Blogs from Sinai, Egypt, Africa - page 3

As we debarked from the Ferry into the Arab Republic of Egypt, chaos erupted. Jordan has been so organised and orderly that Egypt came as quite a shock. For customs & immigration reasons our Jordanian leader was not with us for the journey across to Egypt and we were instructed that our new tour leader would meet us as we got off the ferry. As we entered the busy customs hall there was no one there to meet us. Myself and the other members of the group did not have visas so we told we couldn't enter until our tour leader arrived with the required visas. With no Intrepid representatives answering our calls , it was an long wait until our paths crossed with Nikki, a Customer Representative from the ferry. Nikki from South Africa was ... read more

Hardly anyone visits the serene coastline of northern Sinai. Add to that the fact that it’s mid-February; then factor in the recent strings of kidnappings and other misdeeds that have been occurring in Egypt over the past few weeks and what you get is me, alone on Sawa Beach, reveling in the quietude and the crystal clear waters of the Red Sea. The border crossing to get here (surprisingly my first by land on this journey) was incredibly easy. I was the only one there. Guards had to be woken from naps to cursorily inspect my bags and officials had to be called in from lounge rooms to stamp my passport. It was all smiles and “Welcome to Egypt!” I had two hours before the bus left (don’t worry, I’m not hitching) that were easily killed ... read more

I arrived at Nuweiba port at about 7.30 a.m. after a freezing cold, sleepless ferry journey. I managed to get some Egyptian money, Visa and went looking for a bus to Dahab. Unfortunately I realised that it had gone at 6.30 and there wasnt another one until 10.30. After 2 nights with very little sleep I eventually agreed to get a taxi for 100 LE. As soon as I got to Dahab, I found Penguin Village and pretty much slept for the day and night, getting some food and arranging my diving for the next day. I started the PADI Open Water Diving Course the next day and finished it 2 days later. Having got the Certificate, I decided to do 2 of the Advanced dives in the Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole ... read more

Before the winter of 2010 set in, I departed on my first holiday outside of Europe. To Egypt, Taba in particular, was the location of my stay. During this period, which was approximately 10 days, I adventured into Cairo and across the Gulf of Aqaba to Jordan. A personal record for flight duration was achieved and came in at 5 & 1/2 hours. Don't act like you're not impressed. We touched down during the evening in an area that was baron and desolate. The coach journey to Taba from the airport streamed through rocky landscape that reminded me of an early still scene in "There Will Be Blood". We passed through checkpoints and abandoned construction sites. My research prior to departure highlighted that our hotel (Hilton) was subject to a terrorist attack a few years back. ... read more

yesterday me and dad climbed mt sianai to the monestry which is very religious to christians, muslims and jews but to climb it you could take 3000 steps up made by a single monk that heard god tell him to do it or you could take a camel path that was more modern but alot longer because it zig zagged up the mountain to the top. we went in the middle of the night to a tour bus with 12 other people that took 2 hours to get to the mountain and when we got there a guide took us up the camel path and it was really tiring even in the cold of the night so we put on jumpers and cept going. at the top the air was even more cold so i used ... read more