:30am. They got us up in plenty of time for breakfast, re-freshing and then lots of time to sight-see out the window as we came into Aswan! The breakfast again was crappy so we didnt eat much of it. We actually took in the next 2 hours of scenery from the train! It was beautiful along the Nile! So green - lots of banana plants, sugar cane fields, etc. a lot like what I'm used to seeing in the caribbean islands. At 10:30 we got off the train and headed towards our Nile cruise boat where we would be staying the next 3 nights even though we ... read more

Well it was prob about 2am before we fell asleep as its very loud with cosntant honking outside our bedroom window. Oh yes, and then the call to prayer at 4:30am was something unreal. I dont know how these people can stand being woken up like this. On top of the normal call across the city- we actually have a mosque right outside our bedroom window with speakers blaring directly at us....meant for the rest of our neighbourhood to hear. It seemed to go on forever and once it was over, we were so awake that it took us forever to fall back asleep again after 5am or so. We had the alarm set for 9am for breakfast as it was included with our extra night accommdation that we'd booked. At breakfast we met 3 other ... read more

Up at 7:30am for my 8am transfer to the airport. One of the other girls was also on my flight to Hong Kong so we shared a transfer to the airport. I cried when I sat down on the plane as I hate to have such fun journeys come to an end. Reality starts to sink in when you are on a plane home, but I have tons of memories from this amazing trip that will stick with me forever!... read more