Well I had a good flight through to London and was ready to leave Egypt at this stage anyways. I arrived in London to be greeted by their perfect weather - a lovely summers day pouring with rain!!! I collected my bags and headed towards the doors after clearing customs, concentrating on thinking about what I had to do and finding an information desk to check which tube stations were open after the recent bombings, so that I could make my way to Matt & Vicky's house. I walked out of the doors and saw Vicky and Matt standing there with [View Full Entry]

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I think that it was interesting that a lot of the tourist attractions have gone to the bother and expense of installing x-ray machines and metal detectors but they didn't stop us on any occasion when we beeped!! So not seeing the point! I assume it was only to make all of us feel better!! We then flew back Cairo with Egypt Air, who were definitely better than that dodgy Memphis Air we flew with from Abu Simbel!! It was quiet in Cairo as it was a Friday and Fridays are classed as a holiday - everyone goes to the mosque [View Full Entry]

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Hi!! Being a littel short on time I didn't really have time to go back and update each individual journal with it's corresponding pictures so just thought I'd add a few in a seperate journal again... [View Full Entry]

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I'll tell you the facts as they were told to me, or as best as I can anyways, can't guarantee that they are correct though, as our tour guide tends to repeat himself at least 3 times and often with story corrections further more I also think that some of the details are a matter of opinion as you can hear different versions of the stories being told when you stand near the other tour guides.... so here goes.... Spent the next day cruising the Nile whilst I sun baked again all day before arriving at Luxor - The ancient city [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we sailed on a felucca down the River Nile. It was very peaceful and scenic. The current goes from south to north and the wind from north to south so when you are heading into the wind the breeze is nice... The Nile River goes for 5,000 miles and is the longest river system in the world. When we docked on the side of the Sahara desert, I was surprised at how clean the Nile water was, we bottled some and it was crystal clear.... they say that the Nile refreshes itself everyday by the strong currents. A couple on [View Full Entry]

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Well after the initial flight dramas I arrive in Cairo airport at about 1am and was met by our Contiki rep who introduced me to two other girls who'd been on my flight, Wendy and Kathy which was nice. We boarded our shuttle and headed towards our hotel. The first thing you notice is the traffic, it reminds me of my time in Thailand, there are no lines on the road and seemingly no road rules except the old survival of the fittest!!! the streets were jammed packed going back towards the city and they tell me that that is because [View Full Entry]

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Ok, getting back to the story!! So I arrived in one peice to Aswan, 800 miles south of north Cairo. it's very hot, about 39 degrees at 9.30am. However they tell me during July and August it can get up to 50 degrees in the shade!! thank god my tour got put back to now instead of next month! don't think I would have made it! There is no humidity here. Our guide said that it rained for about 10-15 minutes just once this year. Aswan is surounded by the Sahara Desert and is a prodominately African city. Most of the [View Full Entry]

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Final update before going to Egypt since they tell me that the internet availability will be far and few between... Nat and I had a perfect day relaxing, everything just seemed to go right, got all the bits and pieces that we'd planned to get done, done quickly and easily and then we decided that some relaxation was in order so we got manicures and pedicures which had us feeling normal again! Went back to the hotel to get ready to go out for a final goodbye with the group. Well the quiet night didn't eventuate... Went on the river cruise [View Full Entry]

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Hey All Well have made it as far as the airport! Was a dream run in the cab on the way to the airport and then both Nat and I had sailed through the checking in process even though the customer service leaves a lot to be desired and I'm sure that the odd smile probably wouldn't hurt some of these people either!! it was all just seeming too good to be true and then it was... They delayed my flight by 1hr 35 min without even telling me, Nat and I were sitting down discussing boarding times when we noticed [View Full Entry]

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I've added some photos of our final day together from the Harbour dinner cruise and the farewell at the Bar. I wanted to share with you the Farewell Poem written by Adam Van Lohuizen from the Canada The Rockies tour.... (it's also the poem that inspired the drinking contest on the final night... calling us soft!!!! hehe!!) "Tonight brings the end of our contiki trip Our time as a group is now over, that's it Remember Dale going head first out a shopping trolley, hitting his chin Or all of the sheep shaggers calling eskies 'chilli bins' Little Craig was rarely [View Full Entry]

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